Prospecting - what tools to pack

[paydirt1850]

I'm done fishing for the year and back to prospecting. This is my latest video, let me know what you thing. I have received nothing but great input from the people on this site. Hopefully its helping me make better videos.

 

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[Hoser John]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA old school vs science and science always wins every time. Big difference mutzing and a putzing for ax heads and trash vs feeding yourself and family from the sweat of your brow. I'll do it my way and prosper as relics rust. Simply look at massive piles of gold just found in AZ as posted here by Oakview. Which you want, trash as above or poundages as shown with a detector John

 

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[Goldwasher]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA old school vs science and science always wins every time. Big difference mutzing and a putzing for ax heads and trash vs feeding yourself and family from the sweat of your brow. I'll do it my way and prosper as relics rust. Simply look at massive piles of gold just found in AZ as posted here by Oakview. Which you want, trash as above or poundages as shown with a detector John

as usual John you miss the point. and contradict your self. You have flat out told many newbies here that nugget hunting is the most difficult form of prospecting. So telling a new guy who is asking what he should even have in his pack who barely knows how to prospect that a metal detector is his best bet is a bunch of crap! You lament the lack of success in relation to your perseverance constantly. basically saying 99% give up due to difficulty and you reap the rewards.
This was not Arizona it is a historically ground sluiced area placered during the gold rush and pocket hunted during the depression. It has been detected but, not very well. there is a significant trash layer. Decomposing long tom screens turn into millions of tiny little targets. it is an area that warrants detecting so far a 28 gram slug numerous 1/3 penny weight nuggets and various multi dwt specimins have come out of the creek bed and slate underfoot. Luckily it is close to home and I have permission to hunt it. If a newbie headed into the area expecting to find gold because he had even the best gold machine he would be quickly disappointed more so if he realized how much gold was actually underfoot. More gold is found with pan sluice and knowledge every year compared to metal detecting. You have a great chance of great pieces even more so in arid regions with shallow bed rock eluvial deposits and gold that can be detected. You don't have to be rude about it btw. You know that nugget hunting in old areas is essentially clearing out trash to find the detectable gold the trash to gold ratio is often 100 to 1 all nugget hunters know that. I shared what I found to illustrate my point. I would never attempt to tell you anything as we all know that you know everything. I was just sharing experiences with the people who read these threads and want to learn something or see some of what others do. Do you have anymore of those thirty year old pictures or do you have some new adventures to share? Oh yea I forgot California is hands and pans only know so you probably haven't been out much.
My family is just fine btw. The sweat of my brow has done very well for them and I am way too young and still have my factory installed knees so no mutzin and putzin here.

 

[Goldwasher]

If you still have "co-workers", you ain't old...

Goldwasher: Pics taken under fluorescent lights will come out yellowed
every time. Try natural or incandescent lights.

View attachment 1243419

View attachment 1243420

Dizz its way harder to find an incandescent bulb around here than it is to find gold

 

[Goldwasher]

vicodone, duct tape, some popsicle sticks, t shirt strips and superglue. Does it for me. Forget the $4000 heilo rides! I'll crawl back.

I have a one gallon plastic bag. It has folded paper towels, writing paper, a marker, lighter, superglue, glow stick, headlamp, some ace bandage and another plastic bag.

 

[paydirt1850]

I love the discussion! To clear up a few things.
#1 First aid kit - I take duct tape and a rag, I didn't mention the duct tape, because its like air you can't live with out it.
#2 A detector is just another tool, no better no worse than any other. I take mine 95% of the time when prospecting, almost never, when I'm mining.
#3 I sorry, I didn't make it clear - The pack is for when I go prospecting not mining. The tools should be what is needed for your area. The idea is to keep them in a pack, ready to go all the time, so you don't end up with out one you need.
#4 The weight - when I finished last summer, my pack on the way out was 57 lbs. - dam near killed me! and yes I'm a old guy. I don't see any sense in carrying around stuff you might use, after 50 years of prospecting, I have my pack down to tools I will use. That the idea I'm trying to get across.
I really appreciate all the great feed back I'm getting!

