First Sluice .. choices choices choices

[wa-au-nut]

Know LRC already made his choice, But I love my A.M. Recon. Easy setup and quick clean up. Little stouter than the Calsluice which I feel is to flimsy like the letrap. Fits in a backpack if that's what you want. I added a cross bar to mine an just snap it to my back pack. Yup have to classify(1/4) but that's life. I can't move a lot of dirt anyway. Classify 2or3 gal buckets of stuff then sit down and run it, clean up and do it again. Yup that's what I do. But I'm not young and not the greatest health nomo.
My avatar was before I got my Recon.

 

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[LRC253]

I'm still going to get an AM sluice for my long hikes. It was a tough choice between the two becuase I've read that the BGT doesn't work well in slower water.. but I'll buy mine from cabelas or something soon... maybe next payday.

 

[bigjoek]

I use an Angus expedition. Awesome sluice man. Light easy, you can set it in almost any water and angle. I set a pan behind my Angus and ran one five gallon bucket full of rich material . And I fed it so fast I was trying to lose Gold . I panned the leavings and only found a couple tiny flake. Best part is clean out takes ten seconds or less and your back. The bazooka is by far the best though but heavy

 

[bigjoek]

I put my angus behind my back in front of my back back. Sits perfect

 

[LRC253]

Very nice and great to know! I can't wait to just get out in the woods and have some fun!

 

[KevinInColorado]

I use an Angus expedition. Awesome sluice man. Light easy, you can set it in almost any water and angle. I set a pan behind my Angus and ran one five gallon bucket full of rich material . And I fed it so fast I was trying to lose Gold . I panned the leavings and only found a couple tiny flake. Best part is clean out takes ten seconds or less and your back. The bazooka is by far the best though but heavy

I have the same AM model and i totally agree, nice gear. I will agree the bazooka is heavier than the expedition but its a lot lighter than a traditional metal sluice like the A52! When I CAN use the bazooka, which is most of the time, I do. For me, The AM is for those times there is only small water available...tho it did used to be my only actively used sluice until I got the bgt.

 

[LRC253]

Well, I might go buy an Angus Mackirk at Cabelas today.... they are 15% off right now.

 

[bigjoek]

Goooooooo get it.. irs worth it

 

[LRC253]

Hey do guys test pan before using your sluice or do you use a metal detector?

 

[bigjoek]

I run a test pan or two to see if its even wortg setting up the sluice

 

[KevinInColorado]

Hey do guys test pan before using your sluice or do you use a metal detector?

Sometimes I test pan but sometimes if sluice set up looks easy I just sluice a bucket worth and pan that since it is a much better sample. The Mackirks are so easy to clean out that you can really sample with it directly!

 

[LRC253]

Todd said my bgt will ship this Tuesday so in the mean time I picked up an a.m. foreman and will go for my first time tomorrow on my day off. Cant wait! I'll post my results.

 

[LRC253]

Well, not what I expected today but it was an eye opener on how hard this is going to be. I didn't even get to break the AM out of the box... I drove about 2 hours into a known placer gold producing area and ALL land was claimed according to LR2000... Not sure what else to do... From the lakes all the way down through multiple creeks/rivers are all claimed and mostly by a single group of people.

Ideas?

 

[LRC253]

scratch that, gotta love google and a little research... I searched the address and it's owned by GPAA ... I'll look into joining

 

[KevinInColorado]

scratch that, gotta love google and a little research... I searched the address and it's owned by GPAA ... I'll look into joining

Good answer ...if ya can't beat em, join em!

...or you could spend a bunch of time on research...hmmm, best to join now and research later

 

[wa-au-nut]

See you are in Tacoma. Check out Bedrock Prospectors club, in Puyalsup. Good club close by with some good claims. Also WPMA is a good club with good claims. I'm a member of both. Google them. Gpaa don't have much in this area.

 

[LRC253]

Yea I've been looking into both of those clubs but it seems there isn't much in this area according to their websites. I probably still will join them along with GPAA since they have claims at the location I want to check out.

 

[NorCalMining]

As far as the Bazooka I would stay away from until you know you are in an area that produces some smaller size heavies. The problem with the Gold Trap is that it doesnt catch alot of your finer gold. Also it needs to be ran in slow moving water, where as a normal sluice whether it be a Keene A52 or Jobe you can run it in fast or slow moving water. It is very efficient, easy clean up and light weight which makes it easy for hiking trips. I'd recomend sticking with a standard sluice until you are comfortable and have things figured out

 

[DizzyDigger]

As far as the Bazooka I would stay away from until you know you are in an area that produces some smaller size heavies. The problem with the Gold Trap is that it doesn't catch alot of your finer gold. Also it needs to be ran in slow moving water, where as a normal sluice whether it be a Keene A52 or Jobe you can run it in fast or slow moving water.

Not to hijack the gent's thread, but I disagree with your assessment of the BGT.
I believe the BGT runs better in faster waters, and perhaps it might lose a bit
of the <300 mesh gold, I still can't imagine an easier sluice to use in faster water
conditions.

No disrespect intended, btw. There's been an ongoing BGT discussion thread, and
well worth the read.

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/sluicing/298304-6-03-12-bazooka-gold-trap-does-again.html

Perhaps you were referring to another Gold Trap type sluice?

 

[KevinInColorado]

As far as the Bazooka I would stay away from until you know you are in an area that produces some smaller size heavies. The problem with the Gold Trap is that it doesnt catch alot of your finer gold. Also it needs to be ran in slow moving water, where as a normal sluice whether it be a Keene A52 or Jobe you can run it in fast or slow moving water. It is very efficient, easy clean up and light weight which makes it easy for hiking trips. I'd recomend sticking with a standard sluice until you are comfortable and have things figured out

Not sure where you got these ideas but quite inaccurate. Works great in fast water and catches more gold than riffle based sluices. When I go out on the creek with friends I usually take my bgt and always (really-always!) get more gold than the others I'm with!

...and remember I'm in metro Denver...the land of fine flood gold I catch my share of -200 gold...that stuff sure schools you on finish panning techniques!