Metal detector

[GreyWulf]

Anyone out there try using a metal detector in the desert to see what you can find I'd love to hear your stories of what you found.

 

[highdesertranger]

I have one and use it. what can you find? to be honest mostly junk. I am real good at finding bullets, old pull tabs, fish hooks/weight, foil from gum/cigarette wrappers, nail/screws, soda/beer cans, metal tops from bottles, even shot from shotgun shells. anything metal I have found but no gold with the metal detector which is what I am looking for. will I keep trying? yes. I have talked with many experts, they say I am doing everything right, I just need to get the coil above a nugget.

what do with all this trash I find? I remove it and dispose of it in the trash. If I spent the time to dig it, I haul it out. one thing I would like to point out is be carful where you use it, make sure it's legal. any more questions I will try to answer or point you in the direction to find the answer. highdesertranger

 

[Cammalu]

HDR, what kind of digging tool do you use? I still haven’t used mine yet ...

 

[GreyWulf]

Well I guess if enough people do it and get all the trash out of there maybe eventually you can start finding the good stuff have you ever tried metal detecting in Nevada, I bet you can find a lot of coins there.

 

[Weight]

I would like to hear anyone's thoughts on the better detectors to buy.

 

[highdesertranger]

Cammalu it depends on where I am digging. if I am coin shooting in a park I use a digging tool similar to this one,

http://www.royalmfgind.com/index.php/products/product/58/metal-detecting

you can get tools like this at a hardware store in the gardening section for considerably less money. when digging in a park first make sure it's legal, when you dig you want to dig a plug with the grass on top, that can be replaced so it never looks like any one dug there. btw over the years I have found almost enough clad coins to pay for my detector. don't overlook the clad coins they add up. throw a silver in every once in a while and you are looking good.

in open country I use this,

http://www.royalmfgind.com/index.php/products/product/176/gold-prospecting

the built in magnets really help with pulling trash out(something I am good at, LOL). remember always fill your holes in and don't dig up vegetation.

GreyWulf, I have detected a lot in Nevada, all of it for gold. I am not sure why you think Nevada would be good for coins, I would like to hear more about your idea. maybe on the beaches around Lake Mead(if it's legal). Nevada has a world class nugget detecting area, it's called Rye Patch. the only reason I posted the name is it is very well known(no secret). in fact some experts hold classes there.

if anybody wants to see my desert prospecting gear stop by my camp at RTR I will try to explain everything, I also give a seminar at the RTR.

highdesertranger

 

[highdesertranger]

Weight it depends on what you want to do with your detector. now a days you have a lot of dedicated machines. besides your all around machines you have coin shooters, relic, gold, underwater, and beach detectors.

remember any detector will detect any metal. the dedicated machines have features that make it easier. at the moment I have a White's GMT and am looking at a Garrett ATX.

let's hear what you want to do with it. highdesertranger

 

[lenny flank]

I occasionally think about taking up meteor-hunting, but I always figure there are already a zillion people doing that so everything is likely already picked clean anyway.

 

[highdesertranger]

no it's not picked clean. I have a story about meteor hunters, kinda boring. as a side note the Feds have recently tighten the rules for meteor hunting. highdesertranger

 

[DannyB1954]

I have acquired about 8 metal detectors. High dollar ones too boot. Sooner or later I will buy one that finds gold colored stuff! The difference between the cheap and expensive models is how deep they will find things, how small of an object they will find, and the high dollar ones try to guess what it is. The problem is they can and often do guess wrong. The properties between gold and aluminum foil is very similar. So if the detector say it is aluminum and you pass it up, you may have just passed up a nice gold ring. You can set even the cheapest ones to ignore steel, but then are you passing up a relic? So I dig it all. PITA as it is.

Lately I have been carrying one of my cheapest ones. It doesn't go real deep but then I don't want to spend my day digging 1 foot deep holes. It is pretty good at small if the item is not deep, The battery lasts a long time and you can buy it brand new with a lifetime warranty for about $160. it is a Tesoro Compadre . Ebay is the place to buy. You can buy them used for half or less of that but used machines won't have the lifetime warranty. Personally I bought mine used. If they work when you get it, chances of it going bad is very slim.

Youtube has lots of videos on all the different models. Here is one video on it. here is another

 

[highdesertranger]

trying to discriminate between lead and gold is even worse. your best bet when detecting for gold is to dig every target. highdesertranger

 

[WanderingBiker]

I have a Sovereign GT, with a factory bump in power....

works to well sometimes.... been a while since I used it... so will get it out and practice at the beach
after the tourists leave

 

[bullfrog]

Best to check the laws and rules of the land you are on, even trash can and is considered a "historic relic" in certain areas where even though no one will stop you dectecting, digging and keeping will get you in trouble. Make sure you know before you go.

 

[DannyB1954]

Best to check the laws and rules of the land you are on, even trash can and is considered a "historic relic" in certain areas where even though no one will stop you dectecting, digging and keeping will get you in trouble.  Make sure you know before you go.

Very true. On the park land near my house they consider anything over 50 years old to be a protected antique and you are supposed to turn it in if found. Tell me what is so precious about a coin from 1968. They made millions of them.

 

[Weight]

1968 coin has silver in the cladding, especially JFK half's.

 

[GreyWulf]

I'm a 1968 please don't turn me in I'm happy, I'll be 50 years old in 2 weeks

 

[GreyWulf]

Sorry got a little off topic but I can pick up a metal detector on Facebook Marketplace for 30 bucks I watch some YouTube videos on it and they say it's pretty good it only goes 6 in deep but from what I seen you know it finds pretty much all the metals should I go with the $30 since I'm starting out or should I go with a high-dollar one. It's a bounty hunter tracker 4

 

[highdesertranger]

again it depends what you want to do with it. Amazon has those for 99 bucks with lots of bad reviews,

https://www.amazon.com/Bounty-Hunter-Tracker-Metal-Detector/dp/B00005A3L1

if it was me I would go with a mid level machine from a well known manufacturer. highdesertranger

 

[GreyWulf]

Well from what I've read on the reviews the good reviews outweigh the bad reviews I just want to see what I can find nickels quarters dimes maybe a gold ring if I'm lucky who knows it's a hobby I want to start and maybe eventually ill upgrade to one of the fancy detectors but for $30 it's a good start.

 

[highdesertranger]

well then I say go for it. give us a report. oh yeah, happy B-day. highdesertranger