Well, I got a Compadre for fine gold chains, tot lot use, and just all around for regular and specialty situations because I have a Vaq, I love Tesoro's, and I have read about the superior sensitivity.
I have been using it almost exclusively on my last few hunts trying to get used to it and get good, with it.
I love this thing!
So sensitive it is amazing, razor sharp on the disc knob, and it is an older unit with the 7 inch coil and the sense turned up internally to almost max which is just the way I like it.
I have always been happy digging clad, but lately I can see I am slowly getting a little bored with that.
The mineralization in my area limits the depth so bad it is very difficult to find those wonderful old coins you guys find in other parts of the country.
Don't get me wrong, I have found several gold and silver rings and a bunch of other cool stuff, but older coins are not easy to come by in my area.
What to do....I know, I will still hunt for clad and old coins, but I will concentrate on turning into a jewelry hunter!
Another great reason to use a Compadre.
I have hit a few trashy old parks with this thing so far and clad was easy to find but no jewelry yet.
Today, I decided to go back to one of my favorite sites and see what I could do.
This site is a large high school parking lot with a large amount of big grassy islands separating the whole thing.
I have found about $20 in clad, one gold ring, one silver ring, one fake silver ring, several tools and a bunch of other cool medallions and knick knacks because I have hunted this place over and over for more than a year with my Vaquero and my F2.
When I say hunted a lot, I mean it!
I am sure I am the only one that has ever hunted this place due to to large amount of targets.
At first I was swinging in my old style not super slow or super tight, and I found record clad amounts other great stuff.
When it started to slow down, I changed to very slow and tight patterns and it became alive again with more great things coming out of the ground for me.
Ryanchappell has hunted this place with me a few times too, and the last time I was here I did not pick up a huge amount of clad but I did find a nice 10K gold ring.
I suspect there is more jewelry around here, but I have not found it yet because I usually hunt from foil on up and any smaller pieces of gold or chains I would probably miss.
I also know from experience that even silver chains are hard to pick up due to their shape, and especially if they are spread out and thin.
This will be a perfect place for a test of the new Compadre.
I got there early just at sunrise and Ryanchapell, (Michael), met me a little later.
Just before he showed up I walked back to my truck to grab and finish my cup of coffe I had brought with me, and I looked down and just behind my truck, under the rear bumper actually, I spied something silvery looking glinting in the sun.
I picked it up and it was a little charm that looked like it had been run over several times it was so scuffed up.
My old eyes could not see any mark but Micheal drove up just then and I asked him to take a look and his better eyes spied it...925...silver baby!
An eyeball find but a good start for the day.
The first hour or so we hunted some of these islands together, we both found a little clad but I have taken so much from here it is starting to get scarce.
I was using Sllngshots advice and setting the disc around iron and digging all solid repeating signals.
Eventually, I switched to putting the disc knob at all metal for the best depth, and just thumbed up till it faded out and back down till it came back in for greater accuracy.
I was digging foil, little bits of can slaw and a few stay tabs but it wasn't long before I got a nice solid tone and dug up one end of a chain.
The rest of it was still underground so I carefully excavated it and knocked off the dirt.
The clasp was missing that would have had the hallmark on it so I am not sure if it is silver, but it came out clean and I suspect it is.
Cool!
For the next few hours we hunted this area together and then he went around to the front of the school.
He found some clad and I also found a little, a few quarters, lots of pennies a couple of dimes and some nickels.
Love to find those nickel signals, gold might be lurking there along with the zinc, tab, foil, and now with the Compadre, maybe even in the iron area.
Eventually, Michael had to leave and I decided to stay another hour or so and then get home to the new wife so we could get ready to go out to dinner.
Well guys, that was quite an hour.
I was concentrating on one long island that I had hit so many times before I cannot even remember, but this was where I found the gold ring last time so I was going to finish this lucky one and get home.
I found a few more tabs, a nickel or two, some zincolns, and then I hit another nice solid signal and once again dug up one end of a chain.
At first it looked just like a regular piece of pullchain with the small balls like you would find on many products like a ceiling fan, but as I careful extracted the rest of this chain from the ground like the first one, I noticed it had a nice clasp on one end, and another one to match on the other.
This was no regular piece of ordinary chain, this was a necklace!
It came out clean like the other one, and there was some markings on the clasp which I could not read at the time but at home under magnification I saw it...925...made in Italy.
Score!
Now I was flying, it was time to get back home so I worked my way back up one side of the island that I had just come down trying to get just a few more good signals before I packed it in and I got one...pretty solid right up to the "N" in iron on the disc. (Thanks, Sllingshot!)
This was not easy to find and it was a few inches deep but eventually, with the help of my Propointer I got it...a small gold ring!
10K on the inside band, this one I could read!
Ka-Ching...score again!
So guys, if you have read the stories about the Compadre, you know that this has been called lots of names.
Tot-lot king, coin machine and top notch jewelry hunter, among othrs.
