revelations, disappointments, pull tabs and inner peace

Most of the pulltabs I dig are pretty solid....even some deep ones....granted "deep" only means 6 or 8 inches....haven't measured it....but I think that's about right. I think the location is key like you say. I need to stay in the wet sand to avoid so many pulltabs as they would get washed away...the dry sand just collects them.....and holds them for me. I am going to set up a test at home....and maybe on the beach too....to see if I can recreate what you are saying about the differences. Thanks !
I would agree with those depth #s on pulltabs. And they sound solid like a ring. But I think Tom's definition of storm erosion is much different than others. His areas need 15-20' surf for major erosion amongst other conditions. If we had that down south , it would be insanely epic. But I would be careful in defining wet sand hunting and no or less tabs. Here , we can have 3-5' surf and good erosion with extreme tides. The problem is the only thing out in the wet wasteland is exactly that. Pulltabs and bottlecaps down to 8". A total joke and waste of time. The heavier targets are up higher.
 
I would agree with those depth #s on pulltabs. And they sound solid like a ring. But I think Tom's definition of storm erosion is much different than others. His areas need 15-20' surf for major erosion amongst other conditions. If we had that down south , it would be insanely epic. But I would be careful in defining wet sand hunting and no or less tabs. Here , we can have 3-5' surf and good erosion with extreme tides. The problem is the only thing out in the wet wasteland is exactly that. Pulltabs and bottlecaps down to 8". A total joke and waste of time. The heavier targets are up higher.

Yes. Each beach acclimates to its own "norms". And yes, since all your southern CA beaches face south, and since they're somewhat protected by the channel Islands, this means you won't get the Alaskan (N/W) swells. Your swells are from storms spinning down by the equator, and sending swells all the way north to you. And since that's SO far to travel, then by the time they get to you, they are much tamer than the Alaskan swells we see hit our NW facing beaches, here where I'm at. Thus yes, Southern CA can get erosion at just 5 ft. or whatever.

We do have a few SW facing beaches here (like Santa Cruz), and .... just like your beaches, .... all it needs is 4 or 5 ft. , to last for a few days @ high tide times, and then yes it porks out goodies.
 
Lord those corona caps are everywhere and the ones with foil sound a lot like a dime....bottle cap count this year since June is 1180. Thing is I can always tell it's a bottle cap....but I still have to dig it...because sometimes you dig a bottle cap and realize it was masking an additional signal....granted it is usually just another bottle cap....but sometimes it's a quarter next to a nickel next to a dime...so....gotta check it out....only way for me to make it interesting is to have a goal....so 1500 bottle caps for the year is my goal.

I am always listening for that pull tab sound that is just a little different...but haven't heard it yet.....so maybe when I do....then I will understand the difference between pull tab and gold. time will tell.....do doubt. hmm...I guess I could just do some testing at home ... DOH ! why didn't I think of that ?!

You can make a pull-tab collection. When I was younger, I used to collect at least a pound of pull-tabs a hunt. I made a collection tentatively called "Half a Century of Pull-tabs" and it was sitting on my TV stand. I was even thinking about making a research on the topic. Now I am older and wiser. I just discriminate away those pull-tabs (and gold, of course) on some beaches and enjoy the hunt which does not turn into constant digging anymore.
And nearly forgot. Those Corona bottle caps come in half dozens and dozens. If you do not get that count from a bottle cap spill, you missed some.
 
You can make a pull-tab collection. When I was younger, I used to collect at least a pound of pull-tabs a hunt. I made a collection tentatively called "Half a Century of Pull-tabs" and it was sitting on my TV stand. I was even thinking about making a research on the topic. Now I am older and wiser. I just discriminate away those pull-tabs (and gold, of course) on some beaches and enjoy the hunt which does not turn into constant digging anymore.
And nearly forgot. Those Corona bottle caps come in half dozens and dozens. If you do not get that count from a bottle cap spill, you missed some.

You're right sometimes I miss one.....'cause I find them on my next pass of that grid point. I mean I've found 1160 in 5 months....so I can't be missing many right ??? Not that I'm proud of that...lol. The pull tabs I keep in a baggie...the local metal detecting club collects them and donates them. I don't know if I will ever be able to just pass them up.....especially if I do find a ring digging one at some point. And though I've metal detected off and on for the last 30 years, I am relatively new at beach metal detecting as much as I get to now.....Point is....maybe it will get old...after I reach my goal this year of 1000....as long as I don't find anything good !
 
Somebody once posted a ratio of 3,000 pull tabs to 1 gold ring.

That’s silly. The ratio is MUCH higher

:laughing: don't know why I am laughing....your number sounds sadly more accurate. Though, I do still hope to prove you wrong ! But also that means I will probably find a ring sometime over the next 2 years and 1 month....and that's something to look forward to ???
 
:laughing: don't know why I am laughing....your number sounds sadly more accurate. Though, I do still hope to prove you wrong ! But also that means I will probably find a ring sometime over the next 2 years and 1 month....and that's something to look forward to ???

Hunt in the water less tabs there.. I rarely find them hunting in the water... fishing weights are my pull tabs
 
Ok guys ...you are for some reason obsessed with counts. So this a rough guess and very close to accurate. But I have never counted , but it is interesting.
As Tom says it's about location , which I think varies on demographics and style of hunt. I probably get 5 or 6 pulltabs a hunt. Not that many. Because I hunt the slope and wet sand. There are many more in the dry which I seldom hunt. Bottlecaps are a different story. I'd say 10-15. Sometimes only a few. But I also hunt with a PI machine as my primary weapon of choice. This gun can drive you bonkers in the dry after a heavy drinking weekend crowd. Because I hunt the slope/wet sand my count would have to be around 1 ring for every 250 tabs , caps. Keep in mind I have hunts of 6,7 or 8 rings in 1 hunt and maybe 10 caps. These rings will consist of any combination of junk , silver , gold.
 
