Personal Safety and Comfort

1. Any time during hunting season, wear a fluorescent jacket or windbreaker and hat/cap. To an anxious or myopic hunter, a squatting TH'er, or on hands and knees digging a find near the foundation of an abandoned barn, for example, can easily be mistaken for a deer at a salt lick.

2. Boots, particularly those worn by coinshooters, need to be laced loosely about the ankles, yet should be snug about the feet and above the ankles. Tie an overhand knot in each lace just above the arch; the knot keeps the lower laces tight, yet permits ankle movement. A similar knot above the ankle isn't usually necessary. Flat laces are more comfortable than round ones, and have less tendency to become untied.

3. Spray the cuffs, seat, and knees of your pants with a water proofing fabric protector (e.g. Scotchgard). You'll stay cleaner and drier. Renew the waterproofing after each washing.

4. A very thin layer of petroleum yelly (Vaseline) spread over your face with your fingertips provides surprisingly effective protection against the sting of cold winds.

5. Headphones which are heavily padded become uncomfortable after prolonged use. To allow your ears to "breathe", attach homemade sponge-rubber or bubble-plastic shims (about and inch long by half an inch wide) to the padding. They are thick enough to allow air to enter and to relieve the pressure on your ears, yet thin enough not to reduce the signal level much. A dab of rubber-cement holds them in place, yet allows ready removal without leaving a stickey residue.

6. A pair of surgical gloves can help prevent rough and cracking skin caused by repeated exposure to soil, wind and water. The gloves provide almost normal sensation of touch, still are unexpectedly strong, and allow full hand manipulation. They're inexpensive (about 11-cents), and are sold in drug stores, large supermarkets, and medical supply houses.
[CAUTION: Natural latex can cause an allergic reaction to some sensitive individuals.]

7. A light drizzle, particularly in the morning, offers some privacy for your hunt without much discomfort. (Cover the detectors' control housing with a clear plastic bag). You'll miss the sassy seventh-graders, the dude with the dumb questions, the dog-walking debutante with the unleashed Doberman, and the buck-toothed comedian who thinks metal detecting's a real knee-slapper. (Of course, you can look forward to the pleasure of their company on their next sunny day.)

8. Don't forget the insect repellent when working in the fields, near wooden areas, or near lakes. Militant mosquitoes, black flies, horse flies, or worse can ruin your day in a hurry! Get a repellant which contains DEET. It seems to be most effective.

9. Small finger cuts are irritating -- cloth bandages are awkward, and get wet and dirty. Try carrying a small bottle of liquid plastic bandage (New Skin, or equivalent). The container takes up almost no room. The plastic dries fully in about 5 minutes after the application, and makes the cut or scrape almost unnoticeable, almost pain-free, and waterproof. (It also works on knees, ankles, and wrists.)

Tools and Equipment
10. Bring any type of 35mm camera. These days the new high-tech cameras are about the size of a deck of playing cards, are relatively cheap, and slip easily into an unused pocket. Prizes vary ($6 to $350, depending on quality). For best results use high speed film indoors and out, 400 ASA/ISO.

11. Army entrenching tools are very popular with many TH'ers, and with good reason. But they get heavy after awhile. The new pick-and-shovel tools, available at army/navy stores for about $8, are half the size, one-third the weight, have an auxiliary folding tool (pick), and are almost as effective as the larger tools for most applications.

12. Many household products (e.g. compressed packages of dinner napkins, telephone directories, utensils, etc.) now come in crystal-clear plastic bags with draw strings. One of these bags takes up very little room in a pocket. In sudden rain or snow, slip it over the detector control housing and secure it with the draw string. Many TH'ers find that this cover provides more than enough protection to allow them to continue the hunt. Avoid static generating plastic (the kind that tends to stick to itself, pick up small pieces of paper, dust or threads, lifts the hairs on your arms, or produces a crackling sound when pulled away from an object). A static discharge can be several thousand volts (not dangerous to you because of the low current); however, the complex, high density microchips employed in modern metal detectors can be damaged badly by Electro Static Discharge (ESD) in a way that may not stop the equipment from working, yet, subtle but permanently degrade operating effectiveness.

13. So-called 'Dollar-stores' in malls and shopping centers, selling everything for a dollar, often carry tools useful for coinshooting, and some tools can even be improvised from trash. The blade screwdriver (the 10-inch shaft is bent slightly near the blade for leverage) is handy for flipping coins out of a lawn or field. The probe is a pice of a discarded wire grocery cart, epoxy-cemented into a section of old broomstick. (A section of thin plastic water pipe serves as a sheath). Total cost for both tools is about $1.50.

14. Round plastice bottles, the kind from vitamins and antacid tablets, make good coin collection containers. Anchor (twist) a large twist-tie around the neck, then securily around a belt or belt-loop. (Some coinshooters put half an inch of light oil in the container.) Drop in your finds and screw on the cover. (Or, leave the cover off until you're done --- the containder is deep enough not to spill readily. Some bottles have flip-tops, which are even handier.) At home, wash off the oil and any loosened corrosion with mild dishwashing (NOT dishwasher) detergent solution, followed by clear water. Then allow the coins to air dry on clean, absorbent paper.

15. It is standard operation procedure to bring a set of spare batteries with you on all your field trips. But if you didn't, and your batteries happen to run low, you can often rivive them long enough to complete the expedition. Try baking them, for an hour or so, by setting them on a stone in the sun or near the fringe of a small campfire. This rejuvenation trick can be used several times with weak batteries. It works best with carbon-type cells, unpredictably with alkaline types, and not at all with nicads.

16. If you like to carry your wallet with you, slip a large rubber band (like a #64) around it. The resulting additional friction will make it less likely to fall out of your pocket. And if it does, the rubber band prevents the contents to go all-over the place on a windy day. You know 'Murphy's Law' don't yah??? (When something can go wrong, it will)

17. If you use a sharpened trowel, bring along a small carborundum whetstone (about 1 x 1-1/2 inches) to restore the cutting edge periodically. No need to overdo. It makes digging a lot easier.

18. Some of your finds should be babied. If your carry a portable compound magnifying glass or juweler's loupe (the kind that swings out of a metal holder) you can identify coins and other small items that should be seperated and protected because of their value. Another benefit is the certainty your have about your discoveries. It may be exciting to wait until your get home to check whether that odd penny you just dug up is really a 1955S double-die, but also don't want to find out suddenly, after a day of elation, that your Brasher Doubloon is really a Chuck E. Cheese token.

19. Retracting key holders (the kind used by school janitors) are handy for holding a penknife, magnifier, or other small tool used periodically. This illiminates the need to fish for it in your pockets, especially with real dirty or muddy hands.

20. Plasticized loose-leaf pocket notebook pages are available at some stationers. They take pen and pencil nicely, shed water, and are virtually indestructable.