Who is the Michael Jordan of metal detecting?

beachclad

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I saw that Minelab referred to Gary Drayton as the Michael Jordan of metal detecting on their Facebook page.

So, who do you all consider to be the "GOAT" of metal detectorists if not Drayton?

I thought about Mel Fisher, but I think he's more like the Babe Ruth of MD'ing.

I'll keep a running count of the votes below. We have two nominees so far.

Nominees:
1. Gary Drayton
2. Mel Fisher
3. Gerhard Fisher
4. Charles Garrett
5. Kurt Franz
6. Jim Brouwer
7. Beau "Aquachigger" Ouimette
8. Steve Herschbach
 
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The real Michael Jordan of detecting will be doing as much as possible to keep a low profile.

Exactly. ALL the real guys of such endeavors NEVER seek out any publicity. They fly under the radar , let others take credit and laugh all the way to the bank. No different than a criminal mastermind that has insulated himself so well that he will NEVER be caught.
 
Loose lips sink ships. I had an entire section of Asia to myself in Asia... now detecting is basically finished. Every unemployed guy has an equinox and swinging it at the beach day and night

Yep, but true newbies to the hobby, with a NOX (first detector), don't worry me too much....lol. They dig a lot of the trash and then my Explorer plays that deep silver song much clearer! No beaches here and the typical newbie hunting grounds have been picked cleaned years ago. Give them a few months and yes, newbies with a NOX could be a problem.....if they learned the machine! On topic: Without regard to MD development, I think there are multiple Michael Jordan's of detecting right here, very good/respectful people and they share their knowledge without any compensation. I learned more form this forum, than from any one person's YouTube channel and such....HH!
 
I saw that Minelab referred to Gary Drayton as the Michael Jordan of metal detecting on their Facebook page.

So, who do you all consider to be the "GOAT" of metal detectorists if not Drayton?

After watching Drayton on The Curse of Oak Island, I googled him and found his website where describes himself as a metal detecting ninja!

After reading that, I couldn't help thinking : "N*b !".....
 
Exactly. ALL the real guys of such endeavors NEVER seek out any publicity. They fly under the radar ....

Mr. KOB, how do you figure ? We men are hard-wired to be competitive. We relish in our trophies and accomplishments. It's in our blood.

So, for example, if you finally accomplish a triple back flip while snow skiing, you DARN WELL HOPE your buddies were there to see it, and that someone captured it on film. If you are NFL's MVP that week, you'll buy an extra copy of Sports Illustrated for your mother , hah. If you catch the trophy sized trout on the lake that season, you will allow the reporter, who asks to take a pix of you standing their with your prize. And so on and so forth the examples flow. Right ?

Metal detector hobbyists are no different !
Why do you think our forums are FILLED with show & tell ? It's a part of the fun to see what each other is finding. Yes, even valuable stuff ! If you doubt me, just scroll back on the larger forum's "finds" sections, and you'll see no lack of valuable stuff. Even caches, gold coins, super rare coins, etc...... And we all enjoy giving them well-deserved "high 5's", right ?

Thus, no, I do not agree that all real successful millionaire md'rs are mysteriously "remaining mum".
 
Mr. KOB, how do you figure ? We men are hard-wired to be competitive. We relish in our trophies and accomplishments. It's in our blood.

So, for example, if you finally accomplish a triple back flip while snow skiing, you DARN WELL HOPE your buddies were there to see it, and that someone captured it on film. If you are NFL's MVP that week, you'll buy an extra copy of Sports Illustrated for your mother , hah. If you catch the trophy sized trout on the lake that season, you will allow the reporter, who asks to take a pix of you standing their with your prize. And so on and so forth the examples flow. Right ?

Metal detector hobbyists are no different !
Why do you think our forums are FILLED with show & tell ? It's a part of the fun to see what each other is finding. Yes, even valuable stuff ! If you doubt me, just scroll back on the larger forum's "finds" sections, and you'll see no lack of valuable stuff. Even caches, gold coins, super rare coins, etc...... And we all enjoy giving them well-deserved "high 5's", right ?

Thus, no, I do not agree that all real successful millionaire md'rs are mysteriously "remaining mum".

Tom, I totally agree. When I was surfing I always wanted my wife and young son to see me catch that perfect wave. It’s in our blood to show off our skills and our accomplishments.
 
Mr. KOB, how do you figure ? We men are hard-wired to be competitive. We relish in our trophies and accomplishments. It's in our blood.

So, for example, if you finally accomplish a triple back flip while snow skiing, you DARN WELL HOPE your buddies were there to see it, and that someone captured it on film. If you are NFL's MVP that week, you'll buy an extra copy of Sports Illustrated for your mother , hah. If you catch the trophy sized trout on the lake that season, you will allow the reporter, who asks to take a pix of you standing their with your prize. And so on and so forth the examples flow. Right ?

Metal detector hobbyists are no different !
Why do you think our forums are FILLED with show & tell ? It's a part of the fun to see what each other is finding. Yes, even valuable stuff ! If you doubt me, just scroll back on the larger forum's "finds" sections, and you'll see no lack of valuable stuff. Even caches, gold coins, super rare coins, etc...... And we all enjoy giving them well-deserved "high 5's", right ?

Thus, no, I do not agree that all real successful millionaire md'rs are mysteriously "remaining mum".

I hate to keep quoting Tom but....^^^^^^ this again!
We ARE definitely still hanging on to our primitive genes which allowed the successful to survive and the weak to perish. Obviously if all you find is garbage, you won’t “perish”...but you won’t be able to hang your thang out for all to see cuz you da man! People who post EVERY iota of ANYTHING they ever find even after being here lots of years...that’s a different issue. I won’t go into what that issue is...but it’s pretty prevalent.
 
