Women, Girls and Metal Detecting - Do they Mix?

[Kace]

No guns unless you have a special permit. Bit trouble there in N.J.. and I am in South Jersey. Way south. And I would be thrilled to have you.

Thank You Jersey! I'm up that way on occasion for business or visiting a friend in Manhattan. I'll definitely holler at ya! I won't bring a gun...Can you buy them in Jersey? I know people hunt there.

Kace

 

[DiamondDan]

My 5 year old daughter has developed a new obsession with metal detecting. We moved recently (house was built in 1920) and I thought it would be fun to include her when I was detecting the yard. She now knows how to tell the difference between good tones and crappy ones, and she is my official 'pinpointer operator'. I actually had to sneak out of the house to get in a solo hunt recently. Detecting with a 5 year old kid is not a time-efficient activity! Lol. I'm gonna get her a kid machine soon because she is always asking about going detecting. It'll be her and my 'thing', because my wife couldn't be less interested.

 

[Rick Dangerous]

My wife is super interested in metal detecting and actually encouraged me to get one!

My daughters are young enough to be into anything that I am, so i'm sure they will be treasure hunters too!

The fact is it never hurts to have people of both sexes enjoy a hobby. The more a hobby grows, the better the tech gets, the research gets, and the community gets, the finds get, and it just gets better for everyone.

 

[Kace]

My 5 year old daughter has developed a new obsession with metal detecting. We moved recently (house was built in 1920) and I thought it would be fun to include her when I was detecting the yard. She now knows how to tell the difference between good tones and crappy ones, and she is my official 'pinpointer operator'. I actually had to sneak out of the house to get in a solo hunt recently. Detecting with a 5 year old kid is not a time-efficient activity! Lol. I'm gonna get her a kid machine soon because she is always asking about going detecting. It'll be her and my 'thing', because my wife couldn't be less interested.

Good Man!...You and your daughter will always remember the times you spent doing Dad and Daughter stuff. Those will be some of the best memories for both of you! I miss my father so much, but there's not been a day go by since he passed that I don't have a great memory. I wish that for your daughter.

I just saw on here where someone was talking about a Harbor Freight detector that only costs $50? I started on a Radio Shack.

Kace

 

[Kace]

My wife is super interested in metal detecting and actually encouraged me to get one!

My daughters are young enough to be into anything that I am, so i'm sure they will be treasure hunters too!

The fact is it never hurts to have people of both sexes enjoy a hobby. The more a hobby grows, the better the tech gets, the research gets, and the community gets, the finds get, and it just gets better for everyone.

Great Post Rick! Having a Family Hobby is Always a Good Thing!

Kace

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

My grandmother metal detected until she was too frail. Of course that was back when detectors were fairly large and heavy. As with just about anything, it just depends on the person.

 

[Terry Soloman]

This has turned into a very heavy and revealing thread!!!!!

 

[Kace]

This has turned into a very heavy and revealing thread!!!!!

I think this has been a good thread...It gives both men and women a place to share their honest thoughts regarding the topic that maybe they feel strange talking about to their spouse, partner or friends. It's also obviously has shown different generational and environmental perspectives.

True, it spread out farther than women and girls metal detecting, but that's okay, there's a lot of activities that are stereotypically male or female and addressing the very true reality that those activities are increasingly becoming much more publicly coed than in the no so distant past.

I especially like the posts regarding the folks taking their kids and grandkids out regardless of gender.

Kace

 

[A2coins]

I think people are scared to make comments to me 220 with tats and I dont care what people think.Though I am one of the friendliest people you will ever meet

 

[RustyGold]

I agree with everything you said til your last sentence. There is no clear definition anymore and there can't be.

Thankfully it didn't happen to me, but what about the women whose husbands or fathers of their male children walked out on all of them? Are the women supposed to raise their sons as girls? Our society has made the lines get murky compared to the generations before mine. I don't have any idea how old you are.

An example is one of my cousin's husband abandoned her, their daughter and son. Cousin is a girly girl, city born and bred. She Had To Be Both Mother and Father...First she signed her son up in Cub Scouts... that was great until right off the bat there was 'Father/Son' camp out. Every scout had to have a guardian. Sooo, being a good Mother, she said she'd go and went out to buy herself a tent and whatever else was needed. That caused a huge mess cause no women were allowed they said....Mainly the wives of the dads in the troop complained. Cousin is very pretty... she learned to fish to take her son, she enrolled him in sports... she really couldn't practice well with him cause she's not athletic. She tried Big Brothers and ended with up guys who were more interested in her than her son. She didn't date after husband left because she didn't want to expose her children to possible weirdos. Understandable.

