Am I wasting my time?

[Joe Pack]

I was recently contacted by a fellow wanting to know if I could try to find a wallet he lost while plowing a field. The only metal in the wallet was a foil backing on some state lottery tickets in the wallet. The rest of the wallet was only money...a sizeable sum that he offered me 1/2 of if I find the wallet. The field is 5+ acres.

Questions:

1. What are the chances of my Tesoro Cortes picking up the foil on the lottery tickets?

2. What are the chances of finding a wallet in a field of 5+ acres? (Needle in haystack).

 

[mick56]

You should get a lottery ticket like the one he lost, see if it even is detectable. The chance of finding it doesn't seem too good.

 

[papajos]

a friend told me he was pulled over on I-8 once...police walked around his car with a wand...told him exactly how much money he had in the car...he was on the way back from selling at an arts fair...

perhaps the technology to find the money is here, but i can not find anything on line about such a device.

he said the officer told him it picked up on those threads installed in the new money.
[/quote

That's kinda scarey actually....going to have to wrap my wad in tinfoil or something!

 

[willie d]

Hmmmm....half of something is better than all of nothing. Who knows what else you might find in that field. I'd give it a shot. It would be good PR for gaining future access to other properties. Unless, of course you have better things to do.

1. What are the chances of my Tesoro Cortes picking up the foil on the lottery tickets?Your Cortes more than likely will pick up tiny piece of foil. I agree with Mick56 about testing on a similar lottery ticket. You could be a winner



2. What are the chances of finding a wallet in a field of 5+ acres? (Needle in haystack). I'd definitely see if he could narrow it down a bit, but not too much

Good luck

 

[stefen]

Bloodhound would probably have a better chance...second best, is visual (eyes on the ground) and lastly, have a glass of lemonaide with the farmer, shake hands, say goodby and go home.

 

[sniffer]

5+ acres is a big area to search for foil. good luck
also the strips in money, while detectable, don't carry a denomination discriminator, even then, it would be awful hard to detect anything in a car

 

[sasnz]

Most wallets i have owned had a metal Male/Female clasp that folded on a strap from one side to the other and kept the wallett closed. If your friends wallet has this (quite likely) then you should be able to pick this up with a metal detector pretty easily i would have thought. here is a pic of my wallet with the metal clasp.

Sasnz

 

[John (Ma)]

Is the field worth searching anyway? This may be a ticket to some good finds, with the wallet as bonus money!

 

[camperlee]

sounds like a worth while project see how your detector reacts on a ticket like he lost thats let you know the signal you will be looking for. best of luck

 

[liftloop]

 

[Monty]

I'd try it. What have you got to lose but time? Monty

 

[stefen]

Lets see...if you are able to work overlapping swaths that's 4 feet in maximum width, the overall length of the swath will be 54,450 lineal feet or roughly 10 miles and change...piece of cake....

Assuming you walk at a reasonable pace while swinging, you can do this in about 3 to 5 days assuming the fields are not plowed or disked or full of high weeds. Might add a half to a full day for digging time lost...

Take plenty of water, fresh change of socks, plenty of liniment for the sore arm and shoulder muscles, a handfull of batteries...

Now, the real way is to take 3 or 4 friends and knock it out in a day...its like golfing, have plenty of cold beer for the end of the hunt, especially to be used as when reinforcing your bragging rights...

Better yet, get a spare MD unit for the guy that lost the wallet and let him share in the hunt...

 

[gametalman52]

Free detecting with possible bonuses. Heck Ya'

 

[rmptr]

You are not wasting your time.

Great advice so far!

I think your chances of finding something else that may be of interest are possibly larger than finding that wallet.

How deep was that plow set?

A real good dog would be the best bet.

Good luck, and have fun!
rmptr

 

[RNELSON]

i think i would give it a try.. you have nothing to lose.. some wallets have a place for a spare key,maybe his had 1 in it ? i keep my gas ,grocery and etc. rewards cards in my wallet on a large paper clip. the farmer may tell you if he has some metallic object in his as well. GOOD LUCK..

 

[Tom_in_CA]

It's pretty hard to diagnose that in print, because things like sounds, tones, swing speeds, and repeatability are next to impossible to describe in print. It can't be done, it has to be shown and seen. Maybe you can hook up with an experienced 250 user in your area, and trade off on flagged targets. Watch how he swings, what he is listening for, why he would or would not pass certain targets, etc...

I knew a fellow once who sent an XLT back 3 times for "repair" because signals kept "disappearing", (ghost signals, etc....). He just assumed it was broken. The 3rd time they sent it back and said "there's nothing wrong with it", he was fit to be tied! He was very irate that they were telling him he must be operating it wrong. He'd read the instruction manual a dozen times, and insisted he was no dummy, and was operating it exactly by the instructions. Imagine his surprise when he met up with me, when I showed him that motion was required when in disc. mode. He simply had no idea. He'd read that part in the manual many times, but figured "well yeah, of course 'motion' is required. How else is someone supposed to progress through the field if they're not moving, walking, swinging, etc...?" So each time he'd hear a target, he'd slow down to hear it better, and presto, it would disappear! Now you can see in that case, no amount of printed text, or his describing the problem, could've diagnosed his problem. It had to be shown and heard. Not even Whites or me knew what he was talking about, till I watched him, and he watched me.

The same could be for whatever problem you're having. It may be one of those things where you have to hook up, in the field, with a proficient user, and trade off signals.

 

[Joe Pack]

I stopped in to see the fellow who lost the wallet and to look around. Seems there is still corn stubble in the field, which will give me "lanes" to walk without covering the same ground twice. He showed me the general area it probably was lost in, but no guarantees.

Anyhow, I told him I would stop in when the ground dries out a bit and it gets a tad warmer...I don't relish walking with 30# clumps of mud on my feet or having frozen fingers. In my 'younger, dumber' days, I would have gone today. I'm older and smarter (older and fatter) now.

I'll let you know how it went.

 

[rmptr]

Hey Joe,

Give it a shot when conditions are better, and see if you might come up with interesting digs that are totally unexpected, besides that wallet...

If the field isn't covered with gold or silver coins, call in all your friends, or invite your local club to come in and hit it for a day or two...

...provided that would be ok w the owner.