Nice publicity for our hobby--BS

I saw this on another site and it was being touted as being a positive thing for our hobby. [www.msn.com]

I find it to be just the opposite. While I agree that the detectorist did good and was able to find the ring and that shows what a detectorist can and did do when called upon, the article itself was bad for the hobby.

It may show what the general public thinks about detectorists as a whole and even the couple that got the ring back does not think highly of detectorists as a whole. She thinks this guy was not one of them,--"My initial thought when I see these people combing the beach is they find things to sell and get the money. He wasn't one of them."

Even the detectorists that found the ring did us no good with this statement--"I said to myself, well I need to get down there immediately because anybody with a metal detector could just come on by and find that and it could be gone forever," he said.

Later in the article she says--" He realized that if he had waited to come, the chances are that someone else would have found it, and they probably would have kept it,"

So ,I look at this and think what people that are not familiar with the hobby might think about detectorists. ---That this was a rare case of what a detectorists would do as most of them are out to make money. When,in fact I think almost all detectorists would return the ring under those circumstances.

When the general public reads an article written like this I think they may come away with the conclusion that all detectorists should do this and that most would not. That is what the article is touting and it is backed up by statements from the loser and the finder of the ring.

The general public might think that something should be done to keep those people( detectorists) from keeping things that they found. I don't think the general public understands metal detecting and this article did not do much to help that overall misconception. Without the negative comments by the losers and the finder of the ring it could have been a better article. Overall I feel the article did more harm than good.

I have enough laws on what I am allowed to do with finds as it is, If people stick me with any more Laws I think I will take up Mine Clearance , They will be welcome to my finds then, I was bought up to share

John

I'd rather see these stories than battlefield parks pillaged in the night.

No good deed shall go unpunished.

It is hard to think of what would be a good story/article for the hobby if presented to the general public. Probably not one. If people that are interested in the hobby and are seeking information such as by going to forums and maybe Facebook or youtube, it could be good if the hobby is represented well. Things such as magazines and detectors for sale at public places that entice people to get into the hobby are not good in my opinion.

There will have to be a certain amount of people in the hobby for it to profitable for new technology to be developed.

Last year they slapped a "Free Detectorist Permit" on us for dirt-fishing.
Everyone and their dog got one. Thinking,... nice now we can more easily get permission from a private landowner.

Because now we are "Certified Detectorists",... even I am a Certified.

This year they slapped some additional laws on the Certified Detectorists.

Everything before 1965 has to be declared to the archeological service,... Left Right,... Knockout!

Lawmakers think we are thieving, fringe of society, in it for the money, dropouts.
Talk about being disconnected from reality and forcing "The Hobby" deeper underground.

I adhere to the age old saying:"Loosers Weepers, Finders Keepers"
We talk about rings, wallets, cell-phones,... etc etc,... all material stuff.
But just ask the life-guards how many kids are lost at the beach on a busy day,... certainly more than rings, wallets, cell-phones, combined!
And when people loose their kids,... they expect a whole team of care-takers to react within seconds to go find their "property".

The Human Race and it's thinking patterns is just about as crazy as can be!

HH
Johnb

I like your thinking JohnB - If I were living in your neck of the woods I would be doing everything/anything to be your hunting buddy -

Sure anyone can learn to detect but i am sure they would learn a great deal more hanging out with you good sir -

Stay safe & HH

Vincent

[www.earthscan.co.nz]

In the UK the archeologist make us 'all' out too be the thieving rogues indirectly using metal detectors,but rest assured they are far from being squeaky clean themselves,as long as i abide by the guidelines that are set down,and on legal land permission then i dont get screwed up by these social media reports,events like this story and many others can be manipulated by the news media anyway they want as long as it makes a good story even more juicy.