[size=large] A pin pointer and a probe go hand & hand; An electronic pin pointer is to target recovery, what a metal detector is to a target discovery. There are a few people that say, "Pin pointer?.....We don't need no stinkin' pin pointer!" To each his own; I care to wager that these people have never used a pin pointer, and experienced first hand the awesome handiness these little gadgets can be at times. The pin pointers job is to locate the target after you've opened the hole (or even before, for that matter). An electronic pin pointer is certainly not needed on every recovery. But at times because of various circumstances, such as a coin being tilted, Pinpointing with a detector can be off slightly and a pin pointer comes to your rescue. Other small targets are just hard to see or locate, such as buckshot or parts of jewelry, that are covered in dirt and smaller than you are anticipating. Rivets off of jeans are a common find for me, and hard to locate in dirt. This is where a pin pointer comes in, as it can locate the target within seconds.
There's a couple little tricks you can do for shallow targets. Once you've pinpointed the target and checked the depth, and find that its shallow, or get the double blips that tell you its a shallow coin. First pinpoint the target with the pinpoint mode using your detector, then scrub the tip of the pin pointer right on the ground in the pinpointed area. If the target is very shallow, say just under the thatch or deeper, the pin pointer will then sound off on it, at which time you can either slide a metal probe in under it and lift it up. If its a little deeper like an inch, you can use your metal probe to find the coin, because you've already pinpointed its exact location with the electronic pin pointer. You tap the coin a couple times with the tip of the metal probe (a brass one will not scratch a coin) until you find the edge, then insert the metal probe at a 45 degree angle under the coin and lever it up by pushing the handle forward and up . If the target is a little deeper, you can still get it by inserting your metal probe into the ground at an angle and ripping a tear in the ground above the coin. Then you can insert your electronic probe into the tear, which will put you closer and hopefully within detecting range and exact location of the coin, at which time you can lever it out with the metal probe or with your fingers without having to cut a plug or dig a hole. this method only takes seconds once you have a little practice. Always move you fingers "gingerly" while probing around in the ground feeling for a coin. You can get a coin down to about three and a half inches this way. That's the basics of it.
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