My Introduction To Detecting As A Child

[JNimons]

**** WARNING****....This will probably be long and boring 
As a child, my family camped at Hammonassett State Park for 6 weeks every summer. There was a guy that camped near us that was always out MD'ing. I always tagged along and was hooked. This was probably 1977ish. That Christmas my parents bought me Sears-Whites hip mount detector. Straight TR. no discriminator, but I had a blast on the beach with it. Every evening my Dad and I would bicycle, or drive, to the beach, depending on where I was hunting. I found some stuff, but never the kind of things the guy that camped near us found. He was always showing me rings and such. I copied his techniques and talked to him all the time. One night I was scrubbing a portion of the beach, ( What the guy that camped near us called it. Dragging a foot to see where you've been , more or less gridding). A guy I had never seen before came up and started detecting over my scrubbed portion. At dark he walked up and showed me everything I missed, and thanked me for picking up all the junk for him! What a tool. My Dad was livid.

Next morning....My Dad says come on...we're going for a ride...He wouldn't tell me where....Well...it was one of my first of many trips to Will & Jeans Metal Detectors in Killingworth, CT. I was in awe..It was just a room in their house, but they had all the Whites detectors I had been reading about in the magazines. I'm looking around, and my Dad is talking to Will, and I hear him say, I want the best machine you've got. Turned out to be the Whites 6000D. I was shocked at the price, and even more shocked when Dad bought it for me. I was 12 at the time. After a couple hours with Will learning how to use it, and playing in his test garden, We headed to the camp. Of course as soon as the car stopped I was swinging the machine. Within 10 minutes I had a good deep signal. Dad was digging for me. It seemed like it was 2 feet down, but I'm sure it wasn't more then 6 or 8 inches, and out popped a 1951 Franklin Half. I was out of my mind. That evening we headed to the beach and find my first gold. A mans wedding band with 5 or 6 diamonds in it. I was hooked for life at that point! These are finds I will never ever part with!

 

The next week We went back to Will and Jeans and bought a second 6000D. Dad and I hunted together for many years. I hunted on and off into my early 20s, and then life got busy, and I went 25 years without detecting. Tho, I did think about it on and off, when I would see a place that looked promising.

In 2015 My Mom passed away. Cleaning out her apartment, I found the 2 6000D's and a box with some of my old finds. I wish I knew what happened to the rest....There was so much more! A friend who detected stopped by my work, and handed me his Etrac. Big learning curve from that 6000D , but after  aouple weeks learning the machine, I felt like a 12 year old again!

Here are some pics of some of my finds from back in the day. If you got this far, thanks for reading this!

 

[Limestone Cowboy]

That’s an awesome story! Not all all boring and too short! It’s great that you kept everything, all the memories!

[rvpopeye]

Last year wasn't great for a lot of people. 

This year started out in a positive direction,hope it keeps going for ya !

If you think you're gonna post a story of how you got hooked on detecting and anybody here would get bored reading it. WRONG ! Those are the second best ones !

The first best are the ones featuring treasure ! 

You nailed it on both of 'em . (Oh , we'd have read it if all you found WERE nails too .....)

Your dad was awesome ! Glad you have those memories and starting detecting again will sure keep you occupied as much as you let it ! Your collection is looking like it wants some new friends to hang out with too !

You just hit a lucky streak on choosing this forum , keep 'er goin' and Welcome back.

 

 

 

 

[JCR]

What a great story, and what a great Dad!

[Valens Legacy]

Great post with some very nice pictures.

I enjoyed every line and glad that you have come back to this hobby.

Last year I did not get to get out there much, and I haven't had a chance this year so you got me beat already.

Good luck and keep the posts coming.

[strick]

Welcome and  glad you found this site...

strick

[NCtoad]

Great story!   I’m a couple of years older than you and wish I had started as early as you did.  

[locator]

Great story and wonderful memories.. You get it, thanks for sharing.👍

[maxxkatt]

Great story and great dad. Thanks for posting this story. Need more like them.

[Old Line Paul]

Thanks for the great story! Sounds like your father and mine were polar opposites!

When I was young, my parents had dinner with some friends. The next morning, my father mentioned their host had shown him “a milk bottle full of gold rings” he had found metal detecting.

So, I remember thinking, when are WE getting one?

But he didn’t seem impressed with the treasure, and I figured if he had seen all that gold with his own two eyes and still didn’t want a metal detector, no amount of whining on my part would help. 

My father was an artist and good with his hands, but raised a city boy with no interest in outdoorsy stuff. He had a huge studio/workshop and I have many fond memories of making and repairing things with him. But I never got that image of a milk bottle full of gold out of my mind. (In my mind, it was a half-gallon jug full to the top with treasures.)

So when I retired last year I figured it was never too late to have a happy childhood and bought a very basic machine. I’ve had a blast ever since.