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Metal Detecting Tips & Tricks You Need To Know

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Metal Detecting Tips & Tricks You Need To Know

Metal Detecting Tips & Tricks You Need To Know

Every detectorist wants to continue to get better and better at hunting and finding treasures. They do so through experience, of course – the more you hunt, the more you find, and the better you get at it. But, you can also learn a lot from the experiences of others, so that you have even more information at hand, and sooner. The following list includes some tips you may not have considered that might just help you get better at detecting sooner rather than later.

1. Don’t Abandon Iffy Signals

Digging the signals that don’t sound encouraging or that you don’t think indicate anything of value can prove to be worth your time. Sometimes those iffy targets turn out to be something great, so if you have the time, dig them. If it doesn’t turn out to be anything worthwhile, then at least you’re clearing the surface junk away for a more rewarding return hunting trip.

2. Carry Extra Batteries

There’s nothing worse than having to cut a hunting trip short because you run out of batteries. Always carry an extra set of new batteries with you. The batteries that you have in your equipment are going to run out sometime, being prepared will save you the hassle of having to stop searching to go buy more.

3. Take an Extra Metal Detector

All detectorists know that the first step to hunting a site is to obtain permission to search there. Next time you ask a property owner for permission and you get some push back, ask them to join you (if you have an extra detector). They are likely to be intrigued, and that will make them more likely to say yes.

4. There is No Such Thing as “Hunted Out”

Never discount a site because it’s been “hunted out.” If a site has produced significant finds already, it’s probable that there is more treasure there. Changing the depth and sensitivity settings on your detector may help you locate more finds.

5. Pack Your Tool Box for Every Trip

Maybe you’ve only got enough time to search a small area sometimes so you don’t think you need to take all your gear. But it really is worth it to have all of your tools packed and ready to go, and to take them all with you every time. It’s better to have the specific tool you need than to wish you had it when you’re out hunting.

6. Rescan and Re-dig to Find More

Don’t stop just because you find one target when you dig. Take a few extra minutes and dig a little deeper and use your pinpointer to see if there is anything else there. This tip is especially useful when you find coins – where there is one, there is often more.

7. Use a Frisbee When Digging

Whenever you dig for a target, you want to be able to fill in the hole, leaving it looking as close to what it looked like before you dug as you can. Some detectorists use a piece of fabric or paper to place the dirt that they dig out so that it’s easy to dump it back into the hole when they are done. A Frisbee turned upside down works even better for that, and it can be washed and reused forever.

8. Hunt After Rain

Next time you have some rain, try going out searching while the ground is still wet. This helps detectorists in two ways. First, it’s much easier to dig in wet dirt than hard, dry dirt. And second, wet ground provides better conductivity so you may be able to detect targets that are buried deeper.

You’ll come up with your own tips and tricks as you gain more experience detecting. Be sure that you take the time to share them with your fellow detectorists; they will appreciate it. For additional ideas, you can have a look at these metal detecting tips for beginners.

Tips to Use Your Metal Detector Correctly

It doesn’t matter how much you paid for your metal detector, how complicated or how simple it seems to operate, your first step always need to be to read the instruction manual. It’s not something that you can just turn on and start finding buried treasure. There are different settings, alert sounds, and care for the equipment that you need to understand first. We have put together a list of 10 tips that can help you use your metal detector correctly.

1. Get Help for Your First Hunting Trip

It’s always a good idea to take someone who is familiar with metal detecting on your first trip out hunting.

If you don’t know anyone who has detecting experience, you can check for metal detecting clubs in your area online. Most veteran detectorists are happy to help rookies get started.

2. Practice

Take your detector for a test spin in your own backyard – more than once or twice. You can place metal items on the ground, like coins, jewelry, and other metal objects, and then swing your detector over them so you get a feel for the machine. You can also bury items at different depths so you can get used to the depth settings and what the alert sounds like the farther the item is underground.

3. Learn Your Alerts

It’s important that you learn to differentiate the alerts your detector makes. Try putting a penny and a gold ring on the ground and swinging your detector over them so you can learn what the alerts for different metals sound like.

4. Search Purposefully

When you are hunting a site, be sure to do so in a pattern so you make the most of your hunting time. Most detectorists use a grid pattern when searching, but you can use whatever pattern you choose – so long as it helps you to cover all the ground you want to.

5. Pinpoint Targets

When you are digging a target, you want to do so making as small a hole as possible. That means that you have to narrow down the exact location of the item. While you can start doing this by moving your detector from side to side, and then front to back, it’s helpful to have a pinpointer to narrow it even further and not have to fill in a large hole.

6. Take Out the Trash

When you’re detecting and you dig up something that you don’t care for, like a piece of a foil gum wrapper, or a pull tab from a soda can, don’t just throw it back down. You may want to hunt that area again, and you don’t want to keep digging up the same penny over and over.

7. Don’t Clean Until You Verify

It’s tempting to want to clean the things you find while hunting, but for many old and rare coins, Civil War relics, and other valuable items you might find, it may diminish their value. Just make it a rule that you identify the item and do a little research about its value before you break out the soap.

8. Use the All Metal Setting

As you are starting out, you should utilize the all-metal setting on your detector. Not only will it give you more of an opportunity to dig for targets, it will also help you find more valuable items. For example, gold has a low conductivity, so if a gold ring is buried near a piece of foil or nails, but you have those tuned out, you may miss the gold ring also.

9. Understand Salt Interference

Salt can interfere with a detector’s signals. This can be an issue if you are hunting on ocean beaches. You may have to turn the sensitivity adjustments down so the signals stabilize. Unfortunately, this may cause you to lose some depth, but it will help you avoid the interference.

10. Wear Headphones

Wearing headphones will enhance your hunting experience. They will block out wind, traffic, conversations, and other noise as you hunt while preventing the chances that your detector’s alerts will annoy those around you.

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