TargetExtractor MKII

A park digger that has evolved from a Minelab digging knife, a stainless field digger, aluminium shaft from a Stihl trimmer and a D handle from a useless snowshovel.

You can dig deep holes with a small digger, but can't dig small plugs that fit in your hand with a shovel.

This "invention" also has cured me of my fear of the dreaded steel crowncap which carpets some of the places I detect,... target retrieval is so much more efficient.
Being cured from this terrible discrimination disease has resulted in some nice finds because sometimes even a steel crowncap let's you down,... and reveals itself as a sneaky worthwhile target trying to camoufllage itself as a steel crowncap.

Pics of a Dirty Digger!






HH
Johnb

Cool contraption!

Wouldn't fly in the parks around here though = no way!

In parks in Calif I would be hung with that but nice on big open fields?

LowBoy

TAKE A LITTLE TIME KICKBACK AND WATCH SOME OF MY DETECTING VIDEO'S BELOW ON YouTube

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If you don’t dig it, then how are you going to know what you’re missing!
How can you have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!

Parks in my area, well seems like people haven't caught on with what I'm doing there actually.
I've had people asking me if I was digging truffles or they give me some weird remarks like "the treasure is over there!"

The digger has gone through a few adaptions, each time providing a better result.

First off, the blade width to length ratio. It needs to be just a tad longer than it is wide.
Second the TEETH, they are just to commit once it is placed in the wright spot, points slip sideways, TEETH commit straight down.
Third the hand protector, well seeing it is used single handed, it actually is used to push down on with the side or tip of my boot. Much like a shovel.
Fourth it's a little tapered towards the shaft, just works better in stoney ground and clay doesn't need lot's of blade to stick to :-)
Fifth, I welded a tapered spine on the back to give it some more backbone !

Then the length of the handle, as I just push down with the side or tip of the boot. It's adjusted to walking stick length.
And actually several times people have asked me about the walking stick :-)

Finally the plastic D-handle, doesn't attract the cold like metal does, aids in positioning the blade, provides a more solid fixture when scooping a little dirt out of the hole single handed whilst gripping the shaft halfway.

Surface targets get poked at 45 degree angle, the tip of the boot is used as a wedge and pushing down on the handle partially lifts the sod up.
Deeper targets I cut a square plug.
Really deep targets I cut a nice hexagonal plug, again the tip of the boot is used as a wedge and you simply flip over the sod.

Practise makes perfect and my lawn hasn't seen so much aeriation in a long time.
I know I've done a good job when I trace back my steps and can't find the holes I just dug half an hour ago.

Actually park hunting has been slow this year, too much great weather in the evenings.
Funny how just a light rain will turn people away :-) That's my cue.
It's cold and temps are just above freezing, I've got the parks mostly to myself during the morning hours on monday.

HH
Johnb

Personally I've always thought those Lesche Diggers look a little too much "Survival" knife-ish, especially when worn in their sheeth.
I don't wear camou gear or one of those tactical harness things carrying everything from a tooth-brush to a camera, etc. etc.

A simple canvas bag large enough to swallow the pointer. Canvas is a great material, coloured like dirt and the rough structure makes for an integrated hand cleaner.

As I'm mostly covered in rain gear and on site at sun-up,... well you can easily enjoy several hours of undisturbed hunting on weekdays. The parks are for everyone to enjoy and I leave them to it during the day,... donations to the honey pot shouldn't be spooked during their activities.
And I really enjoy a bike ride through the parc on a sunny day after work :-)

The digger can be seen as "too much", I guess it's what people are use to. Wouldn't want to get in trouble with someone wielding a Lesche and come to think of it the TargetExtractor MK II could cause quite a bit of damage as well. As for the turf being damaged, I'm amazed at what a good sharp shovel and dropcloth can do. As per Thomas Dankowski.
But the Lesche seems to be more tolerated.


For field work, well my field digger is just a bigger version of the same. But that's a story for another day!
X-mas shopping tommorow,....

HH
Johnb



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/21/2014 10:08PM by scoopjohnb.