Relic Hunting gear advice

[Jaichim24]

Recently I began serious conversations with a friend at work who's neighbor owns 122 aces, a portion of which was used as an artillery firing range during the civil war. There is a large steep hill where theoretically the cannons were placed. At the top and back a ways are several cellar holes that I am dying to explore.

My gear as of now is an Explore SE with an X-1 probe. I also have a v4 pin-pointer. My tool belt is basically a fake Lesche digging tool, 2 composite scoops. What other gear should I be looking for? I will be digging in the woods etc. I've only done woods hunting one time before with my previous gear and other than having to get real close to the ground I was able to open up a hole. I was thinking at the very least purchasing one of those 3' shovels with a serrated edge. Perhaps a long handed digging tool so I don't have to bend down so close to the ground to scoop stuff out.

So, what additional pieces of gear do I need to have to increase my chances of success out there? Just a note, I do happen to have a $50 gift card from home depot I received for Father's day.

Thanks,

Jai

 

[Ed SW Fla]

.... Would be a small saw to cut roots. A folding tree limb saw is good or a drywall saw is also good and a bit lighter and smaller to carry. The root cutters on most detecting digging tools are fine for cutting grass roots but not worthwhile for cutting small to large tree roots. Get some good bug and tick repellent and a roll of duct tape to tape up your trouser legs.

Try and locate the impact area from the artillery rounds and hunt for big deep iron signals. A complete artillery shell is a very nice find as are the fuses and larger frags and case shot from exploded rounds. At the artillery gun emplacements, seek out the friction primers, coins, insignia, and buttons. Don't forget your lunch / snacks and lots of water to drink.

 

[Elson(La)]

n/t

 

[Bobbie]

all the best equipment in the world isn't worth a penny if you do not completely know your machine.........practice....practice..... and even kid's toy detector will find most everything.

 

[Ed SW Fla]

n/t

 

[Elson(La)]

n/t

 

[RustyNTX]

n/t

 

[Jaichim24]

Hrmm, what's wrong with Home Depot, cheap prices, no service!!

I'm pretty good with my detector, I've successfully learned to hunt my yard - 90% of it has iron in it, and I only pull up nails if I gamble on an iffy signal. I'm just not going to be able to visit this site very often, perhaps only once. I'd just like to cross my t's and dot my I's and make sure I'm as prepared as possible. I don't want to show up without the right tools. I haven't really done any woods hunting, mostly grass and parks, so if there are some techniques out there that will help in the woods, I'm all ears.

Thanks again all for responding.

Jai

 

[Jaichim24]

He was drilling out the fuse, had done so many times before. Unfortunately, the primer he was drilling turned out to be a Navel water proof one that was different. Houses a mile away had frags in it.

 

[Ed SW Fla]

.... and you won't want to do that unless you know what you a are doing.

What you read about was Sam White disarming a shell that he thought was a regular shell and turned out to be a "waterproof" naval shell. The insides were not penetrated by water over the years and were more explosive and required a different treatment than regular shells. He went too fast, allowed too much heat to build up .... and the heat / spark from drilling detonated the shell.

If you don't want to pay someone to make the shell inert, put it back in the ground where you found it and let a true relic hunter find it and deal with the expense of making it inert.

 

[Ed SW Fla]

n/t

 

[RTIZONI]

all the best equipment in the world isn't worth a penny if you do not completely know your machine.........practice....practice..... and even kid's toy detector will find most everything.

My first bullet was a star base dropped, and i was using my son's Bounty Hunter Jr., a U$50 at Wall Mart.

 

[Ed SW Fla]

.... if that's not affordable for you for your own collection ... go to some relic CW relic hunting sites and show and tell what you found and see who might want to save and perhaps pay you for your find. Please DO NOT LET your find be destroyed by any local / state / federal bomb disposal unit who has no appreciation for our nations CW relic history..

 

[jeff & Maria]

You can buy a relic shovel from a detector supplier. I picked up a shovel that they sell at home improvement stores. It is called a transplanting spade. It looks like a short 3 ft shovel except the metal part is long (about 14 inches) and narrow. I took the edge to the grinder and made a serrated edge for root cutting.

 

[Craig in Alabama]

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