'Nixer' pocket dowsing rods

Foldable and telescopic dowsing rods to keep in your pocket, shoulder bag, glove box or other handy place.

Never be without a pair of rods again!

On windy days only partially extend for better responses.

Make your own

You will need:

• 4 x telescopic aerials – make sure they have holes at the 'bottom' end
• 2 x 2.5 mm bolts and 2 x 2.5 mm nuts
• Milliput, Fimo or similar (but at a pinch insulation tape – see below)

All are available via Amazon and eBay. If you plan on making more than one set (and why not) then the cheapest way to obtain aerials is direct from China. Including postage they should be about £2 each. UK suppliers will probably charge under £3 each (but watch out for vendors trying to get lots more!).

The 2.5 mm nuts and bolts come in packets with way more than you need. But still not expensive.

what to do

Take two of the aerials and bolt them together. Make sure the nuts are really tight.

Take the other two aerials and do the same.

That's all folks! Fold the aerials back on each other into a 'U' shape. You now have a pair of pocket-sized dowsing rods.

How to use Fold each pair out into an 'L' shape, extend one of the aerials part-way (less on windy days). Hold to unextended aerial in your hand as you would bent-metal dowsing rods.

You should find the weight of the unextended aerial offers the right sort of balance when holding. If not, retract the extended part slightly.

Go off and dowse!

tarting them up

While the nuts and bolts should keep everything tight, there is a risk that they will come loose. And they don't look very pretty. If you have Milliput (two-part epoxy putty) or Fimo (heat-setting PVC-based moulding clay) then make sure the nuts are tight then wrap some of the Milliput or Fimo around the joint, making it look as much like a sausage as you can. Colours and additional embellishments as desired. Either allow the Milliput to set (it can be speeded up in an oven set to 80–100C) or put the Fimo-encased rods in an oven set at 110C and leave for just over 30 minutes (Fimo won't set unless you do).

Has to be said I've only ever used Milliput when making 'Nixer rods'…

If you like whittling or turning wood then a two-part wooden 'sheath' around each joint would make a deluxe version. Just make sure the glue holding the two halves together also stops the nut coming loose. Never got around to doing this yet…

The cheap-and-cheerful option is to use a spot of impact adhesive to stop the nuts coming loose, take a matchstick to 'splint' the joint, then wrap with insulation tape.

Why 'Nixer' rods?

Because they were invented back in the mid-1990s by a good friend of mine, Paul Nix. Sadly Paul died in 2008. But I've kept on making 'Nixer rods'.

Bob Trubshaw
July 2020