Her daughter was Homecoming Queen...Cousin had to walk her out on the field with the other father and daughters in the court and have the 'father daughter dance' with her. That was awkward to watch although her daughter was as happy as could be. When the daughter got married..Her Mother walked her down the aisle...POS father didn't help pay or show up. He's got a great career, double masters..He just didn't want to.

That's not an unusual situation, there's also men who die young. Same as women who die young Or walk out on their families and leave men to raise daughters. There's No Way to keep lines from blending.

I want boys to grow up to be nice, good men, self sufficient and not feel the need to put down women or make rude comments to cover their own insecurities. But first they have to take responsibility for lives they help to create...And that takes nice, good men to mold them.

Don't think for a minute that the majority of women want to be men...Or that single father wants to learn how to teach his daughter how to do a blow out or french braid her hair or apply makeup, go dress shopping or talk to her about becoming a woman.

Would you want your daughter not knowing how to do typically male things and God forbid her husband died or walked out on her and you weren't around to stand in? I wouldn't.

I'm not trying to give you heat as you said... it's just that Women Cannot Expect Men to Always Be There for Them or Their Children....Nor Can Men Expect Women To Always Be There.

Kace

Kace,
This brought a tear to my eye. Hopefully we all can learn a great deal from this thread.
I bought my two grandsons metal detectors, not because they were boys, it’s just that I don’t have any granddaughters.
Sure wish I did.
I wish you and your cousin all the best.

 

[Kace]

Kace,
This brought a tear to my eye. Hopefully we all can learn a great deal from this thread.
I bought my two grandsons metal detectors, not because they were boys, it’s just that I don’t have any granddaughters.
Sure wish I did.
I wish you and your cousin all the best.

Thank You For Your Kind Words Rusty...I have had a Great Life... it really hurt losing my father, but he made sure I have many, many great memories. Both of my parents and grandparents gave me the best gift of all and that was them. It sounds like you are doing that too with your family. None of you will ever regret that!

My cousin struggled with what happened to her, not financially... thankfully she has a good career, but that too took time away from her kids since she had to travel quite a bit due to her work.

Her husband leaving them took a huge toll on their son, he's Really struggled by not having his father around. It's just as hard for a woman to teach her son how to be a man as it is for a man to teach his daughter how to be a woman. Her daughter met a great guy and they married about two years ago. They both adore each other...she's a little hesitant to have kids, but her husband came from a stable, two parent home, her father in law is trying his best to be a father to her.

I really appreciate your thoughts Rusty

Kace

 

[Ogre1190]

It's a hobby. An enjoyable hobby. If you're male OR female and you like it...do it! If you're male OR female and you don't like it...don't do it! Simple.

 

[Truth]

I think people are scared to make comments to me 220 with tats and I dont care what people think.Though I am one of the friendliest people you will ever meet

And see I’m the opposite

 

[Ammoman]

My experience is that fewer women have an interest in detecting then males. Few males have interest in sewing and knitting. If I sewed or knitted I would expect to be a minority at the fabric and yarn shop. Males and females are different even if the politically correct try to tell you otherwise.[/QUOT
Your experience is right on the money. My wife and i own a fabric store and 99% of our customers are women. Of that 1 percent who are men, roughly half either want to be a woman or act like a woman. Just my observations after being in that environment for over 10 years. Believe it or not, men and women have different interests. I guess its a male female thing.

 

[Hillbilly Prince]

This is a very interesting discussion. There is so much material here for thought and comment I can barely restrain myself But I will.
It seems we are talking primarily about one facet of metal detecting. The part where you get out there walking about with your stuff and your machine, and getting down and digging in the dirt or sand or mud.
I ended up in the hobby because I became interested in the Cuvil War. Long story.
Once I found TNET I discovered worlds I never knew existed as far as all the various aspects of treasure hunting. I have also discovered there is much more to metal detecting than the dirty work. There is research to be done and stuff to be read.
I have known many women who devour historical novels. Not my thing at all. (By the way, not sure how the romance genre stands today but when I was younger you only needed to read one Harlequin romance and you had read them all.)
My point is if you perhaps want to attract women into the hobby you might point out it is not just about digging holes. It is about history and discovery and using your head in a lot of cases.
To be honest I bet none of us guys are lying awake at night bemoaning the lack of females in the hobby.
People take up things for various reasons. Sometimes all it takes is asking someone if they want to try something.
It is true that more people of either sex in the hobby means more sales of equipment, which means more money for R & D and better equipment.
There are many ways of introducing the sport to females of all ages if you are so inclined. One could use their church facilities to give a demonstration some evening. Or get in touch with the local Girl Scouts and cook something up.

