Metal Detectors

[+Fuzzywhip]

OK, read this post completely before replying!

 

There is a particular cache that I have searched for many times in the last couple years. I have been able to isolate the GZ area to a particular tree in a local park, but just cannot find the cache container. I have also taked to other cachers who have attempted the same cache, with the same problem.

 

The questions is: is it proper to use a metal detector (I am assuming the cache is an evil micro bison tube or nano button) for the last searching method?

 

I look at this use of a metal detector as just another tool (like a mirror, a flashlight, or a magnet) when hunting the GZ area for the hidden cache.

 

I equate this to picking up every rock in a pile of rocks when searching in the GZ area for a hidden cache. Or perhaps pulling or pushing on everything in the GZ area while hunting.

 

Comments?

Edited June 13, 2009 by Fuzzywhip

[+Haffy]

OK, read this post completely before replying!

 

There is a particular cache that I have searched for many times in the last couple years. I have been able to isolate the GZ area to a particular tree in a local park, but just cannot find the cache container. I have also taked to other cachers who have attempted the same cache, with the same problem.

 

The questions is: is it proper to use a metal detector (I am assuming the cache is an evil micro bison tube or nano button) for the last searching method?

 

I look at this use of a metal detector as just another tool (like a mirror, a flashlight, or a magnet) when hunting the GZ area for the hidden cache.

 

I equate this to picking up every rock in a pile of rocks when searching in the GZ area for a hidden cache. Or perhaps pulling or pushing on everything in the GZ area while hunting.

 

Comments?

 

Or just maybe it is MIA?

[+bittsen]

What could possibly be wrong with using a metal detector?

I thought of buying one just for GCing

[+Dread_Pirate_Bruce]

The thing that is wrong with using a metal detector is that I have found the security wands they use at places like airports to be better.

[+Don_J]

OK, read this post completely before replying!

 

There is a particular cache that I have searched for many times in the last couple years. I have been able to isolate the GZ area to a particular tree in a local park, but just cannot find the cache container. I have also taked to other cachers who have attempted the same cache, with the same problem.

 

The questions is: is it proper to use a metal detector (I am assuming the cache is an evil micro bison tube or nano button) for the last searching method?

 

I look at this use of a metal detector as just another tool (like a mirror, a flashlight, or a magnet) when hunting the GZ area for the hidden cache.

 

I equate this to picking up every rock in a pile of rocks when searching in the GZ area for a hidden cache. Or perhaps pulling or pushing on everything in the GZ area while hunting.

 

Comments?

 

I'm curious as to my you are looking for justification for using your meal detector? If I owned one and were in the same situation, I'd be logging the cache find. You said it yourself, it's just another TOTT, mirror, flashlight, nut on a string to fish out a magnet cache, or flooding a pipe to float the cache to the top.

 

I have often thought of hiking with a meal detector. One thing that it would do is deflect the curious questions I get when other hikers find me off the trail and in the bushes.

[+undertree]

I have used a metal detector when hunting for caches in the winter. I see nothing wrong with it. It does not guarantee success. One of the caches was an ammo can and I couldn't find it. When I went back a few weeks ago I found it with no snow on the ground.

 

So I say go for it. It's not cheating its geocaching.

[Andronicus]

Or just maybe it is MIA?

 

Good point. Has anyone found it? Has the CO confirmed it is still in place?

 

That said, I don't think there is anything wrong with the metal detector, but if you feel it cheapens your find, then don't use it. Don't want to feel cheapened do we...

Edited June 14, 2009 by Andronicus

[+jopasm]

Make sure it's legal to use one - they're commonly banned in city parks and the like.

[+Arrow42]

Make sure it's legal to use one - they're commonly banned in city parks and the like.

 

How odd.

 

I suspect the security-style metal detectors you commonly see at the air-port would be fine in that case. (I used them in a past life... )

[+Chrysalides]

I'd use one if I have one. In fact I considered getting one, but lack of feedback is what's holding me back.

 

So. a question : does anyone own a security scanner / wand, and if so, what is the model, and how well does it work for geocaching? I see some $30 ones on eBay and I'm tempted.

[+Arrow42]

I'd use one if I have one. In fact I considered getting one, but lack of feedback is what's holding me back.

