Metal Detecting Is Art 'Where's The Art Gone?''

"To most the art of metal detecting doesn't matter which is perfectly fine but it's usually these types of people that feel the need to have to prove some kind of point to me when it comes to analog performance. This is because they have a mass-produced state of mind, picking up a metal detector for reasons that are very different to mine, people having got into this hobby over the past 6 -7 years have a totally different attitude towards it compared to those that have been doing it for decades"

I've made it no secret that I have a paranoia about certain forms of technology creeping ever closer to the internal human condition. Since the birth of the internet and all the offshoots it has I can see very clearly in the world around me that it hasn't only changed society but it's changing the way the brain functions. Peoples attention spans have been destroyed and they seem to want instant entertainment otherwise they move onto the next digital fix. This in turn dictates human behaviour, with the new wave of metal detectors that started coming onto the market around 6 or so years ago this, "short attention span thinking" has made its way into the hobby. Technology in metal detecting has completely removed the art it once was, the perception around what metal detecting is and isn't has blurred to a staggering degree. 

Metal Detecting Doesn't Provide Instant Rewards 

But the marketing around the hobby covertly suggests that it does, if you swing 'said brand' of detector with their new secret technologies then you will find the treasure and more of it than anyone else swinging a different brand to you. The concept that's lost on a certain demographic out there is, if it isn't in the ground to find then you ain't going to be finding it. This appears lost on many because their mind has been infected with the choreographed bullshit that they watch and read online.

Metal Detecting Is Now Painting By Numbers

These modern machines are made for 'easy access' into the hobby, they're marketed towards the nonthinking public that desires instant results. Hammered coins are nobodies birth right and the same goes for Roman artefacts. But alas ...... we're living in a digital age where people want those types of treasures to jump out the ground and straight into their finds pouch with minimal effort. Hey ..... I'm swinging the latest technology, I'm going to find the treasure ... right ! wrong it doesn't work like that. But heavily edited and sensational videos that stimulate the Obitofrontal cortex have convinced people otherwise. 

It's The Reward Without The Route To It

In this digital world you turn on and go, start swinging and dig up whatever beeps, you don't want to be having to think about anything, you just want the machine to tell you that you've found silver or gold. The features and operation of the modern machines have confused an awful lot of people, especially those that started detecting on digital machines only. These people have no concept of what came before, and since the rise of the 'self appointed' YouTube expert era, a very apparent misunderstanding of what metal detectors should and shouldn't be is being pushed by people that quite frankly know little about what I call 'the art of metal detecting'. I put emphasis on the word art because that's exactly what it is. Art is lucid and open to interpretation it's both a connection and perspective that makes metal detecting a beautiful concentration. 

Technology Is Hijacking The Senses

The Age Of The Instant Expert

If these certain individuals spouting their shit have large enough followings then these ill-informed opinions get back to manufactures and from this, they're pressured into implementing certain software updates to solely please the test garden dwellers and their followers. What Do I Mean By This? if said 'tester' demonstrates a machine apparently falsing on a raised nail test and said 'tester' then kicks up enough fuss, manufactures have to listen so they issue an update to stop the machine falsing on their above ground demonstration. Let us remember that none of the leading companies want their product to look bad on a shite above ground test do they? Even though there's no real evidence demonstrating that above ground results prove better in ground performance. 

Obviously making a machine completely silent on the iron will then effect unmasking ability, so said 'tester' shows another example of a machines inability to unmask on their shite raised nail test, so they shout about it and another update is released to solve this issue. But What Happens If Said Update Makes The Machine False On Iron Again? I'll tell you exactly what happens, you end up with an over-engineered piece of garbage like the Nokta Legend, halfway through the updates that was a great machine, now it's just a confused piece of junk. Nokta as a detriment to themselves tried to please everyone but it's just not possible to do that. Especially when you're trying to please people that have a distorted view on detector performance. Digital machines are made to perform great in air tests but not in the ground, this is so painfully obvious to me that it hurts.

Great In The Air But Not In The Ground

Where Am I Going With This?

The above examples are happening now and this is thanks to YouTube giving a voice to the clueless and the two 'update' examples I have given have one thing in common. They're taking the need to think away from the detector user. Manufactures want their machines to be easy to use, a machine that makes a noise in iron means that the user actually has to think for themselves on how to isolate and separate a potential nonferrous target. People don't want to work at it, for instance, learning what a potential masked target sounds like and adjusting the coil angle to a point where you can isolate the target is far too much effort ... right?

Ease Of Use

Despite what they preach, many modern detector users want the machine to do everything for them, this explains why all these types of machines are filtered to fuck. They have filters built into them before the user decides to add anymore within the settings. If the machines didn't have all these filters to suppress the ground then nobody would be able to master them because thinking would be involved. The companies are fully aware of this so they're selling people the idea of a "professional metal detector", when in fact they're getting a dumbed down instrument wrapped in plastic with a screen that cost about 50p, which again distorts peoples views on what a metal detector is and isn't. 

