And no offense, but this argument is ooooold and laaaaaame. I bet I've read 1,000 posts about this, with ZERO conclusive or constructive thoughts among them! Booooring.
When i was first looking for my metal detector, I read a thousand of those posts too, then i fouind posts where two people took a Radio Shack Bounty Hunter and cleaned an area out, then a pro came in behind them with his Minelab and found some stuff, but not all that much. That proved to me that a cheapo detecter would find most of the stuff in an area, but to get at everything, the Minelab was worth the money. Where is this type thing from the dowsers? Maybe I just missed it, but it seems to me that you guys like a good fight, and pick any opportunity to defend your art, but never take the opportunity to show it off. If I had some mystical power like that, I'd be trying to get my own TV show...seriously.
I'm not even that skeptical about it, I watched my grandfather use witching sticks to pick a spot to dig a well...they hit water. There may be water everywhere around his house for all I know, but then again he could have picked the single spot in his enture yard that would produce it. I read lots of claims, lots of nay-sayers, and zero actual usable data to make up my own mind. Why is that?
Can you dowse under water? If so, I know an area where there is KNOWN spanish silver laying under the sand. Any dowsers that SCUBA dive out there? If so, I'd bet money that SeaHunter would let you come work with him. Come find some silver with us (I gaurantee I will come up with some) and I promise I will tell everyone about it if a dowser finds some too. I'd bet $100 right now that no dowser would show up, because you guys seem afraid to prove your talents. I for one would LOVE to see it in action, and have invited many to join me on land and cache hunts, always with an excuse or a last minute cancellation. These were well researched caches that were out of reach of my detector, so actually gave dowsing the benefit of the doubt and asked someone just to come try, but he no-showed. It seems to me that you could stop all of this bantering if just ONE person would go to just ONE location and prove just ONE time that had the ability to do what you say you can. Yet I have never found any such occurence...why not?
Jason