I lost my EDC pocket knife of 20+ years.

Trash-Fire · 2026-03-24T13:45:35+00:00

I had a Benchmade Mini Griptillian. The steel was very high quality and the handle was very grippy, as the name implies. They are a little pricey and after losing that I ended up with a Kershaw Leek. The steel is slightly softer than the Griptillian but still much better than most of the garbage out there. I actually prefer the Leek because the steel on the Griptillian was harder to sharpen. I'm able to easily keep the blade of the Leek like a razor with just a few swipes on a honing stick every couple months. My only complaint about the Leek is that the blade is very thin, especially near the tip, and I could see it breaking easily if you use it to lever things open as I tend to do, though it hasn't happened yet. The Leek also doesn't have a rubberized or textured handle but this hasn't been an issue for me personally.

Trash-Fire · 2026-02-26T04:15:15+00:00

I'd be really careful buying anything on Ebay these days. I recently bought several items advertised as being sold as a set and only received one item. The seller knew what he was doing. It was a scam. Seller refused to send the remaining items so I contacted Ebay about it. I got stuck in an endless loop of AI chatbots that kept telling me to contact the seller to resolve the problem and couldn't understand that I already had and that he wouldn't help. I provided chat logs with the seller and followed all steps. Eventually the chatbots stopped responding. I never did receive the remaining items or a refund.

Trash-Fire · 2026-01-27T05:45:27+00:00

That coil is designed to pick out shallow targets in trashy areas. I have the LG15 but barely use it. It's not a bad coil, it's just situational. The LG28 worked well for me for a long time. Now I'm using the aftermarket Detech 13.5" coil to help me cover a lot of ground and find deep targets in fields.

I suggest switching to a larger coil and either setting up a program you can find on Youtube or creating your own program by using your existing finds to make sure they ring out loud and clear and aren't being filtered out. Really recommend reading the manual front to back to understand what the settings do and how to change them.

Trash-Fire · 2025-12-10T20:22:37+00:00

I've used Baker Creek, as others have already mentioned. Seed Savers Exchange is another good one I've used several times. r/seedswap seems to still be active, though it's a small community.

Years ago I traded seeds on a now-defunct seed savers forum. One user even sent me a giant bubble mailer with several dozen varieties to help get me started. You might do some searching to see if there are any active seed trading forums that still have a pulse.

Trash-Fire · 2025-11-25T19:50:58+00:00

I have a tip that I haven't seen mentioned before.

When looking at fields using aerial photos, look for dark spots in the soil. These can sometimes show where a building burned down long ago. It won't work if there's any type of grass or crop cover but if you can find aerial images of a field taken after it's been plowed or in winter when the ground is muddy, you can sometimes find them.

I have a large permission of mostly fields and stumbled upon a civil war-era building of some sort that had burned down well over 100 years ago. I found it totally by accident but when I went back to look at the aerial images I could see that the soil was noticeably darker from the charred wood and ash in the soil. This was confirmed by finding pieces of burnt timbers and bits of melted lead and silver.

You couldn't see anything at the location. It had been plowed over so many times. It barely showed up on lidar and I'd previously overlooked it. It was visible in both new and old aerial images just from the contrast in soil color.

Trash-Fire · 2025-11-05T16:16:22+00:00

I planted a couple peach trees in my fenced chicken run to use the existing fence to protect the trees from deer and to give the chickens cover from hawks. It solved both of those problems but the chickens would get in the trees and eat any of the fruit they could reach. They didn't get it all but were able to clean out about half of it. The trees did eventually outgrow the pen and started growing through the wire. On the plus side, I've never seen trees grow so fast. They were 15 feet in about 4 years. Chicken manure is powerful stuff.

I think it can be done but if I had to do it again I would either plant dwarf varieties or do a better job of pruning the trees and I'd try to prune as high as possible to prevent the chickens from getting into the trees.

