Have you SEEN the price of gold lately? At $1600/oz there really is a new gold rush in America, heck, probably worldwide. Everybody would love to get their hands on some to cash in right now to help offset the Obamaconomy..duh, right? Well, MY particular way of doing that involves a metal detector. I hit lakes and other areas that should hold gold, and most times do, but hey, times are tight and it seems that people are being more careful about losing stuff. Or are they?
Of the several times I've been out to the lakes lately I've noticed a sharp increase in competition. Being a friendly person and talkative, I've gathered some information that those in the metal detecting industry would be happy to hear! About half of those I've talked with have new detectors and don't really know how best to use them. This is good for me, wait-GREAT for me because they certainly will miss much. A lot of these new detectorists have mid to high end machines because they want a powerful tool to find GOLD. Well, they now have it, and it's up to me to take advantage of the time they're fixing to spend on the learning curve!
Then there are the more savvy detectorists. Most detectorists will be ready to talk about everything like the weather, the economy, what their favorite color is..etc. However, what you won't get out of any conversation with a seasoned expert is anything that you can use to go find something! I mean, some of this stuff comes down to 'tricks of the trade' or hard earned knowledge that the newbie probably won't actually understand anyway. So I see lots of those guys now when I used to see only a few. It's not that they weren't there before mind you, but they're having to branch out now because so many folks are out there swinging detectors right now!
Then there are the ghosts. The ghosts are experts that know they have to beat the crowd. There are only a few ways to do this, and I can guarantee they miss some sleep in order to make this happen! These are the guys (or gals but not many) who are almost finished by the time you're still drinking coffee and rubbing your eyes. You may catch a glimpse of them but they will avoid you in every way they can! I cornered one once just to talk, not a good idea! The thought of a sand scoop upside the head SHOULD be a deterrent to most sane people, but in the quest for knowledge, sometimes sanity must be pushed to the side. It only took me a few attempts at being nice and trying to start up a conversation to realize that it just wasn't gonna happen! Do these guys find stuff..well..THEY won't tell you but maybe the equipment will. If you know your gear, it'll be easy to recognize those high-end detectors under the coating of scratches, dirt, fading, bits of tape, etc. It's almost a rule in detecting..if the detector looks like it's been groped by the TSA at a New Year's party, the guy probably knows how to use it WELL!
So here I sit after getting 4 hours sleep last night. I'm seventy cents richer and full up on Advil right now. But I'll get 'em, I've done it before...it's just gonna hurt a little.
