A Top Pro's Excal Mods

[cjc]

Roland Dalcourt has got to be one of the top hunters on the planet. His finds include six Rolexes, several Cartier watches, Brietlings, and last winter alone he found three diamond solitares worth over $15,000 each. The best one appraised at $18.500. HIs biggest chain was over 200 grams. He chest mounts the Excalibur so I thought that forum members might be interested in some of the mods he does to a new unit to protect the cables and contain any excess. He uses 3M rubberized tape to bind the cables. I'll also put up a picture of some of his finds from last season including a 90 gram 18k chain and a $5000 diamond studded bangle. His motto? "I am the king" He is.
cjc
clivesgoldpage.com

 

[mudpuppy]

Ohhhhhh!

Tell us a bit more about this guy...how long has he been at it? He is obviously very committed to the craft...does he ever dive? He's obviously targeted some great rich people places and knows how (and when) to hunt them.....of similar interest,

I saw a gold chain and bracelet on a guy last week when I was at a closed function that drew wealthy people in from all over the World....I was outside smoking when this stranger walked up to have one too...He asked me for a light, and as I fired up the bic and he leaned down to catch the light, POW! .A spark of big gold right at the edge under the neck of his shirt caught my eye!....I've been looking for chain wearers, trying to figure out the demographic and their travel patterns, lifestyle, etc. ..since it seemed like a a good idea to try to hunt their path to up the odds a bit..even though its still pretty slim that a person would lose one outside and not notice, it may just give a person an edge.

So I asked him about them..."Hey, thats a beautiful chain you got there" .. then he pulled up his sleeve to reveal the bracelet and started talking...the bracelet and chain were a matching set, 18k, custom made, very unique pattern I never saw before...the bracelet alone was 3oz and the monstrous chain held a massive cross! The kind of cross a guy would see hanging on a wall or on the top of a pole in a religious procession! chain and cross total weight of 7oz!...As the dialog progressed and we switched topics, I asked if he goes to the beach any, and he does! (not gonna say where for obvious reasons) says he wears them all the time too, big fella, friendly, but most likely packing, or should be...So theres hope out there for all of us! I Shoulda gotta picture!
Mud

 

[cjc]

He does do some wreck diving--it's so rough at the location that he wears a Cooperall suit to not get dashed on the reef. Not so much that there's tons of money at the sites he works, more that he does the low-end places and has the optimism to be consistent with them. He just covers a lot of ground.
cjc

 

[mudpuppy]

Boy I hate to hear that...'He just covers a lot of ground'...I was hoping for something easy!...

Still, his positive attitude does count for a lot, a guy has to be super motivated and confident in his gear and his ability, as with all the top shelf experts in pursuit oriented sports.....he sounds like some sort of detector Savant, a rabid coil swinger who's out in all weather and has a nose for gold..a guy dont find that kind of heavy take just swinging along all willy nilly no matter what the gear or motivation or coil size...that amount of physical effort has gotta short shelf life in our sport, few years tops, covering a lot of ground, day after day, swinging coil and digging sand...you should do an interview and publish it! Although this may be all we get...a dude like that generally dont want to share what has taken him some hard sand hours to learn to the general populace...inspirational..thanks Clive!
Mud

 

[KinTN]

I'm always interested in how successful hunters set up their gear, how they hunt, and Especially how they mod their gear. Thanks clive.

 

[Rainyday101]

It seems most successful hunters are retired and have lots of time to hunt. I am not retired, therefore I am not successful!

 

[cjc]

Roland was also kind enough to send a picture of himself geared up. The chestmount set-up is why he gets all of his cables out of the way so as not to damage them. There's also a hook for the phones to keep them secured when walking. He also uses custom gloves to dig with. One has no fingers to feel around for the gold and the other has the fingers treated with an epoxy to dig with and not be cut by the coral or glass. He also sewed a custom weight belt much like the DWI system. It's a vest that doesen't fasten in the front and can be easily dropped in an emergency.
cjc
clivesgoldpage.co.

 

[mudpuppy]

He must use that deepish water 'snorkle and drop' fan method!, hence the gloves and a weight belt!...thats it right?

He looks to be in outstanding shape...thanks Clive,...keep us entertained here again this Winter please.
Mud

 

[Grilled Scallops]

What's a mystery to me, more so than how this guy finds those things, is why people actually go in the water or even to the beach wearing those items. You have to find the right place and the right (foolish) people. Mudpuppy has it right, you've got to figure out where the chain wearers go...then pretty much anyone can keep swinging a detector and play the waiting game, covering new ground, new water, new ground, new water, until the yellow comes up. Even if you have no clue what to look for in the sand, like cuts or currents, if you literally just keep covering as much ground and water, you will eventually find something. Mods, scoops, gloves etc. are just quality of life adjustments...in the big picture they mean little compared to just looking in the right spot. Looks like Clive and this guy have definitely found the right places to look. I have a hunch the majority of those huge finds are made in the water and not on the West coast (though maybe southern California beaches have some chain wearers?). Here where I live, our beaches can be entirely and completely scoured, some of use use machines that go a lot deeper than excals. We dig it all. Let me tell you, honking chains and fat, diamond studded bracelets don't exist in our sands. Come and try it. I envy the guys that know of beaches which chain wearers frequent. Perhaps one day when I'm retired I'll get to do some hunting for those honking chains. Would be nice to take home a big gold trophy like that. That's a long way off considering I still have to finish school! I will just have to stay happy with my beaches that only give gold rings for now.