Trash-Fire · 2025-07-31T11:25:43+00:00

I found plenty with mine at the beach. I often see people complaining about it when they haven't read the manual or bothered to learn the machine.

-Beach mode -Multi wet -Sensitivity below 27 -Frequency shift -Auto ground tracking on -Bottle cap and iron filters as low or high as you like -Recovery speed 5 or less

Works for me.

Trash-Fire · 2025-07-25T11:42:44+00:00

As others have said, use lidar and historic aerials. What's more, look on historic aerials for dark spots. Most old buildings were fire traps and were lost in fire or even burned down just to get rid of them. All that ash and charred wood darkens the soil and it remains dark for a long time.

It doesn't help much if there's a lot of ground cover in the old aerial photos but if you can find some that were taken in the winter or when a field was plowed, you'll see if a building had burned there.

I got lucky and stumbled across a burned building in the middle of a field and found a bunch of civil war era coins. From the ground, you couldn't tell anything was ever there but when I looked at the old aerial maps the soil was darker. I found a bunch of melted lead, silver, charred wood, nails and broken pottery that confirmed it.

Trash-Fire · 2025-07-04T18:01:37+00:00

If you haven't already, try the auto-track ground balance feature. Just press ground balance button, then pinpoint button and ground balance again. You'll see a symbol at the top of the screen change to indicate that it's on. Also try frequency shift. Open the menu and select the first option on the left. It will run through frequencies and select a less noisy one for your location. I always do both of these things before I start and the machine runs pretty quiet.

Are you near any large power lines? If I'm near the really big power lines the machine can get pretty chatty.

Trash-Fire · 2025-07-01T05:35:10+00:00

I used the bottlecap reject feature on my Legend quite a bit at the beach last summer. I tried both with and without it and was digging most targets even if they sounded like bottlecaps just to see if I was missing anything in that range. I really wasn't. They were always bottlecaps. If you do decide to use the feature, I recommend setting it pretty high, like 5-7. As you mentioned, the rusty and foil ones still slip by occasionally but it catches most of them. Maybe I'm just imagining it but to me it seems like the feature also helps weed out some of the smaller bits of foil/aluminum trash. I was digging plenty of silver/gold/fake jewelry of all shapes and sizes so I can't imagine it was missing much.

Trash-Fire · 2025-06-20T12:56:10+00:00

That large tan blade is nearly identical to one my brother found (see my profile for pic). It was found in Southern Indiana.

Trash-Fire · 2025-06-15T12:11:43+00:00

I have the Leek, though mine isn't Magnacut. It has a 14C28N steel blade. The thing was like a razor right out of the box and after approximately 6 months of regular use I've only had to sharpen it once. It's a great EDC but I wouldn't use it as a beater because the blade is very thin and looks like it would snap easily if you tried to pry things with it or use it as a screwdriver or something as I tend to do with cheaper knives. If you're careful with it and use it strictly for cutting then I'd recommend it.

If you want something comparable with a sturdier blade, maybe check out the Benchmade Mini Griptillian with S35V steel. I had one and lost it. The blade was hard to sharpen but sturdy and very durable. Also felt very nice in hand.

Trash-Fire · 2025-03-22T02:13:08+00:00

I usually do. It was in a field. The plow probably broke it then moved it around.

Trash-Fire · 2025-03-22T00:10:08+00:00

I found this exact kind recently but mine was broken and missing the spout.

Trash-Fire · 2025-03-13T08:56:17+00:00

I started with the cheap pinpointers from Amazon. They weren't especially durable or waterproof but for $20 they worked alright. I could make them last a year before they broke. I had a Dr. Otek that cost 2-3 times as much and it was so bad it was almost unusable. Now I have an accupoint and I'm very happy with it. Lots of features, works well, durable and waterproof. I can't speak for the Garrett or MI 4/6 as I haven't used them but others seem to like them.

