A farewell

[Midden-marauder]

Walp, I'm ducking out of this metal detecting/relic hunting thing. I was at it maybe about 8 or 9 months, tried various aspects of it, got burnt out pretty fast for a variety of reasons but I'll spare you guys that whole story. In terms of science hobbies I have a pretty cool one already that has always been useful and consistently yields whatever fruit I want it to so I can keep my nerd gears grinding away. I guess at the end of the day that's the biggest thing with me, meaningful yield, payoff, fascination and a sense that it matters on some logistical level. I do leather work and I get fabulous results, I engage in chemistry and plant study and I get fabulous results, I go metal detecting or searching for some piece of history and I'm confronted with a brutal reality: history is locked up in the trash, TRASH. I guess if I were an archaeologist I might find it more engaging but I'm not and I don't so.....
Yeah, thank you to all of you who helped me out with stuff and I hope each and every one of you finds a golden hoard at the end of your rainbows! Keep swingin if it keeps you happy, in the end that's the best of what there is, go with what makes you happy. Happy trails kids!

 

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[ArfieBoy]

Sorry to see you go. I have been detecting for over 50 year and have a lot of good memories and pictures of finds, ghost towns, beautiful country and just good times. Hope your other endeavors bring you joy!

 

[pepperj]

K.I.S.S
That's detecting site, swing, beep, dig.
You tried it out, fell down a rabbit hole of trying to things that were very complicated. (For most to even understand)
Best to you in your nerd fulfillment.

 

[Chilli]

Happy trails kids!

Huh?
Im 63, how old are you 🤔

 

[Terry Soloman]

Walp, I'm ducking out of this metal detecting/relic hunting thing. I was at it maybe about 8 or 9 months, tried various aspects of it, got burnt out pretty fast for a variety of reasons but I'll spare you guys that whole story. In terms of science hobbies I have a pretty cool one already that has always been useful and consistently yields whatever fruit I want it to so I can keep my nerd gears grinding away. I guess at the end of the day that's the biggest thing with me, meaningful yield, payoff, fascination and a sense that it matters on some logistical level. I do leather work and I get fabulous results, I engage in chemistry and plant study and I get fabulous results, I go metal detecting or searching for some piece of history and I'm confronted with a brutal reality: history is locked up in the trash, TRASH. I guess if I were an archaeologist I might find it more engaging but I'm not and I don't so.....
Yeah, thank you to all of you who helped me out with stuff and I hope each and every one of you finds a golden hoard at the end of your rainbows! Keep swingin if it keeps you happy, in the end that's the best of what there is, go with what makes you happy. Happy trails kids!

Send your metal detector to MD4V.org

 

[crashbandicoot]

Huh?
Im 63, how old are you 🤔

72.

 

[Red_desert]

Huh?
Im 63, how old are you 🤔

72.

I turned 68.

 

[Chilli]

Walp, I'm ducking out of this metal detecting/relic hunting thing. I was at it maybe about 8 or 9 months, tried various aspects of it, got burnt out pretty fast for a variety of reasons but I'll spare you guys that whole story. In terms of science hobbies I have a pretty cool one already that has always been useful and consistently yields whatever fruit I want it to so I can keep my nerd gears grinding away. I guess at the end of the day that's the biggest thing with me, meaningful yield, payoff, fascination and a sense that it matters on some logistical level. I do leather work and I get fabulous results, I engage in chemistry and plant study and I get fabulous results, I go metal detecting or searching for some piece of history and I'm confronted with a brutal reality: history is locked up in the trash, TRASH. I guess if I were an archaeologist I might find it more engaging but I'm not and I don't so.....
Yeah, thank you to all of you who helped me out with stuff and I hope each and every one of you finds a golden hoard at the end of your rainbows! Keep swingin if it keeps you happy, in the end that's the best of what there is, go with what makes you happy. Happy trails kids!

Have you thought about a different hunting type. What I mean is when I worked in a detecting shop in the Sd2000 upwards days there was a customer that just couldn't crack it on nuggets and was so frustrated seeing others find them. Nugget hunting just wasn't his thing even though there were plenty around back then. He said he was done detecting, he liked it but was so frustrated getting nothing. I said where do you live, he said near Melbourne. I said how about you try hunting for gold on the Melbourne beaches instead. I gave him some advice, this, St Kilda beaches and others down that way are favourites with the Italian and Greek communities. They love their gold chains, gold rings, everything gold. I knew because I lived there years beforehand fishing those places. He got some Whites detector with plenty of change trading his SD2100. Few months later he made a special trip to the shop where I worked in the bush. He had a grin from ear to ear and showed me photos of gold rings, gold chains, you name it. He said "im so thankful for that advice im having the time of my life" and gave me a pack of beers before he left.
Maybe try something different. Or a different type of treasure hunting.

 

[cajundetector]

I can certainly relate to the frustration as I have hit a wall myself. I’m having trouble obtaining new worthwhile permissions, and to me that’s the name of the game. I’m not ready to throw in the towel yet. I do however wish you the best of luck!!

 

[Blackfoot58]

I guess it isn’t for everyone. Best wishes with your other pursuits.

 

[Midden-marauder]

K.I.S.S
That's detecting site, swing, beep, dig.
You tried it out, fell down a rabbit hole of trying to things that were very complicated. (For most to even understand)
Best to you in your nerd fulfillment.

