Big Boys Hobbies

The need for a shovel?

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Trekker519

Junior Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2019
Messages
43
Location
Kitchener, Canada
How badly is a shovel needed for most metal detecting. I am going to the store this weekend to get my first detector and all the stuff. I am wondering if i should get a Letsche 18” or 31” shovel or just the hand tool? As of right now i am thinking of getting the 31” and just a small hand digger/tool from somewhere else
 
Depends on where and what you hunt. Relic hunting in the woods or a field? Get a Sampson or other small shovel. Digging parks and yards? Not necessary or even practical to carry around all day. Heck, even a Lesche isn't necessary if you're mostly recovering shallow, recently dropped targets in parks. Some people use Hori Hori style gardening knives or even screwdrivers. I carry a Lesche on my belt, but use a 9" Wilcox gardening trowel a lot for shallow targets and further digging out a hole.

I have a Sampson shovel, but only really use it on private properties where I know I'm going to dig a lot of deep 8"+ targets and there's no concern about appearances. I can dig a perfectly clean plug with a Sampson shovel, but as you've probably seen on YouTube, it's also very fast in the woods or a field to dig in the shovel and pry up the dirt.
 
For a 12” deep hole, maybe half a foot accross how long would it take to dig with the lesche handheld tool vs the shovel. Im guessing thats the deepest hole i would do. I have no experience digging
 
Also what about using the 18” sampson while kneeling. How hard is that? Or is the grip and leverage similar to the hand tool when digging kneeled with the 18”
 
Trekker519 said:
Also what about using the 18” sampson while kneeling. How hard is that? Or is the grip and leverage similar to the hand tool when digging kneeled with the 18”
Click to expand...

I have had an 18" Sampson most of my detecting time, and it has been great! As far as kneeling, I don't kneel in general, but using the Mini-18 when I am down(after the first stand-up dig), is sweet for the widening or "wedging" the plug deeper.

I say, "Go for it." You will appreciate the 18 the more you use it. It is so much more efficient and productive than a short hand digger IMO. Less scratching of targets compared to stabbing around with a short digger such as the Lesche. Jm2c.
 
Trekker519 said:
I have no experience digging
Click to expand...

With this in mind, please, please practice a little in your own yard first! The most important impact you can have on public perception of our hobby is the condition in which you leave a site after retrieving your targets. It's not hard to cut a plug right and leave no trace, but it's even easier to do it wrong!

Sorry for going a little off topic, and I don't mean to imply you aren't intending to learn to do things right, but it's too important not to mention! :yes:
 
Trekker519 said:
How badly is a shovel needed for most metal detecting. I am going to the store this weekend to get my first detector and all the stuff. I am wondering if i should get a Letsche 18” or 31” shovel or just the hand tool? As of right now i am thinking of getting the 31” and just a small hand digger/tool from somewhere else
Click to expand...

When i first started I tried a small digging tool which I found to be too small for my needs.. No matter how well you might think you have the target pin pointed, I often find the actual target not quite where it was expected and ended up digging more. Additionally, I found I did more damage to the turf this way with several cuts..

But with the short handled shovel I have been using since, I find it easier on the beach to heap out a large bunch of sand. On turf, I find that I can dig down deep enough, wide enough to catch the target and when done properly, the half plug I rotate out of the hole to search for the target returns back to it's original spot so that the grass isn't traumatized. I always go back a few weeks later to see if my holes have repaired themselves of if I left a dead spot in the grass, and so far so good, you couldn't tell I had been there except for some dirt that didn't all get back into the hole.. It took a little practice but I have my technique down pat that works well (my lawn still looks good where I practiced ;)

But each their own, it's what you're most comfortable with.
 

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Overkill I know but i have 7 different tools for digging depending on conditions
 
Martin_V3i said:
I have had an 18" Sampson most of my detecting time, and it has been great! As far as kneeling, I don't kneel in general, but using the Mini-18 when I am down(after the first stand-up dig), is sweet for the widening or "wedging" the plug deeper.

I say, "Go for it." You will appreciate the 18 the more you use it. It is so much more efficient and productive than a short hand digger IMO. Less scratching of targets compared to stabbing around with a short digger such as the Lesche. Jm2c.
Click to expand...