All I can say after my hunt today is...BELIEVE IT!
I have been using it almost exclusively on my last few hunts trying to get used to it and get good, with it.
I love this thing!
So sensitive it is amazing, razor sharp on the disc knob, and it is an older unit with the 7 inch coil and the sense turned up internally to almost max which is just the way I like it.
I have always been happy digging clad, but lately I can see I am slowly getting a little bored with that.
The mineralization in my area limits the depth so bad it is very difficult to find those wonderful old coins you guys find in other parts of the country.
Don't get me wrong, I have found several gold and silver rings and a bunch of other cool stuff, but older coins are not easy to come by in my area.
What to do....I know, I will still hunt for clad and old coins, but I will concentrate on turning into a jewelry hunter!
Another great reason to use a Compadre.
I have hit a few trashy old parks with this thing so far and clad was easy to find but no jewelry yet.
Today, I decided to go back to one of my favorite sites and see what I could do.
This site is a large high school parking lot with a large amount of big grassy islands separating the whole thing.
I have found about $20 in clad, one gold ring, one silver ring, one fake silver ring, several tools and a bunch of other cool medallions and knick knacks because I have hunted this place over and over for more than a year with my Vaquero and my F2.
When I say hunted a lot, I mean it!
I am sure I am the only one that has ever hunted this place due to to large amount of targets.
At first I was swinging in my old style not super slow or super tight, and I found record clad amounts other great stuff.
When it started to slow down, I changed to very slow and tight patterns and it became alive again with more great things coming out of the ground for me.
Ryanchappell has hunted this place with me a few times too, and the last time I was here I did not pick up a huge amount of clad but I did find a nice 10K gold ring.
I suspect there is more jewelry around here, but I have not found it yet because I usually hunt from foil on up and any smaller pieces of gold or chains I would probably miss.
I also know from experience that even silver chains are hard to pick up due to their shape, and especially if they are spread out and thin.
This will be a perfect place for a test of the new Compadre.
I got there early just at sunrise and Ryanchapell, (Michael), met me a little later.
Just before he showed up I walked back to my truck to grab and finish my cup of coffe I had brought with me, and I looked down and just behind my truck, under the rear bumper actually, I spied something silvery looking glinting in the sun.
I picked it up and it was a little charm that looked like it had been run over several times it was so scuffed up.
My old eyes could not see any mark but Micheal drove up just then and I asked him to take a look and his better eyes spied it...925...silver baby!
An eyeball find but a good start for the day.
The first hour or so we hunted some of these islands together, we both found a little clad but I have taken so much from here it is starting to get scarce.
I was using Sllngshots advice and setting the disc around iron and digging all solid repeating signals.
Eventually, I switched to putting the disc knob at all metal for the best depth, and just thumbed up till it faded out and back down till it came back in for greater accuracy.
I was digging foil, little bits of can slaw and a few stay tabs but it wasn't long before I got a nice solid tone and dug up one end of a chain.
The rest of it was still underground so I carefully excavated it and knocked off the dirt.
The clasp was missing that would have had the hallmark on it so I am not sure if it is silver, but it came out clean and I suspect it is.
Cool!
For the next few hours we hunted this area together and then he went around to the front of the school.
He found some clad and I also found a little, a few quarters, lots of pennies a couple of dimes and some nickels.
Love to find those nickel signals, gold might be lurking there along with the zinc, tab, foil, and now with the Compadre, maybe even in the iron area.
Eventually, Michael had to leave and I decided to stay another hour or so and then get home to the new wife so we could get ready to go out to dinner.
Well guys, that was quite an hour.
I was concentrating on one long island that I had hit so many times before I cannot even remember, but this was where I found the gold ring last time so I was going to finish this lucky one and get home.
I found a few more tabs, a nickel or two, some zincolns, and then I hit another nice solid signal and once again dug up one end of a chain.
At first it looked just like a regular piece of pullchain with the small balls like you would find on many products like a ceiling fan, but as I careful extracted the rest of this chain from the ground like the first one, I noticed it had a nice clasp on one end, and another one to match on the other.
This was no regular piece of ordinary chain, this was a necklace!
It came out clean like the other one, and there was some markings on the clasp which I could not read at the time but at home under magnification I saw it...925...made in Italy.
Score!
Now I was flying, it was time to get back home so I worked my way back up one side of the island that I had just come down trying to get just a few more good signals before I packed it in and I got one...pretty solid right up to the "N" in iron on the disc. (Thanks, Sllingshot!)
This was not easy to find and it was a few inches deep but eventually, with the help of my Propointer I got it...a small gold ring!
10K on the inside band, this one I could read!
Ka-Ching...score again!
So guys, if you have read the stories about the Compadre, you know that this has been called lots of names.
Tot-lot king, coin machine and top notch jewelry hunter, among othrs.
All I can say after my hunt today is...BELIEVE IT!
Thanks for the info, my new compadre will be here tomorrow. and i cant wait to get it .