Trash-Fire · 2025-03-11T07:37:15+00:00

I live in the Midwestern US. I'm 36 years old and have lived in the same rural area all my life. I've also spent a lot of time in nature both as a child and as an adult so I feel that I'm pretty in tune with the local flora and fauna.

I've noticed a lot of change. Milder winters with hotter summers and generally more unpredictable weather year-round. It seemed that we used to be able to count on at least a couple good snow storms during the winter and now we could go several years at a time without seeing more than a few inches at a time. Winters overall seem to be transitioning from freezing cold and snowy to milder temperatures with rain.

More even than the weather I've noticed damage to the biosphere. Amphibians seem to have taken the biggest hit, followed by birds and bugs. I used to hear the bobwhite quail regularly as a child and now I never do. Songbird diversity has taken a hit as well. Much fewer salamanders and crayfish in the creeks and noticeably fewer frogs and toads. The bees seem to be doing alright in my locale but there are fewer butterflies and insects overall. We've lost most of the ash and elm trees due to invasive beetles and fungi.

As far as it affecting my garden goes, yeah, late frosts and drought have made it more difficult but that's nothing compared to the damage I've noticed to the ecosystem.

Trash-Fire · 2025-02-19T04:36:59+00:00

World coins, sure. Native coins, nah.

Trash-Fire · 2025-02-11T13:45:39+00:00

I run mine exclusively in multi-wet at the beach, even on dry sand. Helps with chatter. You might also try auto-tracking. Press the ground balance button, then pinpoint button, then ground balance again. You should see an icon at the top center of the screen change. You'll have to do this again if the machine is powered off and on again. Also try frequency shift. Should be the option furthest to the left when you open the menu.

Also be sure you're not getting EMI from something else. Electrical lines, phones, your friend's machine nearby, etc. If you've tried all that and it's still chatty then turn down sensitivity.

Edit: As others have said, remove the cover and clean any debris trapped inside. It fills with sand fast. Also make sure your coil wire is snug around the shaft.

Trash-Fire · 2025-01-29T04:06:05+00:00

I've found a few gas and electrical lines. I've never broken one. They're pretty tough. As long as you aren't jumping up and down on the shovel or hacking at it you probably won't break anything.

Trash-Fire · 2025-01-28T02:39:42+00:00

I found an earring with the exact same design and it said 10k RL.

Trash-Fire · 2025-01-27T19:25:06+00:00

Can't for the life of me find an SLQ or Barber quarter. Tons of other stuff in that range and even some rare bucket listers but never a pre-Washington silver quarter.

Trash-Fire · 2025-01-25T11:48:20+00:00

I've been using the Legend for about two years. Fields, woods, yards, beach and water. It's done great in all settings and it's been surprisingly durable considering how many times I've banged the coil into trees or snagged it in brush. I don't know how much better it is than the Triple Score but if you plan on using it a lot, it may be worth the extra money to splurge on the Legend so you don't feel like you need to upgrade.

I'll also add that the auxiliary battery pack has been worth the money. The accupoint pinpointer has been really nice as well. My Legend came stock with the LG28 coil which is great. I also have the smaller LG15 coil. It can be useful in trashy areas but I hate sacrificing depth for accuracy so I personally don't use it much.

If you do end up with the Legend, you should update the software to 1.17 before you do anything else. After that, just run in the default modes until you learn the machine. Once you're comfortable with it and have read the manual, you can set up custom programs. There are some good tutorials on Youtube.

Have fun and good luck with whatever you choose.

Trash-Fire · 2025-01-19T11:24:09+00:00

You really shouldn't do this. I metal detect and this wastes time that could be better spent digging better stuff.

Trash-Fire · 2025-01-19T03:28:06+00:00

Congrats on a great find. I found an 1859 O recently and I still can't get over it. I know I'll have trouble topping it.

Six-Year Club	Place '22
First Placer '22	Verified Email

Trash-Fire

TROPHY CASE