So you do a few slice standing up and then kneel and make it better? Do you have leverage issues when using a 18” shovel to widen the plugs while kneeling?
 
Trekker519 said:
So you do a few slice standing up and then kneel and make it better? Do you have leverage issues when using a 18” shovel to widen the plugs while kneeling?
Click to expand...

I very seldom kneel at all but I can get leverage, even down, unless I find I have the need to widen by several inches. I get back up for that. No tool is perfect.
 
I MD the beach and rocky and concrete-type sandy areas. I sometimes use a crow-bar, sometimes a large screw driver, sometimes a trowel, sometimes a toy strainer (for fine sand), sometimes a sand scoop, sometimes a water scoop, and sometimes I use an ice cream scoop - yap, depends on conditions.
 
Get a digger that is made for metal detecting. Anything larger may get you thrown out of parks and you don't want to show up at a permission with anything large.
 
FWIW. Imagine if you looked outside your window and witnessed someone with a shovel digging holes in your manicured lawn. How would you feel? Myself and a detecting friend went to a local park yesterday to detect. Upon our arrival, we came upon 6 plugs that were dug the size of a dinner plate. In addition to the size, the plugs were not hinged allowing the plug to be returned without it sticking out like a sore thumb. It was obvious the plugs were not dug with a small hand held spade/digger but something much larger. I understand there is a proper time and place for a shovel. However, one of the places is diffidently not in a public park with manicured lawns.
 
pacer said:
FWIW. Imagine if you looked outside your window and witnessed someone with a shovel digging holes in your manicured lawn. How would you feel?
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I was watching some videos produced by a couple of guys who door knock old nice houses. The videos are hole after hole with a little commentary. Not instructional at all. You don't see them swing or pinpoint, discuss target ID, or use a shovel or hand digger, or even dig any bad targets.

What you can't help but see are the craters they're digging for everything, and not always nice three sided flaps. They're just sucking up targets as fast as possible while still getting it on camera. I kid you not, one Indian Head penny was in the wall of a 12" diameter hole. A Mercury dime was a few inches deep in a hefty 10 inch diameter plug. Shot after shot of the same. Even worse, they're not using any sort of towel or piece of tarp to get all of the dirt back in the hole, so they're leaving depressions all of the place. I'm all for speed and kicking up some dirt when it doesn't make any difference, but I would be embarrassed to dig like that in the yard of a nice old home. Yet, apparently homeowners haven't stopped them. Of course, they wouldn't show that on camera either.
 
I use both the hand tool and shovel. I have the PredatorTools Piranha shovel, which is 40 inches long which saves my back from bending. Great for digging deep, too, and it has serrated edges which cuts through roots like nothing. I have dug as deep as 15 inches. I'd probably use a smaller shovel for pubic parks for appearances.
 
A follow up to my previous post. If a detectorist can't accurately pinpoint a target in a area no less than the size of a dinner plate, they shouldn't be in a public park to start off with. If they need practice pinpointing, perhaps they should practice in their own yard/lawn. That way there should be no issues how big a plug they dig.

I for one have never needed or relied on a shovel to retrieve a target in a public park. With my detector, I'm able to accurately pinpoint a target to a very small area, then utilize both my hand held pinpointer and brass probe. Then use my White's Digmaster hand digging tool. Usually, my hinged plug is no larger than 2.5"-3" in diameter. Proper plugging is a art and takes some practice to leave no trace.

However, in the field or areas with no manicured lawns, that's another story. In area's other than public parks, my Predator Piranha shovel has never let me down. I just dig away as needed.
 
I use a Predator 58LT Ultra Eagle shovel on deeper targets, even in parks. The blade is no longer than a Lesche hand digger and only a bit wider. I can cut a neat softball size plug with no bending or kneeling, retrieve the target and replace the plug with no damage. Plenty of people have watched me with suspicion but after I am done, they go about their business and say nothing. I tell you , its not the tool, its the execution....
 
I am the OP. Thanks for the responses. As of right now i an thinking of getting the lesche hand tool and also the 31” lesche sampson. Then down the road possibly getting a full length regular shovel for middle of the forest stuff. I think the hand tool should cover most things and the 31” sampson is short enough to put in my backpack and just have sticking out a bit for less bending (for non public areas)
 
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