I have always hated the cheap naugahyde sheath that came with my short handle digger. It was loose and floppy on the belt. I had seen some internet posts where others had made Kydex sheaths for their diggers. I Thought I would order the supplies and give it a try. Continue reading →

My “detecting closet” has become so full that getting a machine in or out is a real pain. Lately, I’ve found myself leaning detectors against the laundry room wall when I come in from detecting and now it’s getting cluttered too. The breaking point, though, was when I added an AT Pro to my collection. I put a NEL Snake coil on it and found it will not stand up. It wants to Continue reading →

After finding an old photo from Christmas 1976 I had proof positive of my first metal detector. Of course I headed straight to Ebay to see if I could find one. There are actually more of these still around than I expected. Found this one that was in it’s original box with manual. $19.95 later I was reliving old memories.Obviously this machine can’t hold a candle to modern detectors but it actually works good enough that I think you might be able to find a coin or two. It certainly works better than the Treasure Sensor 1000 that I bought with my allowance in 1979.

I’ve always considered my Treasure Sensor 1000 to be my first metal detector. It was, at least, the first one I bought with my own money. Even though I considered it to be first I’ve always had this fleeting memory of another detector. Was it my imagination? Was the Treasure Sensor not actually the first place winner?

Since I’m addicted to searching and with a love for history it was only natural that I would get bit by the genealogy bug. I spent about 2 solid years building a family tree. At one point I was looking for some lost pictures that the family claimed my mom possessed. Mom claimed she didn’t but sent me into her attic to look anyways. No pictures…none.

Fast forward a few years. After mom passed away my step-dad was cleaning out the attic. What he found wasn’t just the lost pictures but a whole box of photo albums. I set down that night to go through pictures. A vast amount of these photos I had never seen. One particular album was Christmas 1976. As I thumbed through this album of mostly unseen photos, there it was! The proof! My memory wasn’t a fabrication. It was offical. My first metal detector was a Radio Shack!

Well….A used detector but it’s new to me. I decided to give the Garrett AT Pro a try. I’ve been using a Tesoro Stingray and Tiger Shark for water hunting but lately I’ve wanted a small coil. Both of the Tesoros have hard wired 8″ coils. Some of the places we water hunt are covered with junk iron and the 8″ coils are simply too big. Need a small coil for target separation. The AT Pro came today and I’ve already been out playing with it. I think I’m really going to like this machine!

Every since I saw a Compadre Mini on a UK website I wanted one. Since you can’t get them here in the states and I didn’t want to order one from the UK I decided to build my own. I also didn’t want to go out and buy a new Compadre and chop it up so I started saving parts. Through a series of trades I ended up with an almost new Continue reading →

We had some mild weather last week so I tackled the project of replacing my HVAC. The furnace was shot and I didn’t want to go through another winter with a hole in the heat exchanger. While working in the attic I came across the first metal detector I ever bought. Forgot that I had kept it. Circa 1979… Continue reading →