meMiner
Bronze Member
- Jul 22, 2014
- 1,047
- 1,176
- Detector(s) used
-
Minelab 800,
Fisher CZ21, F75SE, Gold Bug 2.9 & Minelab GPX 5000
- Primary Interest:
- Metal Detecting
The most common and successful detecting that I do is in shallow water up to eyeball deep. I have various sand scoops that I have purchased over the years and each has dug some gold. I now think that a decent scoop is almost as important as the kind and quality of detector. If it is a hassle to dig a target, I tend to get too fussy over which ones to dig and most likely leave good things behind. The longer it takes to recover a target takes away from the time to search for the next one.
A little story. I was down on a private Caribbean beach that could only be hunted at night when people were not using it. My wife like to swim like a fish, but was not so interested in detecting. I would go out for a few of hours of detecting before calling it a night to return about 2 AM. Of course, I was not up with the sun the next day. Anyway, with hunting at night, I would do it without lights, so not attract unnecessary attention. When I got a good signal, I would pinpoint and place my foot behind my coil and then put the lip of the scoop in front of my toe. I would take a full scoop of sand/shells and place my foot into the hole so I could find the spot easily again. Over the course of the night, there would be targets that I moved but did not retain in the scoop. Bobby pins are horrible for this. Until I mounted a magnet, I bet there were some pins that I would detect, recover and lose a number of times. The point of the story is actually, what happened each morning. My wife would get up for an early swim in the crystal clear water with mask and snorkel and guess what - she found gold. She could see where I had disturbed the bottom and many times the flash of something worth diving up. Tiny gold chains or pendants were the most common. This things either did not get fully into my scoop and fell off as it was raised or washed out thru the holes.
Here is my two cents:
1) scoops with wooden handles are great, unless you need to take them apart after having them in water. The longer the handle the better for leverage and to leave the metal scoop out of the way of the coil. The wood swells after being in the water and the scoop is stuck tight. If you use one on a trip, take a small saw or make friends with hotel maintenance so you can cut it off if necessary. Also, I have always been able to find a hardware store on any of the Caribbean islands that sell wood handles, if I did not want to take one in my luggage.
2) Iron handles rust quickly in salt water. Everything you wear will have orange stains on it. The ones that pull apart are quite nice if made correctly.
3) The larger the scoop the better and it should have a kick plate or nice place to put your foot when you dig.
4) Large holes in the scoop are great for sifting, but small targets swim out. I would never use one with holes large enough for a pull tab to fall out.
5) Small holes in the scoop keep more of the smaller good stuff, but also tons of shells plus it takes longer to sift.
6) If the water is calm, towing a sifter is sometimes the "cat's pajamas". You scoop into the sifter and let it sort itself out while you continue to detect. It is no good in a spot where too many people are because it will either bang into a swimmer or worse people will come up and grab it to look to see what you are finding. For this reason, always leave junk in it.
7) The lip of the scoop is an important feature. I like a longer lip so I can take a bite out of the surface and then tilt it up while resting on the bottom so all of the dirt is retained.
8) It is easier to fly with a small scoop. Once I get there, I always wish for a bigger one.
9) A scoop is pretty much useless in large rocks.
10) A scoop that you can dismantle into a few parts is pretty handy for putting into a backpack for walking around. Of course it is also good for air travel.
11) A scoop that you can dismantle is also subject to failure and difficult to repair when away.
12) A plastic scoop will crack or wear out quickly, especially if you need to step on it to dig. However, a small one with scuba is handy.
13) A metal scoop with scuba interferes with the detector. If detecting a small area, it can be left on the bottom and retrieved when necessary.
I look forward to a lively discussion.
A little story. I was down on a private Caribbean beach that could only be hunted at night when people were not using it. My wife like to swim like a fish, but was not so interested in detecting. I would go out for a few of hours of detecting before calling it a night to return about 2 AM. Of course, I was not up with the sun the next day. Anyway, with hunting at night, I would do it without lights, so not attract unnecessary attention. When I got a good signal, I would pinpoint and place my foot behind my coil and then put the lip of the scoop in front of my toe. I would take a full scoop of sand/shells and place my foot into the hole so I could find the spot easily again. Over the course of the night, there would be targets that I moved but did not retain in the scoop. Bobby pins are horrible for this. Until I mounted a magnet, I bet there were some pins that I would detect, recover and lose a number of times. The point of the story is actually, what happened each morning. My wife would get up for an early swim in the crystal clear water with mask and snorkel and guess what - she found gold. She could see where I had disturbed the bottom and many times the flash of something worth diving up. Tiny gold chains or pendants were the most common. This things either did not get fully into my scoop and fell off as it was raised or washed out thru the holes.
Here is my two cents:
1) scoops with wooden handles are great, unless you need to take them apart after having them in water. The longer the handle the better for leverage and to leave the metal scoop out of the way of the coil. The wood swells after being in the water and the scoop is stuck tight. If you use one on a trip, take a small saw or make friends with hotel maintenance so you can cut it off if necessary. Also, I have always been able to find a hardware store on any of the Caribbean islands that sell wood handles, if I did not want to take one in my luggage.
2) Iron handles rust quickly in salt water. Everything you wear will have orange stains on it. The ones that pull apart are quite nice if made correctly.
3) The larger the scoop the better and it should have a kick plate or nice place to put your foot when you dig.
4) Large holes in the scoop are great for sifting, but small targets swim out. I would never use one with holes large enough for a pull tab to fall out.
5) Small holes in the scoop keep more of the smaller good stuff, but also tons of shells plus it takes longer to sift.
6) If the water is calm, towing a sifter is sometimes the "cat's pajamas". You scoop into the sifter and let it sort itself out while you continue to detect. It is no good in a spot where too many people are because it will either bang into a swimmer or worse people will come up and grab it to look to see what you are finding. For this reason, always leave junk in it.
7) The lip of the scoop is an important feature. I like a longer lip so I can take a bite out of the surface and then tilt it up while resting on the bottom so all of the dirt is retained.
8) It is easier to fly with a small scoop. Once I get there, I always wish for a bigger one.
9) A scoop is pretty much useless in large rocks.
10) A scoop that you can dismantle into a few parts is pretty handy for putting into a backpack for walking around. Of course it is also good for air travel.
11) A scoop that you can dismantle is also subject to failure and difficult to repair when away.
12) A plastic scoop will crack or wear out quickly, especially if you need to step on it to dig. However, a small one with scuba is handy.
13) A metal scoop with scuba interferes with the detector. If detecting a small area, it can be left on the bottom and retrieved when necessary.
I look forward to a lively discussion.
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