Spoiler alert! hi tech scanning

Site reading skills put you in position to detect what you are searching for, no matter what brand or model metal detector you use.
I scope any potential search site out first using my "Twin optical scanners" before turning on my metal detector.
To borrow a good phrase from a friend off mine, everything starts with eyes and boots on the ground.
No metal detector will find you as much good stuff as the hi tech optical equipment Mother Nature gave you.
Site reading skills involve being able to recognize certain ground conditions necessary to be successful and just as important being able to recognize significant surface finds associated with good sites.
For example, surface finds like small pottery shards, broken glass or clay pipe stems indicate that a site has seen habitation and most likely have detectable coins and artifacts.
Im fond of saying in order to find treasure you have to go thru the trash first, but you can only find treasure if you are able to recognize surface trash linked to what you hope to detect.
Another example, towels, items of clothing and alcohol containers left on the lower beach from the previous night, say please find my jewelry Gary.
Some of my best pieces of jewelry have been "Flip flop finds" the golden rewards for seeing a pair or two of humble flip flops left behind on the lower beach, knowing someone shouldn't have had a skinny dip opposite the hotel last night.
My twin optical scanners can also spot bum cheek impressions and foot prints in the sand left by courting couples when Im searching for lost jewelry at tourist beaches.
Im always looking down and around searching for clues to help me narrow down my search area, wether it be surface finds or surface features left behind by people in the search area.
Over the years I have eyeballed so many good metal detecting sites and recovered an unbelievable amount of surface finds, you can too if you take the time to look for things that stand out at sites.
Metal detecting isn't about covering ground and hoping to get lucky one day, learn how to improve your odds by eyeballing the non metallic stuff that leads you to what you hope to find with your metal detector.
The Victorian pot lid in this photo was just a little half inch piece of pottery I eyeballed on a river bank, it led to the discovery of a really productive bottle digging site.