Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
I was going to do something else today. In fact, I already had it about half done, but I just saw something that made me change my mind. It was so compelling I had to follow up and respond to it.
I saw a video in which a guy was sharing "a trick" to save time. The important words are I want you to remember are "save time."
His trick was how he used the Manticore display to better identify ferrous versus non-ferrous targets in the ground before digging.
Let's get something straight right off the bat. I watched him and he didn't save time. Maybe he saved some other things, but he didn't save time.
I watched him sweep over the target and be alerted by an audio signal. The audio signal carried a good bit of information. In fact, you could have dug the target right there and then. It wasn't particularly rocky ground or anything difficult. It was a field that had been plowed many times over and wasn't especially hard. There weren't a lot of roots, twigs, leaves or anything - just inviting earth and a target that appeared to be at no great depth. The target could have been dug and held in hand in a matter of seconds even if was a somewhat iffy signal.
But here is what happened. He stopped, looked at the display, studied it,and decided to sweep over the target a few more times to get a good solid reading. Then he studies his display again and then announced that he would use his special time saving trick. He switched to pinpoint mode, swept over the sleeping target a few more times, studied the display again, and determined that the target was worth digging, and finalllllly, dug it up. He went through the process several times.
Between studying the display screen, additional sweeping and restudying the screen, and then using his special trick, which was supposed to be the time saving element and point of his video, before actually digging, a good bit of time elapsed.
People have the impression that they are saving time by studying the signal before digging it. It seems to me that a lot of the time, they actually spend more time than if they would have dug it to begin with. I really suspect there is something more to it. It isn't a simple matter of time, no matter how hard they try to justify it that way.
There is a psychological element. I'm convinced many detectorists hate digging junk. They hate having their hopes dashed by seeing a piece of junk in their hands when they hoped for silver or gold. Disappointment magnifies their assessment of the amount of apparently wasted time. I can understand that, but I don't look at it that way.
Under ideal conditions, I can target and remove an object in a matter of a very few seconds, which is a fraction of the time I might use on making a dig/no dig decision. With all the information coming at you from modern detectors, you still have to decipher it and decide. It takes time to gather and assess the information and make a decision. Additional readouts can help but they can also complicate a very simple decision. That is something that AI might do for you someday, if and when it gets an understanding of your thought processes. My thought process has a lot to do with the context and probabilities of the situation outside of the metal detector signal or display.
Considerable time is added when you sweep your coil repeatedly to get good solid reading on your detector. People don't seem to count all of that time.
I see removing junk as having many benefits. First, when you remove junk, you have cleaner ground to work. That can help more than you might expect. Second, there is information in junk. I don't think a lot of people appreciate that enough. Junk can tell you a lot. It can tell you about what kind of activity went on at that location in the past. Was it a picnic area, battlefield, homesite, or what? Thirdly, some junk can turn out to be treasure after cleaning and interpretation. It is possible to be surprised by what you uncover. Forth, junk can tell you how things are distributed in an area. It provides context. If light stuff is accumulating at one area, I might decide that isn't even where I want to be. When beach hunting, I dig very little junk even though I dig all. That is because I generally don't go where the junk accumulates. When hunting a beach, I tend to hunt where denser items are close to the surface (which also means less digging). Junk can be a great time saver if you use it as information. Even land sites have some degree of stratification or classification and erosion from nature or other causes.
And I never use a pinpointer. I only used one a few times, and that was enough. By the time you take it out and search with your pinpointer, find the target and put the pinpointer back, more time has elapsed. There are other techniques or adaptations you can use other than using an additional pinpointer. I will admit though there are times when a pinpointer is more useful than others, but that is another set of topics such as sticky brown soil or a lot of detritus, but that is another topic.
If you are experienced and fairly skillful in using your detector, and use good strategies, hunt strategically, and can dig and recover targets efficiently (each of those is important), digging everything, or near everything, might actually be the most time efficient solution for you. There are actually many factors to consider.
Much of your time efficiency will be the result of effective knowledge, assessment, and strategy. That can not be done by your metal detector alone.
All that said, there are a number of factors to consider, There are times when discrimination and target ID will be the best decision. If you have physical limitations such as a bad back or knees, that will be a consideration. Information on ground effects and apparent target distribution should be considered. Your detecting and recovery skill is a factor.
I'm not telling anybody to change. If you feel good about what you are doing, keep doing it. All I am saying is that I don't believe some things that are proposed as saving time, such as the trick in the video, may not actually save as much time as you think. They can actually waste time. Also be sure you aren't missing too many great finds in the attempt to save time.
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There is no new storm activity on the Atlantic NHC map.
The Treasure Coast surf outlook also remains unchanged.
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Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net
