How to dig Items with a SHOVEL !! whats your opinion

[Gare]

 

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[BRC]

Looks good to me...No trace

 

[Terry Soloman]

I think he's got it down Gary!

 

[angelito1]

Them thar are some purdy plugs.. ..

 

[ARC]

Makes me glad i grew up using and mastered using a scoop.

The first and main thing that comes to mind when i see people using leches and shovels is...

Who wants to bend over that much.

Then i think... why go through that much digging and also such a large hole.

Shorter the tool... the more ya bend and work.

With everyone wanting and trying to make metal detecting "easier" with detectors that "see" what the are digging before they dig it...

they sure have gone the other direction in digging the item. heh

 

[JerV3]

Nice video Gare.

That guy looks familiar. Too bad we didn't get footage the prior weekend.

Yeah being neat is a top priority. Its ruins the hobby and will get you kicked out of a site quickly.

Be back at it again soon.

Jer

 

[Tony in SC]

I use a trenching shovel cut down 6"?8". 36" D handle. No back bending and smaller hole!

Makes me glad i grew up using and mastered using a scoop.

The first and main thing that comes to mind when i see people using leches and shovels is...

Who wants to bend over that much.

Then i think... why go through that much digging and also such a large hole.

Shorter the tool... the more ya bend and work.

With everyone wanting and trying to make metal detecting "easier" with detectors that "see" what the are digging before they dig it... they sure have gone the other direction in digging the item. lol

 

[ARC]

Watching vids of many who use these small shovels and lesches or whatever the frig they call em... (or why) for what i would call a "belly / knee" shovel... AKA a "trench shovel"... which i have experience using in my youth... pre all these new "fixed" "cool looking" versions.

I can say... if you enjoy "working out" while you detect... these are the tools for you.

I get enough of a workout using a scoop let alone adding a whole bunch more physicality to it.

And... i might add... they are also WAY slower to use... by far.

I have detected beside users of these... the ratio has got to be 2 to 1... meaning... i have dug 2 targets to their one in the same amount of time.

And on a smooth roll i think i could say that would be 3 to 1.

Kick and flip... recover... rarely do i set anything (detector or scoop) down... unless i have that pesky eluding item...

and rarely do i ever bend over to pick something up... let alone to dig a target.

I can pick a penny off a frogs arse without disturbing the frog using only my scoop... this is something i take great pride in trying to do...

And sure beats the bends.. and kneeling and the "up and down"... "up and down".... "up and down".........."up and down".

Not to mention all the wrestling and crawling and knees... and ... and... and...

:P

 

[ARC]

I use a trenching shovel cut down 6"?8". 36" D handle. No back bending and smaller hole!

So... you are smart... experienced ... AND it shows.

 

[Almy]

In the video very big holes for small targets. My holes would be half that diameter or less. Maybe my detector or technique is able to locate the target more closely so a big hole is not so necessary. My hinge would be about equal to the hole diameter which makes a stronger hinge more likely to regrow quickly. And big holes are more attractive to digging animals like skunks who I have had visit my sites after I had been there. For sensitive sites, I try to get back a few days later for a check. In a few instances the skunks had dug up many of my holes, making me look like a sloppy detectorist. I refilled them all, of course, but if I had not gone back the person who gave me permission likely would not have wanted me back.

 

[Clad2Silver]

This guy is digging manhole size plugs to recover a small object. Maybe if he took the time to learn how to pinpoint more accurately he could dig targets with a small digging tool. Many times with a shovel you still end up kneeling down anyway so you're not saving any time or wear and tear on your body. Plus....you have to carry the shovel around with you which to me is just more of a hassle than anything else.

 

[xr7ator]

I've got a scoop that I bought from Kellyco in the 1980's. It has maybe 50 hours on it, total. You won't catch me with a shovel in the Denver city parks. I use a lesche 99.9% of the time. I dug 128 coins plus all the trash in less then 3 hours last time out. Yes, I get my exercise!
Scoops are for the beach and I'm landlocked.

 

[ARC]

I've got a scoop that I bought from Kellyco in the 1980's. It has maybe 50 hours on it, total. You won't catch me with a shovel in the Denver city parks. I use a lesche 99.9% of the time. I dug 128 coins plus all the trash in less then 3 hours last time out. Yes, I get my exercise!
Scoops are for the beach and I'm landlocked.

Depends on the scoop...

These weak flimsy ones that are all the rave now would never hold up.

I will add... and some may have heard me say this before...

There is a specific tool for each and every job... and sometimes more than one.

The scoop i use can wail through it all with speed that cannot be achieved by any other tool... and i have used / tried them ALL.

 

[islamoradamark]

back hoe

 

[DizzyDigger]

And big holes are more attractive to digging animals like skunks who I have had visit my sites after I had been there. For sensitive sites, I try to get back a few days later for a check. In a few instances the skunks had dug up many of my holes, making me look like a sloppy detectorist. I refilled them all, of course, but if I had not gone back the person who gave me permission likely would not have wanted me back.

Anytime a person digs a hole or disturbs the soil, every critter
that passes by is going to stop and check it out, especially if fresh
dirt is left exposed.

Coyotes, fox, skunk, 'coons and others will generally dig at the
spot of the fresh dirt, thinking there's chow underground or buried
there.

 

[eyemustdigtreasure]

If I could, I'd use a small shovel, but only some of the time, depending the site.
Pinpointing the target and using smaller tools is my technique.
I keep the dirt in my scoop, or on a rag, so no loss of dirt, on the lawn -
use a green hinge, and always tamp/STOMP the plug...!

 

[pepperj]

Shovels are for private/fields/bush no attention getting.

He still left dirt/sand around the hole in one of the digs/ why expand the hole in another?

Dig in the public leave no trace-period.
Throw the grub/worms away from the hole-free meal for the nights dinner guests the like to redig the plug.

Survival rate for a larger plug is better at certain times.

More than once cop drives up-got report of someone digging up the park with a shovel.
Well if you call my hunting knife a shovel-then that was me.
I get down on the knees, no problem popping back up.

Now it's fields/bush D handled Garrett cut down blade, petals for the foot.

 

[ARC]

So pepper... your a "lesch" guy ?

Or whatever ya call it. heh

 

[fyrffytr1]

AARC, I am interested in how you dig a lawn or any grassy area with a scoop. Could you post a video or even pictures of your scoop and the technique you use? I hunt plowed fields 99% of the time and it doesn't even matter whether I cover my hole up or not but I do cover them out of habit from earlier years when I hunted public parks. Now that I am up in age and have some lower back problems I am very interested in any technique that would keep me from getting down and back up.

 

[pepperj]

So pepper... your a "lesch" guy ?

Or whatever ya call it. heh

I won one for getting a 1858 20 cent piece. Wore out one of those Gators a detecting company in Orlando sells.
Returned it the next season going through, now that was a hour I'll never get back in my life. The second one didn't last a season, total garbage..
I did the screwdriver method for a decade or two, then a big old hunting knife.
Start waving that around in the dirt folks kept the distance.
Don't park hunt now, so it's all shovel.