Beach Metal Detecting
It seems like everybody’s favorite place to use their metal detectors is the beach. It’s not like it used to some years ago, when it didn’t matter what kind of detector you had, if you went down to the beach and spent a few hours, you’d come home with some great finds.
These days, even if you’re using the best metal detectors on the market, you’re not guaranteed to find anything that’s worth the time you just put in. The beaches are crowded with people like you, all looking to find something good. So how do you beat them out?
The single most important thing to do is to grid the beach you are working on. Gridding means that opposed to just walking the beach anywhere you please, you work in a pattern. This allows many benefits, namely:
• You keep track of where you have been and haven’t been.
• You search every area you spend time in very thoroughly, leaving no chance of missing a spot and missing out on a great find.
• You send a “buzz off” signal to other metal detector enthusiasts who could be competing with you. If somebody sees a gridded area on a beach, they know to turn around and find a new spot because somebody else has it covered!
• Finally, you’ll save time and energy by focusing your efforts in smaller areas but you’ll still come home with more by doing it the right way.
When it comes down to gridding the beach, you have several options and it doesn’t matter if you’re using cheap metal detectors you purchased online or the ones advertised in ads as the best metal detectors on the market. You can choose to follow:
• A straight or vertical line pattern. This entails walking from the edge of the beach down to the water and turning around, covering the space about a foot apart from your initial line.
• A sideways or horizontal line pattern. This method is walking along the beach parallel to the water. Because you could do this for miles at most beaches, stick to within 20 or so paces before turning around and repeating until you get to the edge of the beach.
• A shaped pattern; it doesn’t matter if it’s circular, a square, a triangle or anything else! Pick a spot, find your first detection, and then move out around that in the shape of your choice, gradually walking in larger areas as you move on.
Of course, gridding the beach isn’t the only thing you can do to up the ante and find some great hidden items with your metal detector. For starters, make sure you’re placing your detector down close to the sand, giving you a chance to find more things that are buried deeper and make accurate judgments.
Also, remember to respect the people and property around you. That means not intruding on anybody’s personal space, picking up the trash you dig up and filling in the holes from your dig. This will mean less complaints against you, and more opportunity to search under every nook and cranny.
Finally, the most popular beaches also will have the most guys with cheap metal detectors sprawling all over them. Try changing it up with a beach that the locals prefer over the touristy spot, more space and less metal detectors means the odds rising in your favor!
