A "Dig Everything" Question

[Ham]

For those who believe in digging everything. Why not have a MD that only has the following controls;

1. A monotone all metal response
2. Pinpoint
3. Variable ground balance
4. A volume control (optional)

If one is going to dig "everything" then why have discrimination, a visual id, multi-tones & various bells & whistles? I feel that the least amount of controls the more time one can devote to hunting. I'm looking for a simplistic fundamental approach to metal detecting.

 

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[stefen]

Talk about cherry-picking...

Jeez guys...my machine can distinguish between lead, copper, bronze, nickle, silver and gold...ID the currency denomination, date, classification and approximate market value...

And thats before I hit the ON switch...

 

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[The Urban Prospector]

I dig everything namely because I am a newb. But I have also learned that valuables can take on similar characteristics as any junk out there. It is fun calling the target before it is dug. It is even "funner" calling out a nickel and popping out a gold ring!

 

[cudamark]

For those who believe in digging everything. Why not have a MD that only has the following controls;

1. A monotone all metal response
2. Pinpoint
3. Variable ground balance
4. A volume control (optional)

If one is going to dig "everything" then why have discrimination, a visual id, multi-tones & various bells & whistles? I feel that the least amount of controls the more time one can devote to hunting. I'm looking for a simplistic fundamental approach to metal detecting.

Because in some venues, you can't dig, or don't want to dig everything. Hunt around a picnic table or a fire pit and you'll know what I mean.

 

[Frankn]

Well, I dig everything ONCE, Then I have it's ID# so I don't have to dig it again. I use the XLT. It gives me an ID# and shows the elements on a bar graph. When I dig a shell casing or nail that I don't want to dig again, I can verify it with the ID# and pass it by. Saves a lot of time. Frank

 

[Terry Soloman]

Whether you dig everything or discriminate out iron, the only thing that matters is how well you know your machine, your soil, and what the two of them are saying to you.

Old fat guys are "Silver Coin" hunters, because they discriminate everything else out. You don't see a lot of old fat guys with a lot of gold finds, or "digging it all." Oh sure, a blind squirrel can find a nut every now and then but, as a rule, if they "can't be bothered" or, they don't want to "waste their time," digging pulltabs and pennies, they have little or no gold in their pouch and a machine that they paid too much for and lies to them regularly.

 

[GatorBoy]

Bingo.
You could take the same exact item put it at different depths in different soil conditions and at different angles in relation to the surface and get different readings from it every time you can't just get a number and then you know what it is unfortunately that sure would make things a whole lot easier but it doesn't work that way.
To add to that you don't have to have a machine that doesn't discriminate and doesn't give you readings as to what the items are or what some people call bells and whistles because if you understand your machine and how to use all the bells and whistles you can make the determination of when and on what sites to use some or all of those capabilities to maximize your chances of finding what it is you're targeting.
Not everybody has the time or the desire to dig everything that beeps at a place say they just asked permission to hunt and it might be the only chance they get.
In some areas I hunt there is such a thick concentration of targets in some areas not only do i grid the areas digging everything eventually but I break it down further digging tones of a certain threshold first then moving down the ladder on separate passes

 

[GatorBoy]

most ppl that dig it all...must be in plowed fields or other such places...if you are in a park or at a river campsite or such, you would not cover a ten foot piece of ground in an hour...cherry picking is the way to go in these places...if you have the time to go back to those areas...then you can dig all and see what else comes out....when you have ten signals in a sweep....why would you dig them all...

You're exactly right and you would probably be leaving with me with a pouch full full of good stuff.