The 7 Best Sluice Boxes

Editor's Notes

August 25, 2020:

Whether you're looking to make the jump from regular gold panning, or just starting your prospecting hobby, a sluice box is one of the best investments you can make.

What makes sluice boxes so much fun to use, and so effective at finding gold, is their tiered filtering system. By using a series of filtering tools, from large riffles all the way down to fine miners moss or carpeting, the sluice box really does most of the work for you. Once you have it set up correctly, your job is to simply add raw material to the intake end, and wait for the sluice box to do its job.

That being said, it does take a bit of practice to position the sluice box for maximum effectiveness. Once you place it in your creek or stream, you'll want to use dirt, sand, or rocks to prop the sluice box up at just the right angle to allow your sediment to flow through, without getting too clogged up. It can take some time to find the correct pitch, but with a little practice you'll find out what works best. You'll likely be in a few inches of water while doing this, so investing in a pair of water shoes may be a good idea.

An important thing to remember when using your sluice box is to be aware of how fast the water is moving. Compact sluice boxes like the Stansport Aluminum, or Royal Compact Mini are light enough to be potentially swept away by a fast moving current, so it can be worth it to use a large rock or stick through the handle to ensure they're stuck in place.

Although one of our options does include a digital scale, the DA Folding, the rest do not, so you might want to pick up one of these digital pocket scales to accurately measure any gold you accumulate.

If you're looking to get even more serious about gold prospecting, you might want to take a look at these metal detectors for gold. These are specifically designed to help locate gold, and keep you from wasting your time with other, less valuable metals.