The Realities Of Artifact Hunting Both Metal Detecting And Scuba Diving

[calabash digger 1,401]

Here is the cold hard truth....

 

[GB_Amateur 5,074]

That 4 AM (dark cold winter day) wakeup call and 6 hours roundtrip sure is a lot of investment, even when the site's not flooded out.  You gotta love what you're doing!  For most it's a costly (i.e. net loss of $) hobby.  But there's more to life than making a buck, as everyone here knows.  So, was the Wheatie at least a 1909-S VDB? 

[kac 2,907]

I used to put that much effort in flyfishing. Hats off!

[Tom_in_CA 368]

calabash:  As always, your contributions to the md'ing community are priceless.  Thanx for yet another fun video !

 

I got certified to scuba dive back in the early 1990s.  Thinking that I could avail myself of "endless virgin frontiers" that "mere mortals can't reach".  But I was in for a rude awakening that it's NOT AT ALL like the Mel Fisher videos make it seem like.   And all the ocean beaches I attempted by me, I was quickly appraised that the underwater world is JUST AS SUSCEPTIBLE to sand-movement, as the inter-tidal zone (and even more so).  Thus:  You struggle and dig for 10 minutes (trying to stay-on-target with the moving current and noisy-bubbles, blah blah), only to discover your treasure:  A freshly buried foil drink pouch-pack thing, at a foot deep.  Woohoo !   And it's that exact moment, that you realize that there's NO WAY IN HECK you're going to be finding old coins.  Doh !  

 

In the same way that the inter-tidal zone is susceptible to sand movement (erosion for goodies, and sterile for incoming sand), SO TOO is the undersea world.    So in the same way that you can wander the upper beach and find nothing (d/t no erosion lately), then SO TOO can the underwater world be totally be a bust.   And unlike where .... on the upper beach ... you can scout 500 yards north and south to "read" the beach (determine where to swing), yet underwater, you're doing good to see 50 ft in any direction.  Doh !  

 

And fresh-water, in my area, was equally as silly:  We are in a chaparral terrain area (boom and bust cycles).  So you don't even need "scuba" to  reach the swim-zones.  Simply wait for the dry cycles (every few years) and simply walk out on dry land.  Doh !

I'm sure that there's some places where scuba is productive and wise.  But it certainly wasn't my area !  

[Cascade Steven 41]

Thanks for sharing with us a true reality check.🙂

[Valens Legacy 914]

Thanks for sharing and nice finds.

Good luck and stay safe.

[UtahRich 261]

Scuba diving adds lots of extra equipment, safety concerns and awkwardness to metal detecting.  It also open up new avenues and thins out the competition.

Hats off to early mornings, gear in the truck and a full tank of gas.

Rich

[diggin Delaware 30]

C D, great, honest video. No doubt, there are more days like that, than the kind of days we all hope for, but with scuba, the work is times 10.

I got my certification also back in the day, and loved the diving aspect, but not so much with metal detecting. I was doing open water dives 35 to 85' or so and the strong currents are constantly pushing me around. It's just too much equipment and too exhausting effort for me. So my water detecting has been calmer waters, waist-deep surf and beach detecting.

Enjoyed your enthusiasm. Good luck and stay safe. Thanks for the video.