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Tips & Tricks

• "Cold weather got you down? Try the woods & old cellar holes. The ground doesn't freeze as bad where it is covered with a lot of leaf. Don't forget to ask permission and cover your holes ALL the time!" - by Rich Rice
  
  
• "When hunting relics in Revolutionary War, old colonial and Civil War sites, you may find melted blobs of metal. It may be lead from making bullets at their campfire. Hunt around these spots real good as there may have been more activity." -by Rich Rice
  
  
• "Use a trash apron for your trash, and a separate pocket for good finds. Use good headphones when detecting, you will find more good, deeper finds and your batteries will last a lot longer." - by Rich Rice
  
  
• "Some beaches do not allow detecting while bathers are there during the season, but will let you detect early in the morning or after 6 pm." - by Rich Rice
  
  
• "If you know of someplace that has been well hunted or overhunted, try detecting it after a big rain when the ground is soaked. The wet ground has more conductivity and you will find deeper and older targets." - by Vlad & Carol
  
  
• "If you don't want to be bothered with nosey people, try starting your day early, or later after the crowds thin out, or when it's raining." - by Vlad & Carol
  
  

  "If there are stones on the beach and very little sand, the detecting will be better. That means that the heavy objects like coins and rings are on the beach also.
  Look for iron relics on the beach because that could be your "pay" or coin line in the sand." - by Rich Rice
  
  

  "Follow the stone walls and stone walled roads in the woods, or the cart paths to cellar holes. They may lead you to an old foundation. However, they probably have poison ivy right now, so record them well for visits in the fall." - by Rich Rice
  
  

• "Learn to dig properly, don't leave holes or dig lawn and grassy areas in the summer when the grass is dry, it will kill the grass. Spring and Fall are the best times." - by Rich Rice
  
  
• "Be sure to take all the trash you recover with you, the park rangers love to see trash being removed." - by Rich Rice
  
  

  "Check in person with local town Recreational Depts. to see if they allow detecting. Get permission on private property. Verbal permission from the owner is good unless he wants to make you out a permission slip. If you ask for written permission it will usually be denied." - by Rich Rice
  
  

• "Also check schools, old church sites, bus stops, your neighbors, your friends, your yard, fairgrounds, campgrounds, old swimming holes, cellar holes, highway reststops and picnic areas, and many more such places." - by Rich Rice
  
  
• "When riding around in you car make a mental note if you see a good spot, or better yet write it down. Go there next time you detect." - by Rich Rice
  
  
• Hot weather sites: "Wooded and non grassy areas, gravel roads, old railroads, swimming holes, fishing areas, beaches. Stay away from the grassy areas in this heat, as it only kills the grass, and we don't want to lose our invitation." - by Rich Rice
  
  
• "When you're digging, dig a "U" shaped flap, fold it over and put your dirt on a ground cloth. Recover your target, dump your dirt back in the hole, and fold the grass flap down and stomp on it. No one will ever know you have been there, and best of all you won't kill the grass." - by Rich Rice
  
  
• Pulse Machine Tip:
  "Use your steel-toed waders to check the sounds on your pulse underwater machine; steel will give a washed out tone. Pulltabs, nickels and gold will a sound short sharp beeps." - by Rich Rice
  
  
• You also can tape a nickel and a penny to each shoe & use them to check for discrimination and tones on your land detectors. - by Rich Rice
  
  
• Cleaning Coins:
  "Only clean coins that you KNOW are NOT valuable. Here is method I use: Take a small pan & line it with aluminum foil; put in some warm water and a couple of good tablespoons of baking soda in a pan with a few coins of the same composition. Leave them in the solution just long enough to clean up and not take away the coins "patina." You can use a soft toothbrush to work on stubborn spots. Then rinse real good & let dry real good before you store away. You also can dip them in "benzine" afterwards if you want(as this takes away the oxygen & stabilizes the coin for storage) This will make your dirty coins more valuable & sellable, Email Rich Rice with questions. Also, nothing works very well on nickels." - by Rich Rice
  
  
• Coin Tumbling Recipe:
  "50 to 100 coins; 1/2 to 3/4 white aquarium stones; 1 tablespoon sand(the finer,the better); 1 tablespoon Ivory dish detergent; water to cover the bottom of the top layer of stones; shake well to distribute evenly; tumble about 7 hours. Note: each type of coins, silver or copper should have their own set of stones. Do not mix different types of coins together." - by George in Montreal
  
  
• Update To This Recipe:
  "Hey, we used some small pebbles from the beach and some sand and a touch of liquid detergent w/water, and the coins came out pretty nice! Change the water after an hour and then tumble for another couple of hours. We tumble things that have corrosion on them too, like buckles and buttons and keys, etc." - by Vlad and Carol
  
  
• A quick way to clean pennies
  is to put them in a jar. Fill about 1/4 of the jar with the coins. Fill the jar 1/2 way with vinegar. Add a teaspoon of salt.
  Close the jar and shake until coins are clean.It is very fast. Take out coins and rinse well, and I mean rinse well. Put on paper towel. Pat dry. Not to be used on any coin of any value.The more difficult coins put in tumbler. - by George in Montreal
  
  
• Preserve your hobby. If you see some one digging big holes leaving them uncovered ask them to fill all there holes & pick up there trash. If they refuse turn them in. Tell the Park Ranger or authorities that you are a responsible detectorist and that they our breaking the rules, and that you don't want to be blamed for their actions. This also applies to detectorists trespassing on private property. Just ask them to leave. If they refuse, turn them in. If we don't do this those areas will soon be closed to detectorists. - by Rich Rice
  
  
• Small coils are invaluable while hunting trashy areas, next to iron fences, sidewalks and just under bushes and those hard to get places. Using a fast machine such as a Tesoro or Shadow or Whites Classic is plus also.
  Remember sensitivity can be set higher with these coils and you will love the light decrease in weight. Also a great way to learn to overlap as small coils decrease the ground covered and surely should not be used in large fields or beaches as the lack of coverage is counter productive... - by Detectdan@aol.com
  
  
• To find out places where people used to congregate around a long time ago, look for and old map of your town/area. You can usually find one at your local library or online.
  Places to look for on maps are old homes that don't exist anymore, schools, business's, and camps. I found a house on a map that was built in the 1700's that doesn't exist anymore except the foundation and I have found some neat artifacts around it. - by Ryan Mathews
  
  
• An inexpensive apron to store your treasures, trash and digging tools can be made from recycling an old pair of jeans.
  Just use scissors to trim above the knee area and below the pockets, front and back. Then cut length-wise to remove the zipper section.
  Use a sewing machine to make narrow hems on bottom and sides. That will prevent ravelling of the material. Then put a belt through the loops at the top, make sure that you wear the side with the most pockets in front and you'll be all set for another treasure hunt. - cherel@dragonbbs.com
  
  
• PINPOINTERS. Here is my tip! I had a hard time finding targets in holes or in grassy clumps. I had to tear the grass plug to pieces trying to find that item, and I would dig big holes too! Then I had enough! So I bought me a pinpointer! Now I can find items in a flash! Digging time is dramatically reduced, and I don't waste my time tearing the grass apart anymore! I strongly suggest you to get a PINPOINTER!!! by ERIC from UTAH

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