This is why people struggle with Nexus, due to the lack of filters you have to combine a series of techniques to mitigate this. Most people either can't get their heads around it or they're just not prepared to, that is why I've always explained that Nexus is an "art form" and the turn on and go enthusiasts aren't going to be able to grasp it. This is a frame of mind thing and it tends to be from newcomers to the hobby that have swallowed the bullshit from the mainstream companies and the clueless self-appointed experts on YouTube.

Tesoro's Are An Art Form

Now with everything I've said above you could turn around and say that Tesoro's are nothing more than toy detectors that you turn on and go. I agree that Tesoro's do look rather toy like but that's where the comparisons end. Some of them you simply switch on, set the disc, sensitivity and start swinging. Others you have to ground balance and set the disc, sensitivity and threshold to get the most out of them but you also need to be aware of coil height and swing speed. This alone means that you have to have an understanding of how to manually set a detector up. Also, excluding the couple of Tesoro's with the screens, all the machines I own don't have digital read-outs. Hunting is done by ears only. Are Tesoro's Limited In Their Performance Compared To The Higher End Digital Machines? yes of course they are but that's why I only use them in areas where I know they outperform them. 

Tesoro's, like all the analog machines I use have a unique language, this is imperative because you need to be able to identify both ferrous and non-ferrous metals. I go by the sound and the coil position in relation to the audio that I'm hearing and from this I know what's under the coil. The nuances with all my analog machines can't be replicated by a micro-processor, I talk about this in the blog post TUNING DOWN A SMF DIGITAL MACHINE ON THE THAMES. I can tell when I have non-ferrous under the coil in the same way I can tell when it's iron, I can also tell when I have a masked target.

My Machines & Coils Are Like Different Paint Brushes 

Understanding the subtle nuances in analog audio comes from hours and hours of applying my mind to every machine that I use. The art of metal detecting is understanding what you're hearing as opposed to what you think you're seeing on a display. I get instant feedback, I can draw the shape and estimate the size of the iron I'm swinging over by focusing my attention on the centre of the coil whilst listening carefully to when the signal breaks. The key to unlocking the full potential of the analog machines I use is to understand the importance of your coil position. This is another point that's totally lost on the naysayers out there that think they know it all, anyone that describes themselves as the all knowing expert is usually the complete opposite.

Analog Discrimination & It's Misunderstanding By The Clueless

This is a subject that's painfully misunderstood by your recent YouTube experts that perform shite tests in their test gardens. I have been accused in the past of being a "dishonest & nasty person" when I've displayed the ability of some analog machines to unmask fairly well in a 3D unmasking demo. What I was demonstrating got taken and blown way out of proportion by people that didn't understand what was being stated. It was being claimed that I was tricking people because I was apparently setting the discrimination to just on the edge where the machine starts to call iron nonferrous. Combined with this accusation the "One Specific Nail" theory was once again thrown my way. It wasn't the first time the "One Specific Nail" theory was thrown around and was instantly explained that those who use this term are fucking muppets. Let me explain my point below.

Let's use my Tesoro machines as the example, but all of my analog machines work in this manor. I showed in videos 'which you can watch on my YouTube' of my Tesoro machines unmasking a coin under an iron nail that was elevated 6cm above a coin. It was claimed, because I was setting the disc to one specific nail and just on "the edge of discrimination" then any ferrous target bigger than that nail was going to ring with a good nonferrous response. Right here is where the misunderstanding begins and, once again it's usually expressed by people that have never hunted in the wild with any analog machine and they counter my points with a total misunderstanding of what I'm explaining, usually their findings are based on dumb test garden theories. 

Zero Discrimination Enables The Laser B3 To Excel 

So ... let me explain, Tesoro's can 3D unmask well with a low discrimination setting, so common-sense would dictate that if you learn how to identify what iron, both small and large sounds like with a low discrimination setting, then you'll get the machines full potential in regards to its ability to unmask. Now think just for a moment about the sentence I've just written, I will repeat it, If you learn how to identify what iron, both small and large sounds like with a low discrimination setting then you'll get the machines full potential in regards to its ability to unmask. So what does this mean exactly, I'll tell you exactly what it means, it puts a stop to this modern metal detecting phenomenon called "Swinging Like A Fucking Idiot".

