1/17/18 Report - Very Cool Bottle Story. Stolen CTX. Detector Skills and Difficult Conditions.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Larry Holding B0ttle In Front of Poster Showing Same Bottle
Photo submitted by Larry.

Here is a cool story from Larry in South Florida that goes with the above photo.

... I bought some junk at a church sale for $2, including a bottle. I knew it was a United Drug (owned the rexall brand) bottle, and found just one online, same size and shape tho a different color. No info on the bottle in the ebay description.

A couple days later, my brother said, "hey, look in the bathroom." I go in, say, "what is it?" "Look at the poster"

Some 40+ years ago, our stepmother had hung a 1970s reproduction poster of a 1920s advertising poster behind the toilet. I'd looked at that poster while I stood in front of the toilet doing my thing, hundreds of times.

It featured a bottle of hair tonic. The bottle was the exact same bottle I had bought, except possibly for color.

Sometimes you don't see what's right in front of you. Btw, my bottle has a hand applied rim, and bubbles in the glass, so may be pre 1920, the date United Drug started using the Rexall trademark. UD began operations as UD in 1903, so my bottle may predate the advert by a bit.

Thanks for sharing Larry. Unfortunately some one stole Larry's CTX. Below is the description. Keep an eye out.

Stolen: ctx with 11 and 6" coils, no headphones, and just the aa battery pack was stolen last week in miami, serial 40446601029.

Hope  Larry gets his detector back!

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I've been talking about the factors involved in successful metal detecting.  I already talked about location and time on task and a little about a factor that I called effort.  Now I'm ready to talk about a complex and interesting factor that I'll simply call skill.

There are a lot of types of skill that are involved with metal detecting.  Knowing how to use your detector is one skill that can be broken down into a variety of components.

For optimal performance, you must know how to set up your detector for the particular type of target you are seeking and the environment you are working.  While it can be very easy to turn on a detector and use the default settings, making adjustments for optimal performance can require a good bit of experience.  There are times to turn down sensitivity, use different modes, change detectors, ground balance again, etc.  Some detectors are easier to master than others.  Detectors that offer more adjustments and options can take longer.

Another part of knowing your detector is understanding what it is telling you.  Do you know what different targets sound like and how to correctly interpret the readings?  Can you recognize a layer of black sand hidden below the surface and do you now how to identify a target in black sand or heavy mineralization?   Can you tell the size, shape and depth of a target from the signal?  Those are just a couple examples.

Understanding your detector also involves knowing the area of sensitivity under the coil.  What depth is penetrated under different parts of the coil, for example, and what kinds of things will be easily detected or not detected.

In the past I've given tips on how to develop some of the above skills.  I spent a good bit of time on techniques for getting to know your detector better, for example.  I don't think most people spend enough time experimenting with their detector.

Skillful detector use involves knowing how to sweep the coil for best results:  That involves more factors than just coil speed and height.

Search patterns are another part of using a detector.  Can you run a good grid pattern?  Can you use other search patterns effectively.

When you break it down, knowing your detector involves several factors, but the skill factor involves more than knowing how to use your detector.  It also involves knowing how to read a beach and how to work difficult conditions.

Working rough water is one of those factors.  Some of the best hunting in shallow water will be when the water is rough, so if you can't do that you'll miss out on some good opportunities.  Covering ground thoroughly in rough can be difficult.  So can retrieving targets.

Other difficult conditions include things that I've mentioned before such as steep terrain, rocky bottoms, heavy mineralization, etc.

I'm going to quit there for today.  There are other skills that  I'll probably in the near future.

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We continue to have a lot of north wind but the surf has decreased.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net