Tips
Digging and Recovery: Cut a Clean Plug, Leave No Trace
Recovery is the skill that decides whether you keep your permissions. Tools, plug technique by ground type, and how to get the target out undamaged.
The DetectingLog Blog
Field-tested guides for smarter hunts and more keepers.
Australia
Metal Detecting in Victoria: Miner's Right, Parks and Goldfields
Victoria has Australia's richest detecting ground and a dense rulebook. What a Miner's Right covers, where it stops, and how to read the goldfields.
Australia
Metal Detecting the Australian Goldfields: A Field Guide
Where Australia's gold country is, why nugget hunting needs different gear and technique, how to read old diggings, and the safety that actually matters out there.
Beaches
Beach Detecting After a Storm: Reading Sand Movement
Storms strip sand and expose years of lost jewellery. Here is how to read cuts, scallops and black sand, when to go, and how to work a scoured beach safely.
Gear
Pinpointers: Why They Matter and How to Use One
A pinpointer is the highest-value accessory in detecting. What it does, how to use one properly, what to look for when buying, and the habits that make it pay.
UK
Recording Finds with the Portable Antiquities Scheme
What the PAS is, why recording your finds is worth doing even though it is voluntary, what a Finds Liaison Officer needs from you, and how the process works.
Beaches
Beach Metal Detecting: Tides, Salt, and Settings
Beaches hide gold but punish the unprepared. How to read tides and sand zones, stop salt from wrecking your signals, and protect your gear from corrosion.
Gear
Choosing Your First Metal Detector: An Honest Buying Guide
What actually matters in a first metal detector, which specs are marketing noise, and why the accessories you skip cost you more finds than the machine you pick.
Finds
How to Clean Metal Detecting Finds Without Ruining Them
Most damaged finds are damaged by their finder, not the soil. What is safe to clean, what to leave alone, and the methods that quietly destroy value.
Finds
How to Identify an Old Coin You Have Just Dug
A repeatable method for identifying dug coins — measure, read the metal, decode the inscription, and search properly. Plus where to get expert help free.
Permissions
Metal Detecting in Australia: Permits, Parks, and State Rules
Detecting rules in Australia are set state by state. Here is how Miner's Rights, fossicking licences, heritage law, and park bans fit together.
Permissions
Metal Detecting in the UK: Law, Treasure, and the Code
Permission, the Treasure Act, PAS recording, and why Scotland and Northern Ireland are different. A practical orientation for detecting legally in the UK.
Logbook
Metal Detecting Data: Spot Patterns Across Your Hunts
Finds per hunt, keeper rate, top locations, VDI distribution, depth bands — here is how simple stats reveal patterns your memory would miss.
Permissions
Private by Default: Be Careful Sharing Detecting Locations
Why detectorists should keep their sites private — landowner trust, site preservation, theft risk — and how local-first logging protects your spots.
Logbook
How to Document Finds with Photos, Notes, and Context
Good find records are worth more than the finds. Here is how to photograph, note, and contextualise your detecting finds — and why not to over-clean them.
Planning
Planning a Better Metal Detecting Hunt
Weather, soil, tides, access, and safety — plan your hunt before you leave home to waste fewer trips and dig more. A practical pre-hunt checklist.
Signals
Trash vs Treasure: Improve Your Keeper Rate Over Time
Digging junk is part of detecting — but patterns can cut the wasted digging. Here is how to raise your keeper rate without missing the good finds.
Signals
Metal Detector Settings Explained: Sensitivity to Ground Balance
What sensitivity, discrimination, ground balance and frequency actually do, why "best settings" lists fail, and how to find the setup your ground needs.
Signals
VDI Numbers Explained: Learn Your Detector's Signals
What VDI numbers really mean, why they shift with soil and depth, and how to build your own signal history so you dig smarter and guess less.
Logbook
How GPS Pins Help You Remember Productive Sites
Your memory loses your best detecting spots. Here is how GPS pins help you revisit productive ground — without exposing your sites to anyone else.
Logbook
What to Record in a Metal Detecting Logbook
A good detecting log is a learning system, not a diary. Here is exactly what to record on every hunt so patterns and better finds follow.
Permissions
How to Ask a Landowner for Metal Detecting Permission
A respectful, proven approach to getting metal detecting permission — what to say, what to offer, how to handle no, and what to put in writing.
Permissions
Where Can You Metal Detect Legally? A Practical Checklist
Metal detecting laws vary by country, council, and landowner. Use this check-before-you-dig framework to detect legally and keep your access for good.
Beginners
The Responsible Beginner's Guide to Metal Detecting
Everything a new detectorist needs: choosing gear, getting permission, a simple hunt workflow, and the habits that turn you into a better hunter fast.