Just got my NEW and IMPROVED 720!!

robby4570

Elite Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2011
Messages
4,773
Location
Ama LA
Sitting at home yesterday afternoon and hear this tap-tap-tap at my door and I go look out the door and there it is!! My new 720 scoop!

Chuck had notified me that he was doing an upgrade to the 720 and offered to do the upgrade for current 720 owners for free! Tell me they don't stand by their product.

So I get it out of the box and compare it to the old 720 and WOW, he really did beef up the new model. The braces are the biggest change I saw immediately, they appear much stronger (not that the old ones were weak) and then inside the scoop the brace across the top is solid, not perforated metal any more.

I've just got to give CHuck and Sunspot a great big ORANGE THUMBS UP for how well he takes care of his customers. Oh, and I know the new scoop HAS to weigh more but I sure can't tell any difference in the balance of heft of it. Chuck, you guys ROCK!

37080_10152335467970635_1564706174_n.jpg

Here's a side by side of the old and new scoops....

76745_10152335467730635_798904370_n.jpg


282841_10152335465095635_129638279_n.jpg
 
I got one of their 720i's last month and yes, they are GREAT scoops. In fact, I got the two-peice travel handle so I could pack it, but the bucket is soo big it's hard to do that.

Interesting side note, I just got a letter in the mail from them asking to send my scoop back in so thatit could be upgraded. Don't know if it's meant for the new 720i or the older models and they just sent the form letter to everyone. I need to call and find out. They are an excellent company and do good work.
 
I got one of their 720i's last month and yes, they are GREAT scoops. In fact, I got the two-peice travel handle so I could pack it, but the bucket is soo big it's hard to do that.

Interesting side note, I just got a letter in the mail from them asking to send my scoop back in so that it could be upgraded. Don't know if it's meant for the new 720i or the older models and they just sent the form letter to everyone. I need to call and find out. They are an excellent company and do good work.

Look at my pictures above, if your scoop looks like the old one (left in first pic, upper in second pic) then yes, it can be upgraded... but It doesn't HAVE to be, I don't see any problems with the original for normal use. I tend to push my gear to the limits so I got the upgrade.
 
Funny you should post this thread at this time. I just sent an e-mail to Chuck last night asking about weak welds or flexing problems with the 720i and that I had heard he was making upgrades to the scoop. I have been looking for a new scoop for a few months now, and now I think my mind is made up. Made in the USA and customer service is a deal maker for me. Thanks for your input, I'm placing an order today. Jim
 
Funny you should post this thread at this time. I just sent an e-mail to Chuck last night asking about weak welds or flexing problems with the 720i and that I had heard he was making upgrades to the scoop. I have been looking for a new scoop for a few months now, and now I think my mind is made up. Made in the USA and customer service is a deal maker for me. Thanks for your input, I'm placing an order today. Jim

Good decision! You will not regret getting this scoop. I would encourage you to get the handle as well. It makes the balance perfect and is the RIGHT handle to us with it.
 
After using my steel handled RTG for over a decade, I always looked down on wood handled scoops. BOY WAS I WRONG! That Sunspot handle is STOUT! I think it might be strong enough to outlast the scoop.
 
After using my steel handled RTG for over a decade, I always looked down on wood handled scoops. BOY WAS I WRONG! That Sunspot handle is STOUT! I think it might be strong enough to outlast the scoop.

Same here, I have always had scoops with aluminum handles and have bent 3 out of 4 of them. I will be posting pics later of my progression of scoops later but suffice it to say...

BUY A GREAT SCOOP ONCE OR BUY SEVERAL CHEAPER ONES.
 
I think I'll send mine in. What Chuck has done to beef up those two down supports is where I was concerned after each hunt. Those two thin SS strips would actually bow out causing me to have to bend them straight again. You do that a few hunded times a year and my bet is they would eventually fail. The cost to ship it back from Hawaii for the upgrade though:no:
 
BUY A GREAT SCOOP ONCE OR BUY SEVERAL CHEAPER ONES.

Not a truer word spoken! Then there are those of us that like to try new scoops as they come available. Chuck is great to deal with and makes an excellent product. There are no good, "cheap" scoops on the market. You will spend more repairing a cheap scoop than if you would have bought the good one the first time.
 
