Swampstomper Al

Beaches where bottlecaps and pulltabs are all still low conductors..? I remember those days, and am sunburnt with envy.. That's how it used to be stateside too; none of them rang up higher than zinc, most much lower.. Not no mo' tho.. Things started changing a couple / few years ago.. Today I can think of at least two brands each of pop tabs, bottle caps and screw tops that are not only clean high conductors but also hit enough like a dime that you will scoop at it, especially when working a touristy towel-and-chaise line.. Surprise..! Swamp

I think you've already answered your question.. However, if you're still in the process of learning all the idiosynchracies of your machine and are still not totally trusting your decision making when it comes to false numbers and/or inconsistant tone returns due to a myriad of metals within the coil's sensory grasp -- I say dig a couple / few more.. Reconfirmation of what you already know to be true should wipe out the last bit of self doubt re those "what if's.." It's a simple matter of a bit more proof to yourself is all.. This goes against the grain of "dig it all," but when you're already starting out knee-deep in trash and don't have a repeatable signal within a grouping to begin with, you need to be able to trust your judgement call for moving on.. Swamp

I came across this the other day and it seems fitting for the thread.. It isn't the vid itself per se but rather what the sharp-eyed will see during the first 4 seconds and what's said & seen from 0:36 - 0:45 or so: Swamp

Welcome aboard.. Swamp

Welll, not nothing nothing.. A small assortment of US & Canadian pennies and dimes, couple of quarters.. Hits were scattered and few; everything solid got dug.. Couldn't really work the shallows cos it just wasn't there yet still where I spent the majority of time, and couldn't establish any sort of lines in the other wet zones either; the finds were totally random.. After a while I started digging certain bad signals too just to see what they were.. Was fairly even between med-small nails and those bits of flat dark brown metal that emit a high (but jittery to a VLF or understanding what your PI's telling you) tone.. (Next to fish hooks, nails are 2nd on my list of why I no longer go bare foot on beaches..) One other thing: Besides finding no jewelry of any sort it was the first time I recall not finding a single bottle cap or pull tab either.. Was in wet sand only though, and those tend to be dry sand finds.. Yo! -- a bit early to panic about air temp don'cha think..? Yer gonna scare Peg off before she's even here n then she'll stay in ID all winter where it's warm & safe.. On the plus side my new scoop should be here Wed, just in time to begin working around the expected ice floes.. Oh joy, can't wait.. I wonder if they're gonna try to feist yet another "temporary special tax" on us to pay for all the additional sand not budgeted for and now needed to replace that gone forever due to Irma..? I'm sure they'll come up with something for us; they've always been able to in the past.. Swamp

Be happy location first drops you onto southside Cocoa Beach.. Minutemen Cswy / Coconuts is where the local $$s and Orlando "society" tend to congregate.. From 520 north to The Pier and on into Cape Canaveral are the "working man" beach locations, and even fake bling is nearly extinct up this way these days.. It isn't just the beaches either.. There was a thread running earlier this year discussing the possible / probable causes responsible for now-time dearth of gold bling and rings ---> http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/3413-i-am-having-to-do-a-complete-reset/ We never have picked back up on it, and I'm sure we all know the majority of the reasons as to why not.. I did hit the end of 520 yesterday (Sun) afternoon BTW for low tide (low tide?, what low tide??) in total disregard to web cam advisement and common sense.. Waste of time and guzzeline.. Still all slope, roil and rip.. Mebbie after this front moves through late tomorrow things will finally flatten out.. Swamp