Oh, that rabbit hole is working out to be one of my more brilliant ones actually. Learning to use a magnetometer requires doing homework but once you get it you get it. My partner has told me that perhaps I should take a break rather than throwing in the towel so that's what I'll do. I'm still experimenting with the mag and have arrived at the conclusion that it's a pretty powerful tool in terms of relic hunting. It's VERY good at finding structural features, iron is obvious and is indeed a primary structural material used in building but beyond that it'll meaningfully pick up:
Granite
Some sand stones
Limestone
Various igneous rocks (basalt for damn sure)
Brick
Certain fire pits/fire places/hearths etc
Possibly concrete and asphalt.

There's more I haven't had the chance to test yet but it's ongoing. I'm wanting to see if it's sensitive enough to characterize magnetic soil backfill in ditches and pits but I gotta find the spot to test that principle. Basically it can be used to find shallow to deep subsurface, anthropogenic structural remnants, old foundations, trash pits/scatters and other larger static features not visible on the surface, you can use it to quite literally dowse ruins man and I'm not whistling Dixie here. I have yet to see if any software exists to work up an anomaly map from a cellphone mag data set but while that would be nice I don't think it's necessary, remnants of building foundations will show up strongly in the data, I put together a few hundred survey flags in black and white to mark off positive and negative anomalies. For now I'm backing off actual relic hunting but I'm testing out this little tech tool to see how far I can push it. It'll get used when I'm ready to come back. Maybe if there's interest I'll do up a tutorial post in the geophysics category so other folks can learn how to use it too. In any case, I got sweet talked into just taking a break, I think my partner likes that I do it and it is fun when I'm out there... I'm just gonna take a break, regroup and then bring some crazy new techniques and tech to the situation to add to the coolness. It's been a frustrating few months on a few fronts but I just need time away from it I think.

 

[Midden-marauder]

So I guess it's just a break for now, I have my sweetie to thank for gently encouraging me. Just give it space and come back to it and that's what she said to me. Fall is coming, that's the time (around here at any rate) to do some hunting. I need to invest in a new pinpointer anyway, that minelab I had burned out in less than a year which was it's own frustration (Right in the middle of finding a good target too!!😐), I won't be buying that model again. So yeah, I think I just need to focus on other stuff for now, take a break and then return with new purpose and perhaps some novel new tricks up my sleeves.

 

[Mackaydon]

Researching to find specific objects and less searched areas might give you more enjoyment and better results.
Don in SoCal

 

[Midden-marauder]

Researching to find specific objects and less searched areas might give you more enjoyment and better results.
Don in SoCal

That's what I do actually, I've grown so picky that it's actually more difficult to find the ideal spots. That can be aggravating just to itself. I spend a significant portion of my time pouring over satellite maps, historical records and archaeological data. I can find features on sat maps most folks would absolutely miss. Does it improve my finds? Sort of. It's all fine and well to be skilled in archaeological survey but it doesn't necessarily mean I can get easy access to any given site. It also doesn't guarantee I'll find "treasure", mostly I find things that give historical information about the location I'm in, not things I wanna take home. As I said, I'm not interested in "junk" and by junk I'm probably talking about some things another detectorist might be happy to find. A gun casing from before 1933? Oh man, yeah, great, uh, context find there but I don't collect gun casings. Typically I break for the coinage or any other artifact of novel or exceptional nature so I don't find much. I find things but 95% of the time I don't keep them, I use them to help spot date, literally. It can make for tedious hunting when I spend 5 hours out in the desert heat and come home with one item that I'm only semi impressed with.
Maybe just be honest with myself about it, maybe I should just look at what I find, document it, study the details, put it back right where I found it and then be able to give bizarre historical details about the location. Oh yeah, the evidence I've found in this place strongly suggests there was some sort of wooden shack here at one point, probably a bunch of kids back in the 60s.....
So among other factors it's not always a terribly productive pursuit for me to engage in and it can get frustrating for sure. Why am I out here again? Oh that's right, I'm trying to find evidence of exactly what went on here back in 1800 something...
Getting into doing this relic hunting business has turned me into a garbologist, dating nails, pop tabs, can design, bottle markings etc. Most of the stuff I find is literally trash and the one value it has is the history it paints. It's a lot of work to be out in the middle of BFE, searching, digging and hoping for something I'm not even sure is worth my time.
There's a thrill there in a weird, esoteric, nerdy way but it's also something I question the value of after every single hunt, every single hunt. I think my scientific inclinations make it less about collecting relics and more about trying to study the site I have my eyes on.
Sorry that was a rant there but I struggle with this stuff on a strange level, I really do. It's not about collecting relics for me ultimately, I don't collect old stuff to a great degree unless it's rather unique or valuable, the rest I feel like I should leave behind for the next guy to find, he might want to take it away or maybe he'll benefit from the information this junk can provide about this location....motives and justifications, mine are perhaps not the norm

 

[Mackaydon]

Our motives certainly differ. The real value I receive is a few hours of peaceful time spent walking outdoors, clearing my mind and thinking about nothing but the next signal. Add MD-ing with a friend or other family member and the experience is priceless.
Don in SoCal

 

[robertk]

So among other factors it's not always a terribly productive pursuit for me to engage in and it can get frustrating for sure....

I don't look for my metal detecting to be "productive". Coins are easier to buy than dig. For me, being able to not be productive and just relax and enjoy the hunt and wonder what might be in the next hole is enough.

Why am I out here again? Oh that's right, I'm trying to find evidence of exactly what went on here back in 1800 something...

But that's the fun part. Even when I dig up a rusty old piece of iron (as I very often do), there's the questions. What was this for? Who used it? What happened to it to wind up discarded in the ground? Coins are even more mysterious -- who was carrying it? What was it going to be spent on, or what had been done to acquire it? How and why was it lost? No, you can't know the answers to all the questions. But just getting to ask and think about it for a while is pretty cool, IMO.