 

So. a question : does anyone own a security scanner / wand, and if so, what is the model, and how well does it work for geocaching? I see some $30 ones on eBay and I'm tempted.

 

I've never used them for geocaching, but I can tell you that they are very sensitive. They will pick up a staple on the paper in your pocket or a piercing where the sun don't shine.

 

However, that sensitivity makes them hard to use and might make them useless along the ground or near a fence, etc.

 

Another down side is that the sensitive area is 12 inches long and can be set off from any angle. You can compensate for that by waving past a "hit" from different angles to narrow down the area.

 

Good luck!

 

PS, these are the two devices I used when working in security:

http://images1.opticsplanet.com/750-500-ff...tor-1165800.jpg

http://images1.opticsplanet.com/1020-680-f...tor-1165180.jpg

Edited June 14, 2009 by Arrow42

[+Chrysalides]

PS, these are the two devices I used when working in security:

Thanks, Arrow42, for the tips and the suggestions. I've come across that brand before, though they're definitely not one of the cheaper ones. I guess like all things in life, no free lunch...

[+undertree]

Harbor freight usually has a small hand held detector.

metal detector

 

I use something similar when I am pinpointing targets in the ground when I am detecting.

[+Chrysalides]

Harbor freight usually has a small hand held detector.

Hmm, that one is actually cheap enough to just buy one to experimenting with, if they have one in the store. Thanks!

[+swizzle]

I say go for it. If you have a MD at your disposal then use it. I recently made several trips for one cache and couldn't find it. That's when I grabbed the minelab and headed back to the site. Within 30 seconds I had found it. That's when I found out that the clue was a bit misleading. One thing to remember though is that on any state historic site they can take your MD and fine you. Just use common sence and nab that smiley. Swizzle

[+Arrow42]

Thanks, Arrow42, for the tips and the suggestions. I've come across that brand before, though they're definitely not one of the cheaper ones. I guess like all things in life, no free lunch...

 

That's the government for you - they never buy anything cheep.

[+doingitoldschool]

Didn't DeLorme release a unit with a cache-sniffing Tupperware detector on board last April? Combine that with a MD and you're invincible!

 

http://blog.delorme.com/2009/04/01/press-r...es-gps-devices/

[+TexasGringo]

<Make sure it's legal to use one - they're commonly banned in city parks and the like.>

 

I have used metal detectors since the Fisher M-Scope (Tubes)....and always searched in parks...until several years ago when they were banned....I now have a Fisher CZ-70 Pro that I use where allowed.

 

The problem was that people used to dig holes looking for something and then never covering the holes back up....leaving a mess.

[knowschad]

The problem was that people used to dig holes looking for something and then never covering the holes back up....leaving a mess.

 

There go those "pointy objects" again.

[+J-Way]

Make sure it's legal to use one - they're commonly banned in city parks and the like.

How odd.

I suspect the security-style metal detectors you commonly see at the air-port would be fine in that case. (I used them in a past life... )

They're usually banned where people have been digging and leaving holes in the ground (as already mentioned). They're also often banned in areas where people might go to hunt for artifacts for collection and sales purposes. Metal detectors are banned in most US National Military Parks, especially those at historic battlefields.

[+ras_oscar]

A metal detector does not guarantee success. I had a cache that was described as a micro. GZ pointed to a big oak tree. Third trip out my caching partner found it, literally before my eyes. It was a small rigid plastic tube wrapped in camo tape and inserted in the gaps of the tree bark. No device would have found it, except my cache detector, which can be made by combining equal parts of the following elements:

 

a good GPS

A keen Eye

an open mind

Experince (either yours or of your caching buddy)

Luck

[knowschad]

A metal detector does not guarantee success. I had a cache that was described as a micro. GZ pointed to a big oak tree. Third trip out my caching partner found it, literally before my eyes. It was a small rigid plastic tube wrapped in camo tape and inserted in the gaps of the tree bark. No device would have found it, except my cache detector, which can be made by combining equal parts of the following elements:

 

a good GPS

A keen Eye

an open mind

Experince (either yours or of your caching buddy)

Luck

 

Yes, but the vast majority should be detectable, even Tupperware and Lock n Locks, because there is almost sure to be some sort of metal inside, if nothing more than the pencil eraser.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

You think geocaching catches Muggles attention, just wait till they see you scanning a tree with a security wand!