So there have been two upgrades to the 720 now? Wow! I can't wait to get mine back! When I got the letter from Chuck, I was very impressed with how they stand behind their product. I've been using my rtg 710 and usually I can hit the target on the first or second scoop, but a couple today really had me missing the wider scoop after 5 or 6 sand piles and the target still eluding me.
 
OK, get a GREAT scoop ONCE or a cheap one several times...

OK, guys, I have had 4 other scoops before I got my 720... one of them I added a long handle to when I got into water hunting. This failed miserably since I had no idea the stresses that water hunting puts on a scoop.

When I started detecting I knew I would be a beach hunter 90 - 95 % of the time. My very first scoop was a plastic Cherry Juice bottle that I cut the end off of and drilled holes in. Total cost was ZERO dollars and about 45 minutes labor.

My second scoop was a PVC affair that I built from left over parts and pieces and a mop handle. I couldn't get the handle to fit well enough and so while it worked better than the first scoop, I longed for a "real" scoop but was on a very tight budget.

My 3rd and 4th scoops were the 2 Scoop Deal from Colonial Metal Detectors. They were commercially made scoops and a far cry better than what I had made to date. Total cost for these was $50 and change delivered to my door.

196672_10150433016585635_7463260_n.jpg

These two scoops worked very well while I was doing only dry sand or wet sand at the water's edge, but when I got my Surf PI and graduated to real water hunting the 24 inch handled scoop just didn't work. So I went back to DIY scoops. I took the bend-over scoop from the 2 scoop deal package and got an aluminum handle, 3 "U" bolts and a hose clamp and built a "long handled scoop". I still have the 24" handled scoop and it is now my back-up dry sand scoop and loaner scoop.

524940_10151777025115635_866235907_n.jpg


562378_10151776944370635_1263103682_n.jpg


318218_10151776942965635_1177859642_n.jpg

Now this DIY scoop worked pretty well as long as I kept in mind that it was a VERY light duty scoop. I put too much "oomph" into a target once and felt the handle start to give. Luckily I caught myself and only kinked the handle, and I was able to fix this. Not long after this however, I was hunting in some pretty rough surf and got hit pretty hard by a wave as I was stepping down on the scoop and I stepped on it sideways and bent the scoop beyond repair.

It was at this point my wife took pity on me and allowed me to get any scoop I wanted but I would have to pay back the "house account" with my finds AND I can't get another scoop until the house is paid back and I have enough finds to buy another. So, finding a very sturdy reliable scoop was paramount. I looked at all the scoops I could find and tried talking to all the companies and, long story short, I decided on the Sunspot Stealth 720. And let me tell you, I am SO GLAD I chose this one! It is one stout scoop. And Chuck REALLY stands by his product.

539286_10152179553750635_148336554_n.jpg


247720_10152179556815635_1568734054_n.jpg


394998_10152191702255635_1653430544_n.jpg

Sorry for the long winded post but hopefully some newbies can learn from me and save themselves some heartache and hassle.
 
Chucks handles are the best! I got 5 year outta them from 2005-2010 with close to 1000 hrs of used! :yes:

I've had a chucks handle for over 10 years now and it's still getting the job done! They're the best imo.
 
How long did it take to get your scoop back?The rocks on the north shore and thick mud on the south shores that i hunt always push my 720 to the max.Im thinking i might have to send it in.I didn't get a letter this is the 1st im hearing of this.
 
How long did it take to get your scoop back?The rocks on the north shore and thick mud on the south shores that i hunt always push my 720 to the max.Im thinking i might have to send it in.I didn't get a letter this is the 1st im hearing of this.

Because this post is 5 years old I would say you may want to hold.:D
 
U are right Earl -

Better put Closed on the thread before Chucky get's a over whelming -720 I scoops sent in for service- with No Clue for what :hmmm::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

I had someone ready to ship their scoop in but emailed me later when he realized the thread was 5 years old :D

All updates are included with all scoops we build. I just can't figure out anything else to change.

Thanks,
Chuck
 
Back
Top Bottom