How Many Pull-tabs?

[midalake]

20 hours ago, Compass said:

Since that hunt I tested the ring on my Equinox and its TID read around 20. Pull tabs usually come in around 13 so maybe I could have used the Nox and saved all that extra digging?

It is possible!!! The Equinox does a great job of isolating most Pulltabs to a number. My region it is 14. When I have pulltab conditions I skip 14's. Also if one was to look at many ring charts very few gold rings drop at 14 on the Equinox.  GREAT finds btw! 

[Digalicious]

Here's a video from this forum showing the ID of numerous types of rings. Note how most of the gold rings ID in the pulltab range or lower. 
 

 

[Compass]

7 hours ago, Valens Legacy said:

Great finds and I know that it is a lot of hard work.

When someone asks me about digging every target I simply tell them that I don't want to miss out on the gold.

Good luck on your next hunt.

Thanks VL. As much as I hate to skip targets I also feel that it may be smart to do at times. If there is so much trash that you are wearing yourself out by digging, it might be prudent to be more selective. At the beach, in certain situations, I have even ignored coin and silver tones in order to improve my chances of finding gold. It is a risky approach but one that has produced good results during the past year.

10 minutes ago, midalake said:

It is possible!!! The Equinox does a great job of isolating most Pulltabs to a number. My region it is 14. When I have pulltab conditions I skip 14's. Also if one was to look at many ring charts very few gold rings drop at 14 on the Equinox.  GREAT finds btw! 

Thank you midalake. I may do that the next time I go to this lake trying the Nox instead of the Excal. Say, for example, that it took me 30 seconds to dig each pull-tab during this recent hunt. If I skipped those 166 pull-tab signals, that would have given me an extra 83 minutes of time to dig other targets. Something to think about.

[F350Platinum]

Great post, Compass. My own 14k white gold wedding band is a solid 64 on the D2. All of the 64s I dug at the campground last week were pull tabs, sometimes as high as 80! I'm kinda kicking myself because I should have dug them all. 😅

[midalake]

3 minutes ago, Compass said:

the next time I go to this lake trying the Nox instead of the Excal. Say, for example, that it took me 30 seconds to dig each pull-tab

30 seconds for each pull-tab. You are a ROCKSTAR!!!!   That 30 seconds might be a little conservative. [for me] 

[strick]

Nice work Compass as usual. Your one of the top Jewelry hunters I've seen on the sites. What you are doing works so don't change a thing. 

I've posted this picture before. I was saving pull tabs for a short time but that got old quick. I could not tell you how many there are in the photo nor could I tell you how many hunts or how many gold rings I found during that short time. I have a hard time passing up mid and low conductors that sound good. Many days with nothing but junk to show for my efforts... but it can be rewarding as you know. Nice ring ! 

strick

 

[Compass]

4 minutes ago, strick said:

Nice work Compass as usual. Your one of the top Jewelry hunters I've seen on the sites. What you are doing works so don't change a thing. 

I've posted this picture before. I was saving pull tabs for a short time but that got old quick. I could not tell you how many there are in the photo nor could I tell you how many hunts or how many gold rings I found during that short time. I have a hard time passing up mid and low conductors that sound good. Many days with nothing but junk to show for my efforts... but it can be rewarding as you know. Nice ring ! 

strick

Thank you for the kind words Strick. Reading about and even meeting several amazing hunters has been a humbling experience but, like many of us in this hobby, I live to see the next piece of gold in the scoop and am constantly striving to make that happen more often. Wow! It is kind of painful looking at that picture of all those pull-tabs. 😬

[Johnnysalami1957]

On 10/5/2023 at 1:33 PM, Compass said:

How many of the ubiquitous pull-tabs do you need to dig before finding gold? I'm sure that the answer depends on what type of detecting you are doing and with what machine. On a recent hunt at a fresh-water lake I was using my Excal and noticed that someone had been there before me. I was finding lots of undug pull-tabs (and other trash) so I figured that they were skipping those targets and maybe just looking for coins.

I decided to dig all the high and mid-tone signals to see if that would lead to something good and after about 2 hours of detecting, dozens of pull-tabs, and a sterling silver band later, my efforts were rewarded with a gold ring. At first I thought that the ring was stamped "10k" but later I was surprised to see that it was actually 8.6 grams of "18k" instead. Inside the ring are 2 sets of initials and a wedding(?) date from over 50 years ago. I would like to find the person who lost it but doing so could be a big challenge.

In about 5 hours of hunting I wound up with 166 pull-tabs and the one piece of gold jewelry. It tried my patience and was a lot of work but totally worth it to me. I also found lots of bottle caps and foil along with about 70 coins and 2 silver rings. Since that hunt I tested the ring on my Equinox and its TID read around 20. Pull tabs usually come in around 13 so maybe I could have used the Nox and saved all that extra digging?

All of them....

[Tom_in_CA]

The trick to finding gold rings is not to "dig pulltabs till your arms fall off".  It is ALREADY A GIVEN that tabs & gold rings read in the similar TID range.  

 

So instead, the trick to finding more gold rings & less aluminum is :  Location location location.  

 

Why oh why oh why does any md'rs go to blighted junky parks (where the ratios are punishing) looking for gold rings ? Instead you ought to be going to where the ratios aren't as bad.  Namely : Swim beaches.   Heck, I've been on ocean erosion (where mother nature takes away all the light stuff) where there is ZERO aluminum.  And she leaves only coins, fishing sinkers, keys, jewelry, etc....   And have found multiple gold rings without a single tab or aluminum item.

 

And if you have utterly no choice other than to hunt land sites, there are better types land sites/turf :  Sports usage, as opposed to picnic usage.  Because the moment you add "picnics" and "eating", is the moment you're adding foil and tabs.  And the moment you add BBQ & bonfires, is the moment you add molten aluminum nuggets.

 

Another land site that's better ratios is if you're near snow ski lift lines (in the spring & summer thaw).  Because of people taking off their mittens while waiting in the ski lift lines (tugs at rings on fingers).

[strick]

12 hours ago, Tom_in_CA said:

Why oh why oh why does any md'rs go to blighted junky parks (where the ratios are punishing) looking for gold rings 

Tom have you not heard of the Aluminum Abatement Collective Program? We all must do our share to help clean the environment...It's not always about the gold 🙂

strick