weight of a stock gt

[Jiminsandiego]

Just weighed my gt. Stock everything. 10 in tornado coil (and cover) no hip mount bag or headphones (plus a little tape to hold the coil wire to shaft)...................5 pounds exactly weighed on a certified digital scale. Hope this helps critterhunter. Least I could do for all the info I've gotten from you. Thinking of getting a 12x15 sef coil and would like to get a spare (lighter) shaft( and arm cup) to make switching between the two coils easier. I hip mount the box with my propointer, so trying to shave all the weight off my swinging arm I can.
As always any input is much appreciated,
Cheers

 

[Critterhunter]

Hey, thanks a million for that and the kind words. WOW! 5 pounds? I did save a good bit of weight then. Well, I knew I did but it's nice to see the actual numbers. Did you have the rechargable pack in it?

Any questions that I can help you with in building that shaft just shoot me a PM or ask here. Thanks again!

 

[Critterhunter]

By the way, that scale didn't have a 5 pound limit (most do), did it? If it did then it'll max at 5 pounds and not report the extra weight. Just curious. And...stock rechargable pack or 8AAs in other holder?

 

[Jiminsandiego]

It was the stock rechargeable battery pack and the scale is capable of weighing much more weight. Probably not a coincidence that it was exactly 5 pounds.
Thanks again for your efforts.

 

[Critterhunter]

Thanks again. If I could bug you with one more question...I seem to remember weighing the stock GT configured as you described above but with the DigiSearch meter installed. I remember my digital scale not being able to show a weight because my scale has a 5 pound limit. So what I'm asking is did you have the DigiSearch meter on? Reason why I'm asking is because the weight savings feels a good bit more than what I get if I run the numbers on my unit subtracted from five pounds. It feels like I've saved well over a pound of weight. Five pounds strubtracted by 4 pounds 3.9oz is only 12.1 ounces. By the feel of it I had to saved way more weight than that. It feels much lighter than those numbers. That's why I'm thinking perhaps you weighed it without the meter?

 

[kered]

Balance has a lot to do with apparent weight loss, the excalibur is a prime example on the S shaft it seems to weigh a ton but on the straight shaft behind the cuff its perfect(both shafts are similar weight)
Its esier to carry 2 x 5 gallon buckets one either side than a 10 gallon on one side

 

[Jiminsandiego]

No meter Critterhunter (haven't sprung for one yet). I'd like to own the lightest shaft with a sef 12x15 connected to the hip mounted gt.....( in the world!). Hours and hours at La Jolla beach today. Can't imagine doing it without the hip mount. Swinging arm is always sore and my scoop arm is even worse Still going again in the morning ..... go figure . I'd brag about my finds today if I could (junk jewellery and clad coins) but it was an epic day at the beach. Does anyone know who invented the string bikini? O K off subject
Cheers

 

[synthnut]

....OK Jim , so we have very few finds, plenty of great looking women in string bikini's , and a sore arm ....... hmmmmmm .... .......Sorry, I couldn't resist !!!......... Have you checked out the Swingy Thingy ? .....It's a simple devise that holds hte weight of your detector while you swing away !!......They are a LIFE SAVER !!!.... You can swiing a heavy machine all day with little fatigue ..... I have one on my machines and can swing them all day without issue .... They up and down and digging is a pain , but the back holds out pretty welll with the S.T. .......Jim

 

[Critterhunter]

Thanks for answering that. I knew it, because my setup feels roughly about a pound to a pound and a half lighter by feel than it did when it was all stock. Now I just need to bug somebody to weight the DigiSearch meter so I can add that to the five pounds and get a final weight savings number. If anybody has a DigiSearch meter sitting free can you do that for me? I just hate snapping that thing off the V-clip. The last time I did that it took a good portion of my thumb with it. Luckily I have the stock shaft/armp cup set up with the 10" coil as my water rig, because I'd hate to be removing that meter every time I want to water hunt. That's the other big benefit to building a light weight land rig- you can then assemble the stock shaft back together and use that as your water rig without having to remove meters, change coils, etc. Feels like I've got two machines now, and when I run across an older Sovereign control box to water proof and keep on my water rig all the time I will have two rigs. If anybody has an older control box with nothing else shoot me a PM with a price.

 

[Critterhunter]

If you go with the Whites Tall Man rod and make your own lighter grade aluminum upper shaft you will have the lightest in the world for that. The carbon fiber tall man rod is plenty stiff enough for the 15x12, and I've used that in the water too. Just need to use four washers instead of two to make up for the less wide Whites rod mount. I glue those four washers in pairs with super glue and that takes a little of the flex out of that area. It's not really an issue, but in the woods before doing that if I hit a tree the coil would flutter on the shaft for a second. It was the play between the four washers. You could also use plastic washers for two of them and that takes the play out.

I tried hunting for a while with the GT hip or chest mounted when land hunting but I don't like feeling like I'm wired up to life support, in particular in the woods that can get in the way. I don't mind doing that water hunting, though. But that was the whole point in building a light weight GT. I prefer my land detectors to have the box on the shaft like any other normal detector, and thus that also was the reason for the remote PP because reaching where it is on the GT is a pain configured that way.

 

[kered]

Personally the difference between hipmount and shaft mount for me is down to weight, either way you still have one cable to the body from the rod to tangle( or give life support ), be it the coil wire to the hpmount or the headphone wire from the control box

 

[Critterhunter]

Who's got a DigiSearch meter off their GT right now that they can throw on a digital scale for me? Begging here, or I'll have to find some leather gloves to pop mine off it's V-Clip. That sucker hurts.

 

[dbsmokey]

Digisearch meter: 8.31 oz
cover for meter: 0.69 oz

 

[Critterhunter]

Thanks a million. My thumb thanks you. That means I've saved 1 pound 4.41 ounces!

 

[dbsmokey]

Thanks a million. My thumb thanks you. That means I've saved 1 pound 4.41 ounces!

You're welcome. That's quite a savings! I need to get my meter mounted on a custom handle. I am looking for the copper hanging strip you used. Critter, do you use 1/2"?

 

[Critterhunter]

Either Rick or Ron (?) tipped me off to that copper pipe hangar found at most home improvement stores for like $2. I don't remember it's size but perhaps they do. I took the stock V-clip and then just ran some flat headed screws (to clear the meter) into the two holes where the rivets used to go and through the pipe hangar. I then cut off the excess pipe hangar length.

As a side note, whenever drilling out rivets on shafts or anything like that be sure to shake any metal junk out of the shaft after your done. That stuff can migrate down to near the coil and perhaps cause false hits. While I'm thinking of it, one other potential advantage to using a carbon Whites tall man rod is that the metal upper shaft is now much further away from the coil, eliminating any risk of reducing performance or sensitivity.