Hi Folks,
Recently a mate bought me a new scoop after I commented on how good his was to use. Have you ever thought about scoops and their design? There are so many possibilities and variations on what is essentially a small plastic hand spade. And yes, there are many of you who don't use them at all and that’s OK as well. I still remember the trip into the big green shed to buy my first scoop. It was one of those cylindrical plastic potting scoops that sell for just under four bucks. You all know the one I’m talking about. Many of you use them. They do the job but in my opinion they fall down in a few areas. They work reasonably well if you dig a large hole and uncover a target that is quite big. On small targets in a minimal scrape, they are painfull to use. The round nose and curved base do not allow material to be picked up easily. As the sides of the scoop roll over, it is a very deliberate act to totally empty all of the contents onto the ground. I had a couple of them and gave them away as I was unhappy with their performance. Here is a pic of the other scoops that I have used over the years.
Each one works well under certain conditions but I do have a favourite that I will be carrying with me on all detecting trips. Anyway, I’ll give my opinion of each one in turn. Many of you may disagree and rightly so. Different detectors, ground, gold size and depth and of course detecting styles and habits will impact on what scoop you use. So here goes……
This is a narrow, inexpensive scoop that has one major advantage. It is quite good at pulling gravel and soil from between rock bars. Apart from that specific use, it is not much “chop” for anything else. It has limited capacity, a rounded nose and curved base. Not bad for digging in soft ground but small targets get “lost“ in the depth of the spoil in the scoop.
Similar to the first scoop but it has a larger capacity. It’s not a bad choice for an SDC where the holes dug are generally small. Again, the curved base and nose makes recovery of small targets a bit more of a challenge. Tapping the side of the scoop or shaking contents will allow gold to settle to the bottom for easier target identification. At a cost of $4, it is an inexpensive purchase.
Similar to the previous scoop except for a pointed nose and a flat base. The flat base allows a small quantity of material to be tested more effectively as the depth of material is shallower across the whole base. At $18 it is an expensive option.
This scoop works quite well when processing large quantities of material quickly. It digs soft ground quite well. The curved base allows gold to settle to the bottom of the scoop if it is tapped or shaken when full of gravel or soil. It does not work well on small gold taken from a small scrape. At $22 it is an expensive piece of moulded plastic.
This scoop moves large quantities of material quickly and also works well at recovering small targets due to its flat base. The square nose allows it to be used like a dust pan for recovering small quantities of spoil on flat ground. At $6, it is an inexpensive option. This is by far the best scoop that I have used. I would be interested in the comments and experiences of other members in this area.
Cheers
Les
Recently a mate bought me a new scoop after I commented on how good his was to use. Have you ever thought about scoops and their design? There are so many possibilities and variations on what is essentially a small plastic hand spade. And yes, there are many of you who don't use them at all and that’s OK as well. I still remember the trip into the big green shed to buy my first scoop. It was one of those cylindrical plastic potting scoops that sell for just under four bucks. You all know the one I’m talking about. Many of you use them. They do the job but in my opinion they fall down in a few areas. They work reasonably well if you dig a large hole and uncover a target that is quite big. On small targets in a minimal scrape, they are painfull to use. The round nose and curved base do not allow material to be picked up easily. As the sides of the scoop roll over, it is a very deliberate act to totally empty all of the contents onto the ground. I had a couple of them and gave them away as I was unhappy with their performance. Here is a pic of the other scoops that I have used over the years.
Each one works well under certain conditions but I do have a favourite that I will be carrying with me on all detecting trips. Anyway, I’ll give my opinion of each one in turn. Many of you may disagree and rightly so. Different detectors, ground, gold size and depth and of course detecting styles and habits will impact on what scoop you use. So here goes……
This is a narrow, inexpensive scoop that has one major advantage. It is quite good at pulling gravel and soil from between rock bars. Apart from that specific use, it is not much “chop” for anything else. It has limited capacity, a rounded nose and curved base. Not bad for digging in soft ground but small targets get “lost“ in the depth of the spoil in the scoop.
Similar to the first scoop but it has a larger capacity. It’s not a bad choice for an SDC where the holes dug are generally small. Again, the curved base and nose makes recovery of small targets a bit more of a challenge. Tapping the side of the scoop or shaking contents will allow gold to settle to the bottom for easier target identification. At a cost of $4, it is an inexpensive purchase.
Similar to the previous scoop except for a pointed nose and a flat base. The flat base allows a small quantity of material to be tested more effectively as the depth of material is shallower across the whole base. At $18 it is an expensive option.
This scoop works quite well when processing large quantities of material quickly. It digs soft ground quite well. The curved base allows gold to settle to the bottom of the scoop if it is tapped or shaken when full of gravel or soil. It does not work well on small gold taken from a small scrape. At $22 it is an expensive piece of moulded plastic.
This scoop moves large quantities of material quickly and also works well at recovering small targets due to its flat base. The square nose allows it to be used like a dust pan for recovering small quantities of spoil on flat ground. At $6, it is an inexpensive option. This is by far the best scoop that I have used. I would be interested in the comments and experiences of other members in this area.
Cheers
Les
I have trouble bending over and getting down on my knees requires a crane to get me back up. Getting old is a bitch
.