No pix there; my fo paw.. Was being cutsie, meaning that's me you see walking the shore line in the live vid feed, d'oh.. Nothing really good for me beachside going on a couple years now, good being gold that is with the exception of a couple ear ring post-with-design of all things.. Overall that's mainly been due to several surgical procedures sidelining me more often than not during this entire time frame, coupled first with Matthew sanding everything in for a year followed by Irma recently sweeping everything bare with the ocean continuing to run high and choppy since.. The couple three times I did go out after Irma were as Ammie recently noted -- fighting rip on no-cut overslope the entire time, which is how it continues to be as you've seen.. The good news is most of what got churned up I believe has yet to be detected; the bad news is after this long in the blender who knows how or where it'll settle when it finally can..? Some of what I have found beaching though during this time is over at NuggetShooter scattered in Bill's "Coins, Relics & Treasure" forum.. Mostly silver rings, bit of tungsten... Yeah we all should get together.. I don't head down that way nearly as often as I used to simply because it's become such a PITA getting off the beach from there in-season -- which is just cray-cray because the stretch is both a good drop area and the northern edge of the Treasure Coast.. Aren't many places on the planet one stands as good a chance of finding a reale as a ring.. Swamp EDIT: I just realized my prospecting photos are/were hosted on photobucket.. They did that 3rd party thing and I've yet to open another photo account anywhere else.. The durn things most likely aren't viewable..

Peg, I thought you did the Gulf Coast in the winter..? Must be thinking of another.. Anyhow, here's the link to the Cocoa Beach Pier web cams (Indialantic, Melb. Bch. & a few other's on here too..) That's me carrying the funny looking half-size round scoop (until T Rex shows up at my door..): https://www.surfguru.com/ Swamp

Welll, they don't call it Half-rial Beach for nuttin', if that's where you were.. Even wiped & pitted clean they are still nice finds..! Swamp

Good discussion.. Swamp

Didn't watch this vid.. Thing is I've watched some of Ed's earlier vids in the past and the guy really has made some amazing finds on SoCal beaches -- multi multi-$K rings and hundreds heck thousands of $$s in change.. But then his vids started gettin' too long for content therein and he began getting a bit full of himself.. Too bad too, cos his early stuff was decent -- back when he was still all agog about his finds rather than coming across like he could go out and and make high-$ scores any time he wanted.. Swamp

I was wonderin' who was gonna be the first to pick up on that.. Congrats.. Swamp

What Steve said.. Neither do I dive, nor do I have much interest in oozing and squooshing my way around the vast majority of fresh water repositories central FL has on hand.. I currently use an Infinium as my primary salt water hunter because at the time of purchase I got a detector that is equally at home and effective in the desert southwest as it is along southeastern USA ocean shorelines at a price un-matchable then by any one or two other detectors capable of producing the same results.. Recently I've made the statement if I was to get another water detector it would be a Tesoro Sand Shark.. But in all honesty, as far as currently mfg'd detectors go, and among the four machines Steve notes, it pretty much all boils down to nearly 100% of one's personal taste in design / aesthetics.. During diving I suppose there may be occasion where either a PI or VLF might be slightly more advantageous.. And while walking shallow water I personally like the fact I could "push" a concentric coil if I felt like it as opposed to continuously needing to "swing" a Double-D.. But beyond that... ?? If someone was to gift me today any one of the four above mentioned detectors, you wouldn't catch me tomorrow trying to trade it for one of the other's.. Hope this helps rather than making the decision more confusing.. Swamp

Here's a link to a vid from a guy I consider Mr. Positive Attitude when it comes to central FL beach detecting. I was looking for his original vid that shows the dozens, heck, hundreds of rings he's found, but it seems to have been taken down.. As it turns out though, this one contains much more information re the type you ask about.. I realize the title says Treasure Coast, but he actually does the majority of his detecting 'around' the "touristy areas" Ammie mentioned -- just far enough south of her to make for a realll long bicycle ride.. In one of his other vids, pay no attention to his swing -- it's due to arm surgeries.. But as they say: It's really hard to argue with success.. Swamp EDIT: Looks like what started out as a link eventually embedded..

