Beach depth?

[Wishful-thinker]

What would the most common beach finds depth be? 1-2"..3-4"..etc. or can you say.
I know it depends on "after storms made cuts" and such.Just wanted an average thanks.

 

[S.C.Ring King]

I cant say there is an average, there is stuff from 1/32 of an inch to 10 feet down. Good luck, its all about the fun, excitement and exercise anyhow.

 

[thinkin2]

There is no average but the most valuable (dollar wise) find I ever made on a saltwater beach was at about 5 or 6 inches. But again, there really is no average because the sand washed out by the right conditions can make a find that is detectable at 6 inches today totally undetectable the next day. It's really crazy like that. The beach nearest me, Folly Beach, about 5 miles down the road, is practically no good anymore because of beach renourishment programs that started quite a few years ago. Sure, you can still hunt there and you might make a good find once in a while but it will be a fairly recent loss. By contrast, years ago before all that started I used to hunt Civil War relics on that beach. This is the beach where all of the union troops were located and it was from this beach that the assault on Fort Wagner (this is the battle depicted in the movie GLORY) was launched. Anyway, we used to find tons of stuff when the sand was right. I personally dug 10 cartridge box belt plates (aka eagle breast plates) on this beach in a fairly short period of time. We also dug US belt plates and some SNY belt plates (lots of NY troops there). Also tons of buttons and bullets and old bottles, etc. But my point is that these plates are pretty good size brass objects with lead backing. They were detectable at a pretty good depth, even with the units we were using back then, can't remember the exact number of years now but we were still making good finds when Fisher came out with the miracle beach unit, the CZ-6. Teknetics also had a good one out about that time called the ST but it had a design flaw associated with the battery if I remember correctly. One day you could find all kinds of these things and the next day they are totally covered up with so much sand that you can't find so much as a minnie ball. The beaches are ever changing and you have to hit them hard when the times are right. No beach is ever hunted out. Maybe ruined by renourishment programs but under all of that five or six feet of sand there are still more of the same good things we used to find. This is the longest post I have probably ever made but I just wanted to make you understand that on the beaches you have to keep a constant eye on the conditions and take advantage when things are right. Best of luck to you.
Jerry

 

[harvdog42]

I agree with Thinkin2. When beach conditions are good...hit it hard. My best day in clad coin was $50. in one day. The conditions on that day in one pocket in the wet sand many years ago at Venice beach in S. Ca were such that you did not even need a detector. I would get three and four coins at a time with one little hand held beach scoop. I would have done much better that day if I would have just had a shovel and a large sieve. Last week I had a chance to detect that same beach and I did not find one lousy coin in the wet sand. And so it goes.

Harvdog

 

[GaBeachsweeper]

n/t

 

[Wishful-thinker]

Let's see, I'll check my data spreadsheet here... Who bothers to record or remember this stuff?

Always a SMART@ZZ in the bunch... lol

 

[Bling]

that will change from tide to tide! every high/low tide will move sand as much as 3' or more..but in the dry sand it all depends on ....if it gets stepped on? how long its been there?....type of sand..? i think given enough time it will sink to the hard pan under the sand where the sand turns to clay..

 

[Wishful-thinker]

To all who took this question seriously...,as you can see from my signature I modded a BH with GB in an Otterbox.
it does a little better than 6'' in the wet sand.I was just afraid that gold sank to deep depths fast so that it was unreachable
by my machine....So if most of your finds were arround 4-6" than Im ok.

 

[thinkin2]

Best of luck with your mod and let us know what kind of finds you make with it. Interesting.
Jerry

 

[fieldboy]

n/t

 

[Wishful-thinker]

Cool, but 20" in wet sand?...too deep for my liking lol
I'll stay near the top,and let you dig to china..

 

[Aussie Digger]

Worked a beach one day and three days later we had very bad weather and on the 4th day the same beach was cut by 5 to 7 foot so it was like a new surface and plenty was found more old coin than current but was still fun and the excitement of the odd ring pull is still there!!!!

 

[Lindaskelly]

Is it better to search the wet sand on the incoming, or outgoing tide, or doesn't it make any difference?

 

[thinkin2]

Is it better to search the wet sand on the incoming, or outgoing tide, or doesn't it make any difference?

Well, since I live on the east coast I'll just give my opinion for here. We have two high tides and two low tides each day spaced about 6 hours apart. If you wait until the tide starts to come back in your time will be limited. I like to start about two or sometimes three hours before low tide and hunt until the tide comes back in and chases me off the beach. You also have to account for the tide cycles. Sometimes they are much higher than average and sometimes much lower so this can also determine how much beach will be exposed and for how long. Other beaches, like those on the west coast normally have one high tide and one low tide with a greater range between the two so the hunting time out there will be greater with more beach exposed. At least that's what I would think, at least for most areas. Finally, in answer to your question about whether outgoing or incoming is better, it doesn't matter as long as the beach is exposed and the sand conditions are right. It really just boils down to allowing yourself the most time to hunt.
Jerry