The official word is that unless rings, gold fillings, titanium implants ($$) are specifically requested by NOK, then they are removed prior to lighting the blue touch paper and the metals sold for refining and proceeds donated to charity.
in one of the overseas MD forums.Talking of useless gold rings - heres one I got yesterday. Had a funny reading and sound on the CTX and dug it out of curiosity. Out came a complete 9 carat gold ring with a crack right through it. I’ve dug a few broken gold rings and some don’t read or sound solid as gold should’ Anyway as I was putting this one it in my find bag it broke in half and I thought it had all dropped in the find bag. Wasn’t till I got home that I found I only had half the ring. Halfwit.
The other ring is silver.
HH
Sanded in so plan B.
So you want to detect out in the sea water? Do you really really want to? First there are the stingrays. I had one a while back rubbing up against my heal which gave me a bit of a shock. It was making moonie eyes at me as I gently pushed it away with my scoop muttering something like you are not my type and besides I’m already married. Had a large one about one mitre wide approach me a few weeks ago the came back with about five of his mates. Big difference in their colours - quite amazing. I don’t mind then except when they pass you from behind and can give you a hell of a fright. Now I have disturb one with my coil and he has wrapped his tail around my detector shaft, no damage done except for my heart rate.
Also had crabs with their pincers firmly attached to my coil on more than one occasion. Then there are the seasonal jellyfish and bluebottles and I must not forget the unknown things that bang into you at speed in murky waters. Not very keen on them either.
So you still want to detect in sea water. Well for starter I wear a good pair of diving boots with a decent sole. Why boots -
This was my early morning wake-up call a couple of years back! One reason I don’t water hunt at night deeper than my knees.! He would have been in no more than 50cm of water
Why Boots-
Well besides the mentioned crabs, theres glass, fish hooks, rusty iron and those damn sinkers with stainless steel anchors on them (should be banned) and lord knows what else.
I wear a two piece 5mm wet suit and don’t wear the jacket in the summer but then have 10mm over my upper body during the winter. Wet suit Why. Well I go out in the water for 4 to 5 hours sometimes if all is going well not just for a 15 minute swim.
If you are detecting out pass your waist then you probably need weights. What happens if you don’t have weights you go to push your scoop into the sand and you end up pushing yourself up out of the water and the scoop stay where it was. I’m around 90kgs and 5.5kgs of extra weight works for me.
Might just mention here that you also need to be reasonably fit doing this water work, lead weight, scoop and swinging a detector in water is not always easy.
Okay we have found our target. Most times you are digging blind especially if up to your shoulders in water or murky water. This is where you need to be good at pinpointing with your coil. Now in my case I carry the detector in my right hand and scoop in left. Taking a scoop at target I then swing the scoop to my left 90 degrees and check the hole again with my detector. Having decided that the target is in the scoop I raise it, shucking it as it come up to remove any sand etc. Hopefully a gold ring. If the target is not in the scoop it is either still in the hole or in the 90 degree swing area. Sometime it just disappears. Take another scoop or two out of the hole and it usually comes out. Most detectors loose there target (on land as well) at sometime. Just another puzzle in metal detecting. A bit like some of my emails.
Also needed is a find bag-
Also needed is a find bag-
Something on a belt is useful. I have one with a self draining mesh at the bottom - works well.
Only problem is that I now have a weight belt, find belt, and in my case a belt to hold my detector controls. Talk about belted up. Not pretty.
Now being out in the water for several hour at my age has it’s own set of problems and embarrassments when it come to having a pee. I manage to get a local wetsuit repairer to sew in a zip fly to my wetsuit for about $80. Best money I have spent in a long time.
Detecting in the water at night - not for me. Mudwiggle you are very brave.
So now you have taken all that on board and you still want to detect in the water then I wish you all the best of luck and keep safe.
HH
PS. I did a article on buying scoops if you missed it about Last September on this forum under Coil Swingers. May also be of help.
Great advice there.
Lighter people may be able to get away with 2kg of weights.
Or a weight attached to a line with baloon or diving flag, that you can grab a hold of.
Pee tubes can be installed in wetsuits. Peeing in a wetsuit is not bad, provided you wash thoroughly soon after DO NOT PEE AT THE BEGINNING OF AN 8 HOUR HUNT!!!
Move your diggings down current, so the silt flows away from your hole so you can see what you’re doing. And start down stream (keep in mind tidal changes.
Another aspect of water detecting I overlooked is that you need also to be pretty thick skinned.
I have been asked the following.
Have you escaped from a home for the elderly?
You should be committed.
Are you lost?
What music or radio station are you listening too on your headphones?
Plus the yells from the shore "what the F… are you doing out there?
Don’t you know there’s ice on the water? (winter detecting)
And how many times have we been asked “have you found anything yet” = SCREAM
And that’s some of the polite questions. Some ever I can’t repeat.
Let say it helps if you are a bit bent out of shape head wise to detect out there. (That’s what the missus has being telling me for a few years now)
HH
Good thread Mr. Balls - Would probably be worth getting a Mod to split it out to a separate thread?
I wear a pair of old trainers (metal-free) and when I have pinpointed the target, I place my foot against the side of the coil.
Remove coil and replace with the scoop beside your foot with the bitey bit at your heel
You now have a line to dig on to nab the target.
Option 2 which works well in surf is to pinpoint, flip the scoop upside down and feel for the ‘tip’ of the coil with the handle. Place handle in the sand and remove scoop.
Press left toe up against handle, flip scoop over and put the bitey bit on your toe.
Pull foot out, drop scoop in and nab that little golden bugger.
Generally if the target moves away, it’s foil/ali etc move on. Don’t waste time chasing it - likewise if it floats out of the scoop when rinsing, or falls through the holes (Mine are drilled to grab anything larger than 3d’s
And I wear about 15kg of lead. Waves can break over me and I stay put.
(If you’re not a diver, you may not know this - Always put the weight belt on last - If it’s under other belts and things and you need to ditch it, such as stepping into an unexpected scour, last thing you want is for something else to hold it on you)
Nice one MW. Yes you get very, very good at pinpointing blind out there if you put the time in.
Hey MW. A Mod in my days was a groovy chick. PM me if you want to go further. Hell I’ve only just found that I can edit my posts. Sorry slow learner.
GP> Believe me once you have had a pee in a wet suit, you will not get the smell out no matter how much you wash it. Smells real great in the back of a wagon after a day or two driving. Haven’t done it myself but know others who have.
Actually I thought that was a famous saying from a Shakespearian Play and which is applicable to someone like I once was who had struggled into a very tight Apollo 8mm wetsuit and suddenly found that…yes he HAD to go - As Shakespeare said “To pee or not to pee, that is the question”
At least I think it was Shakespeare who said that…or something like it!
I’ve been missing you Lammerlaw.
Hell that sounds sinister…I dont mind who misses me as long as shes blonde, good looking, long hair and can still have kids!
I’ve never peed in my wetsuit. I was just repeating what an dive shop ‘expert’ told me.
Before you get the wetsuit on, if you don’t feel like going, jump in the cold water for a few minutes - you may then decide you need to go after all 
Nice little 18 carat gold band. 4.07grams out of the water this morning. Plus 1 junker and a 3 ringer bullet that looks a bit painful to whatever or whoever it hit.
HH
Nice find musketballs
Was just thinking, maybe should change your name from Musketballs to Gold Rings… the fancy finds are certainly starting to stack up 
