Trying to locate a buried flashlight-help

Rev3`16 · Mar 29, 2017

Hey folks,
I lost a $150 flashlight while working at some acreage about 2 months ago. Yes, I should have used the holster

I walked the route of where on the 30+acres I'd been that day, twice, looking visibly and poking around a bit with no luck.
I may have buried it under ~3-10" road base/rock with the tractor that day....or worse case, it may be buried in a 3'Dx12'L trench I filled with a metal culvert and rock....

I now have a Garrett Ace 300 and could use some advice on how best to tone out/discriminate the metal culvert when searching that area-if I don't find the flashlight just in other road or dirt....
Would you just set on highest sensitivity and tone out until you hear 'something different' or can you start by toning out the metal culvert?
Different metals in the flashlight, but manuf. shows aluminum alloy as primary.
http://flashlight.nitecore.com/product/mh25-hunting-kit

I am 'newby' technically as I just bought this Ace 300 and have not learned intricacies yet. Had some old radio shack model in the 70s, but this is much lighter and likely to get more use.
Looking forward to learning and sharing with this group.
Thanks,
Rev3`16 BWC

Mud-puppy · Mar 29, 2017

Thats a tough one there Rev...Under the parameters you detailed, consider it gone forever...Its a bummer to lose a high end piece of gear though....I know exactly where theres a nice Buck knife east of Northhome MN in a beaver swamp I accidentally dropped through the ice back in the Winter of '82....Impossible recovery situation...6' of water and 12' of mud....

.If a guy is outdoors enough, these kind of things just happen..Like I say in my tagline..."Metal returns to the Earth from whence it came"

bowwinkles · Mar 29, 2017

Rev3`16 said:
Hey folks,
I lost a $150 flashlight while working at some acreage about 2 months ago. Yes, I should have used the holster
I walked the route of where on the 30+acres I'd been that day, twice, looking visibly and poking around a bit with no luck.
I may have buried it under ~3-10" road base/rock with the tractor that day....or worse case, it may be buried in a 3'Dx12'L trench I filled with a metal culvert and rock....

I now have a Garrett Ace 300 and could use some advice on how best to tone out/discriminate the metal culvert when searching that area-if I don't find the flashlight just in other road or dirt....
Would you just set on highest sensitivity and tone out until you hear 'something different' or can you start by toning out the metal culvert?
Different metals in the flashlight, but manuf. shows aluminum alloy as primary.
http://flashlight.nitecore.com/product/mh25-hunting-kit

I am 'newby' technically as I just bought this Ace 300 and have not learned intricacies yet. Had some old radio shack model in the 70s, but this is much lighter and likely to get more use.
Looking forward to learning and sharing with this group.
Thanks,
Rev3`16 BWC

I am afraid that with the 300 you will not be able to discriminate due to its block discrimination setup. Take out the culvert and it will probably also take out the flashlight. There is n0 "fine tuning a 300"

Ice Scratcher · Mar 29, 2017

Shoot,

There isn't a MD made that will see a flashlight near a culvert...

<°)))>{

Rev3`16 · Mar 29, 2017

That was what I was hoping to avoid; full day's work pulling and replacing the culvert is not worth the $150.
Seems everyone has the consensus I was expecting, but not what I wanted to hear

The sales guy @ Garrett in Garland TX (I stopped in and toured their museum @ the factory the other day) said something about trying to scan the culvert and notch that out, then keep scanning for other and that may or may not help in at least narrowing down to dig some on one end, rather than pulling the entire culvert....

As much as I enjoy the tractor/loader work, I'd rather move to other projects and get over the flashlight

Rev3`16 · Mar 29, 2017

Ice Scratcher said:
Shoot,

There isn't a MD made that will see a flashlight near a culvert...

<°)))>{

I'll bet the government has something they've designed with our $ that could do it; but they probably are adverse to just letting me borrow that contraption for a few days

tnsharpshooter · Mar 29, 2017

I'd it is buried where you think area wise,,,if you could find a person nearby with a Minelab GPX series machine or Minelab GPZ 7000 that would be best bet IMO.
No guarantees here either.
You might have to dig a deep hole to recover.

Silversmith45 · Mar 30, 2017

I'd go back over the rest of your route too. You don't always find something on your first try.

DiamondDan · Mar 30, 2017

No way you're going to find a flashlight buried next to a metal culvert. Guys are always trying to find new ways to unmask targets next to rusty nails, much less something the size of a culvert. I think you may have to cut your losses on this one, unless you dropped it somewhere else.

Ice Scratcher · Mar 30, 2017

DiamondDan said:
No way you're going to find a flashlight buried next to a metal culvert. Guys are always trying to find new ways to unmask targets next to rusty nails, much less something the size of a culvert. I think you may have to cut your losses on this one, unless you dropped it somewhere else.

That's about what I was getting at also... I don't think there is a machine made that could pick out a silver dollar on the hood of a truck.. Let alone pinpointing..

Masking is an understatement in this case...

<°)))>{

IDXMonster · Mar 30, 2017

The easiest way to find anything is to go buy another one. You will find the original one shortly thereafter....

Ice Scratcher · Mar 30, 2017

IDXMonster said:
The easiest way to find anything is to go buy another one. You will find the original one shortly thereafter....

Tons of truth to that^

Buy a new one and it will roll out from under your truck seat when you slam the brakes on your way home from the store... Lol

<°)))>{

hawgdawg · Mar 30, 2017

I think your best bet would be to walk the property at night hoping it was on when buried and shallow enough to see a glimmer of light . :laughing:

Mikey48 · Apr 1, 2017

IDXMonster said:
The easiest way to find anything is to go buy another one. You will find the original one shortly thereafter....

Other than a miracle, you won't be finding it. The time you spend looking will dwarf the cost of the light. :surrender:

Best to buy another and move on.
If it's under those rocks or around the culvert, it's probably smashed, scratched, and maybe even inoperable.

You would be better served to take the detector and go look for clad.... use the clad to buy :gettinmoney:

a NEW light :facepalm:

Ricki7 · Apr 1, 2017

IDXMonster said:
The easiest way to find anything is to go buy another one. You will find the original one shortly thereafter....

+1 , or buy 15 of the $10 ones and never run out :grin:

Ya never know though you could get lucky and find it !
,,,,HH

Silversmith45 · Apr 1, 2017

Mikey48 said:
If it's under those rocks or around the culvert, it's probably smashed, scratched, and maybe even inoperable.

I found a cheap flashlight under about three inches of dirt. I don't know how long it had been there but i was surprised that it came on when i pressed the button.

Reef Runner · Apr 1, 2017

Ricki7 said:
+1 , or buy 15 of the $10 ones and never run out

Hey Ricki, no need for 15. Nothing ever happens to the cheap ones. Kinda like a cheap pair of sunglasses. They will be with you forever. It's that $150 pair that goes into the drink, or you sit on, as you slide into the car seat. :laughing:

Mikey48 · Apr 1, 2017

Reef Runner said:
Hey Ricki, no need for 15. Nothing ever happens to the cheap ones. Kinda like a cheap pair of sunglasses. They will be with you forever. It's that $150 pair that goes into the drink, or you sit on, as you slide into the car seat.

Or someone "borrows" it

Trying to locate a buried flashlight-help

Rev3`16

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Mud-puppy

bowwinkles

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Ice Scratcher

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Rev3`16

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tnsharpshooter

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Silversmith45

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