How to Find Gold With A Modern Metal Detector

File:Pictograms-nps-misc-metal detectors-2.svgMetal detectors are an essential part of any plan to look for gold. There are many different kinds of metal detectors available on the market, at a wide range of price points, making shopping for a metal detector that will work for you a tricky proposition.

Before considering specific models of metal detectors, it is important to understand exactly how a metal detector works. They all work on the same basic principle, in that they feature a coil on the wand that becomes an electromagnet when the metal detector is turned on. The kind of gold you are planning to search for determines what specific kind of metal detector you need, as the ones required to find gold nuggets tend to be more expensive than those that would find buried jewelry.

There are two basic kinds of metal detectors. One is induction balance, also known as a VLF model. This version works by moving the energy up and down through the coil, which makes the machine more sensitive, triggering the discovery of smaller amounts of minerals than other detectors will.

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The other kind of metal detector is a pulse induction, or PI, model. In these machines, the metal detector works by pushing pulses of energy through the coil in short bursts. They are less sensitive to small amounts of minerals than the induction balance detectors but can detect minerals that are deeper in the ground than the induction balance detectors.

The flagship metal detector for most serious gold-hunters is the Fisher Gold Bug 2. This highly powerful induction detector has a wide range of special features and coil sizes to make it versatile enough for any mineral searcher. Field tests indicate that this metal detector can find very small gold nuggets, down to half a gram, at a distance of 1.5 inches.

Another popular choice is the Goldmaster GMT, which is said to be the best in the VLF, or very low frequency, class. One unique feature of the Goldmaster GMT is the ability to “follow the streak” to track gold deposits more easily and effectively.

Simply buying a metal detector is not enough to make a person into a gold prospector. Metal detectors are valuable tools, that are best used in conjunction with traditional mineral finding techniques. Understanding the kind of rocks and mineral content in the soil of the area where you are prospecting, as well as the history of gold discovery in the area, is essential to know before you take your metal detector out to hunt for gold.

Gold metal detectors are not inexpensive items and extensive research into your needs is recommended before purchasing anything. However, having a good metal detector can make finding gold a feasible option for you.

For more information on beginning prospecting get the eBookThe Prepared Idiot's guide to propesting !

5 Hacks For Camping With Small Kids

If I were to sink back into my memory to the moments that I cherished the most it would be the ones spent outside. Our family camping-23792_1280vacations consisted of trips to different National Parks, local lakes, and to the giant redwood forests of the northern California. It installed a love of the outdoors in me that I hope to pass on to my boys now. My wife and I have wasted no time to get the kids out and enjoying all that nature can offer them. In fact, we started camping with the little rug rats as young as 5 months old. Here are 5 “Camping Hacks” we found through the years that you will want to try so that your kids will love camping too.

  1. Playdoh- Developing a love of camping is all about starting with fun memories to build on. There WILL be times 3757135606_d2d61e4907_owhere Mom and Dad are tired and need some quite time. The best tool I have found for this situation is Playdoh. It doesn’t melt like Crayons, the little tubs are easy to pack, and cleanup is wiping the dried up bits of dough into the trash. So, when you are between lunch and dinner and you hear “I’m BORED!” whip out a can of the salty wonder then kick your heels up and enjoy the quiet.
  2. Sound Machine – Do you have a nervous or sensitive sleeper? Tent walls don’t do much to block out the nature sounds around them. Or maybe the neighbor’s campfire chat is going a little later than your kid can handle. A battery powered sound machine will do wonders for little one. The white noise that they create eases the sensitivity to all that is going on around the tent and gives them something else for their little brains to focus on. Don’t be surprised if the little battery power miracle doesn’t help you saw some logs too!
  3. Baby Wipes- Marshmallow covered sticky hands with dirt and bug spray coated faces are all signs of a good time! Keep in mind tough getting to the bathroom is a walk to and crawling into a sleeping bag in this condition is not a great way to keep ants and other creatures out of the tent. Baby wipes are a bath in a bag! From cleaning eating surfaces to washing hands you will find 100 plus uses for these damp little miracles. I bring these along now even if I am not camping with my kids!
  4. A hammock- Go to any playground, kids love to swing and what is a hammock but a big swing! This little 2hammocks-413714_1280 pound device will give your little one a place to nap, read, swing, and (the best part!) to snuggle with you. There are many choices in the world of hammocks so get a sturdy one because kids have a way of testing the limits of these products. I would also supervise your child in the tree sling for a while until they learned that: Yes, in fact, they can fall out to the ground. Oh, did I mention that if you have a hammock this is a good place for you to lay down when you crack out the Playdoh?
  5. Stories and traditions- A fondness of the great outdoors is built on a foundation of great memories and traditions. Having yarns to tell around the campfire is the place that those are formed. Come armed with a story or two to tell. It doesn’t matter if it is the same story every year as long as you tell it well. The story that I tell every year when my family goes to Yosemite is The Story of ElmerThin_book_03. It is about a little boy that gets lost in the woods and the whole campground shouts out to find the little boy. It’s a story that dates back as far as the 1930’s. I loved the tale so much that I published a children’s book about it. So, if you need a story to tell you can use mine! Elmerinyosmite.com

