New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

Man. I wish we had stuff like that on the Coromandel.

Not bad for an afternoon's work!

Hi guys, Have to agree with Eagle.

Thanks KK, It is good to see some yellow & that some one is out there doing it & not just talking about it or talking about everything else but gold. I havnt been out myself for a good month due to weather, petrol cost factor of getting to places, lack of work in the building trade (Dont mention CHch as that hasnt kicked off yet & god knows when it will) plus I am being a bit more sociable with my wife in the weekends as her wedding video season has quietened down in the weekends due to winter. Hence my beach detecting but I seem to have cleaned that up now. I broke out the GP 3000 with 18" mono coil & went over the spots where I got those coins & only got a few more at greater depth.
I made a few phone calls down to Queenstown for work but my contacts down there are quiet as well. Bugger....So not too sure when I will get out again.

Good luck out there

JW :)

Is that a dig at anyone in particular - now if theres one thing I love is controversy so dont make generalised statements - just be specific and then it livens up the forum with very spirited 'debating' - after all with winter here and getting worse right this moment gold fossicking is more or less on hold for many of us so nothing like a bit of life to keep everyone awake...or is it a self reference - I mean what is being social or wedding photos got to do with gold...you see we are all the same - we get sidetracked but who cares...its all good fun...as long as we arent having digs at others!

Very nice! Inspired to get my arse into gear picking up a warmer wetsuit!

Cheers Lammerlaw - so you reckon go for a 7mm? I notice the difference taped seems make - my 4mm / 3mm surf wettie is totally taped apart from the arms. As was digging quite deep down with my arms last mission I noticed the colder water getting in and starting to make me feel cold!

I am old fashioned I guess and dont know if they do still make them but I had two blue coloured ones and I think they may have been Moray brand. I wore them when there was snow and ice on the banks of the river and they were quite effective...the only parts that got worn, and worn badly were the knees and elbows so I learnt to make pads on the cheap out of car tyre tubes.

I certainly would not consider three or four mm as some of our rivers get too cold for them and remember that once you are in the water and finding a bit of gold you do not want to get out...not if you are like me anyway!

@Lammerlaw - good tip regarding knee and elbow protectors! Found some cheap knee pads in Bunnings for $5 for now.

@KraziKiwi - Any tips are greatly appreciated. Do you go for 7mm as well? Any wetsuit features I should look out for?

Cheers,
Gavin

Tyre tube knee pads wear longer than most commercial ones - make them out of tyre tubes that are a bit too big so that they dont pull tight on the knees but can be tied tightly above and below knees so that they dont slip. If they are loose on the actual knees then your knees will bend easily and without tiring strain being place on them.

I found it best to get a three piece wetsuit - trousers with bib, jacket and then a separate hood - My real expensive 8mm wetsuit had a built in hood and it was always hurting my neck no matter how I tried to adjust it. For that reason as well as the fact that it was so tiring to wear I put it aside and it is still where I hung it in the early to mid 90s!

If you decide to buy the booties that they buy for diving then be careful as they also wear out very fast - in swift water digging toes into gravel tends to wear toes out in ten minutes...well it seems like it...if you do buy them then get some boots or other footwear which is far oversize for your feet but which can be worn comfortably with the booties on...if you get diving gloves then they last even less time! They are good IF you can get full hand chain mesh gloves to go over top of them...and even they dont last very long at all either! If you get PVC type gloves then rest assured that they will also wear out very quickly at the finger tips so if you caan get them to go over diving gloves then they wont protect your diving gloves for long. The PVC type gloves which are often seen in Red but sometimes in green then buy several pairs - when I saw them on special I used to buy them virtually wholesale.

Edited by user Friday, 8 July 2011 11:49:25 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified