Misinformed Article

[mapper65]

I was doing some Google searching this morning and ran across this article. It just goes to show you how misinformed people are about detecting. In some ways you would like to tell the person that wrote the article, "you have this all wrong, your example is coming from not having the right equipment, being uneducated in what you were hoping to accomplish and expecting way too much with the little knowledge that you possess."

It's obvious that most of society expects to wake up and find a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk on their front porch every morning without having to go out and work for it. I've talked to a lot of people that are really interested in the things that me and my family have found detecting but think they would never be able to find the things that we find. Deep down it's probably more that they don't want to invest in the right equipment or spend the time trying to find things. I was talking with a guy that I work with and I said, "people that don't detect think that detectorists are like gamblers and you only hear us tell you when we find something good but most people that detect will tell you that we've dug an awful lot of trash in the meantime."

The other side of this is also stems from something that happened to us a few weeks ago which intentionally gives bystanders a false impression of detecting. Our Mom, Hotrod53 & I were in a public park that we knew was formerly an old town. We were having a great day. We all had something good in our pocket. Actually, Mom and Hotrod53 had something great in their pockets. Mom had found an 1865 2 cent piece and an Indian, Hotrod53 had a 1889 Morgan dollar and I had a merc and an Indian. We could tell that a guy and his two daughters were going to approach us and Hotrod53 said "should I show them what we found". I said "nope". When they came over the guy asked if we were finding anything and Hotrod53 told them that we had found a few coins and the typical junk that you find in a park. Now the last thing that I felt we wanted to do was give someone a tip on some of the best finds of the year in a place that we really hadn't spent much time at up till that point. You never know who that guy knew that may have a detector. In a way you kind of feel bad in that instance that maybe we didn't give the guy all of the facts which might turn him away from getting into the hobby if he and his family were interested.

Most of the time when people come up and ask if I've ever found anything good with my detector I always say that over the years I've found some interesting old coins from the 1800's and some gold and silver rings. If they ask me about the present day and location even if I have something really good in my pocket I say "a little bit of change and a little bit of junk". On many occasions that little bit of change my constitute some nice old silver coins or 1800's copper which are always in a different location than the clad that I've found. If someone wants to see what I've found I show them the clad.

I think that many of you will agree that this article is very misinformed and written by someone that was expecting good finds to jump out of the ground and into their pocket and all they were going to have to do was walk along with a detector. I don't think it will stop anyone that has the drive like most of us do to get into detecting. You would like the take someone like this out to the right location and have them spend a day with you, but then again, would you? Ha ha ha

Article

 

[Shenandoah Digger]

I think the article's pretty accurate. Most people get a metal detector thinking they're gonna hit it rich, and then after a very short time, give up and sell it or put it in the closet. They see a metal detector ad with all kinds of treasure shown, and think "that's me". When they don't find it the first day they lose hope and hang it up. Let's face it. I've made some great finds over the years, but if I didn't know they really existed I'd have quit many times, because most times I find nothing. I think that's the case with most detectorists, although they may not admit it. And if all I thought I'd find is clad, I'd have never gotten my first detector 45 years ago.

 

[mudpuppy]

Yes, a successful detectorist has to be bloodthirsty and private about this sport. Has to just really enjoy the pursuit of "what could be found" but again, any successful pursuit oriented adventurist is absolutely rabid about what they do, and are good at it because of that trait.
Mud

 

[hotrod53]

After reading the article I have a few comments ... first, this guy just doesn't get it!

This guy is coming to uninformed conclusions and I'm glad to hear that he gave it up. There was no talk about research, permission to hunt, understanding the past, and human nature when it comes to site survey and site location. As far as exercise .... I work out 3 nights a week.... I never work out the day after detecting because I'm too sore from the hunt. I don't know if all detectorists put in the time like we do, or go to the extremes that we do, but I can tell you that after hunting and getting back in the truck to drive home, I can hardly get out of the truck when I get home. It's nothing for us to drive hours and put in 5 hours plus on a hunt, no exercise ... baloney! I'd like to know the number of miles that I have walked a half step at a time. I'd like to know the number of squats and knee bends that I do in just one hunt.

I've been doing this for 42 years, I have a lot of good finds, I didn't get them on the first time out either. We as detectorists look at things differently, not everyone has the interest or acquires the skills. Skills you say ... absolutely, we don't just walk thru the park and pick stuff up. Is it a sport .... if bowling is a sport along with badminton and horseshoes, then absolutely, we are sportsmen .. and sportswomen!

Sure detecting is a certain percentage skill and and even higher percent luck, it's not for everyone... if it were easy, there would be no good finds left for us. Does this guy think that gold miners back in the 1800's just went out in their back yard and dug a hole? This guy probably would have done just that and give it up saying there's no gold!

 

[BH_Landstar_]

...... And if all I thought I'd find is clad, I'd have never gotten my first detector 45 years ago.

That found clad soon adds up to a nice little haul if you keep at it, and soon enough that pile would total the cost of the detector, and therefore would have paid for it's self over time.

I know that all three detectors that I own now have more than paid for themselves many times over in just clad alone, the bonus is the other finds, silver coins, silver rings, gold rings, silver pendants, gold pendants, chains and so on.

 

[Old Longhair]

A number of things struck me as I read it.
First was the notion that it is a thrill to find things "that don't belong to you".
If it's been in the ground for 100+yrs, the original owner doesn't care about it any more. And there was no mention of the thrill of returning someones property if they can be located, determined to be the owners, and they are still alive.

Another thing was "the salesman", whom sounds like a total jerk if his actions and words actually were as portrayed. If I had a saleman working for me and I heard him saying the things that he supposedly said, he'd be handed his final check within minutes.

Then there was their choice of machines. I'm not knocking Bounty Hunter as a brand, or even the Tracker IV as a machine, but to think that they are going to take one out cold and strike it rich is also an indication of their naivety as well as their unrealistic expectations.

As HotRod alluded to, it is a workout if you pursue it the way that many of us do. If nothing else, digging as many targets as we do, getting up and down, extracting targets from tough conditions (clay gravel, etc...) for hours is work! More so now than when I was younger, but certainly still more physical activity than sightseeing, standing in line, or many other vacation activities.

In all reality, as bad as they make it out to be, I hope that many read her article and take it to heart. If they are that easily dissuaded, they wouldn't last in the hobby anyway.

 

[hershey1]

That is the people I like to follow. Enjoyed the article. I'm going swinging. HH