New To The Hobby - A Warning

Okay, for the umpteenth time, HERE WE GO AGAIN! There is no crying in baseball and there is no drama in metal detecting. And one of the best/worst things to happen to the hobby is social media where newbies can get either fantastic assistance or amazingly poor advice or a little of both. The time of year is here where thousands of newbies will be excitedly waiting to hit the beach or park with their shiny new metal detectors and swinging the search coil 3-feet off the ground in an exaggerated golf swing. There are no schools for metal detecting, only word of mouth and the good Samaritan detectorist who will help when they see this sort of thing. People of all stripes in the hobby will be offering as much information and disinformation as they always do. And they will be either protecting their interests in the hobby or welcoming the newcomers with open arms. There are two theories here. The first one, as long as I have been in the hobby, has been that the more responsible people involved in the hobby, the more voices we will have in defense of the pastime, which is ALWAYS under attack by officials. And sometimes with good reason. 

The second is to ignore them and their questions and pleadings, amounting to the normal range of errors and mistakes from digging where they shouldn't to leaving gaping holes in a manicured park. Not good for the hobby at all, and an all too often occurrence. I think the basic solution to this is to join a local metal detecting club. Don't have one nearby? Start one! Grab your buddies and find a cheap meeting place, review established club practices from other groups and get organized. Offer your services to local law enforcement evidence hunts and do good whenever you can! I belong to the Central Florida Metal Detecting Club, which recently passed it's 50th anniversary here in the middle of Florida. It is a SERVICE oriented club, with an extremely competent and dedicated group of people, striving to help others learn the technical and ETHICAL side of the hobby. And, in this way, keep it out of the trash bin of history. One of the main reasons we join a club is for the camaraderie and that oh-so-hard-to-find treasure, FUN! So, when you run into a fledgling detectorist on-line, in a group, or on a beach, offer to take them on a detecting adventure and show them the ropes. You will be doing us ALL, and I mean us ALL, a favor by doing so! Merry Christmas!

Seeing The Light - Health and Detecting

 Metal detecting, and being active in the hobby, usually bodes well in the health department for most people, especially senior members of our society, whose chance for physical activity erodes as joints get sore and inflamed while opportunities for activity diminish into watching a flickering screen in an air-conditioned cell.  Since I am quite health challenged myself, with cancer, heart disease, Diabetes, and a poor attitude, I have recently been in the intensive care unit at the VA a few weeks ago with a festering heart issue, which called for the stopping of my heart, then restarting it again to get it back into a healthy sinus rhythm, which they did, or I wouldn't be writing this. As a result, I usually am interested in any advancements in health science or medical devices that may help to keep me one of the most annoying treasure hunters to have a continuing presence among the hordes of today's treasure hunters. My interests often take me to alternate publications like NEXUS, one of my favorites, with it's tell-it-like-it-is science articles. And here we find an interesting item on the science of 

sunlight on the human body. Not just any sunlight, but the early morning, low ultraviolet "red" light of the morning sun. This type of light helps jump-start your day. Who takes advantage of this state of atmospheric affairs? Why early morning east-coast beach hunters, be it on the sand or in the salt water, you are absorbing some of the best and healthiest photonic wavelengths according to neurosurgeon Dr. Jack Kruse (NOT the inventor of the Nokta Kruser metal detector!) in his NEXUS article "The Quantum Light of Life"

In the good doctor's view, his audacious claim is that light, water, and magnetism (all components of beach detecting) - not diet or drugs-drive life's engine. We are actually solar-powered creatures and our disconnection from natural light, coupled with our constant emersion in 21st Century artificial "blue" light, is the root of modern chronic disease. So not to put too fine of a point on it, metal detecting, in all probability, is one of the healthiest hobbies, especially in regard to sand and water hunting at the beach. Around noon time the sun is now putting out IR (Infared) and UV (ultraviolet) radiation which is a driver of improved metabolism and immunity. Just the opposite is the dreaded "blue" light, artificial LED or plasma illumination that actually saps our health, damaging our mitochondria and other aspects of our sunlight-based health. And everyone is continually bathed in it from the cellphone, computer, tablet and television. And a lot of folks who don't get out of the office and into D65 (daylight) illumination may be paying a price for it later. Of course, you're going to say, "But Sunlight causes cancer!" and you would be right, but that would be sunlight in excess, which younger people can tolerate pretty easily, but us older folks can get a case of melanoma of the skin if we go unprotected too long. It's a double-edged sword we are working with here. Despite that, my own doctors continually urge me to get more sunlight. 

Couple these aspects with the otherwise normal choreography of bending, stretching, and other mechanical aspects of using your muscles and tendons digging and scanning and you have a pretty complete workout of pretty much everything that matters. We've had several members of our metal detecting club who have hunted well into their 90's, and several others still hunting regularly into their early to mid 80's and a plethora of other members hunting at various other senior age groups. To say metal detecting at any age can be a healthy pursuit is quite true and can be an advantage over other more sedentary hobbies of the less physical kind. And the treasure aspect is a motivating factor to keep you interested; seeing an 18K gold ring in your scoop is a massive rush! Just remember to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate before a case of dehydration takes you down, literally! At any rate, here is wishing you good luck and happy hunting, as summer officially starts in a few hours!