My First Successful Recovery

[LukeJMG1986]

     I wish I'd have filmed it. I went to the river with my family this afternoon. I specifically picked a beach that I knew would be heavily populated, so I could do a little jewelry hunting, while the family enjoyed the water. The river was indeed VERY busy. I was making my way around the shoreline when a gentleman spoke up, and said he had lost a wedding band the week before. He said this mostly in jest.

     I asked him where exactly he lost it, and he pointed to the opposite end of the river (A deeper area, probably 6-8ft). I told him if I came across it I'd return it to him. I didn't really feal like being fully submerged; I get real cold, real fast. The knowledge that a ring was possibly just sitting there was too much to bear.

     I knew, what I was looking for (A large black tungsten ring), and I knew where to look. I made my way over to the deep end. The water was up to my neck, with a slow current.

     I put my equinox into Field 1. Im usually looking for gold jewelry, and run in Park 2. I figured Field 1 would sound off better on tungsten, but honestly wasn't completely sure. My first couple targets were trash (pulltabs, and metal flakes) My third, or fourth target came threw loud, with a 10-11 on the VDI. I knew 10-11 was exactly the number I was looking for (My previous tungsten rings have all came threw in that range). 

     I took a deep breath, and went under. I had no goggles, but I had my pinpointer. I released all my breath underwater so I'd sink, and with my pinpointer under my right thumb, I began to grab handfuls of river bottom, waiting for the vibration to follow the pinpointer into my hand. This lets me know I have the target. The ring was only an inch or so, and it only took one attempt to get a handful of river bottom with the target inside. I surfaced, and stared at my hand, waiting for the ability to see what I had. There it was, a large black tungsten ring.

     I made my way back to the family, and asked the man's wife where her husband had gone "he went to the bathroom", she said. I told her, I found her husband's ring, and, victoriously held it up. The wife, and various onlookers were astonished. I was so excited, not only to get the target, but to be able to return it. I ran into the husband on the way to tell my wife, and let him know. It took a little bit to convince him, but I assured him I was serious. He told me it was a 700$ ring that he used in place of his nicer band while at work. He offered to pay, but I couldn't accept. I finally know the feeling of retrieving, and returning a wedding band, and it was just as good as finding a keeper. 

[Kodiak]

Great blind underwater recovery.  Thanks for sharing with us.

[Valens Legacy]

Congrats on the recovery it must have felt quite rewarding to be able to hand the ring back to the owner.

Good luck on your next hunt.

[jim tn]

Nice recovery and a galant effort to achieve it. WTG! HH jim tn

[LukeJMG1986]

     Hey, thanks guys. It was definitely one of the deepest items I've found, and has me curious about what else might be waiting to be found in the deeper part of the river. I need a good dry suit because unfortunately I get real cold real fast.

[Skate]

You did great! Now you also have the confidence to swing a little deeper so whole new areas are open to you. 

Best to you!

[schoolofhardNox]

Nice recovery!! I bet that guy still can't believe you found it. You may even see him at the river with a metal detector next time ☺️

[F350Platinum]

3 hours ago, LukeJMG1986 said:

     Hey, thanks guys. It was definitely one of the deepest items I've found, and has me curious about what else might be waiting to be found in the deeper part of the river. I need a good dry suit because unfortunately I get real cold real fast.

Great recovery. 👍

I wear 1600 Thinsulate waders in the water near me, I can only go in it when it's cold, it's full of sea nettles (jellyfish) in the warm months. I have Reynaud's syndrome so my feet and hands are the first to go. 🤬 Over 3 feet deep the water pressure starts to crush your feet.

[rvpopeye]

Well done !

That extra effort dive got you the find !