robby4570
Member
OK, guys, I have had 4 other scoops before I got my 720... one of them I added a long handle to when I got into water hunting. This failed miserably since I had no idea the stresses that water hunting puts on a scoop.
When I started detecting I knew I would be a beach hunter 90 - 95 % of the time. My very first scoop was a plastic Cherry Juice bottle that I cut the end off of and drilled holes in. Total cost was ZERO dollars and about 45 minutes labor.
My second scoop was a PVC affair that I built from left over parts and pieces and a mop handle. I couldn't get the handle to fit well enough and so while it worked better than the first scoop, I longed for a "real" scoop but was on a very tight budget.
My 3rd and 4th scoops were the 2 Scoop Deal from Colonial Metal Detectors. They were commercially made scoops and a far cry better than what I had made to date. Total cost for these was $50 and change delivered to my door.
These two scoops worked very well while I was doing only dry sand or wet sand at the water's edge, but when I got my Surf PI and graduated to real water hunting the 24 inch handled scoop just didn't work. So I went back to DIY scoops. I took the bend-over scoop from the 2 scoop deal package and got an aluminum handle, 3 "U" bolts and a hose clamp and built a "long handled scoop". I still have the 24" handled scoop and it is now my back-up dry sand scoop and loaner scoop.
Now this DIY scoop worked pretty well as long as I kept in mind that it was a VERY light duty scoop. I put too much "oomph" into a target once and felt the handle start to give. Luckily I caught myself and only kinked the handle, and I was able to fix this. Not long after this however, I was hunting in some pretty rough surf and got hit pretty hard by a wave as I was stepping down on the scoop and I stepped on it sideways and bent the scoop beyond repair.
It was at this point my wife took pity on me and allowed me to get any scoop I wanted but I would have to pay back the "house account" with my finds AND I can't get another scoop until the house is paid back and I have enough finds to buy another. So, finding a very sturdy reliable scoop was paramount. I looked at all the scoops I could find and tried talking to all the companies and, long story short, I decided on the Sunspot Stealth 720. And let me tell you, I am SO GLAD I chose this one! It is one stout scoop. And Chuck REALLY stands by his product.
Sorry for the long winded post but hopefully some nebies can learn from me and save themselves some heartache and hassle.
When I started detecting I knew I would be a beach hunter 90 - 95 % of the time. My very first scoop was a plastic Cherry Juice bottle that I cut the end off of and drilled holes in. Total cost was ZERO dollars and about 45 minutes labor.
My second scoop was a PVC affair that I built from left over parts and pieces and a mop handle. I couldn't get the handle to fit well enough and so while it worked better than the first scoop, I longed for a "real" scoop but was on a very tight budget.
My 3rd and 4th scoops were the 2 Scoop Deal from Colonial Metal Detectors. They were commercially made scoops and a far cry better than what I had made to date. Total cost for these was $50 and change delivered to my door.
These two scoops worked very well while I was doing only dry sand or wet sand at the water's edge, but when I got my Surf PI and graduated to real water hunting the 24 inch handled scoop just didn't work. So I went back to DIY scoops. I took the bend-over scoop from the 2 scoop deal package and got an aluminum handle, 3 "U" bolts and a hose clamp and built a "long handled scoop". I still have the 24" handled scoop and it is now my back-up dry sand scoop and loaner scoop.
Now this DIY scoop worked pretty well as long as I kept in mind that it was a VERY light duty scoop. I put too much "oomph" into a target once and felt the handle start to give. Luckily I caught myself and only kinked the handle, and I was able to fix this. Not long after this however, I was hunting in some pretty rough surf and got hit pretty hard by a wave as I was stepping down on the scoop and I stepped on it sideways and bent the scoop beyond repair.
It was at this point my wife took pity on me and allowed me to get any scoop I wanted but I would have to pay back the "house account" with my finds AND I can't get another scoop until the house is paid back and I have enough finds to buy another. So, finding a very sturdy reliable scoop was paramount. I looked at all the scoops I could find and tried talking to all the companies and, long story short, I decided on the Sunspot Stealth 720. And let me tell you, I am SO GLAD I chose this one! It is one stout scoop. And Chuck REALLY stands by his product.
Sorry for the long winded post but hopefully some nebies can learn from me and save themselves some heartache and hassle.
