When did all of you notice the hobby of metal detecting start gaining interest

[Terry Soloman]

I was 12-years-old in 1969, when the Garrett Master Hunter BFO was released. My dad was working for NASA, as a contractor from General Electric. His friend brought the detector over (we were living in Alvin, TX), and showed my dad how it worked. They went out in the back yard and actually found a Mercury dime. I would say it really took off in 1970-'71. By the time I got out of the Army in '76, there were many different brands.

 

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[Trezurehunter]

The hobby has obviously exploded with the internet and all of the social media groups that can be found on it. For me personally, it was 1987 when I bought my first detector. Like some of the others, I was looking for a few of my lost arrows in my yard when I was first learning to archery hunt. When I first started learning archery, I missed the target a little more than I care to admit ! I did find the arrows and never looked back. The metal detecting hobby has been 38 years of pure enjoyment for me.

 

[The Lonely Explorer]

I think most people who have answered this thread have answered when they became interested instead the when the hobby gained interest as the thread title asks. Certainly nothing wrong with any of the answers here, but I believe the 'hobby' itself took a huge gain in interest when that tv show "American Diggers" with Ric Savage and his catch phrase "Boom Baby" was on the air.

I found it absurd that they would show a rusty ax head or a rusted piece of logging chain or some other junk and claim it had a value of hundreds or thousands of dollars. After seeing it two or three times, I refused to watch it again.

I think the show was detrimental to the hobby because it caused a lot of people who never heard of detecting to run out and buy a machine and start digging in places without permission or leaving holes every where and otherwise damaging property and disrespecting those of us who abide by a rule of ethics.

Yeah, sorry got off topic there a little haha.

I think metal detecting has been pretty popular since it came out. I wasn't around back then, but my dad, uncles, tons of people from that time had metal detectors. It's what sparked my interest in getting started.

I do think it gains and wains in popularity though. It seems to be a hobby that people are constantly getting in and out of for various reasons. Some years I see dozens of other detectorists out at beaches or parks, and other years I see nobody or very few.

Considering metal detectors were invented way before 1970, I'd say peak popularity is when was when they decided to manufacture hobby units for the public to afford, all the way till current date.

 

[ArfieBoy]

I started out as a coin collector and read coin magazines. I couldn't afford many of the coins, so I searched pocket change. The magazines carried ads for metal detectors, and I thought that if I had one of those, I could find coins rather than buy them. I bought my first BFO detector in 1972 and have been involved since then. My age and health have slowed me down since then, but I still do some (in warm weather).

The growth of metal detecting was on a growth spurt then. It has had ups and downs over the years as far as interest and growth goes, but I believe that through the 1970's was a huge growth period for metal detects, advances in technology and numbers of new participants. There have been bursts of interest over the years usually spurred by technology advances,

Just my observations and opinion.

 

[2Peas]

For me it was 1989. I purchased a Compass coinstar. But trying to detect with 3 little ones was difficult, so on the shelf it went for a decade.

 

[Mad Dog]

My best answer would be I never noticed until I got interested (seriously) in the hobby. I was like a lot of people who show interest, they always claim that they always wanted a detector or were thinking about it...etc.
A buddy who detected but had sold his detector to pay off debts was talking about the newest technology and told me stories about his many years of detecting, it was enough to reignite that childhood interest and I made a spur decision to buy a detector. Once I got swinging, I was hooked. It was only since then that I've noticed the interest in the hobby. But trust me, everyone around me knows about metal detecting, whether interested or not! 😆

 

[49er12]

Yeah very addictive, also very misunderstood meaning people in some instances think you’re looking for pocket change or simply curious, that’s why I enjoy when they come up to ask. There’s only one hobby where you don’t need bullets or bait, take it out of the trunk and your good how nice