New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

Howdy all.. I've been lurking around Paydirt for a few months now, awesome community of people here!.. thanks for sharing such a wealth of knowledge everyone, really cool to soak up some inspiration, especially kiwi styles...

So, I've finally invested in an AT Gold (after much filibustering and flip flopping on what model to get!).. and I'm wondering what kit people think is essential, stuff they cant do without when they are out in the field (or even back home), any kiwi ingenuity gems that you may find do the job better than anything off the shelf, kit you may have monkeyed around with to make better perhaps....kit you may think is NOT worthwhile / worth the weight in the field would also be very interesting to hear about well.

I've already bought these items / bits of kit I envisage being handy for a normal day trip in the field, but like i said I'm looking to hear what others think, maybe what you would ditch if you were on a multi day trip of hiking with ya normal gear to camp out..

*AT Gold Metal Detector with 5" x 8 DD coil + another 4.5" Super Sniper Coil ....(if you had to take one which would you take?)
*Standard Garrett Headphones ... (pretty bulky and heavy, but seem good - any lightweight good quality 'phones I should know about?)
*Garrett Retriever Digging Tool .. (basically a little pickaxe with magnet on the end)
*Garrett Edge Digger with sheath (sturdy but heavy - necessary or just take the Retriever and plastic scoop maybe?)
*Lesche Sampson T-Handle / Serrated Edge heavy duty little spade (Do i need this?.. or it it the ONLY thing i need to dig with?)
*Plastic Scoop
*Crevasse Scraper (do i need different sizes?..I've heard a little dentist set with those lightweight hooks are good for small cracks??)
*Diggers Pouch with waistbelt

I also have a gold pan, tweezers, gloves, small magnifying glass/loupe, vials.. do i really need any of them if I'm going lightweight for example though?.. how essential is the pan?

I should also say that I'm looking to primarily detect for just gold.. I have only spent a couple of hours on the AT Gold so far so feel free to throw me any pointers for the learning process there as well!... I've invested in a few smaller nuggets to practice with already.

BIG thanks in advance for any answers!
Matt

Hey thanks for that mate! - the garrett digger did seem outrageously heavy, but somehow not that sturdy at the same time!??.. it was part of a package deal when i got the detector otherwise i wouldn't have got it.. cheers again for the advice, appreciated.

Here is my kit washed and ready for the next one.
Plus belt pouch and headphones of course and I use a short camping shovel on the beach.
The shovel has lasted 3 years so far.
As you may know I sell the Field Knives. Been trying hard to break / bend mine when cutting plugs but
no luck so far. I find it better than the Lesche I had before.

MK

Hey thanks for the photo and advice Metal Kiwi.. I've got a Lesche Shovel and although i also have a coupla gardening shovels I'm thinking that the Lesche is going to be the way forwards due to its bombproof construction, even though its heavy... Your Field knife looks bombproof - can it be use as a Paua knife as well??...couldn't quit tell wether it was flat or not!....also, you dont find that you need a crevasse scraper or something similar?.. remember I'm gonna be looking for gold in riverbeds etc...

thanks again
Matt