first time beach hunting

[Flossie]

Went beach hunting tonight for the first time and i learnt 2 things.
1. invest in a decent shovel
2. People can be d bags.

Went to my local beach tonight to have a swing and see whats out there. Getting heaps of signals ranging from 28, 32-38, 46 etc etc. Only issue is that the hand trowel i brought with me was useless, i may as well have used my thongs to dig in the soft dry beach sand. Damn hole kept filling in when i was trying to dig for some of the deeper targets. So i think ill be paying bunnings a visit tomorrow and buying a proper shovel. And stopping by Kmart because someone stole my thongs tonight

 

[Sa_bogan]

I'm sorry to hear that mate. To be honest you can get the green shovel from bunnings for around $50, drill plenty of holes in it and you won't have issues digging a descent sized hole. In saying that I ended up giving mine to the old man as I was finding it hard to dig using the one hand. So I ended up buying a sand scoop and haven't looked back since. They aren't cheep but they save you time and it makes sifting 100 times better when you have the target in the scoop. They are around the $180 from eBay but if you troll enough there is someone on eBay from Ukraine that has them or around $150. Like any hobbie you need the right tools and if you are going o Hun at the beach a lot its a good idea to spend a little more on something worth while provided you have the pare cash for it.

Who steals things here days?

 

[Flossie]

haha i was a little bit over excited about going down to the beach. My thinking when i was loading up the car was something like this "Pfffft how hard can it be to dig a hole" After about 30mins i soon changed my tune.
I was shocked as well considering i was walking around with an $850 piece of kit on my arm. And they stole my thongs...

 

[Goldpick]

If you are only working in dry sand, those plastic sand scoops with the holes in them that sell for around $20-30 on ebay do an acceptable job. There seems to be two groups selling stainless sand scoops from the Ukraine, the guys that sell NEL coils on ebay also sell various models of the good scoops for $99US plus shipping.

You would be amazed at the amount of thongs I see left behind on the beach at night, even come across two boogie boards the other night that had been abandoned, didn't bother taking them though.

 

[Flossie]

awesome thanks, ill definitely look into those.
I placed my thongs on the slope of a dune i was working in front of. Then i made my way towards the water, detected for about 15mins went back and they were gone. I was probably about 15-20 metres away when they disappeared

 

[Goldpick]

The missus uses of these in the dry sand, seems to work fine and avoids any contact with nasty buried objects like needles and other sharps. This one is more expensive as it has Garrett's name on it, but there was a guy selling them for around $20 ( can't find listing). They are fine for sieving out coins, bottle tops etc from the first 6-7 inches, anything deeper or in hard wet sand, and you may need something more robust.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Garrett-...7720?pt=AU_Gadgets&hash=item338a58f4b8&_uhb=1

I bought one of these for general excavating around beaches.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Jobe-To...etal_Detector_Accessories&hash=item5402ea668f

The basket it made of thick mesh, so it is pretty tough. I usually take the top section of the handle off when digging in dry sand, and add the longer section of the handle for wet sand.

When I venture out into the water, I will be looking at a proper stainless scoop from the guys at NEL coils, with a long handle.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sand-Scoop-...etal_Detector_Accessories&hash=item35d16b6091

 

[Flossie]

Thanks Goldpick, ill look into those

 

[dave14110]

Here's a suggestion for sand scoop go to a place that sells horsre & animal feed they sell exactly the same shape plastic scoops as Garrett sell but without Garrett name & no holes. As they are plastic it is very easy to drill the holes yourself. They are only about $9 to buy at saddlery or feed shops so heaps cheaper last time I seen garrett plastic scoop it was over $30.

 

[Flossie]

Thats a good idea, but unfortunately i think all those places are located more than an hour away from me.
On a side note, has anyone tried those large plastic shovels from bunnings? they seem alright but im a bit worried that the handle may snap if there is to much sand on it.

 

[Paulmarr]

As sa bogan has said - the big green plastic shovels at Bunnings are pretty heavy duty for a plastic shovel and can easily hold the weight of the wet sand. It was about $50 from memory and you can drill as many holes as required with a drill bit (smaller than a 5 cent piece of course )

 

[BSellin]

Thats a good idea, but unfortunately i think all those places are located more than an hour away from me.
On a side note, has anyone tried those large plastic shovels from bunnings? they seem alright but im a bit worried that the handle may snap if there is to much sand on it.

I don't have the shovel with holes per say. I have a big round plastic sieve that I bought from Bunning and I have a short scoop shovel attached to it. I just drag that around on the beaches as it doesn't look like I am trying to bury a sun bather on the beach or some other body. And it looks less hostile. So say s the wife.

Its personal choice but I just find my target and them do a big scoop, dump into the sieve and shake till I see the target out.

Cheers.

 

[the duck]

Dont forget a pinpointer saves a lot of grief if you find a 3p or small coins