Any diggers out there?

smokindog

smokindog

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I've been "toying" with the idea for years and now am ready to jump into the "sport" of metal detecting. We've got loads of public areas close by and I could use some walking around and bending exercise!!!!

I don't know much about the equipment. I just started my investigation in earnest. Pretty sure I want a device that can easily discriminate different metals, has head sets, maybe a detachable and/or auxiliary hand/digging wand, ... I seriously doubt I need anything that is completely under water rated. HOWEVER, I also don't know what I don't know and am willing to be told I don't know what I think I know!!!

I'm always about buy it once as a strategy. !

Anyway, looking to see what the smart people of this forum know about said topics!

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!
 
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I have the intrest too and hope this thread gets popular. I have a detector but its probley considered a antique by now. I have carried it a few times on my atv but havent found anything. I am a little wary of where to use it legaly. There are old cabins and mines out here but I still am aprehensive of does someone own them and will they drive up? I think that is the biggest reason I havent got into it yet.
 
feralmerril said:
There are old cabins and mines out here but I still am aprehensive of does someone own them and will they drive up? I think that is the biggest reason I havent got into it yet.
Click to expand...

If it's not marked "No Trespassing" the worst that could happen is they make you fork over whatever you found. :(
Love to hear about some "gold strikes" here.
 
I used to go metal detecting all the time, now its just occasionally.. the older the kids got, the less time I had to go.

metal detecting is addicting. i have found all kinds of stuff, the best (in my eyes) are a spur from a battlefield next to shiloh, and a 1854 1/2 dime found by a sharecroppers house on our farm.

if your in the market, i would buy used. People are always wanting to upgrade. The garret ace 250 & 350 is a good all around detector, used by a lot of "hobby" detectors.
 
How much you willing to spend they range from the cheapo $100 to the more exotic ones of over $2000. I have a Bounty Hunter, Land Star less then $200 it has discrimination which is a fixed-start-point elimination system.
Most will have replaceable search coils so you can go from small to large detector coils smaller coils work great if you detect in a trashy area.
Most will come with headphone jacks.
Remember when you get started don't be afraid to knock on doors and ask if you can search their land, you will probably have to share anything you find or at least offer. Also remember you dig a hole put the plug back in best way to make a enemy is to leave holes.
Federal and state land is off limits, especially battlefield. You could go to jail.
Remember the land is not your respect it and the owners.
Fresh plowed fields are a good place to start, as are beaches but there could be lots of people at the beach.
Garrett, White, Bounty Hunter, and Fisher are probably the most heard of in the way of manufactures. Go to their site and download their manuals so you and see if they have the options you would like to have before you buy.
Maybe a internet search for reviews, like firearms everyone has their opinion of the one they own.
Oh yea stay away from the cheap dime store ones, $79 dollars doesn't get you what you want.

Oh BTW I've used mine to find springs, screws and sockets in the grass that I've carelessly misplaced and the nasty nails that like to find their way into tires.
 
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I haven't done any "hunting" for 40-45 years or so, but when I was a teen-ager, it was a big deal around here. Everybody and his cousin did it. I still see a few out in the woods and fields scratching and digging.

I grew up on the battlefields of Gaines Mill ('62) and Cold Harbor ('64). Now I live on the battlefields of Chancelorsville ('63), with Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House ('64) just a few miles away. Thousands of Union and Confederate troops marched, dug in, camped, fought and died around here. They left behind tons of "stuff." Bullets, buttons, belt buckles, cartridge box plates, bayonets, musket locks, revolvers, horse tack, grapeshot, canister shot, shrapnel, artillery fuses, boot eyelets, coins, combs, mess gear, swords, scabbards, knives...you get the idea. Anything a soldier would carry, lose, drop, throw away, or die carrying. We found it. Along with a ton of barbed wire, chewing gum wrappers, tin foil, coke cans, shotgun caps, 22 cases, buckshot, plow points, pieces of disk blade, spark plugs, tin cans...well, you get the idea here too.

I never found anything "good." Just the usual run of the mill Minnie balls, and eagle buttons. My grandfather had a room full of the "good stuff."

Can't help you any advice on what to buy. I've still got my grandfathers "Metro-Tech" but it's long obsolete. It was the cats meow back in the day.
 
My first pass reviewing available product says I need to be in the $800-1000 range for a reliable and capable device. As I said, I subscribe to the "buy it once" philosophy. I like quality but I also like bargains!!!!

Was hoping to use the wisdom of those here to select a device by features. I did figure this could end up being a discussion of personal choice.

Great advice on respecting the property. I'd never intentionally invade someone's domain without permission. However, in these times, you can never point that out too much :)


gdnagle said:
How much you willing to spend they range from the cheapo $100 to the more exotic ones of over $2000. I have a Bounty Hunter, Land Star less then $200 it has discrimination which is a fixed-start-point elimination system.
Most will have replaceable search coils so you can go from small to large detector coils smaller coils work great if you detect in a trashy area.
Most will come with headphone jacks.
Remember when you get started don't be afraid to knock on doors and ask if you can search their land, you will probably have to share anything you find or at least offer. Also remember you dig a hole put the plug back in best way to make a enemy is to leave holes.
Federal and state land is off limits, especially battlefield. You could go to jail.
Remember the land is not your respect it and the owners.
Fresh plowed fields are a good place to start, as are beaches but there could be lots of people at the beach.
Garrett, White, Bounty Hunter, and Fisher are probably the most heard of in the way of manufactures. Go to their site and download their manuals so you and see if they have the options you would like to have before you buy.
Maybe a internet search for reviews, like firearms everyone has their opinion of the one they own.
Oh yea stay away from the cheap dime store ones, $79 dollars doesn't get you what you want.

