:usaflag: Old Photos From a News Article of 1985 :detecting:

[Cupajo]

I came across this old article and thought I'd share.

I was using a Garrett's XL500 PI carried at my waist.

[attachment 184021 IMG4Large.jpg]

[attachment 184022 IMG3Large.jpg]

[attachment 184023 IMG-2Large.jpg]

The recovered item was a Buffalo nickle.

The cold weather gear tells me it had to be during the winter that year, but I can't remember what month.

This was to be the first of several articles.

If I am able to find any of the others I'll post them too,

CJ

 

[mudpuppy]

Thats a mighty goofy looking scoop there Cuppa! Although, I do see some benefits to it! Question, how many of us have made gear like that, instead of buying it?

 

[Micheal_R]

It sure found me a lot of goodies.

Fair winds

Micheal

 

[Cupajo]

I call that digger "The Poor Man's Backhoe"!

Several dump trucks could be filled with the sand and stone dug up looking for goodies with "The Hoe"!

It is still in use today after over 25 years of hard use and the only thing I have changed is, it now sports an aluminum handle to reduce its 13 or so lbs to about 11.

Digging locally requires heavy duty scoops if they are to last.

The Hoe started out welded of a good grade of stainless including the handle, which I carefully designed to allow full power digging and lifting.

A friend uses a miller scoop, but I wanted as big a bucket on mine as I could lift.

Today I'm almost 70 and lifting "The Hoe" is getting more difficult all the time. Two hours of digging is a real workout!

Best to Ya.

CJ

 

[Cupajo]

Mikie,

The two XLs I bought in the early eighties are still operational today and I used them a couple of years ago to find a few gold rings.

When I saw how well the Infinium was producing I "retired" the XLs and used the LS for over a year.

Today I am using a Dual Field and enjoy a quieter hunt with almost the same amount of finds as the Infinium.

All the best to you and your lady,

CJ

 

[George-CT]

We used to hit that at the end of summer and they were usually there. They also ran Garrets. I've had a few Garrets and still have my 2500 unit that I like in dirt. Little on the heavy side for all day but it does what I want, easy to use and I let my friends use it that want to try it out. For my personal hunting if I'm after the deep stuff I like the Minelab Sovereign XS with the WOT coil. More depth then I need most of the time but covers a lot of ground quickly. Great large beach unit. At first I felt like I was swinging a garbage can lid, but not that I've had it for 6 years, I'm used to it. Did you ever hit any of Rocky Neck beach?

George

 

[Cupajo]

I have kept mostly to the Sound View and White Sands Beaches George, so I don't have to spend a lot of time travelling.

I may not find as much, but I do know them well and over the years have taken plenty of good finds from them.

Maybe when I'm in my nineties and finally retired I'll finally have plenty of time to hunt other beaches,

CJ

 

[Bayrat76]

n/t

 

[Royal]

sure looks like work I prefer laying on the bottom with a scuba tank or my hookah. Much easier. Lots of finds back then though. Nice pictures and memories!

 

[Cupajo]

Thanks Bayrat!

Lots of people have taken snap-shots of me water hunting over the years, but the only ones I ever ended up with were from newspaper articles like these.

Some day I'll have to get someone with a supper-wide lense to take some of my current self for everyone's amusement,

CJ

 

[Cupajo]

Scuba-diving has fascinated me since I was a teenager, but I have never been able to afford the equipment.

I have been content to snorkle, but never tried snorkling for treasure. My son and I did search the area around a swim platform in front of the local gin mill back in the mid-eighties though and I found a new pair of Ray-Bans. I never even considered trying a detector at the time.

The bottom here is more of a dig-your-butt-off rather than a "fan-away-the-sand" kind of bottom.

Thanks for your reply,

CJ

 

[Royal]

I just grabbed up an hand full for the picture. Found lots of them in the water


[attachment 184056 halves.jpg]

 

[Cupajo]

Before I stopped hunting I had found several pounds of silver. I sold some back then with little to show for it as silver was maybe $6.00 an ounce at the time.

I sold the rest and all I had found after the last batch was sold for almost a $1,000.00 about two years ago.

That's a lot of quarters!

Water hunting, I dug two Walking Liberty halves from the same hole once.

Hunting was better back then, because I had the best machines around and unlimited access to the whole area,

CJ

 

[General Ray]

n/t

 

[Bayrat76]

Hunted with Gulfhunter before, his scoop is like 10 or 11 lbs, I used one of his the last hunt we went on it liked to killed me. My shoulder hurt for a couple days after it.

 

[Cupajo]

It's always great to hear from Fellow Hunters.

Those pics have been hiding in a folder for about 25 years.

They're a little scratched,but but after I tweaked them a little in a photo program they turned out alright.

The scoop is a real challenge when fully loaded as I must lift it above a sifter I use and dump it out.

A hunt in the 80s would be 3-6 hours. Today I really feel it if I hunt for more than 2 hours, but when conditions are right the hunt may last 3 or more hours.

When I drag my carcase and equipment up the slight incline at the water's edge heading back to the van, I know I've pushed the limits when I can barely walk!

GL&HH Friends,

CJ