How Much is Enough?

I enjoy checking out a lot of metal detecting websites and seeing what people are finding, and the quantity and quality always impresses me. Recently I started  hearing about “Blisstool” detectors (manufactured in Bulgaria). Supposedly these detectors can find a BB at ten feet, and a car a mile away. They are induction balance machines, and if all  the hype is correct they are the end all of deep seeking detectors.

Here is their website, and I will let you decide if their claims are legit or not. For me it really doesn’t  matter. How much depth is enough, and what will we do with it anyway? Don’t get me wrong. I have always been one of those “don’t give me frills, give me an extra  inch of depth” hunters, however are there limits?

Is that dime at 18 or 24 inches worth digging? Well of course because it’s obviously a an older one, a keeper (or so we think). Next what kind of hole will we need  to dig to recover it, and what will our digging tool look like? How will this recovery look to those who are watching us so closely? How might the folks who oversee  the city parks come to grips with this?

I know I will hear from relic and beach hunters that all this doesn’t matter since their area of expertise doesn’t always require tidy repairs, and to some  extent that is true, but just how obsessive will we all become to have the “latest”? To have the “advantage”?

I do understand the buzz and the hype…. When I begin detecting in the late 70’s I was always looking at the “other” detector, wondering if indeed it would detect  a little deeper than the one I was using. Depth has always been the most important feature, but now I wonder if it continues to be the ultimate criteria, will we  even have a place to use it?

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