Anyone used this scoop before? Is it any good?

[fishingdevil]

I need a good handy scoop for handy work on dry sand and wet water edge sand.
I already have stealth scoop but I find it more suitable for use in water... Hence considering a smaller handy one

Anyone using this one? http://bit.ly/XvBoLZ

Care to comment?

 

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[fishingdevil]

Thank you everyone for your input. I've contacted one of the scoop vendors and now waiting for their reply on shipping international to my location. Hope to get a positive reply soon.

 

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[scaupus]

ok, disclaimer, this is Larry, I sell Howie Scoops, so obviously, I probably shouldn't be inserting myself into this thread. But, I'm also a devoted user of the Howie Scoop, and I now have a few months experience with it so I have something to add besides my pecuniary interest. And pardon my prolixity on the subject, I'm pretty prolix anyway.

I don't hesitate to lever up a basketful of embedded rocks and coral with the Howie Scoop. I don't know if folks can work a scoop with a rounded tip 12" deep into embedded rocks, but it's really pretty easy to do with a Howie Scoop. I wiggle it around and I can work the point down the full 12" into a bottom full of rocks and coral, and I'm talking pretty big, very compacted rocks. I was surprised myself. It felt like solid rocks completely stopping the scoop, but when I wiggled it vigorously, things moved and it slipped down. I kept wiggling it, and quite quickly the basket was fully buried. I then levered up a basketful of rocks. It worked every time. One time, there was a 3 diamond gold ring in the basket with the rocks and coral. I have not bent the tip, and I have received no feedback about bent tips to date, and we got about 40 scoops out there.

The thing I like about the Howie scoop is how it lets me operate all over the beach; in the water, in rocks, on wet or dry sand. Since I've learned how versatile the Howie Scoop is, I feel there is no limitations on my beach detecting.


All the new Howie Scoops now incorporate a 3/8" thick top plate at the point where the force of leverage is greatest. That is definitely over-engineered for sand or rock beaches, which is the environment that the Howie Scoop is designed for. The scoop has a host of very desirable features, but the real benefit is that it's a pleasure to use and it helps you find bling. You usually can get the target in one scoop if your aim is good because it's a huge scoop ; it drains very fast; and it's light, yet it feels robust. Personally I love it, and I loved it before I started selling them. It made it possible for me to handle a detector, and a scoop, and a pretty big surf, and a target, all at the same time. That was a huge win for me.

Water detecting can be very challenging, especially for a 60 year old not very robust guy like myself.The Howie Scoop definitely helped me to find bling, in fact, I didn't find any bling at the beach until I started using the Howie Scoop. Coincidence? No, not to my mind. The first scoop I bought fell apart after a couple of hours. The second one was SS, a tank, but I couldn't handle it, and it couldn't handle a rocky bottom. I think the scoop you use is more important than the detector in the first year or so until you get some mastery over the vagaries of water detecting. A hard-to-handle scoop can totally frustrate you.

You just wouldn't want to use a heavy SS scoop on the dry beach, or on wet sand. If you want one scoop for water and wet sand and dry beach all at the same time, without switching scoops...well, my personal scoop does all that, and it does it all well.

So, say there's a falconet buried 2 feet deep in a thick clay and sand composite mud bank. Should you use your Howie Scoop to pry it out?

I don't know...I mean...it's a beach scoop. That's what I meant by don't use it as a pry bar.

Can an 8lb steel scoop pry out heavier, or more stuck objects than the Howie Scoop? Maybe it can. Probably. And a pick-ax will outpry a steel scoop. But a pickax makes a lousy beach scoop. I still have nighmares about dragging my SS scoop back for what seemed like miles to my vehicle.

I met an Englishman on South Beach. He's lived in Germany for the last 20 years. He metal detects the Baltic coast. I mentioned to him that we make and sell the scoop I was using. He smiled. "No scoops." He detects mud flats. They use picks and shovels and screens in that environment.

