Here's an idea Kevin. Since wind and gravity are what the old timers used to separate gold from sand, (white and black sand) by winnowing it, why not use a small variable 3 speed fan installed in the end of a 4, or 5 inch plastic pvc pipe. The pipe configuration would be four ended, with each arm being about 12 inches long. I'm sure something like that could be found at Home Depot pretty cheap. The fan would blow toward the open end of the pipe directly across from it. The material would be fed (sprinkled) every so gingerly into the top pipe opening and fall down to the wind sections. As it passed the wind in the cross section, the lighter sands would be blown out, (at least some of them anyway depending on how strong the fan is, which is why I suggested a 3 speed variable fan) and the heavier gold should continue dropping and exit the fourth pipe at the bottom, where it would be caught by a container.
You like fiddling with inventions and gadgets, don't you Kevin ? I should think this invention could be produced pretty cheaply and easily. With some tinkering, it could be a great machine for separating sand from gold. All we have to do is keep tweeking it until it the prototype works as advertised. For instance, the diameter of the pvc pipe may need to be smaller, say 3 inches. Then of course you'd have to find the ideal fan to mount in the pipe. Finally you would want a "pending" patent, and naturally you'll have to come up with a really "catchy" name. One idea I had for a name was the mini "Genie-Separator".
If you like, you can have a go at it. If I pursued every idea I came up with in the last forty years, I would have been a millionaire. When the aids epidemic hit back in the early 80's, I mentioned to a fireman friend of mine Vince Coulon somebody is going to have to invent individually wrapped"flavored" condoms and put them in convenience stores. I offered him a regular laxtex condom and suggested he give it a taste, naturally he refused, and he stuck to his guns and convinced me I was crazy. Guess what I saw on a 7-11 store counter three years later. Tuttie Frootie and Banana flavored condoms. Pretty soon they were everywhere.
In 1988 me and Charlie Guidry were contemplating something to sell on the internet as a side line. Since neither of us had any money to invest, I suggested ideally you wouldn't sell anything but empty air, or space. That would take care of production costs, inventory and shipping. Charlie laughed hysterically. "What kind of empty space are you going to sell Einstein" ? I replied, why not create a website where people in cities like New York can auction off their public parking space to someone else before they pull out it. Charlie countered, "That ain't even legal you idiot" ! "You'll get yourself sued, or arrested" ! Long story short, another guy came up with the same exact idea ten years later. Today the guy is a millionaire. He just facilitates the transaction on his web-site and collects a percentage for each soon to be empty parking space sold. Needless to say, Charlie and I are not millionaires.
That's just two businesses I got talked out of, there were dozens more. I also came up with an idea for the most formidable bear deterrent in the world, and I'm not talking about CS bear spray. The problem with CS bear spray is it is a direct fire weapon. If you have to use it, you're already engaged with a bear at close quarters. CS bear spray doesn't deter bears from entering your camp in the middle of the night, does it ? Nor does it deter a bear from quietly sneaking up on you while you are fishing on a river bank somewhere. (And let me tell you, an 800 lb. bear can creep right up on you. In most cases, the first indication there is a predatory bear nearby, is when you feel his breath on your neck). Then there is the other problem, "What if there is more than one bear" ? The solution. Even the biggest, baddest Kodiak, or mamma Grizzly bear isn't going to mix it up with a skunk, and every bear by the time it's two years old knows what a skunk smells like and to avoid them at all costs. Why not synthesize skunk spray in a can ? Walk out 10 yards, or so from your camp site, and give the spray can a miniscule squirt on a bush, and sleep safely. A bears sense of smell is 50,000 times that of a human. So you wouldn't have to use so much you would be able to smell the offending odor. Walk fifteen yards around the camp in a circle, and lay down some more "Fresh" skunk. Continue until you are surrounded by an invisible and impenetrable "skunk" barrier.
