Canewrap opened up some long ago memories with his post below.....

[SoArk]

....... would anyone else like to share just how they got started in this great hobby of ours? Was there anyone that you got started with.... that helped you learn the ropes...... were you one of the forerunners that started with the BFO's and had to learn all on your on? Did you coin shoot...... or did you start out relic hunting? What got you "addicted"? I'd just enjoy reading how others got their start.

Thanks in advance to all that would share!

 

[Hopskippy]

Hello all. I bought my first detector in 1979. Back then, it was kind of like a craz around here, most of us went from the CB frenzie right into metal detecting. The detectors back then were not the detectors of today. I remember digging absolutely every beep.
I'm thinking the average dig for a coin was probably a coin per about 8-9 digs. We certainly cleared most of the top layer of trash and clad, got several good silvers as well.

Was into Mding for a couple years back then, then it faded away as my son got older and the jobs changed and next thing you know 15 years passed before I got the itch again. Then in the summer of 1995, I bought a whites. I'd been layed off and was between jobs with time on my hands. Again, I hit it hard for that summer. With a different job that fall ( over the road trucking ), Mding again slipped out of the time schedule.

Now, round 3. My son is now 35 and lives next door. We decided over the winter to start the hobby up again. I'm very excited about it again as I think most of us are. Even my grandson has an ace 150, he is just 10 yrs old. It's a hobby that I now get to enjoy with my son and grandson, and not to forget my granddaughter too! I am very happy to have once again discovered the joys of MDing!

Back in the day, we only got to share our finds and stories, ups and downs, with those we actually hunted with. Now, we have this and other great sites to share and learn from. I've learned more about MDing on this site than I could of ever have learned out there on my own! Its like having a thousand great friends to talk with and share those great moments with.

As an older feller now, my advice to the newcomers to MDing would be to get your kids and grand kids involved in this hobby! You'll be glad you did!

 

[gear box]

Hi everyone. I got started back in 1976 long before the internet and when there were very few other detectorist's. I was going to vocational school when a fellow student brought in a old whites (new at that time) and told me of a seated dime he found with it. That intrigued me and I got a Whites of my own. But before I could get one I had to wait 2 weeks for a catalog to arrive so I could research what I wanted. Heck I didn't even have to research cause I didn't know anything about them anyway and there was nobody to ask ,I just picked a mid model and mid price range and waited for the delivery man. I ended up with a coinmaster 4 or was it CM4? Once I got it out in the field there was no turning back. It seemed as if the ground was littered with coin's. Most places I went to never seen a detector before and I was the 1st. Only rarely did I see evidence of another detector and I never saw another person with a detector. When I entered a school or park I was stared at with curiosity and that look of "what the heck is that thing". Once they watched me pull a coin out of the ground they looked almost amazed. I alway's only looked for coin's living here up north there were no civil war sights. I recall finding so many Barbers and even seated coin's that when a Mercury popped up I would kinda moan to myself, "only a Merc". Wow have times changed. Now I go out with the hopes of finding a Merc but it's still a great hobby and there still is good thing's to be found just not as much.
Good hunting,Gary