Johnny White, Author at The Ring Finders

Meet Your Friendly Neighborhood Detectorist

  • from Webster Springs (West Virginia, United States)

I feel like there are two different kinds of reactions people have whenever they encounter a metal detectorist in the local park or elsewhere in the local community. The first kind of person a metal detectorist may meet are curious spectators. They are interested about what you are doing and what kinds of things you find underground. They may even have a few questions about the capabilities of your equipment. The other classification of people are sometimes curious as well, but they are usually interested in making sure that you are not creating giant pot holes in the park, and these people are very justified in doing so. I believe that community land can be shared by everyone as long as we all share the responsibility of taking care of it. I have never actually had anyone approach me with any kind of negativity over digging, and I owe that mostly due to the fact that I take great care to save my plugs and fill all my holes so that there is virtually no evidence of my excavation. Also I am very quick to show people all the sharp rusty metal objects that I remove from the ground, and I explain to people that detectorist like myself make our parks cleaner safer places to enjoy. When building relationships with the community and non-detectorist it doesn’t hurt to have some business cards promoting a free ring finding service. In short owning a metal detector is a great way to meet people in the community, and if you don’t have a metal detector talk to the people that you see out there detecting. You may be surprised to find out what is just under foot. They may even be able to help you locate something that you have lost. image

Win Win

  • from Webster Springs (West Virginia, United States)

Mr. Reed lives in my neighborhood and 20 years ago when I first started metal detecting I; before I knew better. I snuck onto a vacant lot that he owns, without permission, and detected for a bit. I found several good finds, but for fear of getting caught I didn’t hunt long, and then left the lot alone and never went back. Years have passed and I had forgotten about the virtually unsearched lot; until the other day I received a call about a lost ring. It turns out that Mr. Reed had fell off his tractor while mowing on his property, this passed spring, and his ring had fell off. Within a few minutes I was able to locate the ring. I found it fairly close to where he thought he had lost it, and although dirty, it was virtually undamaged. The ring held a lot of sentimental value to him and he was thrilled at its return. It’s a wonderful feeling to be able to reconnect someone with their personal property. He probably would have payed me. However, we were able to work out a trade. He agreed to let me metal detect the rest of his property at my leisure. He was happy to get his ring back for free and I was happy to acquire a new spot to treasure hunt. That is what Being a ring finder is all about. We are out there helping people, while doing a hobby that we love.image

A lesson in local history

  • from Webster Springs (West Virginia, United States)

imageFor most hobby metal detectorist local history and research are just as big of a part of their hobby, if not more, as going out to the local park and swinging a metal detector. Most of the time the research comes first. However, from time to time we find interesting artifacts the we have to further identify. One of the things that I enjoy most about the hobby is learning about human habits. The many places and ways we loose things offer a brief insight into our behavior. Rarely do metal detectoris ever get a chance to find out about the lives of the people who last held these artifacts before loosing them to the Earth. Finding a class ring in a local park can offer the opportunity to do some research, and learn about the people who make of our local community. Sure there are websites that can aid you in locating the owner of a class ring, but not all lost class rings have been reported as lost. Also these sites do not offer the same amount of local history, witch is valuable information to treasure hunters, as a school year book. My father recently found a 1982 class ring at a local park while we were out metal detecting. After cleaning the ring up we were able to see a set of initials in the inside of the band. We researched an old year book, from that year and found only two seniors with those initials. Only one of those seniors was male, and our ring was a mans ring. We had found the owner, but the yearbook told us more than that. We learned that the owner was an athlete and in several clubs. With a little bit more research we were able to determine that he still lived in the area and we are now able to place the owner back with his ring. That is a reward in its self, and one of the reasons I became a ring finder.

First Ring With My New Metal Detector

  • from Webster Springs (West Virginia, United States)

The most important tool ring finders have is our metal detectors. A treasure hunter without a metal detector is like an angler without a fishing rod. Metal detectors come in many shapes and sizes, for many different uses. Personally I like to use American made detectors. I have been a metal detectorist for over twenty years now, and a diehard fan of White’s metal detectors. I currently own five White’s detectors and have owned several others in the passed. For several years now I have been waiting for White’s Electronics to make a rugged light weight all terrain metal detector that would rival the Garrett AT Pro. This summer the answer to the AT Pro came in the form of the White’s MX Sport, witch surpasses all of my expectations, and leaves the Garrett in its dust. It dose everything the AT Pro can do, and more. Plus, it does it better, and it has a easy to learn user interface that makes the machine friendly enough for beginners. I wrote this review to share my first major find with the MX Sport. After only having the new detector out of the box for less than an hour I found a 14 karat gold ring at the local park. I know this isn’t the norm and one doesn’t find rings ever time they go out, but after having the machine for a couple of months now, and logging several hundred hours with it, I am still very satisfied with it, and would recommend this detector to experienced detectoris as well as anyone looking to get into the hobby for the first time.image

Lose something? A Ring Finder May Be Able To Help.

  • from Webster Springs (West Virginia, United States)

imageMost people who lose their rings will do most anything to get them back; including going and buying a metal detector. I am not trying to discourage anyone from doing this because metal detecting is a great hobby. However, many of the ring finders on this site are willing to find your rings for free. They will more than likely have a lot more success at finding the ring than someone who is new to the hobby. There is a lot of work involved in learning to use a detector correctly. No mater what your experience level, I recommend using any new metal detector for at least forty hours before you can use it with confidence and proficiency. Another thing to realize is that it takes a lot of patience to find rings, and I mean a lot of patience. It has been said that to find a ring you will have to dig up at least one hundred pull tabs, but sometimes it’s more like a thousand. This is another reason you should defiantly take advantage or these friendly strangers at Ring Finders who are willing to do this work for you at little to no cost. For anyone still interested in starting a new hobby call up a Ring Finder they are knowledgeable about equipment and can get you pointed in the right direction and help you get started.