I can not tell if a target is a ring or not. I have found some gold that sounded like it was in the foil range all the way up to zinc pennies.

Today was another bust. Stepped on the beach and in seconds had a quarter, a dime and a felix penny. Two city blocks and back i had found three dimes and a few more felix pennies. Water, Wet and almost dry. Three hours of walking gave me a decent workout.

My beaches are Wide and Flat. I need some erosion.
 
I can not tell if a target is a ring or not. I have found some gold that sounded like it was in the foil range all the way up to zinc pennies.

Today was another bust. Stepped on the beach and in seconds had a quarter, a dime and a felix penny. Two city blocks and back i had found three dimes and a few more felix pennies. Water, Wet and almost dry. Three hours of walking gave me a decent workout.

My beaches are Wide and Flat. I need some erosion.

Agreed on the sounds. To me pulltabs and rings sound about the same on my PI. Bottlecaps a little different due to the size and metal , I can usually guess correctly. What is odd and I don't know why : some bands I have found make a ring or ping sound. Very high pitched , like dropping a ring on tile. Very distinct. These are always thick bands over 10 grams. Rare nowadays , but I get very excited when I hear this sound. For I know what it is.
 
Agreed on the sounds. To me pulltabs and rings sound about the same on my PI.....

Well Kob-enstein, you know what this means don't you ? It doesn't mean that they "sound the same". It just means that you "need more practice". Tsk tsk. And if, in a year from now, they STILL sound the same, then that merely means you need 2 yrs. practice. And if they still sound the same in 2 yrs, that merely means you need 5 yrs. practice. And so on, till infinity. See ? Shame on you for not ascending to the "zen" status of knowing the difference via tones. Tsk tsk. :laughing:
 
Well Kob-enstein, you know what this means don't you ? It doesn't mean that they "sound the same". It just means that you "need more practice". Tsk tsk. And if, in a year from now, they STILL sound the same, then that merely means you need 2 yrs. practice. And if they still sound the same in 2 yrs, that merely means you need 5 yrs. practice. And so on, till infinity. See ? Shame on you for not ascending to the "zen" status of knowing the difference via tones. Tsk tsk. :laughing:
Tsk.tsk. Maybe you should READ , COMPREHEND the entire sentence. Why do you have a problem taking words out of text ? It's constant with you. Kinda like permissions. You missed a key word Tom : "almost". You also keep dissing a PI. My guess is you've never spent any time on 1. I'm not talking about a couple hunts here and there either. But that's on you. I never want to be "Zen" status. Because then I would be crying about needing the perfect storm for erosion or I just won't go out... It's ok Tom. I know your burnt on beach hunting. I can't dwell on the "golden era" of beach detecting. But I will always look forward to tomorrow....
 
.... You also keep dissing a PI......


No no no, my jab wasn't about PI's vs VLFs vs MF's vs multi-IQ vs TR vs BFO, etc...... Sorry if you took it that way. It was about the ability to tell aluminum apart from gold with ANY detector !!

Those that claim it can be done (with any type of detector), will not accept that someone claims that it there's not a difference in sound. They will just say "you need more practice" (which , as you can see, ends in an eternal claim).

That's all I was saying !
 
7 pull tabs to one 'old ring'

Found this old "Posey" ring after digging the exact same tone of 7 pull tabs last October. The ring was in a pile of shells with building beach sand. Everything was not anywhere 'good conditions'.

I realize I will now have to dig 1 million pull tabs to get another ring.
 

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No no no, my jab wasn't about PI's vs VLFs vs MF's vs multi-IQ vs TR vs BFO, etc...... Sorry if you took it that way. It was about the ability to tell aluminum apart from gold with ANY detector !!

Those that claim it can be done (with any type of detector), will not accept that someone claims that it there's not a difference in sound. They will just say "you need more practice" (which , as you can see, ends in an eternal claim).

That's all I was saying !
Ok. Sorry , I thought you were serious. But you were joking.
 
My pulltab to gold ring ratio is probably around 500 to 1 (just found a gold ring the otherday so the counter has been reset now :wow:). There have been hunts where I dig 100 tabs and stop depending on the location. A few times I would dig modern tabs which come up as a 56 and then the next 56 ends up being a gold ring. If you don't dig aluminum, foil, and zinc signals you are missing out on potential gold rings and I believe most of the rings I have found were passed up by other hunters not willing to dig trash. I hate those dang gold colored tabs but you never know it might be a ring the next one.
 
I can call a pull tab or ring pull at least 80% of the time, probably even more like 90%, and so can you, whether you hunt dirt or sand or water. Whether you swing a Equinox, AT, Bounty Hunter, -- It doesn't matter. Even if you're a beginner. It's not even that hard.

Don't believe me? Just get your coil over a target in the pull tab range and say - "Pull tab"!
The vast majority of the time, you will have nailed it. -
 
I can call a pull tab or ring pull at least 80% of the time, probably even more like 90%, and so can you, whether you hunt dirt or sand or water. Whether you swing a Equinox, AT, Bounty Hunter, -- It doesn't matter. Even if you're a beginner. It's not even that hard.

Don't believe me? Just get your coil over a target in the pull tab range and say - "Pull tab"!
The vast majority of the time, you will have nailed it. -
:lol::lol::lol:
 
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