Kevins own thread - a journal (but feel free to post random thoughts)

gunflintguy · Jan 9, 2015

Kevin,
That’s some nice gold you have showing there.

I can understand why your wife would like the truck camper. They are nice. You have gotten some really good advice on the type of truck to look at. I sure wish we had the internet back when I was getting into the truck campers and RV trailers. A wealth of info now.

I have used the Good Sam website RV.net that Jeff95531 pointed out which has some good info. You might want to look at Truck Camper Magazine | Truck Campers Go Anywhere. They are an online Truck Camper magazine which also has a lot of great info.

GoldpannerDave · Jan 9, 2015

KevinInColorado said:
View attachment 1103818a quick shake, tap and swirl shows the -50 gold...now I'm excited!
View attachment 1103820 flakes visible in the classifier ...this is 20-50 material. There were also 10 flakes in the +20 material.
And the money shot:View attachment 1103822
...love that little pile!

Love that Bazooka and love metro Denver prospecting!!

Beautiful!! How much? Is that 125 grams or 1.25 grams (I cannot see a decimal point, so hopefully it is the first but I don't think so (well, I know that is not 4 oz!). But for 2 hours, 1.25 grams is terrific (nearly 50 dollars)!

KevinInColorado · Jan 9, 2015

gunflintguy said:
Kevin,
That’s some nice gold you have showing there.

I can understand why your wife would like the truck camper. They are nice. You have gotten some really good advice on the type of truck to look at. I sure wish we had the internet back when I was getting into the truck campers and RV trailers. A wealth of info now.

I have used the Good Sam website RV.net that Jeff95531 pointed out which has some good info. You might want to look at Truck Camper Magazine | Truck Campers Go Anywhere. They are an online Truck Camper magazine which also has a lot of great info.

Good advice, I will check those sites out. And I agree the Internet and especially tnet makes my life much easier these days!

KevinInColorado · Jan 9, 2015

GoldpannerDave said:
Beautiful!! How much? Is that 125 grams or 1.25 grams (I cannot see a decimal point, so hopefully it is the first but I don't think so (well, I know that is not 4 oz!). But for 2 hours, 1.25 grams is terrific (nearly 50 dollars)!

Dave, yes of course 1.25 grams...and that was from the side of the creek which should be richer

as its an inside bend on a long gentle curve.

GoldpannerDave · Jan 9, 2015

KevinInColorado said:
Dave, yes of course 1.25 grams...and that was from the side of the creek which should be richer as its an inside bend on a long gentle curve.

And it was!! Really pretty glow to it. Did you wash in in detergent or vinegar first, or is that straight out of the ground? Either way, just lovely to look at.

KevinInColorado · Jan 10, 2015

That's straight out of the creek. It's castle rock formation gold from the proto-Rockies so it's been in the environment weathering out any impurities for hundreds of millions of years

GoldpannerDave · Jan 10, 2015

KevinInColorado said:
That's straight out of the creek. It's castle rock formation gold from the proto-Rockies so it's been in the environment weathering out any impurities for hundreds of millions of years

Yes, the Castle Rock formation gold is the purest in Colorado, well above 90%, often above 95%. Just lovely!

Drtydan · Jan 11, 2015

Hey Kevin I drive a 2000 F-350 superduty 7.3 diesel shortbed and spend a lot of time around Twin Lakes.The diesels have tons of power and would haul anything you could ever want.I haul a 26 ft trailer with mine. The have 10 ply tyres from the factory and I have cut down sidewalls several times offroad due to the extreme weight.If you buy a big truck like this and put a slide in camper on it your off road capabilites are severly limited due to center of gravity issues and your wife probaly wont be taking thru many parking lots. This said have had lots of four wheel drives and Ford diesels rock. Good luck

KevinInColorado · Jan 14, 2015

Dan, part of the idea is to stay in one place for a week or two at a time. Drop the camper and go 4 wheeling without it. Make more sense?

Vance in AK · Jan 14, 2015

How about one of these Kevin? Give you a little extra room. They were popular with the oil companies up here in the 90s & many were surplused out. There was also a bunch BP ordered (about 50) in the 92-94 era & then never accepted so the local dealers up here had them on the lots.

KevinInColorado · Jan 14, 2015

Pretty cool and yet funny looking Vance! (I think I'll pass lol)

Vance in AK · Jan 14, 2015

KevinInColorado said:
Pretty cool and yet funny looking Vance! (I think I'll pass lol)

Well OK then... It is a 1 ton with a full 8' bed & a diesel... Take the 3rd row seat out & put gear in there!

Prospector70 · Jan 14, 2015

4 wheeling? I figured you all would get a couple of these and keep them behind the front seat of the pickup! <3

(Check out the end when he folds them up too!)

Jeff95531 · Jan 14, 2015

Vance in AK said:
View attachment 1106015How about one of these Kevin? Give you a little extra room. They were popular with the oil companies up here in the 90s & many were surplused out. There was also a bunch BP ordered (about 50) in the 92-94 era & then never accepted so the local dealers up here had them on the lots.

OMG, Vance! I bought a 1989 black and yellow Peak Oil Field North Slope F350 Ford Crew long bed 4x4 truck for 7K. The windshield was so cracked and pitted you could hardly see thru it. Replaced miles of heater hose and mega gallons of anti freeze to get the rear seat heater working again. But the tranny wasn't acting quite right. Took to Aamco...they said yep tranny. Est of 12 hundred turned to 16 then finally $2150 ( in 1997 $$$). Truck did the EXACT same thing after I pay the bill and drive. I take it back straight away and two days later they call me and said I owe another $125 for a part only. WTF part was it

The tach signal was working intermittently and causing the tranny to shift odd. DOH! :BangHead:

I also replaced batteries and glow plugs like they were 2 fer a buck. Traded my Zodiac to get the damm thing painted (my girls kept calling it the Bumble Bee) only so I could "flip it" for what I had in it. Don't miss that truck but thanks for the memories anyway. :thumbsup:

KevinInColorado · Jan 14, 2015

Wow that's WAY cool!

Jeff95531 · Jan 14, 2015

Of course, they never abused their equipment. :laughing7:

Drtydan · Jan 15, 2015

Thats exactly what I do. Take along a tent I set up by trailer and use it to store equiptment in.When I run into town for fuel or supplies and everyone goes slide high dollar items ilike pump
nto pickup turn radio kind of loud in trailer off we go. Noise makes people think we are around and never had a problem.Makes life pretty easy for the 1/2 hour camp setup

johna2231 · Jan 15, 2015

I leave my radio on loud enough to hear from the perimeter of camp also. I call it my "varmint deterant" works equally well on two and four legged predators!

John

gunflintguy · Jan 15, 2015

KevinInColorado said:
Dan, part of the idea is to stay in one place for a week or two at a time. Drop the camper and go 4 wheeling without it. Make more sense?

Kevin,
So long as you have a fairly flat spot to set the camper on when you pull out for your 4 wheeling you should be fine. You have to know how the legs attach to the camper and how secure they are when they attach to the side of the camper. Over time they can loosen.With the aluminum sheeting around the camper you cant see what is going on inside. So to alleviate that problem, have blocks under the 4 corners so the stress of you walking around inside the camper is taken up by the blocks instead of the legs.