Running a low discrimination and learning what iron sounds like will force you to slow down because you are carefully picking away and analysing each signal response as it comes up. It's this approach and mindset where Nexus excels in iron but this point is totally missed by people that started and continue to metal detect with digital machines. They have no concept of this way of thinking whatsoever. Why Is This? because they're using digital, automated detectors that have erased the art involved in metal detecting. They want a sure thing, what I mean by this is simple, they want to swing really fast and dig nonferrous and not have to guess, they want to kill the iron so they don't have to think about what they're hearing. To these people any machine that makes a noise in iron is bad and they promote it as bad without actually understanding the concept of approaching it from an analog frame of mind. 

The points underlined in the paragraph above are all totally fine with me, each to their own, but when the type of people that sum up those points perfectly start coming at me with their bullshit they will be told to fuck off, mainly because they just don't understand where I'm coming from and we clearly don't look upon what metal detecting is in the same way. There is no art in modern metal detecting, it's become a nonthinking pass time and a group dig gang bang of people rushing around any land they can get their hands on, desperate to be the first to dig their precious hammered coins. Leaving poorly dug holes and junk targets strewn across the landscape. This demonstrates perfectly where the human race is heading, an automated and synthetic world awaits and the depressing thing is most are going to be welcoming it with open arms just as long as they can get their dopamine hit with minimal effort. "Roll Up Your Sleeves People"

Eyesight For The Blind

When people lose their eyesight their system adapts, their other senses improve, it's usually their hearing that becomes more acute. If you take one sense away then you're forced to connect to and understand on a greater level what you have left. Taking the visual side of something away develops your ears, this very simple point can be explained as to why I turn the meter off on my Nexus when I'm hunting in iron. Leaving it on my eyes and mind wander because they have something to occupy them, turning the meter off takes this problem away and I find my ears really lock into the audio that I'm hearing and without a visual aid I really focus on the smallest nuances. Over time what you're hearing and what you're feeling merge into one, it's this merging of the senses that allows me to feel when I believe I'm swinging over a potential masked target.

There's A Difference Between Hearing & Really Listening

Operating my machines on a low discrimination setting makes for a noisy hunt but if you understand what the detector is telling you it's not noise, it's information. I go slow and carefully work my way though the signals, doing this on the river Thames can be pretty intense and overwhelming to begin with. But the longer you do it the more natural it becomes, unfortunately the new tech machines have warped the perception of what "noise" is and they've done a great job at brainwashing the users into thinking that the iron needs to be killed outright. The people that are new to the hobby who listen to the "experts" parroting this shit then get a warped view and the cycle continues. This helps to explain why I get so many bell-ends claiming that what I'm demonstrating and writing is wrong, we just aren't on the same page with all of this.

Bringing The Coil Into Play

Another aspect that highlights the art in metal detecting is the use of the coil to identify iron, coke, hot rocks etc, this is something that gets completely missed by people. On all my detectors I identify iron using the perimeter of the coil and it's this method that allows you to run your discrimination low. When you swing over large iron if you didn't know any better you'd call it a nonferrous response and it's this example that's been used to try to discredit me in the past. But what was misunderstood here was the technique that enables you to I.D the target as iron. This is done using the edge of the coil, on large flat iron the perceived nonferrous response will always come central. Rotating on it will usually give you enough of a clue to let you know it's iron. But the other way is to draw the coil backwards or forwards, as the coil meets the edge of the iron the audio will, spit, crack and distort. 

YES Zero Discrimination IS A Useable Setting Out In The Field

When I run my Tesoro detectors on zero discrimination I can hunt with them perfectly on the Thames, with the disc on zero the machines give you enough of a message within the audio that indicates iron. Let us remember that zero disc on these machines doesn't equate to an all metal mode. Running these machines on zero disc enables them to unmask to the best of their abilities, if you claim that these aren't hunt-able settings you're talking a load of crap. You've basically missed the point and no amount of explaining will make you get it, this is for the very simple reason that those people that have got into the hobby over the past 7-8 years have no real concept of machines outside the digital bracket. This is totally fine with me but don't start coming in my direction trying to discredit what I'm explaining because, quite frankly you don't have the experience to have a valid opinion. 

To conclude, the art of metal detecting doesn't exist anymore, the hobby has become an over commercialised, oversaturated circus ruined by the sensationalism of social media, it's this that ruins everything nowadays. Combine that will technology that makes the hobby accessible to every twat out there this makes the chance of getting permissions and land to hunt even harder than it already is. The way we're going there won't be any land left that hasn't been done to death by a fucking group digs or rally. It's a real shame to see what this once beautiful pastime has become but .. Hey .. the modern age isn't really a nice place to be existing in. Since making my YouTube videos it's become painfully clear that I don't look upon metal detecting or metal detectors in the same way as the majority out there. This has become obvious by the vast number of idiots that I encounter online, in the future I'm not going to be wasting my time getting drawn in to conversations with people that just don't get it. I will continue to look upon metal detecting as the art form that it's always been and leave the rabble to eat itself.