Do you remember when?

smokeythecat

Gold Member
Nov 22, 2012
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XP Deus II
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The pinpointer had not been invented.

The specialized shovel for digging had not been invented.

VDI, what are you talking about - we didn't have them.

And a light weight machine was about 5 pounds. And didn't work under water.

We used dinosaurs of machines and our favorite shovel was an old WWII or Korean War entrenching shovel and eventually we wore them down to nubs!

And you thought you were old! Ar Har! Keep digging!
 

SD51

Silver Member
Aug 24, 2016
4,832
9,957
MI
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E-TRAC
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Know what you mean Smokey! The digging tool in the 70's was a flat bladed screwdriver. Didn't get much depth from the old detectors then...
 

SD51

Silver Member
Aug 24, 2016
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And I forgot to add, the shaft that connected to the coil was all metal. Guess the top of the coil didn't sense it at all!
 

CreakyDigger

Gold Member
Jul 23, 2019
7,150
23,454
Upstate NY
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White's Spectra v3; Equinox 600
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I had my first detector about 1974. No discrimination, as I remember, and it did find things. Big, shallow things. I dug a lot of spoons and iron.
 

jeff of pa

Super Moderator
Staff member
Dec 19, 2003
85,892
59,682
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I remember My Eyes Worked like a Pinpointer Then.

Now I Can't see most of the Items Before the Pinpointer Tells me it's Metal
 

OP
OP
smokeythecat

smokeythecat

Gold Member
Nov 22, 2012
20,721
40,799
Maryland
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XP Deus II
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Being an old cat, I still most times do not use the pinpointer. On my friend's property, I often times use a full size garden shovel, as it's a field and I only have to dig once. And yes, I cover the holes real nice and pretty.
 

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smokeythecat

smokeythecat

Gold Member
Nov 22, 2012
20,721
40,799
Maryland
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XP Deus II
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My first machine was a White's. It still works but I gave it away. They don't make them like that anymore (quality wise), except my Deus is apparently indestructible and my Cibola MORE indestructible! If I posted pics of either, you'd probably laugh at them!
 

slink

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Dec 12, 2014
188
186
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Smokeythecat I certainly remember all of it..... but I think you left out an important memory. Back then almost every coin you dug was silver but it didn't mean much because you still got silver everyday in your change from the store or gas station. Just for the record the shovel I take prospecting these days is a US (1942) trench shovel :)
 

CASPER-2

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Jan 3, 2012
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WHITE'S XLT, PI PRO, GARRETT 2500, 3- FISHER CZ21s, JW FISHER 8X
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i started with a Compass 94B - 2 knobs ...on/off volume and sensitivity
dug every thing - my first year was total crap and almost gave the hobby up - 2nd yr i learned my
machine and started killing it - it had a nipple in center of coil and you could put your finger
over that nipple and target was always right under it
I used/use a knife ( a big knife) for land hunting 99% of the time - i dig nice neat plugs
even in woods or in farm fields . Seen way too many guys destroy good relics with shovels
and mark up good coins - Even if I pinpoint well - I still dig a good plug around the target
to avoid hitting them plus a big plug has a better chance of surviving over a small one
:icon_thumright:
 

Trezurehunter

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Mar 22, 2003
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21,512
Illinois / Oklahoma
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Minelab Equinox 800 - Fisher CZ 5
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I remember those days ! I also remember Rotary phones, and push in Cigarette lighters in cars. I think they call them Antiques now.
 

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smokeythecat

smokeythecat

Gold Member
Nov 22, 2012
20,721
40,799
Maryland
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10
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XP Deus II
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All Treasure Hunting
I also remember 25 cent gasoline and cigarettes at 27 cents a pack.
 

BillA

Bronze Member
May 12, 2005
2,186
3,218
Drake, Costa Rica
a carton in the PX in Naples, Italy was a buck 30, later in college gas was 27 cents in Calif. - I asked and was told a 'gas war' was ongoing
 

Pick_axe

Sr. Member
May 3, 2015
302
1,042
Columbus NM
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1
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Minelab Safari
Minelab Excalibur 1000,
Minelab Equinox 800
Garrett AT Gold
Garrett GTI 2500
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Three channels of black-and-white TV (if you turned the rabbit ears just right). 15-cent McDonald's hamburgers. Cars had roll-up windows and foreign cars were novelties. Crybaby athletes were unheard of and we all stood for the National Anthem.
 

BillA

Bronze Member
May 12, 2005
2,186
3,218
Drake, Costa Rica
speaking of the tube, anyone remember watching the tanks in Budapest during the Hungarian Revolution ?
was too young/not permitted to see the Korean War (Police Action)
 

DeepseekerADS

Gold Member
Mar 3, 2013
14,880
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SW, VA - Bull Mountain
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CTX, Excal II, EQ800, Fisher 1260X, Tesoro Royal Sabre, Tejon, Garrett ADSIII, Carrot, Stealth 920iX, Keene A52
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1953 -1954 Dad was guitarist for the FFV Cracker Boys out of Roanoke, Va, he got the TV so we could watch him. Mom & Dad divorced and my brother & I went with Mom. We were either in school, out playing in the neighborhood, or watching Our Babysitter (TV) while Mom slept. Pretty rough time for Mom, but brother and I had that TV.
 

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Samanthy

Full Member
Apr 22, 2018
219
251
Phoenix, Arizona
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White‘s Sierra Madre
White‘s TM–600
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Cache Hunting
Do you remember typewriters? And carbon paper? Do you remember the forms you had to print hard on because there were three or four copies?
 

Samanthy

Full Member
Apr 22, 2018
219
251
Phoenix, Arizona
Detector(s) used
White‘s Sierra Madre
White‘s TM–600
Primary Interest:
Cache Hunting
I’m 72. When I was a kid I can remember the “ blue laws “. Political and religious crowd had laws to close practically every business and activity on Sunday to get people to go churches.
 

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