Cache Hunting; Shallow Water Hunting - Fisher Labs F75 User Manual

Detecting Activities (continued)

Cache Hunting

A cache (pronounced "cash") is an accumulation of money, jewelry, gold, or other
valuables, which someone has hidden. When people bury a cache, they usually put it in a
strongbox or in a jar. To search for a cache, you first need a reason to believe the cache
may exist. This means doing research. Some caches have been the subject of many stories
you can read about in print, but you need to be able to sort fact from fiction. If you can get
copies of old newspaper stories about the circumstances surrounding the hiding of the
cache, you may find discrepancies which help you to judge the reliability of the
information available. Often the best information on an old cache is to be learned from old
timers who live in the area where the cache is thought to be. In the case of newer caches,
often the only information is what can be obtained from family and acquaintances of the
person who is believed to have hidden the cache.
The ownership of a cache is not always clear. Sometimes it belongs to the person or heirs
of the person who hid it, sometimes it belongs to the owner of the property on which it is
located, and sometimes it belongs to the person who finds it -- or some combination of the
above. If the contents of the cache were stolen, this fact can also complicate the question
of ownership. Find out what laws apply to the cache in question, and always make sure
that the issue of ownership is resolved prior to recovering a cache.
Compared to a coin, a cache is usually large and deep. Searching in Motion All Metal
mode is recommended. However, for a really deep cache, it may be advantageous to
search in STAT mode, frequently pulling the trigger momentarily to maximize sensitivity.

Shallow Water Hunting

All Fisher Research Labs searchcoils are waterproof, allowing you to search in shallow
water about two feet deep. If searching around water, be careful not to get the electronics
housing wet. Avoid salt spray, as it will work its way into the control housing and damage
the electronics -- such damage is not covered by the warranty.
Both fresh and salt water beaches are popular places for metal detecting. Vacationers lose
money and jewelry playing in the sand and in the water. It is usually easy to dig in a beach
environment, and metal detecting is permitted on most beaches. Occasionally you may be
able to help someone recover a piece of jewelry they have lost minutes before, this is a
gratifying experience.
When searching on a beach, it is best to either search in Motion All Metal mode, or to
search with the discrimination level set just high enough to eliminate iron, because the
value of beach finds is largely in the jewelry rather than in the coins. You will dig a lot of
aluminum trash, but the digging is easy, and you can tell people that you are helping to
clean up the beach and make it safer for people's feet. We recommend the use of special
sand scoop for recovering valuables from the sand quickly -- most metal detector dealers
sell these.
The electrical conductivity of the water itself can pose some challenges. You may get false
signals when going into and coming out of the water, making it necessary to pay careful
attention to keep the coil either in or out of the water, but not to touch the surface. This
effect may be observed in either fresh or salt water.
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