Shaft height/Technique

[bottlecap]

After putting 30 hours on my new detector in a week I started experiencing some pretty severe shoulder/elbow pain. The weight of the detector doesn't seem to be the issue, I think it may be my technique/having the shaft too short? Is there a rule of thumb or anything used to determine how long to have your detector? Maybe if it's standing up and down it should come up to your chest, or belly button or something like that? How far out should I have the coil from my feet? I am assuming part of this is personal preference, but I am looking for the least amount of shoulder/elbow movement with the most amount of coil coverage. Thanks.

 

[Dave Rishar]

Can you sweep in an arc that you're happy with without stooping over? If so, your shaft is adjusted correctly.

 

[relicmeister]

Trial and error, but I always have a nylon strap on my detector which helps cause you can let the weight of the detector fall on your shoulders some of the time which helps. If you want to try it, any nylon strap about 3+ feet long and secure from each
end of the arm cuff of the detector. adjust till it sort of lightly rubs your back collar as you sweep.

 

[cosmic]

Let your arm hang naturally as you hold your detector and then adjust your coil about a foot in front of you right foot. If right handed.... That will help, also relax your grip on the detector..

 

[unfound]

try different lengths and see if it changes. slower and shorter arcs also. Are you new to detecting? its not a natural movement you would normally do and your body will need to adjust. I know after a long day of detecting my wrist will be sore sometimes but not my elbow or shoulder.

 

[keystonecops]

Good question and answers. I had the same question. Later Clyde

 

[DDancer]

Cosmic's recommendation is the best for general adjustment. I find it also helps to hold the detector and get a feel for where it balances in your hand. use the shaft adjustment to make the coil end slightly heavier than the arm rest end. This forces the armrest into your fore arm to take more of the load and allows for your wrist to relax more. What I find generally happens when my elbow and shoulder are stressed its due to the fact that I'm using them to fight the swing of the machine... this means the arm rest is not countering the torque of the swing.... my wrist also feels it.
A product that might help to is a bungie rig. The best one I've found is Doc's Swing Thingy. It helps take the weight of the machine off the arm and gives me more control of my detector when adjusted right.

 

[cudamark]

I'd try a sling to start with and maybe change the shaft length to see if that helps any. Keep in mind that some detectors aren't balanced very well and others are just plain HEAVY! I.E. ATX, E-trac, Excalibur, etc. You add a big coil and it gets even worse.

 

[bottlecap]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I adjusted my shaft so it's longer and did a test run in the house just to get a feel for it and it seems to help. Almost seems like the longer the shaft the less moving I have to do to cover the same amount of ground. I wasn't hunched over at all before but the detector was pretty close to my toes.