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Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Discrimination or all metal, which search mode is better at the beach?

Nothing gets more people panties in a wad on a detecting forum than the question, is it better to dig all metal targets at the beach or use discrimination? 
Heres my two pennies worth, you have to use both search modes to help you find what you are looking for.
Anyone who tells you that you should only use one search mode all the time just in case you miss one valuable target is living in the past. 
Just like times change, metal detecting equipment changes and you have to change with the times or get left behind.
In the old days you probably needed a pulse induction metal detector to get exceptional target depth, now you can put a large search coil on your VLF metal detector and detect deep targets, but leave deep trash targets behind.
You can now use VLF metal detectors with target discrimination features to search for valuable targets at trashy beach sites and leave non valuable targets behind. 
Nothing wastes more time in excellent beach or water hunting conditions, than being stubborn or too set in your ways.
In my opinion, using the same search mode at every beach is just as out dated as showing up at the beach two hours before low tide. 
A couple of my favorite metal detectors are modified allowing me to switch between search modes, another one of my favorite metal detectors I can just press a button to change between search modes. 
I often start out using an all-metal search mode at the beach and change to a discrimination search mode, or vice versa.
Beach and water hunting comes down to making the most of your allotted metal detecting time. 
If you dig all metal targets on a trashy beach you are basically going to dig a pouch full of trash before you find something of value, unless you get tired or run out of metal detecting time. 
If you reject unwanted trash targets by using discrimination, you have a better chance of recovering something good before your arm drops off or you run out of metal detecting time. 
Alternatively, if you use discrimination on a beach with few metal targets, you may miss valuable targets that are rejected because they cannot be identified on the edge of detection range. 
It is absolute beach or water hunting madness to strictly stick to using only one type of search mode. 
Avoid being a beach or water hunter who does the same thing at the same place at the same time. 
Recover more valuable targets, by adapting to beach sites and using the search mode that best suits the site during the conditions you encounter after you arrive to metal detect. 
I cannot remember what type of search mode I was using when I recovered these pieces of jewelry, I used the search mode that gave me the best chance of recovering them on the day.







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