Oh BTW I've used mine to find springs, screws and sockets in the grass that I've carelessly misplaced and the nasty nails that like to find their way into tires.
Click to expand...
 
I've been detecting since the late '70s. It is a great hobby if you are interested in exercise and a chance to spend some relaxing time alone. Don't go into it expecting to find all sorts of riches. Even with discrimination your detector can not tell you what is in the ground. It can tell you the conductivity and give you an idea of the size and depth, but that is all. You must dig a lot of signals to learn the language of your detector. When you dig, try to leave the ground looking like you were never there.

A top of the line machine is not a good way to start. More people hunt for a month or two then stop than stay with the hobby. A Garrett 350 would be a good place to start. Or for a bit more money, the Garrett AT PRO. I found enough with my fist machine to pay for it. My next machine only half paid for itself and it's been going downhill every since.

The best part of the hobby is the items you find that are unusual or historical in nature. The latest I've found was a piece of "Bryan money" from the 1896 presidential campaign. Check out treasurenet.com to see what people are currently finding.
 
I dig, or at least used to, when I did my research I came up with a Whites DFX and it's still a good one today. It's a lot of fun but the places I really want to hunt are all restricted. We have some good Revolutionary war sites in NJ and the best place to hunt is usually out of the National Historic site since a good deal of them are in the wrong location. One well know spot is The Battle of Monmoth, much of the fighting took place across the road from the historic site but that too is private property.
 
I have a Fisher I think F70 and my son has a Garrett 250. We got them from kellycodetectors.com. They're great. They have the best pricing and selection and will spend time with you on the phone. They always have some package deals. I'm very happy with ours and would do business with Kelly Co. again in a heartbeat.

We hit the beaches occasionally but I enjoy searching the old stone walls on property lines and at tree lines of old farms. We've found old coins, buttons and tools.

When my son got his he decided to hunt the perimeter of my house and stuck a trowel through my 75 ohm cable line!
 
About back in the late 50s I bought my first detector. It was some cheapo. My dad didnt belive they could work. We went out on the front lawn just to check it out. Imediately we got a signel and dug up a old brass or copper bell. It was small, about 5's high and 3"s across. That house was built around the 1840s. I really havent worked at it much yet but have the intrest. The detector that I have is a Garrett -A-D-S VLF/TR DEEPSEEKER It`s probley one of the worst trades I ever made maybe 20 years ago with a friend in a weak moment. I had just taken in a nickle 4" model 19 that had a green luminous sight added, otherwise looked new! I didnt like the sight and traded straight across! Oh well. I supose my detector is a antique?
 
I've been digging for around 40 years now and I can say it is one great hobby. Over the last 25 years or so, I've done most of my digging in and around Civil War sights be they camps or battlegrounds. My favorite place is around Gettysburg but finding a landowner that will allow you on their property down there anymore is really tough. It seems that after the movie Gettysburg was made, it brought people out of the woodwork and the people that own the lands surrounding NPS property have had enough. If you have interesting areas to hunt on and you can get permission to do so, I say go for it. I would warn you however to stay completely clear of federally owned lands or lands under federal jurisdiction. I would also encourage you to read up on the laws concerning lands owned by your state.

I have used a White's "Blue & Gray" model for many years with great success. They don't make this model any longer but its a good balance between the older styles and the newer and much more difficult to learn digital styles. Personally, I don't care for the new and very expensive detectors with the digital readout - I like the style that just uses a plain old needled graph. The trick is to learn your machine and practice discriminating the junk. I would also suggest using headphones as this make it much easier to learn the sound of whatever it is you're targeting. Be careful though because depending on what your digging for (precious metals versus Civil War relics) you don't want to discriminate too much as a lot of the old relics are made from iron and metals you want to hear. If you're interested in buying a good detector (used or new), I have a buddy in Virginia that sells them that I could put you in contact with. This fellow was recently on one of television's digging programs with another buddy, Ric Savage. Here's my e-mail if you're interested spicks75 at comcast dot net.

P.S. Here's an example of what he has for sale. This one is a White's Blue and Gray that comes with headphones, battery pack, a new 950 coil and manual and a 1 year warranty for $395. I'm sure we / I could get him a little lower or maybe offer free shipping or something.
 
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I have been "looking" for maybe ten years now, but haven't found anything much to speak of, mostly junk. I have a white detector and really like it. I'd advise anybody just getting into hunting, to visit a store that that deals only in metal detecting stuff and befriend the owner and other customers that come into the store. A lot can be learned from other peoples' experience. You will do good to get the best equipment you can afford. Good luck!
 
It seems to me that treasure hunting with detectors was a bigger thing many years ago than it is now. Maybe it was because I had a new intrest in it back then. I belive the biggest draw back has to be the confusion of legalitys in where to go etc. I remember reading about big finds and the goverment seizing the loot etc. I had a friend that just picked up some dead wood off the ground to take home for his fire place and a woman ranger made him go and put it back! She really would get off if she seen someone with a detector! I have a house that sits square on the old spanish trail and roughly know where it go`s through mostly BLM in this area. Stuff like that interests me.
I have heard one story where a barrel full of rusty relic guns were found burried in our general area. I have a strong belief that it could have been from the mountain meadows massicure. The people in the wagon train were told to give up their guns and let the mormon militia from cedar city escourt them through the indians and then they were massicured!
 
I went in on the halves with a buddy and we bought a "Whites"
Metal detector years ago.
If i can find a buyer for old nails and beer tabs i"d be rich.

Chuck
 
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