Of course it could be used as a direct fire weapon as well, if designed with a narrow stream, instead of a fog spray like a conventional bear spray. That's another downside to CS bear spray, the wind can blow it back on you, and you become as disabled as the bear is. CS bear spray then becomes a waiting game. Who will recover first ? You, or the bear ? Notice I keep using the phrase "predatory" bear, which is a bear that has decided to kill, or eat you. The runoff the mill, curious bear is easily deterred by CS bear spray. In fact, the average bear won't usually even enter a camp site with a strong human scent. If you leave your camp empty for more than three days, all bets are off. Better not try spraying CS bear spray through a hole in your tent either (say one made by a predatory bears claws). A straight stream skunk spray could easily be fired through the smallest hole, and the bear won't come back later on. he just learned you've got a skunk with you in your tent.
Imagine the advantage of not having to haul your packaged food up into a tree and haul it back down every time you cook. Sleep soundly all night in complete confidence. Never having to worry the pet dog is going to be killed by a bear (and BTW I've seen the biggest, baddest pit bulls on earth, roll over on their backs and whimper like a puppy at the approach of an 800 lb. brown bear). Your dog isn't suicidal, he isn't going to fight to the death against an gigantic monstrous predator like a brown bear. he probably wouldn't attack a 300 lb. black bear either, and the common and numerous black bear accounts for 95 % of all bear attacks on humans.
Name of the product "Bear-B-Gone" Skunk spray and bear deterrent. Naturally, you could tame your own wild skunk from a kit and throw it at the attacking bear. That might work also, but I think it would be less reliable than "Bear-B-Gone". One thing I always carry with me in bear country is a small economy size spray can of WD-40. It contains ether, and makes for one heck of a improvised blow torch with a bic lighter held in front the nozzle. Keep it down to a three second bursts, the nozzle will melt, and the can will explode with prolonged use as a flame thrower.
I've actually used WD-40 to stop a charging black bear in his tracks. The bear was digging in a garbage pile, and I walked carelessly past, as 300 lb. Boo Boo bear (as he was called by the locals) was well known and seemingly acclimated to people.. except if you got within 20 yards of his garbage pile. The bear covered the 20 yards in a couple of seconds and headed right at me with his ears back and his teeth showing. This was no "mock" charge ! I pulled out my can of WD-40 and the lighter, and gave Boo Boo bear a blast of fire just as he was swiping at my legs. Bears are covered with fur and they scorch easily. No real damage, just some burnt fur. Faster than you could say "God Yes" Boo Boo bear made a 180 degree flip in the air and reversed direction in a panicked run. He continued to bellow in indignation as he ran a couple of miles away abandoning the garbage pile for the day. A few weeks later, in the middle of the night, Boo Boo bear retaliated in a surprise attack and almost clawed his way into my tent. Fortunately the first gash was large enough, I was able to give him a second treatment with the WD-40 without catching the tent on fire, although the hole became a whole lot bigger, and my tent was ruined. Skunk spray eventually wears off, serious fire damage to a plastic tent does not.
There are a number of other conventional uses for WD-40 in the wilderness. You can start a fire with it, no matter how damp, or cold it is. It will keep your tent zippers in good working order, as well as those on your clothes. Sprayed on cloth wrapped around the end of a pole (once ignited), it makes a dandy torch, and the torches can be treated and stored away for a couple of days out of direct sunlight. Since it penetrates and removes moisture (says that on the can) it can relieve arthritis pain and limber up sprained ankles. Down south in Louisiana, we spray it on catfish hooks as bait on trot lines (BTW. that's illegal just about everywhere, but quite acceptable in a survival situation).
Of course a powerful hand gun, or a large caliber rifle might have worked as well.. but either would have killed the Boo Boo bear, who was only protecting his garbage pile from what he perceived as a fellow competitor for food. Bears apparently don't share well. Also placing a lethal shot on a charging bear (especially a really scary huge one) isn't that easy. A badly placed non-lethal shot on a charging bear, (especially a momma bear protecting her cub) will almost certainly result in a fight to the death between you and the bear.
Anyway, good luck making a million dollars Kevin if you decide to market "Bear-B-Gone". I'm near the end of my life, never married, and all my family are gone, so I don't need the money so much, as long as I have a roof over my head and I can make groceries.. I'm happy.