The one that hit the most hoops in metal detecting was our hero Mr. Superman with his special ability to view objects underground. :) X ray vision metal detecting
 
I think Kurt from the Hoover Boys gets a MJ comparison, if not MJ certainly an all star. And others on this site also get a nod, take a look at OBNs last year total and also Tom's gold coin count. Some amazing hunters on this forum. I'm sure there are 5 or 6 others on here who should be recognized.
 
Gee.....maybe if we're lucky they'll come out with a set of Gary Drayton trading cards.
It'll be a 1,000 card set showing pictures of him on Oak Island detecting and finding his latest piece of junk. Drayton is no Michael Jordan...…

A better question might be.....If there was a metal detecting Hall Of Fame who would you put in there? My nominees would be Gerhard Fisher and Charles Garrett.
 
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Mr. KOB, how do you figure ? We men are hard-wired to be competitive. We relish in our trophies and accomplishments. It's in our blood.

So, for example, if you finally accomplish a triple back flip while snow skiing, you DARN WELL HOPE your buddies were there to see it, and that someone captured it on film. If you are NFL's MVP that week, you'll buy an extra copy of Sports Illustrated for your mother , hah. If you catch the trophy sized trout on the lake that season, you will allow the reporter, who asks to take a pix of you standing their with your prize. And so on and so forth the examples flow. Right ?

Metal detector hobbyists are no different !
Why do you think our forums are FILLED with show & tell ? It's a part of the fun to see what each other is finding. Yes, even valuable stuff ! If you doubt me, just scroll back on the larger forum's "finds" sections, and you'll see no lack of valuable stuff. Even caches, gold coins, super rare coins, etc...... And we all enjoy giving them well-deserved "high 5's", right ?

Thus, no, I do not agree that all real successful millionaire md'rs are mysteriously "remaining mum".
Because some guys are on a completely different level Tom. Sure , a few minor pics or stories is one thing. But having the confidence and knowledge of KNOWING WITHOUT BRAGGING that you have taken down big scores throughout the years is one's epitome of accomplishment. The only opinion that really counts is your own , not somebody else's. There are many millionaires walking the streets Tom and you wouldn't know it by looking at them. Think about that for a minute.... Are they walking around BRAGGING "hey , I'm a millionaire "? No.
There are reasons why some guys don't post pics of their finds , let alone join forums , clubs ,etc. I haven't even been here a year yet Tom. Think about that for another minute....
 
What about Jim Brouwer and Beau Ouimette (Aquachigger)?

Btw, to qualify, the detectorist must be "like" Jordan in the following three attributes:

1. Already "famous" in the MD world.
2. A long track record of consistent finds, every year.
3. The versatility and skills to detect various landscapes successfully (rivers, beaches, woods, fields, etc.)
 
What about Steve Herschbach , I've been reading a lot on nugget hunting up here and that guy has found some nice gold ...... but I'm new to dectecting and just learning lol
 
I think there’s a dozen plus members on here that qualify :)

A gentleman from Wisconsin comes to mind.


Gary Drayton ahh, claims to be a metal detection expert. How does one achieve that title ? Theres a guy on this forum been at it for over 50 yrs and never heard him claim to be an expert. JMO Mark
 
Because some guys are on a completely different level Tom. Sure , a few minor pics or stories is one thing. But having the confidence and knowledge of KNOWING WITHOUT BRAGGING that you have taken down big scores throughout the years is one's epitome of accomplishment. The only opinion that really counts is your own , not somebody else's. There are many millionaires walking the streets Tom and you wouldn't know it by looking at them. Think about that for a minute.... Are they walking around BRAGGING "hey , I'm a millionaire "? No.
There are reasons why some guys don't post pics of their finds , let alone join forums , clubs ,etc. I haven't even been here a year yet Tom. Think about that for another minute....

Kob, where have I seen this rationale before ? .... OH YEAH : It's in discussions with dowsing and LRL crowd. It works like this: A skeptic is sure to come on-board raising the observation that : "If it works, then why don't we ever see results ? Ie.: Notice that there's never any show-&-tell from the dowser/LRL crowd, eh ?"

But the dowser/LRL crowd is quick to respond , Exactly as you did here. Along the lines of : "Rest assured, we are finding all sorts of big ticket treasures. But it's just that we don't feel the need to boast. And we're afraid of thieves targeting our homes, and the IRS to come knocking at our door".

But .... rest assured: They find big ticket treasures all the time. Eh ? So too does your fall-back sound all-too-familiar .

An important distinction here to factor in, is that .... when you think of it .... the internet and social media (forums, etc...) , for popular usage/access, is scarcely 30 yrs. old. So : there is no doubt some older fellows (now pushing 60+) who simply never got "online" (so-to-speak).

For example: I know a guy here in CA, who has exceeded me in # of CA reales found here (100 to 200-ish ?). Yet ... you would not find his tallies or show & tell anywhere (he no longer hunts around here anyhow, BTW). But that's NOT because he isn't of the mindset to be competitive, and relish in an "atteboy". It's only because his generation was prior to the onset of such platforms. Believe me , I know (because I used to hunt with him), he WAS INDEED "competitive".

But yes, I'm sure that it's theoretically possible that there's some super fantastic hunter out there, who chooses to totally remain a hermit. But that's an "argument from silence". Ie.: something you can't disprove. Very convenient. Ie.: Leprechauns exist under your bed, but they run and hide when you go to turn on the lights. That's why you never see them, blah blah
 
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