Stealth Metal Detector for Surface Popping Precious Metal in very public places?

[SoCalBeachScanner]

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Okay, here's the deal. I live in Southern CA, where there is tons of people out and about at all hours of the day.
My goal is to find precious metal rings and jewelry that are 1-2 inches deep in very public places without drawing attention to myself. I don't know about you, but I feel very self conscience metal detecting and digging manicured lawn in public places. When your in a public area, even very early in the morning, you stand out with a full size detector, headphones, digging tools, and pointer. It would be great if you could walk around a public area completely unnoticed, hear a possible precious metal tone, and pop a ring out of the ground in just a few seconds with just a small screwdriver. You could verify that the target is 1-2 inches down by using a Pointer. You keep your pointer and screwdriver in your pocket, not strapped to you like a warrior ready for battle. You could even bring markers (like golf ball markers) if you hit a good sounding target, but can't pop it out at that moment.

I could make myself an all-metal light weight stealth detector, but it would hit on anything and everything down to about 4-5 inches.

Why hasn't someone designed the following metal detector, or have they?

I envision it looking like a light weight telescopic hiking, trekking, or walking stick with a 4-5 inch light weight coil at the end. The small control unit could be concaved and strapped to your upper arm with a Velcro strap. Then two wires run from the control unit. One wire runs down your arm to the trekking stick handle then down through the stick to the coil and the other wire runs under your shirt to ear buds in your ears (or bluetooth).

My thinking is a specialized low cost unit:
It would be great if the controller was designed with a switch for just two non-adjustable modes. One mode would be pre-set around 50-70 on a discrimination scale of 1-99 for precious metal (and pull tabs unfortunately). The other mode pre-set between 70-99 on a discrimination scale of 1-99 for coin popping. And the sensitivity max out at around a 4-inch depth.

This would be an inexpensive, no display or bells and whistles, and could be a great intercity tool for working very public places indiscreetly. While detecting you would almost look like your picking up trash with a reaching claw tool
Think of all the places that you could metal detect, legally completely stealth with something like this.

~~I'm not talking about using a MD in your run of the mill park, field, or playground. The places I have in mind, although not illegal that I know of, should have a wealth of old and new finds, less then 3" deep. I'm sure most of you have been places and thought, this would be great if I could MD here, but what would people think or say to an official if I dug out my arsenal and hit it~~
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[LootHunter]

Hello fellow OC hunter!

The problem if you created a disguisable metal detector it could lead to people using them in places they shouldn't. Having a covert metal detector sounds fun but being able to cherry pick gold rings out of a grass field is no easy feet. Most likely you are going to be digging pull tabs and the occational nickel if you decide to run high discrimination.

I hunt at the beach mostly. Do people look at me with the strangest faces wondering what I am doing, all the time. You get used to it. Also, "found anything good?" have heard it a million times. I guess if you dont want to be bothered, throw on a orange vest and hard hat. People won't bother you then

 

[Spectre]

If you're worried about people watching you or hovering around while you MD, do as stated above with the orange vest and hard hat, except......wear a shirt with large print that says "BOMB DISPOSAL UNIT", or "US ARMY MINE SWEEPER". Then see how quickly they give you quite a large area to move around in.

 

[SoCalBeachScanner]

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If you're worried about people watching you or hovering around while you MD, do as stated above with the orange vest and hard hat, except......wear a shirt with large print that says "BOMB DISPOSAL UNIT", or "US ARMY MINE SWEEPER". Then see how quickly they give you quite a large area to move around in.

Hello fellow OC hunter!

The problem if you created a disguisable metal detector it could lead to people using them in places they shouldn't. Having a covert metal detector sounds fun but being able to cherry pick gold rings out of a grass field is no easy feet. Most likely you are going to be digging pull tabs and the occational nickel if you decide to run high discrimination.

I hunt at the beach mostly. Do people look at me with the strangest faces wondering what I am doing, all the time. You get used to it. Also, "found anything good?" have heard it a million times. I guess if you dont want to be bothered, throw on a orange vest and hard hat. People won't bother you then

If I wanted to dress up for Halloween and metal detect, I would dress like these guys

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Now! This guy has the right idea

 

[LootHunter]

Haha great pics!

Those sandals, while they look like they would do the trick are pretty terrible from what I hear.

 

[Pointman]

Haha great pics!

Those sandals, while they look like they would do the trick are pretty terrible from what I hear.

I didn't know that someone had invented the "shoe detector" already. Thought it was my idea. The only thing you need is a mini shovel on the other sandal.

 

[cudamark]

Why do you care what other people think?? If it's legal to hunt a particular area, do it.....just pick the best time of day to avoid the complainers.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

If your that self conscious about people watching you your in the wrong hobby.

