5150 Posted May 28, 2008 Report Share Posted May 28, 2008 Hey All:My name is Mike and live in Newhall Ca about 45 miles north of Los Angeles just off I 5. Have been prospecting since 75 an reading everything and anything I can about the local history I can get my hands on. Well in 91, I located a bench up in the Los Padres 1 week when I was prospecting, 9 miles from the closest parking and the only way to access this site is by foot and this trek takes about 4 1/2 hours to walk. Across the creek from the bench, there sits an old mud and wood foundation that was once an old timer's cabin along with an old mine and I have been working it ever since with great success.My prospecting arsenal consists of, Magnum Research Desert Eagle 44 mag for protection, 50" sluice, 10" pan, D1 (shovel), 22 pound double end pick, 2 - 5 gal buckets loaded with provisions, 2 classifier's, a bed roll and all is loaded up on a back pack except for the buckets which I carry by hand and the combined weight of everything is approximately 78 pounds. Needless to say after a 4 1/2 hour trek I'm as worthless as chicken teeth for about the first hour I'm at my site, so I usually just set up camp for a stay. Now the reason that I mentioned the little story of my adventure's is to say something about a new tool that I aquired for my arsenel. It's called an Apex Pick and I first heard about it on a forum, then looked up their website to see what they offered. I liked what I saw so decided to purchase one. I ordered it on a Thursday and to my surprise, it showed up on the following Monday. Well the pictures on the website don't do this pick justice. The Apex Pick is lite weight and very sturdy in all aspects and very well balanced. It has no play what so ever in the handle and the arrangement of the strategically placed super magnets is awesome as not to interfere with the business end of this pick. I have used allot of different picks over the 17 years that I make this journey and have broken or bent everyone. I have spent alot of money tring to lighten up my load and have learned to test my new equipment before taking them up on the mountain. Using a single jack I will hit the tip and edge to see if I could ether bend or dent it. The Apex Pick held up without a flaw. Weighing in at just 4.75 pounds, you can understand how excited I was getting when testing this new piece of equipment. I loaded up my truck the following Friday and set off for my site to work my bench. I still took my 22 pounder with me just in case I needed to fall back on old reliable as not wanting to get there and not have something to use. Well the Apex Pick held up without any flaws and being lite weight I could swing this thing all day. I have been useing the Apex Pick now for 3 weeks and no sign of damage or loosening of the handle. My last trip I didn't even take my old pick I'm that confident that the quality of this Pick will hold up to all the punishment that I will put it through. After my first trip up on the mountain, when I arrived home and received an e-mail from Mr Kelly, to my surprise, saying that they were reimbursing me for the overage on the shipping charge. That to me shows class and integrity from a company that has morale and ethical values.By no means do I have anything to do with Apex Picks but just wanted to let the prospecting community know about a superior product and a First Class Company that Mr. Brian and Mr. Tracey put their brand on. Check them out.http://apexpicks.com/5150 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin nuggethunting Posted May 29, 2008 Admin Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 Hello 5150, Seems like since Walco took a big dump, many have copied their design (which I doubt was patented). The Apex picks look very strong and durable. However, I don't think it's neccessary to have all those magnet holders. I think one good strong super magnet is way more than enough in my opinion. Wishing Apex the best of luck in the pick market. Thanks for sharing the info and site with us.Rob Allison Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnigmaticEngineer Posted May 29, 2008 Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 Hello 5150, Seems like since Walco took a big dump, many have copied their design (which I doubt was patented). The Apex picks look very strong and durable. However, I don't think it's neccessary to have all those magnet holders. I think one good strong super magnet is way more than enough in my opinion. Wishing Apex the best of luck in the pick market. Thanks for sharing the info and site with us.Rob AllisonI am curious, what are the Magnets for? yes, I am that much of a newbie Nathan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2dach Posted May 29, 2008 Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 Enig. Eng., (Still a newbie here also...)If you're diggin' for the source of a signal and can't seem to find it (and you think that it might be trash) you simply expose the magnet to your diggin's to pull out that nail or wire or...trash.With a "super" magnet sitting on your pick (without a holder) you can dig like a dog before that magnet has moved much from one end of the pick to the other.'Hope that helps!Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grubstake Posted May 29, 2008 Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 Rob and DOC have the new GOLDSTALKER PICK, it makes all the rest look like Walmart gardening tools. Grubstake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin nuggethunting Posted May 30, 2008 Admin Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 Hello Guys, I think all the picks being made out there are good, just a matter of personal preference when it comes to choosing one. My favorite overall pick was the 20.5-inch Walco W3. However, Walco had a fallen out and I think they fell off the Earth (not certain). Although, that is a different story ....Super Mangets are a must in my opinion. They really speed up the target recovery time by grabbing all the iron rubbish such as nails, wire, can fragments, horse shoes, boot tacks and other metallic garbage. Less time digging and pinpointing means possibly more time searching and digging good targets such as gold nuggets! However, I don't see any real purpose to have more than one, maybe two magnets at the most in my opinion. Too many magnets means more cleaning and more potential to stick onto something like your vehicle (i've done it!). Also, the magnet holder rings can be a bitch to clean out once they attract a bunch of black sands and small bits of metal. Some really like the magnet rings so the super magnet(s) don't move around. I've never personally liked them. Just my thoughts,Rob Allison Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridge Runner Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 I think if you put all those super magnets on that pick it would be like a cartoon with detectors, metal and other picks all flying your way.Then the next page shows you covered with everything that the magnet suck to you. If you do make sure you don't have a steel plate in your head. Chuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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