 

The nice men in white coats will be after you with a net!

[+Chrysalides]

The nice men in white coats will be after you with a net!

Is that why Vinny hasn't been seen around again lately?

[knowschad]

Harbor freight usually has a small hand held detector.

metal detector

 

I use something similar when I am pinpointing targets in the ground when I am detecting.

 

Stopped by tonight and picked one of those guys up. Verdict: If you're close enough for it to go off, you are probably also looking right at it. It is designed for spotting nails and stuff in boards (you know... those things that "kill trees"?) You need the antenna to be within about two inches for it to sound off when at the most sensitive setting. Save your money.

[+Chrysalides]

Stopped by tonight and picked one of those guys up. Verdict: If you're close enough for it to go off, you are probably also looking right at it. It is designed for spotting nails and stuff in boards (you know... those things that "kill trees"?) You need the antenna to be within about two inches for it to sound off when at the most sensitive setting. Save your money.

Thanks for the mini-review. Although, I must say, I've been within inches of a bison in shrub and failed to spot it for a long time.

[knowschad]

Stopped by tonight and picked one of those guys up. Verdict: If you're close enough for it to go off, you are probably also looking right at it. It is designed for spotting nails and stuff in boards (you know... those things that "kill trees"?) You need the antenna to be within about two inches for it to sound off when at the most sensitive setting. Save your money.

Thanks for the mini-review. Although, I must say, I've been within inches of a bison in shrub and failed to spot it for a long time.

 

Me too, but I think that if I had taken a 12" stick (about as long as the antenna on this unit) and watched as I moved it through the shrub, that I probably would have spotted it, too. But, we'll see. For $15, the price was sure right! And really, even the normal "treasure hunting" type of metal detector doesn't do all that deep, I believe... maybe 4 or 5 inches at best.

[+Pat in Louisiana]

We have a sprinkler head cache that we have told cachers that ask for help "try a metal detector if you have one."

[knowschad]

It occurred to me tonight that the little Cen-Tech metal detector from HarborFrieght could probably be used as part of a fun cache that would be somewhat similar to a multi- night cache:

 

I haven't checked yet, but this little $15 metal detector looks like it would fit into an ammo box (stage one). Similar to the light tacks in a night cache (or more like the UV flourescent dots that a friends night cache had), small wires or other pieces of metal would be attached to branches and such that eventually led you to the final. Gotta give this some more thought!

[+Chrysalides]

Well, $15 is less than what I've spent on some things *cough* geocoins *cough* so when I drove past a Harbor Freight the other day, I picked up one to check it out.

 

Tuned to its most sensitive setting, the range is at best 2 to 3 inches, even with a huge chunk of metal. Surprisingly, though, it can detect a very small piece of chewing gum wrapper (about 1/4 square inch) from the foil at about an inch away.

 

The unit is not weather-proof, obviously. I'm not sure how well it will hold up to sitting in a hot car. On the other hand, it's going to be pretty useless for finding geocaches if it is sitting in the house. I guess I will be testing this one to destruction.

 

Tuning is fairly straightforward. Held in free air, I pressed the switch, and turned the screw until it starts emitting the beep. Then I backed it off bit by bit until it stops. I don't know if I need to do this all the time, having used it a grand total of 2 times, but it takes seconds and is not a big deal.

 

The design is somewhat flawed for use as a geocaching tool (but not a problem for its intended purpose - detecting nails in lumber). The unit has a button you have to hold down in order to activate it. Left in a bag, especially within the provided pouch, the button is very prone to being pressed accidentally, draining your battery. There is also a light that you have no control over - I guess it is meant for illumination. When it detects something metallic, it will beep. No display, no ability to change volume. no ability to use headphones. Just a loud, obnoxious beep.

 

Maybe I'll take this one apart to see if it can be modded to be more cacher friendly.

 

Harbor Freight has a higher end, $40 model as well, but I did not try that. It's a bit beyond my "cheap, for fun" threshold.

[+KevJaxFL]

I had just made use of a metal detector, yesterday. Unfortunately, I came up unsucessful at finding an ammo can that hasn't been found in nearly 2 years. I have a TB that was placed in this cache the last time that it was found. I did pick up some metal reading, due to the area containing some trash debris and also the fact that it is along an old railroad bed. The cache owner has been involved much more with work and just doesn't take the time maintain caches. As a last ditch effort, I'm still going to try contacting him to try to get some insight as to where it is, or was. I'm just not convinced that the cache is missing...

