Mr Peters demonstrates the HipStick
Mr. Peters has wrapped tape on the detector shaft to give the Oweegee quick adjust bungee a good grip. Plus the tape can be pealed off and used for in the field repairs. Maybe you recognize Mr. Peters form photos in Doug Stone new book
I was talking to Chris, the fellow using the HipStick (in Australia) one evening about the HipStick and how he liked it. I asked him why he could go across the rough rocks detecting easily and find anything. He replied that he had adjusted the bungee to just pick the coil up, so that all he had to do was push forward with his hand slightly or lean forward slightly, to lower the coil and rotate his body to swing the coil absolutely level to the ground. He said when he was doing this without the HipStick, the coil was up and down vertically and it also looped in an arc as he swung the coil side to side. With the HipStick, he very seldom used his arm or wrist. Without the HipStick he always had a suspicion that he was either missing or going over and not detecting targets. This nagging suspicion slowed him down as he tried to be more thorough and precise with the coil.
I would add, that when I first observed him, all I saw was the bungee.....I didn't see the HipStick. Everyone uses a bungee on their Minelab detectors so I overlooked it. I couldn't understand why Chris' movements and coil height and swing arc, were so smooth and effortless. The guide (Mark Hyde) told me that Chris was using a HipStick. That's when I began to pay closer attention. I left my friend in Australia with a final charge: "find out who makes the HipStick and get one Charlie. This will give you an edge that most of the detector operators won't have in finding the nuggets."
In the final analysis of why the HipStick give one an edge: if the detector operator doesn't have to concentrate on multiple side issues like coil height, coil to ground plane being the same, or have a sore back or sore wrist distracting him, he can relax and confidently focus his brain on the most important element in gold detecting: the extremely minute, almost not there, changes in sound coming into his ears. Smaller nuggets nowadays make this even more important. The HipStick give the detector operator the opportunity to do all he can do.
I think the HipStick is a really good invention. Every detector operator should have one.
I do considerable coin shooting with my Whites XLT around Portland. Lately, I have developed a sore wrist joint which is only aggravated by swinging the detector. I could switch arms but it feels awkward and clumsy and I have trouble keeping the coil level and close to the ground and not make a swinging arc. I really like the hipstick....it takes almost all the load off my wrist and arm. Your HipStick is likely the most important advancement in detecting to come along as far back as I can remember. Sure, detector manufacturers have gone from the old beat frequency detectors, to the VLF's, but nobody has come up with an idea to allow the people operating the detector to do it more comfortably and easier. When I first saw your HipStick in Australia in June, I was amazed that the fellow (his name was also Chris) was able to cover so much ground and he appeared to glide along the rough rocks as though he was on skates on ice. I wanted to try the HipStick because it was a freebee the guide had from your store in Australia. He wouldn't give it up. He found the most nuggets because he covered more ground and wasn't worn out like most of us were. He found the most nuggets and knew a good thing when he had it. He wasn't about to give it up.
