Is it really worth it anymore?

DeepseekerADS

Gold Member
Mar 3, 2013
14,880
21,725
SW, VA - Bull Mountain
Detector(s) used
CTX, Excal II, EQ800, Fisher 1260X, Tesoro Royal Sabre, Tejon, Garrett ADSIII, Carrot, Stealth 920iX, Keene A52
Primary Interest:
Other
You had an 8 year absence. My absence was 30 years. Then I retired and started slowly getting back on my knees, permanent stains on the knees of my jeans, getting my hands dirty.

I began getting out again slowly, got the fever again, slowly accumulating nice delights - not every hunt. Last time I went out I found a whole penny. My hip joints and knee joint pains make me wobble around. My last good hunt I found three times the trash than the good finds, up and down over a hundred times.

Not that I like the pain, but I've thoroughly enjoyed even those one cent finds. Finds accumulate! Last year I went out 52 times - once a week average.

This year I'm going to beat that number, but weather has been an issue. I'm still going to beat that number of hunts.

Is it worth it? Hell yeah!
 

smokeythecat

Gold Member
Nov 22, 2012
20,714
40,795
Maryland
🥇 Banner finds
10
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
XP Deus II
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Deepseekerads, I stopped in 1993 and started back in 2011. Ar har! It's been doing great.
 

Charlie P. (NY)

Gold Member
Feb 3, 2006
13,004
17,108
South Central Upstate NY in the foothills of the h
Detector(s) used
Minelab Musketeer Advantage Pro w/8" & 10" DD coils/Fisher F75se(Upgraded to LTD2) w/11" DD, 6.5" concentric & 9.5" NEL Sharpshooter DD coils/Sunray FX-1 Probe & F-Point/Black Widows/Rattler headphone
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Worth it?

Depends how you value "it". I have never sold any of the silver or jewelry I have found, and usually give the jewelry away.

The clad I spend - and I barely keep up on gas and batteries. I'm maybe a little ahead on that if I don't count the expense or the detector and related equipment.

But it's fun, gets me outdoors, and there is always something interesting. I have a hammer head and logging chain I still use.

If I hadn't been detecting I might have been out fishing and slipped on a slick rock when wading in river current and drowned. So yes, it is worth it!
 

dsrtdwg1

Full Member
Sep 3, 2015
182
300
Brawley
Detector(s) used
Equinox 800, Gold Monster 1000, Keene 212v Puffer Dry Washer
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Worth it... to quote Charlie P. Yes it is. I do not keep my finds at all. Spend, sell,give away or trash. The coolest thing my yrs.2 years of detecting has brought my way?
An intense interest in local history, obscure or otherwise. It is rewarding to find an area that once had activity and is barren now. Make a few finds at such a place and all that research has been time well spent.
 

pepperj

Gold Member
Feb 3, 2009
37,512
139,068
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Deus, Deus 2, Minelab 3030, E-Trac,
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
The question is: Why did you do detect years ago, and why did you quit?
Let's start there and that might answer why you are thinking about the chance of doing it again.
 

Ogre1190

Bronze Member
Mar 31, 2015
2,063
2,408
Northern Illinois
Detector(s) used
MineLab E-Trac, MineLab Safari, MineLab Explorer XS,
White's 5000 D, White's 6DB, White's 5000 D GEB
Sunray X-1 for the ML's, Garrett PP for the White's and a Backhoe
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Two words...

Yep! Totally!

Rant over. 😁
 

OP
OP
hadite81

hadite81

Jr. Member
Feb 9, 2008
45
57
San Antonio, TX
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT MAX, AT PRO, MineLab Eqinox 600 Tesoro Conquistador
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
2007 at the age of 44, found I had a hole in my heart, emergency open heart surgery 3 days later...
Took about 2 years to fully recover, lost interest in all my hobbies. Facing mortality sometimes does that....

Anyhoo... I do enjoy the hobby, loved it before. I may have come across a bit negative, but not my intention.
Thanks to those that pointed the above aspect out. I knew the answer before I posed the question, just took a "verbal" kick in the pants to open my eyes.

I will be attending the meeting of our local club in February ( used to be a member) and plan on going to Temple, TX treasure show in April.
 

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namxat

Sr. Member
Feb 2, 2017
465
646
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
"all of the negativity I have seen or read about lately regarding MD'ing, I have to ask myself if it is really worth the investment again."

Do YOU want to detect? Thats the question, not what other people think. I have given up to justify myself for what I do and am. If somebody doesnt like it, he is invited to turn around and leave.

"I looked into canned hunts, and see they are from $100 to $160 for entry fees... "

Unsure what a canned hunt means. I would not pay 160 to detect anywhere (except maybe river tiber sludge in rome or Ankor Wat or such things).Barring any alternatives, take you new detecor to your old spost: the plow, the frost, the rain and the improved tech will make the yileding like new.