The right tool for the right job. I like the Howie Scoop for the beach.

I'm done. Sorry for the advert.

 

[scaupus]

Thank you everyone for your input. I've contacted one of the scoop vendors and now waiting for their reply on shipping international to my location. Hope to get a positive reply soon.

In case you had any interest in the Howie Scoop... and I don't know if you did...I cannot ship the standard Howie Scoop overseas via postal service. When I input the dimensions of the box the website said no international service. However...we do offer a 2 piece travel version with a breakdown handle which can be mailed overseas.

 

[fishingdevil]

Went with the RTG scoops in the end. And I bought 2! One for purely dry sand, one for the wet. And I'm leaving the stealth 720i for the waters... I must be crazy!

 

[TheInspector]

I have been using Beachmaster 37" Water Scoop w/ Special Kick Type Handle from one of the sponsors.
http://www.kellycodetectors.com/cart/image.php?model=519-28&manufacturer=kellyco&file=519-28_1f.jpg

I find it easy to use and it acts as a cane to stabilize yourself in the waves.

 

[digger001]

i also use this scoop love when the detector beeps 1 scoop and the prize is mine its light weight 3/8 aircraft grade aluminum and tough.

 

[zigzag]

I just bought the Howie scoop and like it a lot. It's a good all around scoop for dry or wet sand and in the water. You still can't beat the 720i for the water. I'm still trying to find a good coating for the aluminum handle that will stay on for a long time. I tried plasti dip and rustoleum leak seal but they're not durable enough.

 

[fishingdevil]

I just bought the Howie scoop and like it a lot. It's a good all around scoop for dry or wet sand and in the water. You still can't beat the 720i for the water. I'm still trying to find a good coating for the aluminum handle that will stay on for a long time. I tried plasti dip and rustoleum leak seal but they're not durable enough.

Just too bad that his shipping cost was more ex than shipping 2 RTG scoops... Even my stealth scoop with the handle didn't cost as much in shipping - still trying to help him identify the post office that my other scoops were shipped cheaper...

 

[njal]

I just bought the Howie scoop and like it a lot. It's a good all around scoop for dry or wet sand and in the water. You still can't beat the 720i for the water. I'm still trying to find a good coating for the aluminum handle that will stay on for a long time. I tried plasti dip and rustoleum leak seal but they're not durable enough.

I used this over a fiberglass handle, I'm sure you could use this over aluminum as well.

5' ft Heat Shrink Tubing Black Size 1 2" Inch | eBay

 

[njal]

Went with the RTG scoops in the end. And I bought 2! One for purely dry sand, one for the wet. And I'm leaving the stealth 720i for the waters... I must be crazy!

You're not crazy? Do you just have one hammer? One screw driver? L NO!!!!
I have 4 scoops. :-)

 

[fishingdevil]

You're not crazy? Do you just have one hammer? One screw driver? L NO!!!!
I have 4 scoops. :-)

Thanks for the vote of confidence! Now i feel I've not enough scoops till I hit 4, just like you. Hahaha

 

[Garthman]

Last month I purchased this same scoop from eBay and it is incredible craftsmanship! Well worth the money spent...

 

[njal]

Good luck with them! Happy Hunting.

 

[fishingdevil]

I'm in Auckland now. Will be heading home tomorrow. Scoops arrived - as I last checked the tracking status! Just nice to welcome me home!

 

[fishingdevil]

Tested out my RTGs early this morning.

The RTG aluminum piece worked really well for the dry sand which I intended it for... Happy with it.

The other RTG meant for the wet was not up to my expectations. First of all, it didn't feel to me that's it's very much lighter than the Stealth 720i that I'm using for the turf and waters. And what's most un-impressive was the back 'concave' into the scoop just after a hunt. But to be fair, it was smaller and more maneuverable than the Stealth. Albeit it also meant more digging before I reach the target..

Does anyone who own an RTG know if the back will hold or will it give way real soon...?