Jonathan Porter   www.aurumaustralis.com

Earlier this year I had Chris Gholson and his father Steve over for a prospecting trip into the heart of West Australia’s gold fields. As we were rigging up the first morning I noticed Chris walking over towards me with what looked like a stick, I instantly thought he was about to give me a whack for some misdeed I had performed on my recent visit with them in Arizona earlier in the year  .

It’s a little hard to understand Americans sometimes but I quickly grasped the object in his hand was not meant for retribution but was in fact a device designed to help alleviate shoulder strain whilst detecting. Strange as it may sound but I was in dire need of just that sort of device after injuring my shoulder a few days before due to lugging heavy camera equipment over rocky terrain up in Nullagine (you’ll have to wait for the DVD to learn more on that one  ).

The Hip Stick as its called is one of the most simple pieces of equipment I have ever seen, essentially it is made up of four parts, at the top is a clip and a D ring that are attached to a piece of strap, the clip end attaches to your shoulder harness ala where you would normally attach your bungee strap and then once installed you attach your bungee strap to the D ring. In the middle of this piece of strap is a solid fiberglass stick 520mm long (I have two versions one 520 mm and one 470mm to allow for different statures) that runs at right angles to the strap, on the bottom of the shaft is a round ball or knob.

The next piece of equipment is an ABS plastic mounting bracket that is designed to clip or slide over a utility belt, what makes the whole thing ingenious is the little socket which accepts the ball on the end of the fiberglass shaft which then allows for excellent rotation and movement whilst still providing support.

It is pretty obvious what the whole apparatus does once you realise where everything connects up, by attaching the clip of the Hip Stick to the D ring on your Back pack then placing the ball of the shaft into the belt clip and then attaching the bungee of your detector to the Hip Sticks D ring you suddenly transfer all the weight of the detector onto your hips rather than slung off your shoulder. Basically speaking this is a similar operation of you spinal column, which is much better than the leverage effect of swinging the whole detector off your shoulder.

It took me about half an hour to retrain my arm muscles to achieve a good even swing with a big mono. At first I felt a little unusual with the weight transferred to my hip but this soon dissipated as I shifted things around to suit my particular build. After an hour I felt right at home and more importantly no more shoulder pain.

All in all the Hip Stick is a fantastically simple product that is going to become popular because it does an excellent job of a well known problem, small framed persons will now be able to comfortably swing a large coil without any undue discomfort even for extended periods. In my case it allowed me to continue detecting even with a shoulder injury. From now on I will not be without my Hip Stick.

For pricing and availability in Australia e-mail me at jonathan@aurumaustralis.com or phone us on (07) 4983 2637

Bill Southern, Nugget Shooter.com

Hi All,

I got out this morning early to beat the heat to give NV Chris's HIPSTICK a try. Now I have had it on in the yard, but hadn't had a chance to get into the field for a real try. First let me say that I have been amazed by some of the products I have seen over the last couple years from forum members, HERMIT PICK, WATERPROOF COVER, and now the HIPSTICK.

This little gizmo hooks on your belt and clips on above at your "D" ring with a fiberglass rod between. At the top ya swivel as well as at the bottom with a ball and socket set up. Then your bungee (any set up) snaps also up top to complete the rig and you are now ready to go.

Yup I ain't a kidding friends this thing takes ALL the weight off your shoulder and arm and transfers it to your hip and it blew me away with how much control I had with a big coil and the kicker is that by extending the shoulder connection as this gizmo does increase maneuverability! Up, down, sideways, everywhere!

Same with smaller coils and as I always use a bungee for control I really think this set up is the berries. Nope I am not the distributor for this new item (hope to be a dealer though) so this isn't a cheesy advertisement, really it's just not often such simple hobby changing devices come out and this is one of them. For guys with wrist, hand, or shoulder problems it will make a HUGE difference, no longer does the handle serve as a way to relieve weight while hunting the HIPSTICK does that and the handle is simply to control movement. It is hard to describe, but it works!

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garimpo

From Brazil

When was the last time any of you were talked into something that you weren't really sure how the out come was going to be?

I'm sure most of us have had that experience, sometimes good and other times not so good.

What I'm leading up to is this, there's a "slick talker" over in CA. that talked me into trying something entirely new on the detecting scene.

Just imagine me here alone deep in country with one or more of them watching me from the jungle almost every time I go out beeping. All of a sudden I show up with this thing stuck in my belt in front and with the top hooked to the D-ring of my battery pack and the bungee cord from the detector shaft hooked to the top of it also.

With the "dew rag" that I wear for sun protection they couldn't see the "ear phones" either but then me doing something out of the ordinary isn't new to them either. Like I was the first one here to have a Super Detector, camo clothes, leg protectors, Coiltek and Nugget Finder coils and now this thing called a "hipstick".

The area that I chose to test the "hipstick" and the "ear phones" was an old tractor push next to the area that Tony is clearing.

The people that did the push about 8 months ago were using a GP3000 with a Coiltek 14" mono so that's the same set up that I used.

Folks let me tell you straight up, that "hipstick" has added another five years of detecting for me. After beeping for an hour I found two of the smallest nuggets that I've ever found. The "hipstick" let me swing with ease without tired aching muscles and the "ear phones" let me hear the almost sound of the little nuggets.

Report:BY Flokagold.

G'day all,

I've just returned from a short trip to N. Nevada and used the "Hipstick" for 3 days on my GS5 with the 6" x 18" coil which weighs a little over 4 pounds, that I had mentioned on an earlier post..

The Hipstick worked to perfection (on my 69 year old body) with no back or shoulder problems, which had been the case in earlier years, causing me to disregard the use of of this very sensitive coil built for me some years ago by Eric Foster himself.. The socket, which slips into a belt, can be adjusted where it fits best for each individual.

The shaft with ball, comes in different lengths for each persons height. I am 5' 10" so I used one that was 18" and it fit me very well, putting the weight of the detector and coil at the socket, where it was attached to my belt..

I am very pleased how well it worked for me and will use it with all my larger coils in the future... Bloody nice to go to bed at night without a sore shoulder or back.. )

Cheers, - Jim - (flokagold)