Developing children who are outdoor enthusiasts is about having fun adventures that will create deep memories in your little ones. Remember, the trip doesn’t have to be the best most perfect trip ever. In fact the stories my kids re-tell over and over again are the ones that did not quite go according to plan. We can now sit around the fire and laugh about that one time that dad dropped the dinner in the fire and we had to have marshmallows and graham crackers for dinner.

Get your copy of The Story of Elmer in Yosemite On Amazon Today!!!

New Book!! On the Big 3 of Backpacking

There are three essential pieces of equipment that any would-be outdoorsman must contemplate purchasing before heading out to the wide open spaces. We will give you a basic understanding of what to look for and how to maintain the most important parts of your kit. Fear not because at the Prepared Idiot, I have made all the mistakes for you so that you don’t have to look like an idiot when you are shopping, carrying, and maintaining your gear. So, let take a look at the big three of camping. preparedidiot_backpacking(1)

Get the book on Amazon NOW! Click here.

The Prepared Idiot’s Guide to Backpacking (Part 2 of a Series)

The more I learn abHow to buy a backpackout backpacking the more it becomes clear the thing that moves most people into the sport is freedom. Freedom from busy daily lives, form cluttered houses, and from the sterile concrete world that we have created. In this episode I continue to work on finding and answering all the dumb questions about backpacking in the great outdoors

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The Prepared Idiot’s Guide to Hiking (Part 1of the Backpacking series)

In the age of social mThe prepared idiot's guide to backpackingedia and jobs that require long hours of cubical sitting most modern humans have forgotten the basic skill of walking. Except for in large cities where motor vehicle travel is unpractical the quick trip around the corner to get a gallon of milk is done in our cars. Many children in the Southern California area where I live don’t walk to school anymore and thought of and evening stroll is a terror inducing event for many teenagers. So, we are increasingly spending more and more time sitting on our posteriors plugged into a screen and watching others have adventures and live their lives. While it is not realistic to think that you can escape the modern day working environments entirely you should also be aware of the potential risks of all that sitting. Continue reading

How to use a Suction Dredge for Gold Prospecting

Most people have heard old How to prospect for gold using a suction dredgestories of the California Gold Rush in the mid-19th century. Prospectors from across the United States, and even across the world, headed for the West Coast in hopes of striking it rich. Some of them found their fortunes, others were not so lucky, but the thought of such an endeavor may be exciting enough to make 21st century folks wish it were 1848 all over again.

What many people don’t realize is that the gold rush is not over. Well, perhaps the ‘rush’ part is a thing of the past, but that is not to say that people don’t still find gold. Gold prospecting is alive and well for those that have the ambition and spirit to do it. For those adventurous few, there may be no better method than suction dredging.
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How to Pan for Gold

To be the most suGold Panningccessful in your endeavor to pan for gold you will need some basic equipment and some practice. The good news is that the equipment is fairly easy to get. As for the practice that is up to you. Here is list of basic equipment for the job.

 

  • Gold Pan Black or Green Plastic doesn’t matter you just need something to contrast the color of gold.
  • Shovel
  • Magnet
  • Tweezers
  • Snuffer bottle
  • Small squeeze bottle of dish soap
  • Classifier in size 1/4 inch (4 mesh)
  • Small glass vial with lid

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American’s have the Most Expensive Pee in the World.

Someone once told me that American’s have the most expensive pee in the world. This expensive urine is due in large part to the $27 billion dollar supplement industry. The truth is most people know that thefood vs vitaminsy are not getting enough vitamins and nutrients in there diets and they try to make up for this by not eating more veggies but by popping a daily multi-vitamin. There is an issue with trying to get your B12’s and vitamin C’s through a pill. The problem is you are flushing a most of the money and you are spending on those pills right down the toilet.
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How to Use a Sluice Box

In the early gold Old gold rush sluice boxrush days the sluice box consisted of a simple wooden trough lined with raised obstructions placed at a ninety-degree angle to the flow of the water. These obstructions are what are known as riffels. When all of the gold carrying gravel is “run” through the sluice the water is shut off and the riffels are removed. The heavy materials containing the gold known as concentrates would be gathered. This run would sometimes consist of processing several tons of gold-bearing gravel through the box. Continue reading