The urge to go digging is getting greater as the weeks push on. Every time I head out for a dig the more I start to realize that it’s becoming more of a hobby, and worse, it’s becoming an addiction lol. I suppose there are worse things I could be addicted to in this day and age, so if digging through the dirt and sand is mine? I’ll take it.

The other day When digging at a local park I found some extremely hard ground to work through. The small shovel I bought, bent in seconds and I was forced to continue to dig with my hand trowel.

So I decided to get smart and head to the local Canadian Tire and purchase a heavier duty shovel.

I couldn’t wait to head back out to the parks with the new shovel, I had no doubt this would be a game changer for sure.

Now when heading to the beaches and parks, I am still feeling a bit nervous if people are around, so I also decided to pick up a high powered head lamp so I could be enjoying this hobby at the hours when people aren’t around.

After these new purchases I headed out to a local park around the corner from where I live to try out the newest equipment. As I dug through the hard ground with my new shovel, it came apparent, (very quickly) I should not cheap out on any part of my equipment that I purchase. I bought what I thought would be a decent “enough” shovel because iI had been spending enough lately on this hobby when I realized I should have bought the right shovel for the job. My new shovel dug 15 holes and I bent it on the 16th hole. My night of digging was over . 1 hour of digging and I went home. During my dig I found mostly garbage, wires, pull tabs, bottle caps, ect.. and then I found a piece of a bong, & 2 Canadian Pennie’s. The Pennie’s were a 1993/ & a 1986.

I’m currently trying to find a penny older than a 1950 Infact any coin older than 1950 is the goal. Actually any coin other than a penny would suffice lol. this Minelab Vanquish 340 series is a penny magnet.

So this hobby is starting (like any hobby) to become a little expensive. It doesn’t have to be but the more I dig the more I tend to spend on digging tools and equipment.

List of owned equipment

Owned equipment : vanquished 340 metal detector ($350), cheap pin pointer ($40), hip sack to hold findings ($45), 2 x handheld trowel shovels ($35), 2x regular shovels for digging ($55), a container for small precious finds ($10), just bought a sand scoop CKG off Amazon ($130), head lamp for night digs ($50) batteries to date ($75) Total $700.00

List of what I have yet to buy

New Minelab 600/ or / 800 series. The 600 costs $879.00 and the 800 model costs $1279.00. So I’m guessing like I said above, go big or go home. And I’m leaning towards the Minelab 800 for my next purchase, also a Garrett pin pointer as my waterproof upgrade to the cheap pin pointer I already have.($150-250)

So I have roughly $1500 left to spend before I think I will be set up the way I want to be for this hobby lol.

For my personal picks of the Minelab detectors and other equipment you can check out this link to my other blog.

What have I learned so far

So what started out an innocent fairly cheap idea for a hobby has quickly become an addiction and is becoming a fairly expensive hobby. Especially since I mostly find junk and the odd penny or children’s toy truck. I guess it’s not what you find but the trill of what you can “possibly” find. There is an adrenaline rush when you hear the beep on the machine and it corresponds to the numbers you like to dig considering it might just be the treasure you’ve been searching for.

Or maybe it’s just a used piece of an old bong lol

Either way whatever the cost vs reward may be? It doesn’t matter to me. It’s the thrill of the hunt, the feeling you get when you think you have found something special, the hobby I have found I can do on my own or when I’m with the family. This hobby get you some exercise, & it takes you to new places ( you will find you always want to explore somewhere new lol).

So is there cost involved? Yup sure is, just like any other hobby you take up. But for me the cost is well worth it.

UPDATE:

I decided against spending the $1200+ on the Minelab Equinox 800. Instead I bought the Minelab Vanquish 540. This is a significant upgrade to the Vanquish 340 I had already with considerable more options on the machine and after some more research the difference in the 540 compared to the 800 and what each machine can do did not warrant me spending the extra money, ( in my mind anyway) .

I have also decided to upgrade my Pin-pointer. I had bought a Garett Knock-off brand off Amazon for $35 CDN. This tool has worked well for me up to now, however, the more involved I get into this hobby, the more options I want with my tools so here is the link to my review and reason for my choice of the Nokta Makro

Differences In Pin-Pointers

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