Following Ammie's lead-in: The closest I've ever come to "easy pickings" in my local FL beach area are fresh drops / spills where you'd figure them to happen and the occasional older spill in an oddball spot nearer the dunes where most likely a larger group of folks set up back behind the towel lines for everyone's convenience.. These are almost always loose change; very very rarely jewelry or OMG treasure!, which is what we're really after.. Detecting following storms is akin to opening a new business: It's all about location, location location.. If you're not in a spot with a nice decent fresh cut or an area developing good run-outs it will seem status quo because there's no place for the shook up goodies to concentrate.. Cape Canaveral / Cocoa Beach are low probability for either taking place except sometimes following a multi-day nor'easter, but even then they aren't of much value when the beach is in its normal replenished condition.. (It would be interesting to see what might show up given this current eroding though..) The churning, exposure and movement caused by a storm is only half the formula.. Without gathering points the only thing that's maybe changed is modern items may not be where normally expected and no closer together than the law of randomness espouses, a net negative for the detectorist.. The "touristy beaches" to the south of Ammie have been known to develop both cuts and run-outs, but unless you live right there to do visuals the run-outs can be here today, gone tomorrow.. Cuts can be there a while depending on surf conditions and how far back from the tide line they formed.. Even though they'll get pecked at pretty quickly doesn't mean everything's found right away.. Cuts tend to hold on to goodies a lot longer than the run-outs.. The Treasure Coast beaches the next county south hold a whole different set of possibilities however.. I haven't gotten there yet, mainly because I'm quite certain the extremely limited parking anywhere near where I'd like to get to remain un-opened.. Swamp NOTE: Reference encompasses these two stretches of FL Atlantic coastline only.. Possible conditions can change rapidly within a short distance.. Conditions are quite different from SC, NC and NE beaches as well.. USA west coast beaches may as well be on a different planet, ones I wouldn't mind walking along for a while..

Last week's beach detecting was a combination reminder and first-hand experience eye-opener for me.. The absence of virtually anything man-made reminded me just exactly how short a period of time the beaches in Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach have been in use as local hangs or tourist destinations when compared against other locations along the Atlantic Seaboard.. Swamp

Entire book chapters could be written on this subject, so using the Spanish treasure fleet that went down during a hurricane in 1715 (and partially more specifically a ship just south of what is now Wabasso, FL) here's the long-and-short of it: What recovery efforts between the years 1716 - 1722 were unable to salvage now for the most part resides in one of two places: a) Already on shore buried within the dunes, and/or, b) Just off shore on average anywhere from 30 feet to 1,000 yards due to ship interaction with reefs.. Because gold is heavy, what has been recovered from the water in recent times was found on average five feet to eight feet beneath the sea bed.. Due to this, the vast majority of gold coinage found on beaches following storms hasn't been "tossed on shore," it has washed out of dunes.. As for why you don't hear about it, I think that goes without saying.. Swamp

