Blowing away silt and overburden underwater?

[niffler]

I haven't posted here in quite a while because life has gotten in the way of my serious

treasure hunting for a few years...however, I'm working on an idea I had to help me get back in the rivers and lakes around where I live now. There's a river here that is popular with tubers, that I'm going to be exploring soon, but my question is this: I had an idea of using one of those underwater scooters, sea scooter things to possibly blow away the silt and mud and expose the bedrock or at least the gravel bottom and hopefully any good stuff. I'm thinking the coins and jewelry, being heavy, will remain in place while the lighter mud, silt, etc gets blown away. Anyone willing to offer an opinion on if I'm right or wrong, or has anyone used this method? I was just thinking of the way treasure divers on boats use a "mailbox" to blow a hole in the bottom and expose treasure. Thanks in advance!

 

[IDAu]

I haven't posted here in quite a while because life has gotten in the way of my serious View attachment 2222187treasure hunting for a few years...however, I'm working on an idea I had to help me get back in the rivers and lakes around where I live now. There's a river here that is popular with tubers, that I'm going to be exploring soon, but my question is this: I had an idea of using one of those underwater scooters, sea scooter things to possibly blow away the silt and mud and expose the bedrock or at least the gravel bottom and hopefully any good stuff. I'm thinking the coins and jewelry, being heavy, will remain in place while the lighter mud, silt, etc gets blown away. Anyone willing to offer an opinion on if I'm right or wrong, or has anyone used this method? I was just thinking of the way treasure divers on boats use a "mailbox" to blow a hole in the bottom and expose treasure. Thanks in advance!

DPVs aren’t cheap. I’m not sure how much throttle control there is now but they are used to propel an entire human, so I’m not sure you could run it low enough and not have to fight to stay put.

 

[Blak bart]

They work great...they are a go to in the underwater game, and are used by alot of people in the treasure business such as 1715 fleet. I've used them quite a bit in the keys uncovering targets in the search for "el angel bueno" 1563.

 

[OBN]

It all depends on the location. I used one several times in the Chesapeake Bay and only had luck with it a few times, never paid for itself and I think I paid 400 for it about 8 years ago? Still have it, but for me since the water here is so murky and targets are super deep it is the wrong combo. I have went into areas and blown craters, long cuts down at least a foot for 30 foot long, and I think I have 3 gold rings to show......... just not the right tool for here.

I can share a few stories. Have a friend in Russia who uses one, D..... amazing what he can find using it. He hunts a beach in Caspian Sea, much like a lake. He uses sand bags and obstacles to catch the gold and treasures. And uses the blower to blow around those and the heavies get stopped by the traps. Also he dives and uses it in areas where he thinks (skill) targets will be exposed, and he does well. Now the problem, the seals on the blowers seem to leak after a while, motors often have issues, and batteries only last a hour and then the life of the battery. But his have paid for themselves. ( he goes thru about one or two a year?) And he uses it several days a week, .. and the good... he can work on them.

So I have another friend (C) who uses one when he dives, he has had some luck and it is a great alternative when things are bleak on the shore line. And he hunts a few big lakes with lots of history..


Just my opinion, you have to consider the cost, and do you feel there will be a high chance (odds) of gold and silver there to be found. When I consider buying something, I think, will it pay for itself in time. So far the Blower was the only wrong decision for me N location, D and C they made the right choices for them and their locations...... .

 

[Blak bart]

