The best beach scoop I ever had...

[Snowy]

This is what I use for beach detecting, it is stainless steel, and even sifts damp beach sand no problems...
I don't think it is distributed here in Australia, I had to buy mine from Jimmy Sierra direct.
Jimmy calls it the " Stainless steel shorty "

[Snoopy36]

Looks real nice there Snowy. How much did that cost? I'm thinking of making one out of a saucepan   I'll see how I go...

Cheers
Snoop

[Snowy]

Snoopy, I think that it cost me about $90 Aus or so, by the time I had it delivered from the US...
But it really every bit as good as I said, my wife uses one, and my buddy and his wife had to have one each after they borrowed ours for a day!

Here's a link to Jimmy Sierras site...

http://jimmysierra.com/basket_shortystainlessC.html

 

I also have a large really nice Garrett stainless steel laser cut scoop, it is made from stainless sheet metal, and is great in the dry sand.
Unfortunately when you scoop up damp sand the damp sand packs firm onto the flats between the square holes.
You can buy plastic scoops from pet food/horse feed places pretty cheap, the you just drill holes all over it...

I find wire mesh the best by far for damp sand.

Cheers mate.

[RiverRat]

   Hey Snowy, now thats a nice looking scoop,   how does it handle the damp to wettish sand?
   i can see it will sift just fine but does it need a little push with your foot to get some depth?

   The reason i'm asking is i want to try some beach hunting this summer & plan to make my own
   scoop. I was just wondering if the mesh holds up ok to a bit of pushing with your foot or if it
   needs a little reinforcing designed in. Never used a beach scoop before, thats why i'm asking,
   i want to get it right the first time so it can handle a foot push, especially if i use it in the wet
   river mud. One with drilled holes would be useless in the mud scenario.

     Cheers   RR
   
   

[Snowy]

     Cheers   RR
RR it is a strong scoop alright, but I don't think it would stand up to a life of foot use...
It sifts damp sand fantastically, it would sift mud well if you were to do the shaking in the water.
My wife scoops very well in damp or dry sand at the beach... No need for foot pressure at all!
She reaches forward, and scoops back towards herself, I am only talking about Melbourne bay beach detecting here,
I don't know exactly what type of stuff you are detecting in...
We pass through Echuca a couple of times a year, and I have seen the river edge behind the information centre there,
would that be typical river bank grounds that you detect in ?
Or is it soft/free flowing sand like the bay beaches ?
   
   

[Red]

Quote Snowy-
I also have a large really nice Garrett stainless steel laser cut scoop, it is made from stainless sheet metal, and is great in the dry sand.
Unfortunately when you scoop up damp sand the damp sand packs firm onto the flats between the square holes.


Hi Snowy, I've found on damp sand where the scoop cut holds form, taking slightly less in each scoop allows more room to shake sand free. You do need to work more quickly on the wet sand as the walls collapse with water seeping up...take a full scoop then dump it to one side...check if the target is out of the hole, if not, go in for the next scoop.

Cheers

[Snowy]

Quote Red ~ "Hi Snowy, I've found on damp sand where the scoop cut holds form, taking slightly less in each scoop allows more room to shake sand free. You do need to work more quickly on the wet sand as the walls collapse with water seeping up...take a full scoop then dump it to one side...check if the target is out of the hole, if not, go in for the next scoop.

Cheers"

Thanks Red, yeah I have had the damp sand really ball up and thump & flop around the scoop...
Then the more ya shake it; the denser it gets !!!
No problems at all with wire mesh though, and it gets sifted quick smart too.

There was a post once from a guy, who used a plastic bucket with no bottom in it, he shoved this bucket down into the sand over his pinpointed target.
And when he scooped out the wet sand from within the bucket, the walls of the bucket prevented the sand and water from caving in!

I do remember leaving a good sounding target at a Melbourne beach years ago,I just couldn't burrow down quick enough, and the target seemed to be
going deeper and deeper! Water just kept roaring in !!!
 
Didn't upset me really...
NOT MUCH !!!

I just convinced myself it was just a rotten aluminium can base, and calmly went on with my life !!! 

[Red]

Snowy,
Are you sure that ball of damp sand that thumped and flopped around in the scoop  wasn't a washed up, heavily encrusted clear slippery jelly thingy was it?  Can't say I've had any scoops that have balled but the type of sand, course to fine, heavily shelled or crushed shells will soon determine whether it's best to dump or sift.

Cheers

[Snowy]

HA HA HA Red, jelly fish eh !!!

[RiverRat]

  This is all great info (highlighting the pitfalls) for someone who has never tried
  beach/wet sand scooping before,  i DON'T want to blatantly rip off Jimmy's design,
  but the concept of mesh screening is superior for what i need. I'll have to put my
  thinking cap on & see what i can come up with as i'll need to be able to push with
  my foot if i use it down the river.

     Cheers   RR

[Red]

Snowy-   Where do you get all these wonderful images?

RiverRat-  for river -You may be best to first try building a floating sifter. Some use them at the beach while in the water so they can dump and move onto the next target.  Or a portable sluice box for that matter depending on the area you are working, then your options for digging tools would be more open.

cheers

[Snoopy36]

There's this guy Patrick on Youtube from Hawaii who made a floating sifter by getting a plastic colander, cutting out a circle on a piece of square thick styrofoam so that the colander fits snugly into it without it falling through. Clever idea really and it's cheap. He basically floats it near him as he wades in and dumps dirt into it from under the water...

[Snowy]

Snowy-   Where do you get all these wonderful images?

Red, I save ( pinch ) them from the web, they're little gifs which I use in a forum post or a private email...

I know that it's probably not the thing to do, but I'm not using them commercially; and I only use them on personal emails or for fun on the forums...
But actually some are freely available totally free from some sites...

Here's another one for ya Red ...    

[Snoopy36]

Hmmm.... lemme try this....

But how do you put it in the body of the message instead of attachment???

Snoopy

[Snowy]

Hi Snoopy, I use the free site "Photobucket" to store my photos...   http://photobucket.com/

After you haved saved your collection of images in Photobucket, you need only post a link to an image.

To get this link, you left click with your cursor in the fourth window down "beneath the image you want to post..." ( IMG Code.)
See picture below.


When this window is high lighted, I then right click this highlighted window and select "copy."

You then paste this line into where you are typing the text of your post, the image then appears with , (or mixed in with; if you wish) your text...

I hope I have posted this info in an understanding way !!!

Here's one for you Snoopy !!!