Howdy Y'all, As I no longer live on the beach we weren't under mandatory evacuation like MontAmmie was.. Due to the size of Irma and the sheer volume of folks already on the evacuation trails, we made the call to ride her out right where we already were in Port St. John.. Couple things of/to note: First off, if I can get out of a hurricane's way, I will.. I just so happen to evacuate late if necessary.. This call isn't suitable for many (families with young children, most elderly folks, those with special needs etc.,) but if ya can do it you'll avoid the Interstate bumper-to-bumper nightmare/madness, long waits for fuel (assuming there is fuel to be had,) finding a place to stay if you haven't pre-booked as a couple examples.. Two: Excluding Irma, I've found so far without exception since the early 1980s of the hurricanes I should have evacuated for from this location or the beach my best choice would have been heading south, the direction tens-of-thousands just came from.. I know, sounds counterintuitive -- but that's a benefit of living halfway down the peninsula vs at the bottom and needing to make an evacuation decision for a hurricane coming in from the E or ESE that's still three days out and whos turn point isn't already fairly locked in.. If you don't know you gotta go is pretty much gospel down Miami way.. A huge factor with Irma though was understanding there would be no escaping her to the south.. Everyone is going to get hit; the only question is to what degree..? Which brings us to the other thing: Deceiding to ride out a hurricane is not a decision to be made on the spur-of-the-moment.. If you aren't already prepped up, fourty-eight hours away from being within its sphere of influence is not the time to begin all aspects of preparation.. What it is is time to get in your vehicle and get out of Dodge.. We were prepped, yet had it not been for a decent generator, plenty of fuel and a brand new still-in-the-box thirteen-year-old window-rattler a/c unit that somehow managed to keep the entire house at 82-83 degrees the whole time we were without FPL power, it would have made for a mighty uncomfortable to probably unbearable time indoors.. Plenty of bottled water and a well-stocked pantry would see us through, but come day four the freezer would have been good for a neighborhood buffet.. Riding out a hurricane is not something to be taken lightly; all you need to do is take a look at the Keys, Puerto Rico and other islands to understand why not.. Anyhow, unlike Sherry I was unable to get to the beach until last week, and didn't post any sort of report until yesterday (over on Bill's site..) Mine's much shorter, yet is in nearly total alignment with hers.. I'll drop a quick copy-n-paste beneath.. Swamp ---begin paste: Ok -- a quick word about the local beach conditions following Irma: Unlike Matthew, Irma did do a scrub job to Cape Canaveral / Cocoa Beach.. I'd guesstimate she removed a good fifty linear feet of replenished sand to approx four feet deep nearest the water sloping upward to sand replenishment level overwash nearest the sea oats / mini-dunes.. What I wasn't expecting though whas just how bad the detecting would be do to the scrubbing.. During two three-hour sessions this past Wednesday and Friday I recovered well under two dollars in change, four bottle caps, four pull tabs and one fake Hot Wheels.. If it wasn't for a small 925 silver ring found Wednesday way up high at the edge of the sea oats the trips would have been a total waste of time.. On Friday the beach was virtually abandoned -- to the point I was actually able to grid off the prime towel lines at Sheppard Park and detect well over 100 perpendicular feet from dune toe to water's edge, and within that area I recovered 4 dimes and nine pennies recent drops and two nickles + one quarter deeply buried.. That was it..! This tells me whatever was there is now in the water.. So I guess I've finally run out of excuses for failing to replace my busted good water scoop and better do so pronto, cos if there's any stuff to be had that's where it now is.. Swamp == [ Reply to Homefire in re items being tossed up high vs pulled to sea.. ] Welll, I did find that ring up high, but I think it was a sit-n-slide as opposed to a wash-up.. You'd need to see how things look these days to try to figure it out.. First thing is there's no cut, it's all slope.. I think part of this was caused due to the leading edge of the storm pushing water onshore from the SE rather than from the more typical NE, followed by the trailing side blowing seaward toward the ENE.. The other part of why I think stuff got washed out rather than tossed up is because the dunes only breached at the very lowest points, and then just barely.. Because the dunes there are nearly non-existant anyhow, when they replenished they did a kind of dune build-up also.. There are spots where the backside of the dunes are lower than the ocean side of some condo's property.. Weird..! Point being is while there is a lot of wind-blown paper, plastic etc. entangled in the oats et al, by the time you've gotten that far back from the shore line there really isn't much if any ocean and/or beach heavies that wern't already there.. Limited-to-no water force in play.. Things could be totally different in S. Cocoa Beach, but as of now I haven't been south of 520 much less yet to the Treasure Coast.. Swamp --end paste.