I still have my detectors from years ago, but was looking to upgrade to newer gear ( wireless etc..)

...Or maybe fire up the old ones and look if you still like it before you pay?

Is it really worth it anymore?

the forum is populated by people that think so, yet it is always a personel decision. I e.g. would only spend time on golf course if I would get paid for it.


Greets Namxat
 

WaterScoop

Bronze Member
Sep 12, 2017
2,181
3,710
SW Washington
Detector(s) used
Nox 800,
CTX 3030,
XP DEUS,
Excalibur II
Garrett AT Max,
Whites DFX,
Vanquish 540
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
7BCF65B4-697A-4355-AD34-6D48EDC4FC74.jpeg
 

Tom_in_CA

Gold Member
Mar 23, 2007
13,837
10,360
Salinas, CA
🥇 Banner finds
2
Detector(s) used
Explorer II, Compass 77b, Tesoro shadow X2
..... Facing mortality sometimes does that.....

Get well soon hadite81. We're rooting for you . Find some cool stuff for show & tell @ today's find section. I'll be the first to vote "banner". Oh, and 30% of all your finds have to come to me (I accept paypal). :occasion14:
 

OP
OP
hadite81

hadite81

Jr. Member
Feb 9, 2008
45
57
San Antonio, TX
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT MAX, AT PRO, MineLab Eqinox 600 Tesoro Conquistador
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
All better now, thanks Tom.

A canned hunt or I guess a seeded hunt, where an organization or club charges a fee to hunt planted silver coins/tokens for prizes.
I guess if you feel lucky (well, do ya punk?) you can win some great prizes. I was just amazed at the cost to enter such events.
Silver would add up, based on spot price so you could break even I guess.
 

Toxic_Waste

Newbie
Jan 25, 2016
2
1
North Fork California
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I think it's worth it, just speaking for myself. I love to find things. But here in California it is very hard to find anywhere to legally detect. Seems like 99% of property owners or agencies say NO. At the beach I get mostly Corona bottle caps, and the few sites where I am allowed to detect mostly yield nails. Digging anyway, I get pottery shards and bits of broken bottles. But amazingly, most people who show me their finds via phone-camera, have scads of coins from the 1800s, large gold nuggets and gold/diamond rings, hahaha! So I guess it's just me! :laughing7:
 

RW

Hero Member
Feb 7, 2007
922
993
Fort Worth'ish
Detector(s) used
Golden uMax w/CleanSweep - XP Deus
Primary Interest:
Cache Hunting
Yesterday I drove 20 miles after work, walked 2 miles to and from my hunting spot and the only coin I found was a wheat penny. Was it worth it? Every penny! First thing on the trail I heard was rustling in the leaves, it was an armadillo that let me walk right up on it and watch it grub around. Then I spooked a tree full of buzzards (or did they spook me?) before I made it to the ruins. Walked a little further than I have before and came to a river where I saw a group of mallards. Saw a lot of deer tracks but saw no deer. Found the penny. Yeah! Dug a bunch of junk and headed back down the trail where an ultralight buzzed over the treetops out of nowhere. Came upon a couple women riding horses and walking a pony, that explained the fresh tracks. Saw lots of birds, got lots of fresh air and sunshine, made it back to the truck, headed home for dinner. Wish I was out today.
 

Iron Patch

Gold Member
Sep 28, 2007
19,254
8,730
Dirtyville
🥇 Banner finds
3
Detector(s) used
Deus
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Oct 5, 2014
31,886
35,425
Massachusetts
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Garrett: AT Pro, AT Gold & Infinium; Minelab: Explorer SE, II; Simplex; Tesoro: Tejon & Outlaw; White's: V3i
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
IMHO, use your old detector or buy a new one, but get out there and have fun! :occasion14:
 

lookingharder

Sr. Member
Feb 27, 2015
433
753
Virginia
Detector(s) used
Whites Coin Master. Garrett AT Gold, Garrett Ace 350
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
"Is it worth it any more? " is a question of priorities as to what IT is.
My priorities are (1) enjoying the research, (2) hunting the researched sites, (3) being outdoors--preferrably with friends; and (4) finding something--the 'icing on the cake'.
My answer is 'yes' since I can enjoy the first three priorities without the need for the fourth.
Don......

This should be on the preface of every metal detecting book.
 

Truth

Gold Member
Apr 13, 2016
14,332
32,142
Abita Springs La....Born in New Orleans
🥇 Banner finds
2
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
EQUINOX 800
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Sounds like you need it more then ever. The 8 year layoff shows. Start swinging find something to put a smile back on that face. Good luck
 

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