Just go hunting and don't worry about what other people think as long as your hunting legal spots and using proper recovery techniques.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[Tom_in_CA]

reply

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Okay, here's the deal. I live in Southern CA, where there is tons of people out and about at all hours of the day.
My goal is to find precious metal rings and jewelry that are 1-2 inches deep in very public places without drawing attention to myself. I don't know about you, but I feel very self conscience metal detecting and digging manicured lawn in public places. When your in a public area, even very early in the morning, you stand out with a full size detector, headphones, digging tools, and pointer. It would be great if you could walk around a public area completely unnoticed, hear a possible precious metal tone, and pop a ring out of the ground in just a few seconds with just a small screwdriver. You could verify that the target is 1-2 inches down by using a Pointer. You keep your pointer and screwdriver in your pocket, not strapped to you like a warrior ready for battle. You could even bring markers (like golf ball markers) if you hit a good sounding target, but can't pop it out at that moment.

I could make myself an all-metal light weight stealth detector, but it would hit on anything and everything down to about 4-5 inches.

Why hasn't someone designed the following metal detector, or have they?

I envision it looking like a light weight telescopic hiking, trekking, or walking stick with a 4-5 inch light weight coil at the end. The small control unit could be concaved and strapped to your upper arm with a Velcro strap. Then two wires run from the control unit. One wire runs down your arm to the trekking stick handle then down through the stick to the coil and the other wire runs under your shirt to ear buds in your ears (or bluetooth).

My thinking is a specialized low cost unit:
It would be great if the controller was designed with a switch for just two non-adjustable modes. One mode would be pre-set around 50-70 on a discrimination scale of 1-99 for precious metal (and pull tabs unfortunately). The other mode pre-set between 70-99 on a discrimination scale of 1-99 for coin popping. And the sensitivity max out at around a 4-inch depth.

This would be an inexpensive, no display or bells and whistles, and could be a great intercity tool for working very public places indiscreetly. While detecting you would almost look like your picking up trash with a reaching claw tool
Think of all the places that you could metal detect, legally completely stealth with something like this.

~~I'm not talking about using a MD in your run of the mill park, field, or playground. The places I have in mind, although not illegal that I know of, should have a wealth of old and new finds, less then 3" deep. I'm sure most of you have been places and thought, this would be great if I could MD here, but what would people think or say to an official if I dug out my arsenal and hit it~~
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first of all so-ca-beach-scanner, let me alert you, that if you think ANY detector (whether stealth or standard) is just going to zip along, give you signals "1 to 2 inches down", and you'll just effortlessly pop up rings ... Uh ... think again. You can knock yourself SILLY in So. CA parks, with standard detectors even, and dig low conductors till your arms fall off. And unfortunately, what you will find is, that when you're hunting parks for gold rings, that your ratios-to-aluminum are not going to be as rosy-sounding as you make it out to be. Stealth has nothing to do with that part of it (unless you have some sort of magical turf spot in mind?). You can up your odds by sticking to sports venue turf, in high-rent-upscale areas (so less junk), but still, not going to be easy to work parks for gold rings. ESPECIALLY if you're hindered with some sort of odd-ball "stealth gear" where you're going to be awkwardly trying to stop to dig targets amidst the "legion of pedestrians" you're trying to blend in with.

If you're that gung-ho for finding some gold rings, why don't you just hit the beaches down there? Especially after storms/swell erosion, when mother nature will arrange all the metal targets in nice easy zones for you

The parks down there are open game. No restrictions (county and city parks anyhow). And are routinely hit by guys in your area. But sure, they're like you, and don't want to "stick out like a sore thumb" (detecting has connotations afterall). So they do as Mark has suggested, and just go at low-traffic times, when busy-bodies aren't abounding. Then just use a standard detector. No need for "stealth".

Go at the break of dawn on Sat or Sunday. Or after 6pm at night, etc... when workers and park-goers have thinned out and left for the day.

 

[SoCalBeachScanner]

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[SoCalBeachScanner]

Why do you care what other people think?? If it's legal to hunt a particular area, do it.....just pick the best time of day to avoid the complainers.

If your that self conscious about people watching you your in the wrong hobby.

Just go hunting and don't worry about what other people think as long as your hunting legal spots and using proper recovery techniques.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

first of all so-ca-beach-scanner, let me alert you, that if you think ANY detector (whether stealth or standard) is just going to zip along, give you signals "1 to 2 inches down", and you'll just effortlessly pop up rings ... Uh ... think again. You can knock yourself SILLY in So. CA parks, with standard detectors even, and dig low conductors till your arms fall off. And unfortunately, what you will find is, that when you're hunting parks for gold rings, that your ratios-to-aluminum are not going to be as rosy-sounding as you make it out to be. Stealth has nothing to do with that part of it (unless you have some sort of magical turf spot in mind?). You can up your odds by sticking to sports venue turf, in high-rent-upscale areas (so less junk), but still, not going to be easy to work parks for gold rings. ESPECIALLY if you're hindered with some sort of odd-ball "stealth gear" where you're going to be awkwardly trying to stop to dig targets amidst the "legion of pedestrians" you're trying to blend in with.

If you're that gung-ho for finding some gold rings, why don't you just hit the beaches down there? Especially after storms/swell erosion, when mother nature will arrange all the metal targets in nice easy zones for you

The parks down there are open game. No restrictions (county and city parks anyhow). And are routinely hit by guys in your area. But sure, they're like you, and don't want to "stick out like a sore thumb" (detecting has connotations afterall). So they do as Mark has suggested, and just go at low-traffic times, when busy-bodies aren't abounding. Then just use a standard detector. No need for "stealth".