Wait..! What..?? Ohai.. Welcome back, me.. Sure has been fun cleaning up after Irma.. Even my kids were neater.. Sherry, where you talking about..? I had no idea there's beach S of Pineda Cswy whos community has mandated detecting illegal..? Swamp

Good looking locations.. In my humble opinion based mainly on the size gold in your photos, I concur with Steve: A detector would be of little value and/or help.. Further, thanks to the gold's average largest size and smaller, you can get into recovery fairly inexpensively -- a very good thing as you deceide if persuing recovery is for you either as a hobby or as a way to make money to begin with.. You have a map showing where gold has been found previously (knowing where the gold is is well over half the battle) and you are legally allowed to collect 5 grams a day.. Right off the bat you know what your "salary" will be given maximum daily recovery.. Can you live on let's call it US$200.00 a day..? Odds are it'll be closer to $200.00 a month if you're lucky, but that's a whole other story.. My time would be spent thoroughly cleaning material out of cracks in the bedrock both in and out of water, breaking them open with chisels and pry bars if you are allowed to do so, in order to get as deep into them as possible.. Once you have a bunch of material the next step is classification.. (Depending on recovery equipment being used and water flow rate some people will try to tell you classification isn't necessary.. I maintain it is vitally necessary.. But I digress..) If you have access to scrap screening, scrap lumber, 3 or 4 buckets, already own a hammer, chisel(s), pry bar and have the ability to fashion a few different types of deep-crack scrapers / scoops, it is possible to end up with gold-bearing concentrates for zero dollars out-of-pocket to this point.. Methods of recovery are too numerous to get into here, along with this being where most out-of-pocket costs occur -- all of which can be found on the net and many as vid on YouTube.. Remove magnetite or not..? Other questions.. There's nothing easy about breaking open bedrock cracks and scraping out the material contained within.. But doing so does have its own simplistic beauty and is something a few of us both enjoy and have no other choice because we live in minor gold-bearing locations much like yours.. This is especially true when the color begins revealing itself at the end of the process.. There's only one way to find out if it's for you too.. Swamp EDIT: Oh -- I see by your most recent post you're a bit further along with all this than initial impression.. Never mind..

Kewl finds Mitchel, ^5..! Swamp

Paid right at $650 (pre-tax) for a similar pkg about 10 years back and felt it was a really good heading towards great deal territory.. This is, or was as it's already turned out, an exceptional deal..! While hard to believe it totally sold out in two hours I can also totally believe it did.. Most "keeping you informed" email lists don't contain nearly the number of 'will impulse buy at the right price' as yours (Whites) must, t-boy, since I assume y'all were more than say three pkgs deep as an experiment.. Swamp

What strick said, ^5..! Swamp

-- continued: Two possible solutions / suggestions -- one more along the lines of a johnedoe approach, pre all of Doc's many new matting designs, tried and shown workable; the second following along with delnorter and his usage of doc's new mat designs.. I ended up ripping out that T-mat and going with a conveyor-belt type mat / design, which at that time was extreme as far as traps and/or trapping areas were concerned but with no scientific testing proof-of-concept to back it up.. The one thing I found I needed to do to achieve the best gold recovery was further classification and not running 20+ and larger through due to this matting's depth / shallowness.. It was the disparity of weight between the fine gold and larger black sands together that was causing gold loss both after it had been captured and also due to flowing over already loaded up traps.. The second is basically the use of Doc's new high flow rate matting designs, and/or in delnorter's case the use of Doc's new river sluice and its matting combination / pattern.. The second isn't what you're after though.. I think " a " solution is as simple as no need for the punch plate, a different mat design and further classification due to the black sands volume.. The stacking of screens + dry material = hardly any add'l time in order to get to both a higher capture return and clearing rate.. Swamp

NOTE: Posting this reply incomplete to show johnedoe & I are following the same train of thought as far as a possible solution posting time-wise.. Remainder to follow.. Swamp Question: Is that V-mat or U-mat..? I blew the photo up as large as I could and still can't really tell.. Reason I ask is cos one time I'd ordered some V-mat and what was sent was this extreme U-mat, closer to a T-mat really.. The stuff was basically unusable (at my water-flow rate at least) for exactly the same reason and under the same condition(s) you describe.. No punch plate involved either..