What do you guys recommend for a scoop ?

[upnorth]

Can you please tell me what you use for a water/sand scoop. I would like it to double for dry sand and waist deep water. So far it seems that people prefer stainless over aluminum for toughness. I was thinking larger holes for quick sand/water draining, but I would put some mesh in the bottom. It seems that some folks put magnets in their scoops also, for clad ?, or to clean the iron junk out ? I have never put much effort into water detecting.

 

[John-Edmonton]

I prefer the monster scoop, as the target is nearly always in the scoop the first time. It does have the large holes in it too. Often times after I have puched in the scoop and tilted it to my liking, I often just shake it in the hole and the sand trefills a good portion of the hole and my target is almost always in the scoop. The monster scoop does have smaller holes in the back of the scoop so you can carefully flush out the sand while retaining a smaller target like an earring.

 

[BigCatDaddy]

Stainless is the way to go, no doubt. I prefer a smaller scoop myself. The places I have to hunt are mostly mud and clay. A scoop like John Edmontons would be impossible for this old f**t to lift if I got it loaded with mud and rocks.

 

[togamac]

I've got one of the monster scoops like John has but I've also made some scoops and still use one of them. I went to a thrift store and bought a small aluminum sauce pan, drilled 3/8 inch holes all around the bottom and up the sides a ways, extended and braced a longer handle made from aluminum tubing (I think it was from a pool skimmer) using a gutter bracket and pop rivets, and put a foam handle on the end. I pop riveted an aluminum scoop blade to the rim of the pan - steel would work better - the al keeps getting bent. But, all in all I'm happy with it. The handle is about 24 inches long so I'm able to carry it and my detector in a shoulder bag.

 

[togamac]

Here are some pics of my scoop. Ain't pretty but works very well in sand - not so well in rocks.