Musing about the Stavr Scoop

[landman]

I have a Surfmaster PI with the 9.5" coil. I've always had trouble pinpointing with a PI with anything larger than the 8" loop, like I had on my Barracuda (loved that machine).
Today was no exception. Because you have a limited amount of time, energy or motivation, target retrieval is very important. I have one of the Stavr scoops.
The reason I bought the Stavr was it's light weight. Getting older I thought less weight meant more energy and more motivation to hunt.
What I really needed instead of saving a pound or so was sheer volume of material moved with each scoop.
What I need was a Stealth Sunspot scoop with a full 14" of digging power.
Because as I attack each target the hole would get bigger and bigger and with each scoop. The target moves around, I'm trying to pinpoint with the edge of the loop, having some difficulty.
With the smaller Stavr scoop I wasting my energy and challenging my motivation because I needed to capture more volume to get the target quicker.

If I had an Excalibur I don't know if scoop size would matter because as much do to I'm digging less due to discrimination.
But with a PI it's worth the extra pound or two for a more robust scoop
and anyhow an extra pound on the scoop won't matter when you're filling it with 40 lbs of wet sand.
Just some thoughts.

Oh and the buoyant coil and the flip flop of the coil were maddening.
I have a coil stabilizer on order and will be weighting the rod next time.

 

[GeorgeinSC]

I have the 9.5" wet sand T-Rex scoop and in the surf I need every inch of it to get a target. The surf will wash the sand back in the hole about as fast as I can dig it out. In the water I like the size of the scoop as it gives me a better opportunity to get the target if the Excal tells me that it is a bit deeper. To carry the scoop I use a Wagner's Tool Lasso that I purchased at Lowes. Puts all the weight of the scoop and handle on your belt and not on your arm. At 73 yrs and 10 months I can still hit the beach for six to eight hours. Of course I do not go like I was trying to kill snakes. Slow and Easy does it.

 

[dewcon4414]

Lets be honest .... PPing is your problem.... well that and a PI. RARELY are you going to dig a gold ring 14" even with a PI..... you may however be digging a LOT of trash that tends to wrap around because of its rust causing it to become a HIGH conductor to the PI. To many people also attempt to use the scoop the wrong way. Pointing a 14" scoop straight down to bury it then pulling back trying to move all that material tends to take its tole on your body fast. Most of that material is just going to float/move the target out of the scoop...... not to mention broken handles and bent scoop. I have a friend that broke 3 handles and BENT his stealth twice before learning how to use his scoop. After the first scoop give it a second before digging again..... targets on the side of the hole tend to move into the center of the hole. Check the weith.... i believe the Starvr is and inch wider. PIs can be a bear to PP with just because of the coil HALO. GL..... but i wouldnt give up on that Starvr scoop.

Dew

 

[mudpuppy]

Everything in the water is tougher than it should be!

Once you get your rig weighted and balanced, then it takes scooping 1000's of times in the darkness to get good with a scoop...OK so maybe 100's of times anyway..

.A guy cant fight the water or lift the sand for very long thats for sure, they are both too powerful...so I use my scoop like its a hoe instead of a shovel... I simply pull it toward me over a target and let it dig in itself, sort of like hoeing weeds out of the bean patch,.....then I can quickly rescan the hole, perhaps move 90 degrees to the first drag, and give it another pass...or just give it another pass in the same trench...so I'm not the one moving/lifting the volumn, since like I said, a hoe just moves the sand and doesnt really bucket it up until Im on target and ready...

I use it like this on wet sand or dry sand too...like a hoe...never once stepped down on it yet to dig a hole...we have some pretty deep sand up here too...the kind of sand that squeeks when you walk on it and was used in the old days by iron foundrys...this seems to work for me so I wonder why more guys dont use a scoop like a hoe? my scoop is homemade, gotta pretty long bill, 90 degree wood handle...
Mud

 

[KinTN]

Yeah, I'm a hoe-er too. Mostly I dig if I think the target will come up in the first scoop (I am an optimist), but I started hoe-ing with a cheap aluminum beach scoop back when I got started because the cheaper scoop wouldnt take the beating of constant digging.