brand spanking new

[fujimo]

howdy all.

brand new to the forum and to gold prospecting.

i have been lurking, listening and learning, watching heaps on you tube etc, our rivers are getting low out here in BC canada, and so i want to head out and get started. i would ultimately like to get a claim and be able to sluice, but for right now i am going to explore , learn, and "sample, sample, sample!!"

so some questions.

1.what is the best pan- it is going to be flour gold here- gravel banks, and bedrock

2.what would be the best sluice out there- it need to be easy enough to carry in for a few kilometers.

3. what else do i need- snuffer bottle, some vials.......

4.how do i go about getting a claim in B.C.- in the meantime i am going to pan the "open" areas

thanks

[El Dorado]

1. Any pan will work

2. Any folding sluice

3. Beer, Sandwich

4. Dunno

5. Welcome to the forum

Seriously, You got the idea already..... maybe add a few tools to clean up cracks and bedrock

[fujimo]

thanks El Dorado,

just see so many different pans out there with all sorts of traps and gizmo's- some say their riffles will hold nuggetts better and visa versa etc etc- just wondered if there was a tried and tested pan that just worked well.

and the same for the sluices eventually-varied lengths and types of rubber riffles and moss etc etc- just dont want to make too many mistakes buying junk( although i am sure its gonna happen!)

thanks!! - gotta get started

[El Dorado]

If you buy just about anything made by Keene you cannot go wrong. Panning is most effected by the users technique, not the pan itself. Ask 20 people which pan is the best and you will get at least 15 different answers, same goes for a sluice, same goes for the beer.

[fujimo]

gotcha- just as most things in life!!!

thanks- much appreciated

wayne

[sluicer1]

Here is a useful all in one type site to get you started. The more knowledge you have the better a prospector you will be!

www.goldfeverlinks.com

[fujimo]

thanks sluicer- much appreciated

[NcSwampfox71]

I personally like a Keene pan and classifier screens. I would not buy another brand of sluice, but I think the a51 mini is to small to really be useful. I have converted my a51 to a cleanup sluice and am in the market for an a52.

But El D is spot on about technique, and try a few sizes of pans also. Some people have trouble with ex- large pans..

[fujimo]

thanks guys!

[Hoser John]

El D nailed it-don't forget the beer and tp,all else optional-John

[Sgt. Dookie]

I'm still fairly new as well, but the only way to figure out what you need is just to go out and get your hands dirty. Experience is the best way to see what you need, everyones different, and I'm sure most people are self-taught like me and didn't know what they needed until they needed it. Go out with a pan and a garden trowel, personally I like the 10 inch pans better, and just practice panning in a creek. Youtube will give you a good idea of how to do it, but practicing is the only way to learn. Then after you get more comfortable with it, see what would help you out and bring a couple new toys with you every time you go out. You'll quickly get annoyed constantly picking out the bigger rocks, so your next purchase will probably be a classifier (sifter) and a bucket. After that, you'll get sick of having wet shoes so rubber boots might be next. And just go from there, let your equipment grow as you grow. You can have all this fancy stuff to help you, but the truth is... all you need is a pan. The rest is for convenience!