Go at the break of dawn on Sat or Sunday. Or after 6pm at night, etc... when workers and park-goers have thinned out and left for the day.

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Now how did I know that Tom would rain in on this one. How ya doing Tom? I'll let you know when I hit that one spot I talked to you about that may have some Spanish.

Okay, Guys! Now here's the deal on my stealth stuff. Without going into detail about the places I have in mind to detect. Some places are only open during the day, some are open 24hrs. If and when I do hit a good site, I don't want to get a warning, citation, ticket, kicked out, or have my detector confiscated just after I start to find unbelievable stuff. And no, I'm not going to ask the powers to be that may or may not have authority over the place (you know how that goes) or research endless government web site to find some dumb law that may or may not pertain to MD. I would rather just do it and keep a low profile and leave the place how I found it.

I don't care what people think or they are watching me MD. I just don't want to compromise a potential great site that I can go back to time and time again. I guess you had to read between the lines on my original post. Some can and some can't ... oh well.

 

[LootHunter]

Better practice your digging speed also. Kneeling down and digging in the ground is also something that people get confused about. I have had security come up to me curious about my digging, the guy joked with me and said "you burying a body there, what are you up to?"

Good luck with your locations though, not trying to give a hard time or anything.

Just curious, not a fan of beach hunting?

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

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Now how did I know that Tom would rain in on this one How ya doing Tom? I'll let you know when I hit that one spot I talked to you about that may have some Spanish.

Okay, Guys! Now here's the deal on my stealth stuff. Without going into detail about the places I have in mind to detect. Some places are only open during the day, some are open 24hrs. If and when I do hit a good site, I don't want to get a warning, citation, ticket, or kicked out just after I start find unbelievable stuff. And no, I'm not going to ask the powers to be that may have authority over the place or research endless government web site to find some dumb law that may or may not pertain to MD. I would rather just do it and keep a low profile and leave the place how I found it.

I don't care what people think or they are watching me MD. I just don't want to compromise a potential great site that I can go back to time and time again. I guess you had to read between the lines on my original post. Some can and some can't ... oh well.

From sounds of your post some of the places your talking hunting you know are illegal to hunt for one reason or another and that is why you need a stealth detector.

TreasureNet does not advocate breaking any laws and it can not be used as a research tool to break any laws...

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[JunkShopFiddler]

I saw what looks like a walking cane that connects to an I Phone and makes a metal detector, no coil on the bottom, just a cane point. Has an app that powers it.

 

[SoCalBeachScanner]

From sounds of your post some of the places your talking hunting you know are illegal to hunt for one reason or another and that is why you need a stealth detector.

TreasureNet does not advocate breaking any laws and it can not be used as a research tool to break any laws...

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Your reading between the wrong lines ... That's not my style!!

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Your reading between the wrong lines ... That's not my style!!

Sorry, my comments were based on your comment......

"And no, I'm not going to ask the powers to be that may or may not have authority over the place (you know how that goes) or research endless government web site to find some dumb law that may or may not pertain to MD"

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[SoCalBeachScanner]

Sorry, my comments were based on your comment......

"And no, I'm not going to ask the powers to be that may or may not have authority over the place (you know how that goes) or research endless government web site to find some dumb law that may or may not pertain to MD"

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

No Problem TH ...

As far as laws go in a highly dense populated area like I'm in. You can't tell where one city starts and the other ends. There is more then just parks and beaches to detect. What might be illegal in one city, may be okay in another. City websites are useless for info, so the point is, I'm not going to each and every city hall to find out where in their city I can MD. And if I did, we all know how that would turn out, whether it's true or not.
So my objective is not to do something illegal, it's just to avoid potential problems with some buffoon in city or county government or to be reported by some green power save the grass tree hugging busy body.

Enough Said

 

[cudamark]

I agree with Tom when he pointed out that no matter what type of detector you plan on using, stealth or otherwise, you still have to make a recovery and that takes time and makes you "stick out". Do you really think that "bending down to tie your shoe" every few feet, while you walk back and forth, will go unnoticed?? I still think your best plan is to do it at odd hours when very few are around to see you.....and just use a regular detector and good recovery methods. I'm trying to envision a place that is that busy with people walking about but will have a decent amount of rings. You trying to hunt the grass in front of city hall or something??

 

[RobRieman]

I can't imagine being able to turn this hobby into anything close to being stealth, especially the retrieval of the target when kneeling down and digging, pinpointing or replacing a plug, etc. we stand out like a turd in a punch bowl in a crowded public space and people watching seems to be a past time of a lot of people out there. They can't wait to find anything out of the ordinary and blow it way out of proportion. Good luck and send the pics of your adventure! Maybe you could record it all with a stealth Go-Pro.

 

[dirtscratcher]

Man its nice to live in Montana where nobody really cares what your doing unless your hurting someone that is.