A
Anonymous
Guest
Well, I just had to try out my new floating sifter. I was going to go and buy some stuff to make a strap, when I realized that the little camera bag I bought for my new digital camera has a strap in it, and I'm not using that strap.
I went to a nearby lake that I've pulled some gold and silver out of, as well as a county sheriff's badge, not to mention the usual junk you get from the water. I had to dress warmly, as I knew that water would be cold. I had on some thermal undies, cotton socks, rag wool socks, blue jeans, t-shirt, nylon fleece pullover, US Army Field Jacket, chest waders, and my trapper's gloves. I carried the sifter over to the stairway that leads down into the water. I unhooked one end of the strap, and clipped that to my utility strap. I set the sifter into the water. Here's what it looks like:
<center> <img src=http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/8065/floatingsifterinwater3fx.jpg> </center> <p>
I wasn't sure how high out of the water she was going to ride. The screen rests about an inch under the surface on average.
Of course, I was in the water with the sifter, WITH my camera, when I took that pic. I promptly exited the water (which was rather chilly, even through all my layers), propped the sifter against the stairs, and took my camera back to the van. I returned to the water with my CZ-20 and scoop, as I wanted to give this a full test. I remembered I had stashed a probe thermometer in one of the upper pockets of my jacket, so I temp'ed the water, at a chilly 50 degrees. That's actually warmer than I thought it was going to be, but still chily. After I had reattached the sifter to me, mounted the controlbox on the hipmount clip, and extended the shaft, I was good to go. I GB'ed the unit, which didn't take much adjustment, as this was the last place I water-hunted last year.
Right off the bat, I get a target, in about 3' of water. I bracketed the target, then scooped it into the sifter. I knew I had it, as I scanned the hole as I was lifting the scoop up. After I dumped the material, I turned around and collapsed the sides of the shallow hole I had just dug. That only took about 15 - 20 seconds. When I turned back to the sifter, IT HAD ALREADY CLEARED THE SAND! I had a few pieces of gravel, a freshwater mussel, and a 1993 Zinc cent. Yippee.
I will admit that grabbing targets off the screen with trapper's gloves on is a bit of work. Also, I wouldn't recommend using a floating sifter if you're going to have spectators. I'd rather sift the material in my scoop if there's people in the water with me, as I can "hide" the target a little better, palm it underwater, and stash it in either my goodie bag or zippered rear pocket underwater and out of sight. If there's a gold ring in the material, it'll be visible once the sand clears, and if they're really close, they might just palm it before I get done filling in the hole.
Here's the "nut" from the hour I spent in the water. A clad dime, zinc cent, golf ball, couple of bottlecaps, and a medicine bottle that I eyeballed.
<center> <img src=http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/6708/20060327finds7hu.jpg> </center> <p>
Note: the picture(s) might not show up due to bandwidth limitations. If the picture(s) are not there, check back at a later time.
I went to a nearby lake that I've pulled some gold and silver out of, as well as a county sheriff's badge, not to mention the usual junk you get from the water. I had to dress warmly, as I knew that water would be cold. I had on some thermal undies, cotton socks, rag wool socks, blue jeans, t-shirt, nylon fleece pullover, US Army Field Jacket, chest waders, and my trapper's gloves. I carried the sifter over to the stairway that leads down into the water. I unhooked one end of the strap, and clipped that to my utility strap. I set the sifter into the water. Here's what it looks like:
<center> <img src=http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/8065/floatingsifterinwater3fx.jpg> </center> <p>
I wasn't sure how high out of the water she was going to ride. The screen rests about an inch under the surface on average.
Of course, I was in the water with the sifter, WITH my camera, when I took that pic. I promptly exited the water (which was rather chilly, even through all my layers), propped the sifter against the stairs, and took my camera back to the van. I returned to the water with my CZ-20 and scoop, as I wanted to give this a full test. I remembered I had stashed a probe thermometer in one of the upper pockets of my jacket, so I temp'ed the water, at a chilly 50 degrees. That's actually warmer than I thought it was going to be, but still chily. After I had reattached the sifter to me, mounted the controlbox on the hipmount clip, and extended the shaft, I was good to go. I GB'ed the unit, which didn't take much adjustment, as this was the last place I water-hunted last year.
Right off the bat, I get a target, in about 3' of water. I bracketed the target, then scooped it into the sifter. I knew I had it, as I scanned the hole as I was lifting the scoop up. After I dumped the material, I turned around and collapsed the sides of the shallow hole I had just dug. That only took about 15 - 20 seconds. When I turned back to the sifter, IT HAD ALREADY CLEARED THE SAND! I had a few pieces of gravel, a freshwater mussel, and a 1993 Zinc cent. Yippee.
I will admit that grabbing targets off the screen with trapper's gloves on is a bit of work. Also, I wouldn't recommend using a floating sifter if you're going to have spectators. I'd rather sift the material in my scoop if there's people in the water with me, as I can "hide" the target a little better, palm it underwater, and stash it in either my goodie bag or zippered rear pocket underwater and out of sight. If there's a gold ring in the material, it'll be visible once the sand clears, and if they're really close, they might just palm it before I get done filling in the hole.
Here's the "nut" from the hour I spent in the water. A clad dime, zinc cent, golf ball, couple of bottlecaps, and a medicine bottle that I eyeballed.
<center> <img src=http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/6708/20060327finds7hu.jpg> </center> <p>
Note: the picture(s) might not show up due to bandwidth limitations. If the picture(s) are not there, check back at a later time.