Uncle Ron

GB2, Whites GMT, Gold Bug, GM2, GM VSAT, GM 3, SD2100, GP4500 and my old original from back in the '70's, a Garrett Groundhog...They all kicked ass in their own ways...Cheers, Unc

Yay...Bill and Tammy dropped off my new GM1000 today ... Got to play with it a tiny bit but have to charge the battery, which is almost complete .... Got lots of targets in my back yard, but there's lots of ferrous and non-ferrous back there ... I'm pretty certain there's no gold on my property, but there are some old bullets and tons of trash! ... I'm excited! Cheers, Unc

Knifemaker, I have the SD2100 and the GP4500 ...Both are excellent machines and can be had for a good price ...I'd also suggest the GP3500 because I've seen it work wonders in the hands of newbies and old pros alike ... Plus, you can get a huge number of different coils very reasonably, used... Cheers, Unc

Ol' Baboo is setting in the shadows, scheming a promising me she's gonna come back roaring for me after my infatuation with the GM1000 and my 4500 cools off ... We'll see...Cheers, Unc

Teddy Bear Cholla... nasty critter and I've sported more of them than I like to think about...There's all kinds of pain in the world, but Cholla has a special perch in Hell! The guy in the picture was riding a mountain bike a few years ago, missed a turn on the trail, and, well, you can see the outcome ... I Always carry a stiff comb and a pair of multi-tools ... They've been put to use many, many times!!!! BCOT ... Cheers, Unc

Yay, finally broke down and bought a new GM1000 from Bill today....Been watchng his instructional videos and those of others all day long...I'm thinking the new unit and my repaired heart will finally get me back out in the gold fields after nearly 4 years lost to physical issues...I'm excited ... Can anyone tell me how they work on coins too??? Yahoo! Cheers, Unc

I'm sure there will be some great drone and regular video of the outing...Dodacious and I just got home from the biggest gathering yet after 20 years of gatherings ...There were easily 100 folks there, amazing food (and lots of it) ... Lots of good talk with old friends and a few new ones ... Jack Ass Flats was jam packed... Several ladies found their first gold nuggets and some guy I didn't get to see found a nice one...Hope someone posts some gold found...Anyhow another roaring Nuggetshooter success! Cheers, Unc

So I just tried to subscribe but the ICMJ form is not working and won't let me complete the order ....Also, if ICMJ just added PayPal to the list of payments it would save a ton of time .... I tried twice then gave up!

I downloaded it and read your article about finding forest patches...great job, Chris! Cheers, Unc

Hitchhiker....About 20 years ago I owned the prospecting shop in Wickenburg ... I had two total greenhorns come to the store separately and outfitted their unrelated quests to prospect full time....I tried to dissuade them from walking away from their lives to try something they knew nothing about but both had the worst cases of the fever I've seen ... They both bought detectors from me and I took them out to train them ... Neither one wanted to slow down and follow my training and after a full day with each one, I pretty much threw up my hands... They couldn't find a buried pickup truck racing through the goldfields, swinging in a big arch with the coil only near the ground about10% of each swing...Anyhow, my parting advice to each one was, "Don't try to do this full time because you are not being sensible" in the way they approached it... A couple months later, one of them came back to the store wanting to sell their gear to me to buy groceries ... The other one seemed to have lost his mind and was barely capable of regular functioning ... Neither found any gold in a month or so and they both just disappeared... On the other hand, I know of many folks who approach it with a degree of reservation about throwing the whole hog in the fire who did quite well and continue to do so to this day...Nugget detecting is the most difficult form of detecting ... Unlike coin detecting in which all you have to do is find a park or a beach, etc., gold detecting requires the acquisition of geology, mineralogy, etc... I did it for a living from about 1979 to 1985 and did make a bunch of money until our mine collapsed due to investors ... But it was fun! Hayfork is a very interesting area and I think with good prospecting it could be a good producing area ... Whatever you decide to do, a good conservative approach could be an amazing adventure and maybe a little golden too! Good luck! and have fun! Cheers, Unc

Just told Dodie about you bringing cornbread....She's pumped! .... She's looking forward to hugs from the Toms and everyone else!

Yo All... Last Thursday AM I had shots in my spine...After the anesthesia wore off, Dodacious and I went for some sushi then back home to Wickenburg...As I was fixing to crawl in bed about 10 PM, I got a aching pain in the middle of my chest, which quickly turned into a crippling massive chest pain...Dodie took me to the Wickenburg ER and after about 4 hours they loaded me up on an ambulance and took me to the Arizona Heart Hospital ... After a night from hell, they poked and prodded me and attached all kinds of tubes, wires, machines, etc....After most of the day having tests they said I needed emergency heart surgery (stents) ... About 3 pm Friday I went into the operating room ... They drugged me up and went for it ... Out of the OR about 4 PM and back to my room for a night from hell ... They put too much anesthesia in me and I spend the night having huge trouble breathing ... I had great nurses who were all over it and gave me the treatments I needed to recover, though it took until early Sat. AM to counter act the drug problem ... About 4 AM my cardiologist, the best in the world, I might add, came in and told me the operation was a complete success with 3 more stents added to the 4 I had gotten 4 years ago... He confirmed I had a pretty serious heart attack! Anyhow, they let me out mid afternoon and since Sat. night I've been regrouping as has Dodie who went through hell worrying about me ... So, the good news is that I expect to be recovered enough to make the outing for at least a couple days! YAY... Cheers, Unc

It doesn't splinter, just creates a yellow dust that wipes right off...I get them at Home Depot or my local Ace Hardware....Work great and lasts forever ... Cheers, Unc

I always replace the wooden handles with fiberglass .... I've broken too many wooden handles and got splinters alot after leaving my picks in the back of my truck ... for me, wood handles don't work for long in the big AZ!...Bunks picks rock! Cheers, Unc

Good job, Gary....Those all are very nice! Congrats, Cheers, Unc