It’s Thursday and…

It’s not only National Apple Dumpling Day it’s also “Throwback Thursday”. Here’s a tongue in cheek posting from February 2015…

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The Bare Necessities…

I was chatting with a very old detecting friend in the UK the other day about the current state of the pastime, and interestingly, or maybe not, we were both on the same wave length.  Everyone is too caught up in the folderol, the frills, the bullshit if you will, the over promoting of their mastery of this extremely complex, formidable and baffling hobby called metal detecting.

So allow me to have a little fun and share my take on it all….

THEN & NOW…

If you wanted to go metal detecting in the 70’s and 80’s you needed to buy (1) a metal detector, (2) cheap headphones, (3) a carpenter’s apron and (4) a long-handled screwdriver.  Shazam! Done! Get your butt out there and start swinging.

The good ole days….easy and uncomplicated

Today….

…it’s become a bit more complicated.  You see we don’t just need a metal detector. We need an expensive metal detector! Why? Because the more they cost the more they find, and of course the more complex they are, the more expert we will look (or at least it will appear that way to others).  Also if the famous “Lucky Larry” is using a certain brand and model, its hands down THE best on the market.  Why just look at what he’s finding!!  Finally if it’s available in camouflage, all the better, because camo machines go deeper, and make us look cool and macho at the same time.

Then after we make all these thorough and well thought out decisions, we need accessories.  Maybe a cover for it in case it rains or snows, a bag or hard case to store it in, and let’s not forget coil covers.  Don’t want the bottom to get dirty or scratched. If we are lucky these too will be available in camo. That way we can lose them from time to time, and have fun pissing and moaning about it, and anyway, no big deal….we can always buy more and “put it on the card”.  It’s only money!

Next we absolutely have to have extra searchcoils. Big, small, wide, narrow and yes, even imported, because the folks in Abbadabba, Slovenia know how to make coils that are ‘perfectly tuned’ and ‘made to last’ whereas the manufacturer of our detector is stupid and doesn’t care about either of those things.  Here’s hoping too that they come out with camo coils in the not too distant future, because we all know they will go deeper.

Hold on now, we are not done yet.  We “have” to have a pinpointer.  Doesn’t matter what it cost, at long it has some orange on it (so we don’t lose it), and is waterproof to 10 feet (never know when we might fall in a lake or pool). Then of course we will need a holster for it or a holder that attaches to our detector. Yeah, that would be real cool. Next comes a digger, or shovel, perhaps both, so we can recover coins, buttons, beer cans and bombs.  Actually the shovel is very cool to have when you are knocking on doors. Homeowners just love ’em.

Finally if we are going to really look hip and macho, we need a camouflage outfit, hat and a GoPro camera. That way we can hide from the public, maybe get shot by a hunter, scare the hell out of the neighborhood, and if we are really lucky, get it all on film.  The downer of course if that we can’t spend a lot of time detecting because we will have to get home to edit the film, post it on YouTube, and share the link on the 200 detecting forums and Facebook pages.  If, however, we don’t find anything cool we an always re-post the video of the gold ring we found last year. Hell, no one will remember after all this time.

Last and not least we will need camouflage snake boots. Ain’t nobody taking care of those tot lots anymore…

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