[knowschad]

Harbor freight usually has a small hand held detector.

metal detector

 

I use something similar when I am pinpointing targets in the ground when I am detecting.

 

Stopped by tonight and picked one of those guys up. Verdict: If you're close enough for it to go off, you are probably also looking right at it. It is designed for spotting nails and stuff in boards (you know... those things that "kill trees"?) You need the antenna to be within about two inches for it to sound off when at the most sensitive setting. Save your money.

 

My mini-review:

 

Well, it helped a little today. It did help me find one Bison tube that was very cleverly hidden. It didn't help me find another one, but once it was spotted visually, I ran the wand over it and it clearly set off the buzzer. So even this little $15 toy apparently has some value. The problem is, you need to be pretty sure that it is the type of cache that this can help with, and you must have already narrowed it down to a pretty tight space. At this point, I'm not leaving it at home, and have been wondering how much better a professional version would fare.

[knowschad]

Well, my littlke $14.95 metal detector has found two very sneaky Bison tube caches for me so far. Its far from perfect, but for the price, it can't be beat! It is also very lightweight (much more so than it would appear from the picture) so it isn't a problem carrying it around. The biggest thing is figuring out when it might come in handy and when its useless.

[+Chrysalides]

Well, my littlke $14.95 metal detector has found two very sneaky Bison tube caches for me so far. Its far from perfect, but for the price, it can't be beat! It is also very lightweight (much more so than it would appear from the picture) so it isn't a problem carrying it around. The biggest thing is figuring out when it might come in handy and when its useless.

I've found one cache with it as well. It was much easier than searching in leaves and bark.

 

Do you have a way of preventing the unit from being accidentally turned on while being carried in a bag?

[knowschad]

Well, my littlke $14.95 metal detector has found two very sneaky Bison tube caches for me so far. Its far from perfect, but for the price, it can't be beat! It is also very lightweight (much more so than it would appear from the picture) so it isn't a problem carrying it around. The biggest thing is figuring out when it might come in handy and when its useless.

I've found one cache with it as well. It was much easier than searching in leaves and bark.

 

Do you have a way of preventing the unit from being accidentally turned on while being carried in a bag?

 

No, I don't, aside from turning the sensitivity knob down. I don't know how much energy it uses in that mode, but its surely less than when the speaker is squealing. Could always remove the battery, but that's a pain. A power switch would be nice and probably not hard to add with a soldering iron.

[+waynefrommaine]

It was interesting to hear questions about metal detectorss and how many Geocacher have them. I spent 25 years with a metal detector look for something that may not be there. now I'm using a GPS to try to find something I know that's there.

 

I fear if I had my metal detector with me I might be going home with a gold ring rather then that cute little key chain!

[+Chrysalides]

I spent 25 years with a metal detector look for something that may not be there. now I'm using a GPS to try to find something I know that's there.

 

I fear if I had my metal detector with me I might be going home with a gold ring rather then that cute little key chain!

Actually, the cache may not be there either, so your hobby has not changed as much as you think

 

As for swag, I'll trade you a cute keychain for a gold ring any day. Heck, I'll throw in an extra McToy

 

I used the metal detector in another site without success. Of course, I have no idea if this one is metallic, and I don't know the general area to search. I discovered it only managed to detect a small nail from about 2 mm away, so it seems that it is better in detecting metallic surfaces than actual metal (judging from the fact that it can detect a small piece of chewing gum foil wrapper at an inch).

[knowschad]

The metal detector that Chrisalides and I have was designed for one simple purpose... to detect nails in boards. It practically has to be touching the metal. But for $15, that's about what I expected.

 

However, for those that want something a bit more powerful and useful, and are not adverse to spending a little more, they are definately available and still not all that expensive.

 

Here's quite a list of them, with prices: http://nservices.com/scanners.htm

 

The Pro-Scan II claims to be able to detect a .38 caliber hand gun will be detected at 7.75 inches, at a cost of $65. Some of these can even operate in a vibration mode... perfect for stealth situations.

 

Anybody want to buy me one?