1st time beach MDing. Which scoop to use?

[camcolo]

I am planning on hitting some Florida beaches this summer. First time. I am going to be detecting in the sand (not the water). I see a lot of different scoops advertised. Galvanized, plastic, short handled, long handled, round openings, screens, etc. What is advised? Thanks

 

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[NCHermit]

I think if you are only going to hunt sand and no water,I'd go with the screen type.They work really well in the dry sand.They kinda work in the wet if you dont go to deep.I'd shy away from the plastic kitty litter deals.If you plan on alot of wet sand or in the water or are going to do alot of beach hunting,go with a heavy duty aluminum or stainless scoop with a long handle.Sounds from what you described,the medium length handle screen style would be the best option.

 

[Sandman]

NCHermit suggestion was right on the money. For the dry sand some like the plastic since they can check the scoop with the detector to see if they have the target. This just wastes time and a heavy duty screen type sifts faster and will last longer. The long handles save you from all the bending. Be sure to over lap swings to cover more area at depth and not swing the coil pendulem style and keep it level as close to the ground as possible.

Good luck and don't discriminate out pull tabs or miss most of the gold rings.

 

[surfrat96]

I agree with NCHERMIT. If you're in dry sand, the screen type sifts a lot faster. I mainly hunt the beaches and have 3 different scoops, all long handled so I don't have to keep bending over.

I buy my scoops from Kevin Reilly. He manufactures them himself. http://www.rtgstore.com/

What part of Florida are you going to?

HH 8) surfrat

 

[camcolo]

Thanks for all of the advice. I will be sure to use it! I am going to hit the obvious place north of Fort Lauderdale. I have read some of the books on the beaches (1715 impacted) that look like fun. Just going to fly out, rent a car, and play it by ear late this spring.

Curt

 

[surfrat96]

If you're coming down during Spring Break, you would probably have better luck hitting South beach. Fort Lauderdale has been discouraging college spring breakers for quite a few years, and there aren't to many of them there anymore.

South Beach has been packed!

HH 8) surfrat

 

[camcolo]

I will probably be pretty far north of Ft Lauderdale. More up to Wabasso Beach area. Probably will not get there until late spring or early summer, weather dependant.

 

[wreckdiver1715]

So you want to hit the 1715 beaches, cool. There is still plenty of treasure to find once Mother Nature fixes the beaches. Welcome to the forum Camcolo!

Q

 

[Sandman]

Hope to see some of you at South Beach soon. Vero Beach is looking good again this year.

 

[camcolo]

I'm looking forward to the heat! The snow is finally melting here. Supposed to be in the 60's this weekend. I am going to keep an eye on the weather. If it looks like a good storm off the coast, I will head to there a day or so before the storm. Frequent flyer miles are good for that. But, until then, I will be getting my travel trailer together for some mountain camping and metal detecting.

 

[Born2Dtect]

For dry sand I use a 4 to 5" diameter scoop with a 24" handle. It works great and can do Ok in wet sand if you go in the shallow water. The solid type shown in the link above is good as the ones with screen or mesh can bend in if you are careless. I use mine to get a little extra lift when getting up from the sand. Sand really puts the wear and tear on your legs if you are not used to it. Good Luck.

Ed Donovan