It has been a significant amount of time since I have written to this blog. If I still do have any followers out there, thank you for keeping the faith!
In my first post to this blog, I had written that I started metal detecting in 2005, and lost interest until 2010. Well, I went out a lot in 2010 and then life got in the way and was not able to get out at all in 2011.
However, here we are in 2012, and I have fallen back into the hobby hardcore. I have been on MD websites several times a day for the past month, and have gotten out for one hunt since the season began. We have had an unbelievably warm winter here in New England, and as spring came around, I went out one 70 or so degree day and re-hunted in my yard yet again. It only turned up .26 in clad and junk, but I couldn't have been happier.
I won't have too much time for hunting until mid May, but I am hoping to get out once a week at least until then, when I should be able to step it up to 2-3 times a week.
As I was two years ago, I am again in the market for a new metal detector. I have narrowed it down further to three or four different models.
As my friends like to say, go big or go home, so I am looking at the higher end models of three different brands:
- Minelab E-Trac
- Teknetics T-2
- Whites Spectra V3i
I have watched videos and read reviews of all these machines, and cannot narrow down to which one I like. I hear the Minelab E-Trac is a deep machine, but from what I've seen I like the VDI numbers and user interfaces of the Whites and Teknetics better. I know from reading several forums that tone is much more important than VDI, but at the end of the day I do have to enjoy using the machine. I honestly have to get to a dealer and hold and test each one before I'm going to know what I want I guess.
Since I last wrote, Garrett also came out with the AT Pro, which now uses VDI numbers on its screen. It looks like a more adult, souped up version of the Garrett Ace 250 I am using now, and also looks very easy to use. I watched a video where someone was using the iron tone, and I kind of liked it. However, I am still leaning toward something more high end. If anyone out there reads this and has some insight on any of those detectors, please e-mail me at treasurenoir@gmail.com
In the past few weeks, we've gone from having no virtually no shows about metal detecting/treasure hunting to 2. I know Gold Fever existed previously, but these shows differ in that they're about coin shooting and relic hunting.
Lucky Muckers, which was on the National Geographic channel, featured "Chicago Ron" going out to London's River Thames with the Mud Larks, who are permitted to search for and find artifacts from the river's banks. I thought this show was excellent. Ron seemed like a great guy and the show focused solely on the historical value of the object being found. He is very lucky to have had the opportunity to get out there with them and search. I enjoyed it, and even sent an e-mail to him telling him as such.
The other show, American Diggers, is on Spike TV, and features Rick Savage and his artifact recovery company, American Savage, going door to door around America to hunt for artifacts to find and sell.
This show has some good and bad points. I do like that they are going to ask permission for each site they dig (obviously required), but I'm not sure that their being "turned away" is real or scripted. However, my like for the show ends there. I think it is WAY over dramatic, and to me, it shows metal detectorists and treasure hunters in a bad light. If I decide to go and ask permission to search somebody's home, it is certainly not to profit off of what I find. I also do not want this show enticing people to buy metal detectors and go door to door looking for permission to dig and make money, or worse going into public places and digging haphazard holes and ruining it for the rest of us. Just my two cents, for what its worth. However, in other forum posts I've seen about the show, I'm not the only one that feels this way.
Anyhow, I am truly looking forward to this season, and getting to sites that I've previously wanted to hunt and haven't. Again, I invite anybody with insight on any of the detectors I mentioned to e-mail me with tips, information, or experiences. In the meantime, I will continue watching videos and reading reviews on each before I decide to buy.
Until next time, this is Treasure Noir, saying it's great to be back, and happy hunting!
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