When did you first start metal detecting?

[goldhound47]

I'am new here and this is first post, so I wanted to first say Hello!

My question is when did you first start using a metal detector and what, or who inspired you to start the hobbie?

I bought my first metal detector when I was about 16 years old from a rock shop owner. I bought a small Garret metal detector, walked to school about a block from my home with my older brother and walked home with over $60.00 worth of mostly silver coins and a few clads aswell.

It didn't take but a few more hunts to get back the $99.00 my metal detector cost me.

After I finished school I bought a Whites metal detector and hunted every school I knew of in the North Texas area, where I was born and grew up. My brother and I filled up several large tubs with silver coins and many gold and silver rings.

But sadly I got too busy and I drifted away from hunting.

I'am hungry to get started back again, but need a new detector, so if you have any tips as what would be a good metal detector to pick back up on that would be helpful.

The last one I had was bought in the 80's so I'm sure they're more advanced technically today. I'm willing to pay around $600. but may start off with less until I get back into it.

I live in North Carolina now, so I've got some new dirt to dig in.

 

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[sandnsea49]

Started when I was a kid with a Radio Shack cheapie. Didn't find anything but junk so left it alone until about 15 years ago. I was Superintendant of five municipal cemeteries. As I was making my rounds one day I saw a guy metal detecting in one of them. I asked to see what he had found and was amazed at the old coins. The cemetery was started in 1832. I went out and bought a used Bounty Hunter with discrimination and a meter because I didn't want to spend a lot in case it worked out like it did when I was a kid. A few old coins and a gold ring later I was hooked. Since then I have owned a Whites XLT, an Excalibur 1000 and an Explorer XS. The Whites collects dust and I use the Minelabs exclusively. Curiously though, I found more gold with the Bounty Hunter than my Minelabs. I had the BH about 3 years, the White's about 6 years and the Minelabs for the other 5.

 

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[SASQUASH]

I was M.D.ing with my dad when I was 13 he had a GOLDBUG I now have his & my COIN MASTER & XLT E-. I'm 36 now. DAD past on but the memory's live on. SASQUASH<><

 

[red]

Well I started hunting when I was about 13 or almost 30 years ago,with a Radio shack type detector.
I've used Garrett's ,Whites, and a few other detectors since then. Now I use a Fisher CZ 70 for hunting everything and a Garrett GTAx for silver coins in trashy areas.

Every one likes there Whites DFX I see, so you might want to check them out , but the price is more then the 600 you want to spend.
For the price you have set, You should look at the Garrett 1350. they run about 550 through Kellyco, I have played with one at the TH show and like it a lot, it has all the bells and whistels as the higher priced Garrett's.
But the best thing to do is go to a TH show yourself and find the one that feels best to you,just stay with a good brand and ask a million questons about all of them first.

HH
Red

 

[Darod]

Been at it for about 4 months. Love it.

You asked what kind of detector you should get. What type of hunting do you intend to do? Makes a big difference on what machine you should purchase.

Rod

 

[goldhound47]

I will probably get a "Whites Prospector, that was what I had before and it served me well.

 

[charlie]

I started around 1975, I was 7 years old. My dad is a treasure hunter from way back and I used to help him dig bottle dumps and indian artifacts. Many years have passed but we both get together a couple of times a week to detect and dig bottles. We have made some NICE finds, and then we have went for 3-4 years with average stuff. My Dad is gettin' older now and may not be around 10 years from now so I go with him anytime I can. The women in my life don't understand but they were more than welcome to go with me, but they were not interested and that's o.k. too. I have 2 beautiful girls that LOVE IT!!! and both have made nice finds recently ( they are 13 and 11) and I hope one day when I'm retired that they will find the time to go with me.

 

[birdman]

In the early 80s my father bought a Garret groundhog because of all the civil war history around us. We used to make surface finds on occasion so he thought it would be a lot of fun to use a detector.I used it until I was grown and could buy an up grade. The real excitement to me is knowing that when you touch an old bullet or an old coin ,that you are the first person to touch the item since it was lost . You also can wonder what the person was thinking ,what type of situation was he or she was in. It is fun to make up the story with each find. I guess I am still a kid at heart.

 

[DirtDiggerDaveinMD]

I guess it's been about 5 or 6 years now. I aways wanted a metal detector when I was a kid, never did get one. Kind of grew out of wanting one as a teen, girls and getting into trouble was more important. My intrest was re-sparked by my uncle when he showed me his machine. 3 Detectors later, and a possible 4th on the way, the rest is history.

Dave

 

[chirper97]

In the early 60s my father built a few HeathKit detectors, and he showed me gold (2-3 oz) that he had found in Central America on an Spanish trail. In about 1979 I got the 'fever' and researched the market, deciding on the Garrett Master Hunter ADS Deepseeker. Living in Seattle at the time, I enjoyed coin shooting at the local older schools and beaches (did good at schools, lousy at Alki and the other beaches). Reading Karl von Mueller's Treasure Hunter's Manuals and Charles Garrett's Coin Hunting books kept me excited. Visiting my parents in WV, I triggered the metal detecting fever in my father, mother, and brother, who all bought Garrett's. A major source of enjoyment was, and continues to be, discussing treasure hunting and trying to figure out if and when Karl von Mueller was pulling our leg, for example the Lue map in his TH manual #7. Whether or not he was basically just a good yarn weaver, we all enjoyed K von M's National Prospector's Gazette in all of it's incarnations, and purchased all of the back issues we could locate. (They are holding up better than I expected, and contained a lot of good and interesting material).

In the mid 80s my father's Garrett Groundhog ADS developed a drift problem, and he was sadly disappointed with Garrett's service...they kept the detector for a long time, and when it was returned it still had the drift problem. He remains an avid armchair treasure hunter.

I now own a Fisher CZ 6a and love it, and look forward to doing some relic hunting here in WV.