Well after reading OBNs post I realized that I should be a bit more thorough with just exactly what I mean when I say "go to". In order to explain i will have to get into a touchy subject....I have already been ripped and humiliated on another thread for suggesting that there is a difference between a metal detectorist, and a treasurehunter. So as a metal detectorist practicing my hobby and going after rings and jewelry dropped and lost by swimmers and beach goers I have never used, or even considered using a scooter to move sand at a public beach or swimming hole. There would be a number of factors that would make using one of these scooters for hobby level metal detecting a mistake !! If i was to use one of these scooters at a popular beach or swimming hole there would be serious consequences to face for disrupting sand on this type of level. The damage and changes to the bottom here in Florida at public beaches would be very noticeable very quickly!! I think you would be on the radar of law enforcement very quickly. This type of work would leave deep scars and displace sand on levels that would make beach goers very upset. Also its a bit over kill to go after single targets like a ring with this type of tool. It is not generally used by hobby level detectorist, but is used extensively by professional shipwreck salvagers. As a paid professional shipwreck salvage diver i often use the scooters to work deep sand and identify magnotometer targets that have to be checked to see if they are shipwreck related or trash. I work as a "drop"diver, and get a list of GPS coordinates that have been determined by the tow fish magnotometer "geometrics 840". The mag boat sends us the list, and then off we go to check these targets. Once on the bottom its determined if we need to use the scooters to dig, or if the targets are able to be uncovered with out blowing sand. We are restricted to using the scooters instead of prop wash deflectors, or mailboxes without special permits from the state of Florida. They are used to identify targets deeply covered by sand, and are used quite often. We use them up, and they are disposable tools of the trade. Sometimes we will work in teams of 2-3 people using the scooters to move sand from large objects like cannons, ballast mounds, and anchors for positive identification. Im usually the deep hole guy....that means im actually deep down in the hole with a second person positioned right above me using his scooter to blow the sand that im sending up out and away from the rim of the hole or crater. Sometimes even a third guy directing sand away from the pit. These excavations are far from shore in 20-50 feet of water, and not in a place where waders and swimmers would be interacting with the deep dropouts created by these scooters. So yes they are a go to tool for professional treasure divers working on permits from the state with provisions for using the scooters for light excavation of magnotometer readings. We also use water cutting jets (pressure washers) to cut clay and densely packed shells, and we use underwater excavation pumps with catch bags to filter sand and capture artifacts. We also use probing rods to try and feel how deep under the sand an object is. We can also use airlifts if necessary to move sand and dig although this creates great plumes of silt that the state doesn't like much. So as professional treasure divers I may use the scooters quite a bit when working, but when im in hobby mode getting rings from the sand bar and beaches this is just overkill and to much for the crowded beaches and parks. It leaves deep holes, bad water clarity, and dangerous pits and holes for the swimmers. Not to mention tearing up a spot on levels that people will be upset about.....and call the law about. Also they can be dangerous.....I have had my wing man suck my wet suit zipper string into the scooter and tightly wrapping the scooter to my back and head at 55feet deep !! It was dangerously close to ripping my regulator out of my mouth, and I had to wait patiently (with out panicking) for my partner to free me from entanglement. These are the scenarios that hobby detectorist will never experience and something that most detectorist will never need for the typical ring and jewelry finding. It is tempting to use, and when I tried once at the sand bars the visible damage and destruction was similar to a boat going aground....all i thought about was the fines and negative publicity that this type of digging would get me if discoverd that I was creating these holes. And yes it was blowing coins and jewelry far from where I started....kind of like using a sledge hammer to drive trim nails !!

 

[Blak bart]

Another factor that I never considered was the sediment itself.....I have worked some real ancient bottom....im talking undisturbed sediment that was thousands of years old !! This fine ancient sediment gets everywhere and as the deep hole guy i often have sediment and sand in my ears, and hair and eyes, and at one point I aspirated some water mixed with these disturbed sediments. We were literally disturbing bacteria from thousands of years ago....getting this ancient bacterial infection in your lungs can be lethal and ive seen all of us get sick for weeks from fuc.ing around and finding out !! It was not on my radar as a danger until we all got sick.....now days it vibro vulcinfious.....or flesh eating bacteria. I laid into the bottom with the scooter, and disturbed some ancient monster that even the doctors couldn't figure out.....luckily we all recovered from it, but damn it was something I never thought of.

 

[CASPER-2]

wanted to buy one for last 20yrs - havent pulled the trigger

 

[Blak bart]

Different level hunting when im using scooters. Drop diving on numbers, and looking for shipwreck material is suited well for scooter work....we use them up, and sucking sand and shells back through the scooter beats them up.....it takes 4 showers to get the fine silty sand out of my hair !!😅🤣😅

 

[niffler]

Thanks everyone for the information. My plan would be to use one of these to blow out the potholes in bedrock of the river that I have targeted for plunder. The current is pretty strong so anything I can blow away will go downstream immediately. I think I can get my hands on a used one locally. It's got to move material better than the ping pong paddles I have used to fan the bottom in the past!

 

[Blak bart]

Thanks everyone for the information. My plan would be to use one of these to blow out the potholes in bedrock of the river that I have targeted for plunder. The current is pretty strong so anything I can blow away will go downstream immediately. I think I can get my hands on a used one locally. It's got to move material better than the ping pong paddles I have used to fan the bottom in the past!

It should work for that....Goodluck, and happy hunting !!

 

[cudamark]

I have a friend that uses a smaller arm mounted one while he hookah dives. He's done very well with it, but, he searches areas with mostly sand, not silt. Seems to me you would need at least a slight current where you have a muddy bottom if you want any sort of visibility.

 

[DJV]

I haven't posted here in quite a while because life has gotten in the way of my serious View attachment 2222187treasure hunting for a few years...however, I'm working on an idea I had to help me get back in the rivers and lakes around where I live now. There's a river here that is popular with tubers, that I'm going to be exploring soon, but my question is this: I had an idea of using one of those underwater scooters, sea scooter things to possibly blow away the silt and mud and expose the bedrock or at least the gravel bottom and hopefully any good stuff. I'm thinking the coins and jewelry, being heavy, will remain in place while the lighter mud, silt, etc gets blown away. Anyone willing to offer an opinion on if I'm right or wrong, or has anyone used this method? I was just thinking of the way treasure divers on boats use a "mailbox" to blow a hole in the bottom and expose treasure. Thanks in advance!

I dive for old glass & crockery. I've used my scooter for blowing away soft silt accumulation; it doesn't work that well for sand & the sand particles infiltrate the trigger mechanism, which is problematic. Another issue is monofilament fishing line getting wrapped around the hub, effectively rendering the machine inoperative, until I can take the prop off to remove it.