During the show last night Bob made a great comment (yeah I know it’s rare) and it went something like this “Everyone keep trying to copy Predator tools, George and Pam already build the best digging tools available so instead of copying predator tools go out and try to improve on something that needs improving” he then went into a rant about a two tone pin pointer like he has so many times before! Bob also made another great comment (two in one show, crazy right?) and it was something like “I don’t know why we are doing this show, everyone knows that Predators tools are the best” which is true that if you’ve ever used any other digging tools then a Predator, you know they are best.
With so many new Detectorists to the hobby and so many companies trying to copy Predator’s digging tools Bob and I wanted to do our part to help get the word out on why we believe you should only be buying your digging tools from George and Pam. Let’s start with “the original” model 85 hand digging tool. For years now so many have tried to copy it and I have yet to see or hear about one that doesn’t bend or break after only light use. To poorly copy something as great as the model 85 with inferior materials and quality just to try and make a buck is sacrilege in my book! Don’t fall for it like so many have!
George and Pam are so passionate about what they do it and it really showed through on last night’s show. I have always known my Predator digging tools were special but after talking to George last night I even had a higher level of respect and after years of use and abuse with their tools I didn’t know that was possible. George is a perfectionist, when he went into detail about the model 75 digging tool and telling us he sends out the Aluminum screw caps to be hardened is when it hit me just how much he puts into every single piece that he builds. The planning, designing, thinking every last detail out to ensure that the final product will hold up like nothing else out on the market ever dreamed of!
Something else George said that really stuck out to me was “very few people get to touch my work while it’s being made” when he said it you could hear in his voice that it’s so important to them that every piece is made to perfection by him and the few people he has to rely on for things like hardening the end caps, he ensures they do top quality work.
At one point in the show I made the comment “George, you make me proud to be an American right now” and I think he thought I was joking, I’m assuming when I said it I was a little giddy and he mistook that for me making a joke but I meant it. We live in a society where most of the products we use are from overseas because companies can design something, send the idea overseas and get it manufactured for a fraction of the cost with no work involved and sit back and watch the money roll in. Unfortunately this has become common and even acceptable in our society. Not only does this take good jobs away from Americans it also effects the overall quality of the design, usually significantly!
When George was talking about how everything was made in the U.S. right down to the rivets on the sheaths or when he talked about donating hundreds of diggers to our U.S. military it really made me proud to look over and see my Predator diggers. George and Pam aren’t owners of some big manufacturing facility, it’s a mom and pop operation pumping out the highest quality tools made with the highest quality materials (like virgin 4130 chrom-oly, certified U.S. steel) by a man who is a perfectionist and quality is of upmost importance to him! That is why I got giddy, this is why I am so proud to own Predator tools and to know each one was built by George who said last night “pop used to tell me, your name is everything” and it shows how important that is with George.
This morning, when I woke up I was looking through Facebook and came across something that I knew I had to end this article on. Someone posted a digging tool they bought from one of the people on Facebook making shovels. The first thing I noticed was the horrible welding. I’ve welded a lot in my life, by no means am I anywhere near the level of George but I could have literally welded this nasty looking shovel together better with my eyes closed and made it look nicer! It really got me looking over the shovel and I started noticing everything else. The horrible design, the grind marks in the shovel from trying to grind down the nasty welds, it went on and on. I don’t want to put anyone down and I’m not calling anyone out but if you’re in the market for a good digging tool do yourself a favor, study Predators digging tools then go look at ALL the rest who are trying to imitate them and when you’re done I am confident you will purchase your digger from Predator tools. You can think me in 10 or 20 years when it’s still going strong!
Next week, George and Pam will be back on the show talking about their years of metal detecting. Join us as these two don’t just make the highest quality digging tools available they are both very accomplished detectorists!
Join us next Monday night 8/27 at 8:00 P.M. EST
Listen to last nights podcast here
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