 

[GA_Boy]

For the creek.
First thing is my GBII, then pan, screen,chisel, (no need to carry heavy hammer-------I find a suitable size rock.), drinking water, snacks and a few other amenities, such as sniffer and sample bottles. If I find good gold then I will upgrade tools and equipment next trip out.
For the desert/mountains.
GBII, shovel, small pick-also used as a hammer, chisel, bucket,screen and other small stuff.
I'm too old (75)to carry a lot of weight so I need to drive cose to where I want to be.
Marvin

 

[Asmbandits]

I bring multipoint crevise tools, pick hammer, wedge, snuffer, first aid kit, flashlight, scoop, and one of the most important tools of all, a flexible plastic cup. I rarely bring my detector out anymore as I find more gold without it in the type of areas I hunt. Sometimes will bring a bar but most of the time not. Recently have got myself into ham radio and bring a handheld with me as in a lot of locations I've found that I can hit repeaters high on the mountains that allow me to talk to my wife at home some 90 miles away! Really helpful when on solo trips for saftey. The same radio can also scan frequencies so I can set to scan fs and local authorities radio frequencies and have an idea of what's if anything is going on in the forest around me.. Definitely not a mush have but another useful tool and fun to listen to while working.

 

[Smithsgold]

Good Video !!!

 

[motohed]

I have to say I always end up needing toilet paper , I did'nt see that on the list , but never fails I go in some where with a pack ,nature always calls .

 

[beekbuster]

different ways to prospect, sniping, detecting, sluicing. always bring a pick, crevice tools, pan, snuffer bottle no matter what im doing. detector works to find the "paystreak" in a creek.
does anyone else find it amusing how easily people are offended

 

[beekbuster]

as soon as my new gps gets here, it will also be on the list.

 

[paydirt1850]

I took a fall last summer and lost my new gps - first time out!
I was so pissed at myself, I still haven't replaced it.
story is on - http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/p...69750-paydirt1850-few-summers-adventures.html

 

[boogeyman]

I have to say I always end up needing toilet paper , I did'nt see that on the list , but never fails I go in some where with a pack ,nature always calls .

That's how you tell the city boys from country folk. Country folk always have the last 1/4 of a roll of TP in their back pocket! City boys never think further than the corner gas station.

 

[boogeyman]

For the creek.
First thing is my GBII, then pan, screen,chisel, (no need to carry heavy hammer-------I find a suitable size rock.), drinking water, snacks and a few other amenities, such as sniffer and sample bottles. If I find good gold then I will upgrade tools and equipment next trip out.
For the desert/mountains.
GBII, shovel, small pick-also used as a hammer, chisel, bucket,screen and other small stuff.
I'm too old (75)to carry a lot of weight so I need to drive cose to where I want to be.
Marvin

Is it just me or does it seem the jeep is a little further away on the return trip every year I get older?

 

[seclymer]

Hey I am very new to this forum site. I am a senior in high school working on an engineering project. I want to create a lightweight and portable gold wash plant that can fit in a 32 liter backpack. Is this something that you would be interested in? Any feedback would be very helpful. Thanks.

 

[arizau]

Hey I am very new to this forum site. I am a senior in high school working on an engineering project. I want to create a lightweight and portable gold wash plant that can fit in a 32 liter backpack. Is this something that you would be interested in? Any feedback would be very helpful. Thanks.

As a school project that is a neat idea.

As far as it's practicality for field use, probably not in most cases. For example an ordinary sluice is light, portable, easy to set up and is probably capable of processing a much larger volume of material than your idea and most of us try to run as much material as is possible with whatever equipment we currently use. As long as there is gold in the feed material, the main key to placering success is to run as much of it as you can.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

 

[Jeff95531]

Is it just me or does it seem the jeep is a little further away on the return trip every year I get older?

Yep and definitely not you or me. Just like things get heavier every year.

 

[wildminer]

So that's what it is! I thought the days were just going by faster!

Is it just me or does it seem the jeep is a little further away on the return trip every year I get older?

 

[bedrock bubba]

Always bring a vial of gold you bought at the store to WOW the wannabees at the campground, after you dig a hole to China and get skunked! Jes kiddin! Used to always see some clown with a vial, saying he was a champion dredger, telling tall stories!

Indian valley always had those types!

 

[Vance in AK]

This one has little ghosts in the crystals

Almost 30 yrs ago I was driving logging truck & we were working up above Taylorsville (CA), up Beardsley Grade. Oregon was home but I lived in that area most of the summer. I had a passing interest in gold prospecting but no knowledge of anything to do with minerals or gems etc. Wandering around the areas we were working on my off time looking for old mine shafts I found several quarts outcroppings with nice crystals in them. Only brought a few out. Wish I could back but it's a LONG way from Alaska...