summer swinging

Any of you brave souls going to say stuff it and head out for a swing over the xmas break in the swarms of flies and the blistering heat-I for one get the wot-ifs this time of year -wot-if I used that coil or changed my settings or tried that other bloody hill last time I was up there -and it drives me nuts-so much so that I will throw a sleeping bag in the ute and head up for a day or two -and get there and think -what the hell was I thinking-anyway-we all know its a disease-merry xmas everybody-Dragon

It's a treasure hunt mate...it's what keeps us alive.

Yep leaving on the 23rd and returning on the 2 of Jan, counting the days.................

purple-dragon wrote:Any of you brave souls going to say stuff it and head out for a swing over the xmas break in the swarms of flies and the blistering heat-I for one get the wot-ifs this time of year -wot-if I used that coil or changed my settings or tried that other bloody hill last time I was up there -and it drives me nuts-so much so that I will throw a sleeping bag in the ute and head up for a day or two -and get there and think -what the hell was I thinking-anyway-we all know its a disease-merry xmas everybody-Dragon

I'll be honest and admit that I suffered that "gott go bush" disease for many years. I recall having tears rolling down my cheeks after spending 4 months Long Service Leave north of Laverton and it was time to go back to work! I was angry at leaving the goldfields. And I had a bloody good job, secure for life and well paid to go back to.

Thankfully, it's behind me now and I longer have the slightest desire to go swinging again, or pushing, or owning leases. I'm cured!! The odd thing is that I'm retired now and have all the time in the world to do it!! However, I do still get a kick out of APLA and representing prospectors and small miners and that'll keep me going for year or two - before it kills me!

Good luck to those that like it though.

Have a happy Christmas and a gold filled ute,,,,,,, I mean New Year!

W

Swinging by 6am, home by 9am...thats my plan anyway :)...hopefully with a nugget or 2

Some years back, Martin and myself did a trip a few days before new years eve. I did post a photo of the temp gauge, a bit over 51C
The heat near killed me and I ain't doing it again. I can wait until it cools down haha

I'm too new to swinging the coil, to worry about the temperature gauge....yet.

I'm heading out on the 10th of Jan and will be home on the 19th.

Mrs Gates isn't coming on this trip because 'it's going to be too hot'.

Rusty...

Take all the necessary precautions, plenty of water, and EPIRB or at least stay in phone contact.
I found the photo from the stupid trip I suggested.  the time on the meter was wrong it was about 9 or 10 am if I remember correctly.  Martin will be able to remind me.  when the temp when over 51C, we packed up and got out quick.

Used to go detecting all year round before I became and old fart , many years spent in the circus (army, it was just like the circus but we had more clowns and tents) made me more tolerant of the conditions and also I was a lot keener then than I am these days, when I first started going in the warmer months I didn't even have a fridge, ice lasted a couple of days in the esky and after that everything was just Kimberley Cool but I would stay out for a couple of weeks, now I shudder at the thought.

On a more serious note though for you blokes that are new to it, its a dangerous pastime for the unwary and if you take chances you can end up dead, take advantage of the early mornings and cool of the evening to do your detecting, and hole up in the shade during the warmer part of the day, keep hydrated if you can and use an electrolyte supplement in your water, I use staminade powder that you can add to your water bottle or just have a glass or two a day when its really sweaty, it will help you with muscle cramps and spasms that can be associated with dehydration, excess water consumption and profuse sweating depletes the body of electrolytes, dehydration causes all sorts problems such as confusion and disorientation which causes people to get lost, and then after that the shutting down of you vital organs and your gone, if you leave camp for any reason at all carry your water bottle or better still a camelback just in case.

Another thing to consider is bush fire, in the hot windy conditions a fire can sweep very quickly through the dry scrub and I always tried to plan a quick way out, don't camp in a place that is hard to get out of, particularly at night as its hard enough to find your way out and harder still if you are panicking and there's smoke as well.