 

[Kace]

My experience is that fewer women have an interest in detecting then males. Few males have interest in sewing and knitting. If I sewed or knitted I would expect to be a minority at the fabric and yarn shop. Males and females are different even if the politically correct try to tell you otherwise.[/QUOT
Your experience is right on the money. My wife and i own a fabric store and 99% of our customers are women. Of that 1 percent who are men, roughly half either want to be a woman or act like a woman. Just my observations after being in that environment for over 10 years. Believe it or not, men and women have different interests. I guess its a male female thing.

That's funny you mention sewing and fabrics... I know this is a rare situation, but I have a really good guy friend who I've been close to since 1st grade. His mother and father divorced and he of course lived with his Mother.

They didn't have a lot of discretionary income so she sewed her own clothes and made dresses for people on top of working full time to be able to give him some fun stuff. Anyway she had him help her with the sewing... he's really creative and mechanical too and a total guy. He's also very talented at sewing and took to it right off.

He saved his paper route money and bought a used, heavy duty sewing machine that would sew canvas and started making boat covers for people. He turned that into a full time business, now employs quite a number of people.. men and women and he makes custom boat, RV and car covers along with Bimini tops, convertible tops and boots. He does very well and it all started with making dresses.

Kace

 

[Hillbilly Prince]

That's funny you mention sewing and fabrics... I know this is a rare situation, but I have a really good guy friend who I've been close to since 1st grade. His mother and father divorced and he of course lived with his Mother.

They didn't have a lot of discretionary income so she sewed her own clothes and made dresses for people on top of working full time to be able to give him some fun stuff. Anyway she had him help her with the sewing... he's really creative and mechanical too and a total guy. He's also very talented at sewing and took to it right off.

He saved his paper route money and bought a used, heavy duty sewing machine that would sew canvas and started making boat covers for people. He turned that into a full time business, now employs quite a number of people.. men and women and he makes custom boat, RV and car covers along with Bimini tops, convertible tops and boots. He does very well and it all started with making dresses.

Kace

Well Kace, it appears we are discussing nature versus nurture. Do you think there may be some confusion here among we posters? I think a child will mimic what the child sees.
A male child could easily be raised to behave as a stereotypical girl-as defined say by a 1950's middle class American family- and wear cute dresses, play with Barbies, and pretend to be a mommy to a baby doll. Not to say your fellow was being raised as a girl.
I wonder if he was teased. Although I have to say once children acquire empathy it is really surprising how accepting they often are of friends who are kind of off the beaten path. Not always it is true.
Remember when some girls were called tomboys?
Because they behaved in ways we associated with boys.
Now that I think of it, Hollywood is still responsible for much of the perpetuation of stereotypes in regard to men and women.
The discussion is getting a bit off course I suppose. I think it would be a interesting topic for a thread but how to frame it? This has taken off with a life of its own as these things do
We are shaped by our families, our community around us and its culture,our friends and classmates who are generally part of the same community. Of course now we have the internet which plays a role in a child's shaping.
Just curious-were you ever called a tomboy?
I think it would be fascinating to take a twenty year old girl (or boy) who was born and bred in Manhattan, and exchange her with a counterpart from a genuine small town in rural Arkansas. Sort of a foreign exchange student deal. Film the whole mess.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

I believe the coin collecting angle is why there are so few women who detect. How many women do you know who collect coins or show any interest in them? I think most guys metal detect because they have an interest in coins.

The U.S. Mint states that their customer base is 87% male and 13% female. Metal detecting is probably close to the same percentage when it comes to men and women. Not a coincidence, in my opinion.


https://www.linns.com/news/us-stamps-postal-history/2016/november/us-mint-demographic-report-coin-collecting-hobby-stamp-collecting-hobby.html

If you think the majority of metal detectorists are metal detecting to collect coins, you are hugely mistaken. It’s much much easier to buy coins, and they are in much better condition.

Been detecting since childhood and never been a coin collector. I’m a treasure hunter.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

The topic of this thread reads like it came from a 50 year old “Dear Abby” letter.
I have a daughter (divorced family) and this topic would never come up. Some of the responses have me really wondering...
Again coming from someone that spent summers detecting with grandma and grandpa over 3 decades ago.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

If you think the majority of metal detectorists are metal detecting to collect coins, you are hugely mistaken.

That's your opinion. All the metal detecting guys I know are looking for 1700's coins and relics. And none of us are delusional about finding buried treasure and getting rich. It's just a hobby and a way to connect with this country's past.

If you're into metal detecting because you're a "treasure hunter" and think you're going to hit it big one day, you are a dreamer. Metal detecting is NOT a way to get rich for 99% of those who detect.