One of the best things we do as metal detectorists is return property, and usually very valuable property at that. Although sometimes the value is not monetary, but sentimental. One of the first questions a member of the Detecting Guild almost always asks, mentally if not verbally, is why you would take such a rare and precious piece of your soul into harm's way? There is never any real answer to this question, other than the obvious. Where else would you keep such an important reminder of lost love, loved people or long-gone technicolor memories? Right there on your finger or on a precious metal chain looped protectively around your neck.
What we face, as detectorists, though, that the realities of human memory and perception are not always accurate, especially when clouded with emotion from the loss. I have been in the metal detecting hobby since 1965, yes, a bit over 60 years, and I have seen some things, as Hans Solo used to say.
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| I think it may have slipped off my finger about here... |
People sometimes don't even know when they lost it, let alone where they lost it. Recently talking with a good friend of mine, Bryan, he was telling me of a person who was seeking a lost ring in their yard. They just noticed it gone one day. He and several other detectorists made a valiant effort in Florida's knock-down-drag-out summer heat to find the piece without success. A short time later it was found at the bottom of the homeowner's pool.
For years my wife and I have recovered a good deal of lost jewelry and possessions for folks and have faced a good many obstacles they unknowingly placed in our way. Usually it's the old "It's NOT over there, it's got to be around here someplace!!" When you are not finding anything, and this is the continued response from the homeowner excuse yourself from the recovery and drive away. Don't forget in most cases you are DONATING your valuable time to this project and more than once during our work, the homeowner somehow got the impression we were her employees. Put an end to that sort of thing quickly.
Number one in recovering lost items, especially small jewelry, you need to understand your machine and the tools, (i.e. search coils) it uses. Shallow recently lost small jewelry in a grassy yard (especially gold chains) need a small (6" to 4") concentric coil as the search tool, (your sensitivity turned way down to prevent sub-surface trash interference), as it is the most sensitive coil you can get. Sometimes jewelry is so small, even a pin-pointer won't pick it up. If you know your search technology, you'll realize a pin-pointer uses pulse tech, but you need VLF tech to get the goods in cases like this! Heavy gold rings and pendants can be recovered easily using 6" to 11" DD coils with little loss of sensitivity.
It is always good to have a "physiology officer" along (in my case, my wife, as she is much easier to talk to, and more understanding than myself) Patti: "Let's take a walk around the area you think you lost it...we have a very high recovery rate if we get some good clues!" Me: "Why on earth would you take a 300-year-old, one-of-a-kind, rare gold pendent on a trampoline in the middle of an alligator infested pond...are you daft!?!?!"
Use your judgement, and know the capability of your recovery tools, when determining if a project is worth your time and the chance of recovery is possible within your own limitations. Never put yourself in danger (trying to scuba dive a toxic lake, detecting near a snake-infested area, detecting in a closed pasture where a "friendly" bull resides, hunting in extreme heat or cold) for any reason at all. Nothing is worth your ruining your good health or risking your life!
And thanks to all those who do take the time to research and make a great effort to return someone's sentimental piece of the past, you bring immense good will to the hobby and boy do we need it now more than ever! Cheers!
Bang on the money, Jim.
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