One time while camped out it got to around 50 deg and that was average for several days, at it was windy the whole time night and day, my camper trailer was swarmed with bees and wasps who were wanting to get at the water that drained on to the ground from the sink outlet, while trying to move the van away I got swarmed and had to retreat in the process getting several stings to the neck and down my back, lucky I am not allergic to them but had I been I would have been in serious trouble, there are many things that can go wrong out there so it pays to have a good think about it all before you go and be prepared just in case.

au-fever

You are so right about the electrolytes au-fever-a couple of years ago I was up around Paynes and thinking I was ok pumping the fluids and the electrolytes into myself during the course of the day via my trusty camelback but when the flies are that bad that you have to suck it through your flynet you tend to not take as much in as you should -laying in the back of the ute that night waiting for the midgies to come out and make my trip a total misery my entire body went into a cramp spasm and I thought I was a goner-I couldn't even get my hands and fingers to work to open the containers that held the electrolytes-speaking to a doctor about this episode sometime later he said I was dangerously close to biting the bullet-so the lesson is no matter how much you drink up there its probably not enough-Dragon

Yer so right about "height of summer" detecting. It's dangerous and it's bloody boring 'cos ya spend 3/4 of the daylight under a tree or the ute trying stay in the shade, can't sleep at night so go out detecting and then too hot to sleep during the day, too tired to read, too tired to cook and it all becomes a drag, a bloody hot PITA! Ya end up thinking "WTF am I doing out here FFS!!!" I only did all that guff when I was prospecting for a living. Bugger all that these day.

W

It's not so bad when your pushing etc..at last with that your a bit more focused and have a certain amount of dirt to process each day. Lisa and I are still out working at the moment but we start early and make sure we have air conditioning at the end of the day and to sleep. Bush chooking in the summer.....I'm with Les.

You're correct cliff. It was about 9.45 am when that pic was taken. Hilarious trip mate. Travelled most of the day to set up camp, sleep, then get up at 4.30 to 35deg detected for 3 hrs for no gold then got back to camp to see poor cliff dying from the heat so packed up and drove home. :-)
Things we do for gold eh.

Those days are gone, but when we did venture out like you're all saying it was early morning or after dark.
Remember one trip a mate came "howling" back into the camp, we thought he must have been bitten by a snake. Nope he had a Golden Orb sitting on the top of his hat.
Had a 12V fan set up on wall of old camp caravan. To get off to sleep, used a spray bottle full of water, aimed at the fan it blew a nice cool breeze over the sweaty body.
We had the old type thermometer with the mercury bulb, sat it out in the sun and it blew up. Not sure what the max reading was on them?

One trick I used to make the really warm nights bearable and so I could at least get some sleep, was to wet a large towel and stretch it out over my bed and also had a wet flannel for wiping over the face and wetting the hair, I have a 12v fan mounted in the back of the troopy in the centre between the two sliding windows facing towards my bed, so when laying on top of the wet towel and as the fan oscillates you get the breeze going from your head down to your feet, I also have two 45ah roof top batteries charged with a solar panel that all the internal fans run on so I can leave it going all night, so as you get warm and you change position you then get the cooling effect by the breeze blowing on to the damp areas from the wet towel, works a treat.

Thinking about Nightjar saying to spray water at the fan, maybe a misting set up could be used and attached somehow to the fan as well with one of those pump up weed spray bottles to supply the water mist.......thinking.....thinking

Nah bugger that too hot just stay home in the air con

au-fever

air cond...genset.....no probs

pilko wrote:air cond...genset.....no probs

Hmm! A swag/tent aircon, maybe the way to go?

We've been home about a month now. The Pilbara was way too hot and every time we used a bit of water in the spray bottle we considered how much we were taking from the tank. We can just last a month out there before coming back for water so anything we spray in the air is some time lost. Some days we had to stay in from 10:30am till the sun dropped over the horizon. Sandra is on medication with instructions "stay out of the sun" fat chance. Anyway we're home now and it pouring rain just like the middle of winter.