UMMMMM, NO!
Ok. I mean, seriously, that's up to you. It was just some friendly advice. It will be much easier for everyone to take you seriously when you propose an idea that most people find far-fetched if you use proper capitalization and rational argument to do so. Not using rational here as a put down, I simply mean, actually laying down some numbers that support your theory of how it would be possible to get from A to B.
AHAHAHAHA..... and HOW MANY 'Frozen Bodies' do these guys walk by on their way to the Summit?
179. But the point still stands that "I want to climb Mt. Everest/become a professional treasure hunter" is a goal, not a plan to reach that goal. I wouldn't encourage anyone to try either without a plan or they run a serious risk of physical/financial ruin, respectively.
You want to live 'nailed down' to some crappy suburb, go right ahead! And even then,.. Do you plan on 'Detecting MORE' once you retire?
I don't, I live on a horse farm in the country, like I said earlier
Remember, I'm not trying to say you shouldn't follow your dream, in fact I encourage it. I just think that advice comes with the caveat that you make a plan for the success of your dream so it doesn't fail. And I have yet to see any sort of plan whatsoever that indicates how becoming a professional detectorist would pay the bills.
Do you plan on 'Detecting MORE' once you retire? The OP doesn't have to worry about that, he has that LUXURY (to some degree) already!
Well, the OP wouldn't have the luxury of detecting less if it's what he relies on to pay the bills. If he needs to put food on the table, it doesn't matter if it's freezing or a heat wave or a hurricane - he'd better be out there swinging until the quota is met or he doesn't eat. If the OP is financially stable enough that he doesn't rely on MD'ing to pay the bills and put food on the table, then no, he's not a professional metal detectorist. He's just retired and likes metal detecting a lot.
Well, I guess its a GOOD THING we have YOU to ask EVERY detectorist in AMERICA!
Your sarcasm aside, we do have this whole forum as a sample size, and no one has stepped up to say "I consistently make minimum wage MD'ing!" And there have been many such threads, and I've yet to see anyone who does. And I've belonged to two very active MD clubs, and none of them make close to minimum wage. I'd say that's a pretty decent sample size, but if you can find someone who does make more than minimum on a consistent from MD'ing, then good on them!
One decent ring and you'll make 'Minimum Wage' for a month,... A moderate ring, maybe Minimum wage for a Week! One slightly crappy ring and you'll make minimum wage for a day, maybe two. Now Add the Clad, add the Relics, etc and it adds up VERY, VERY quickly.
But just how quickly? Let's look at the numbers.
To make minimum wage for a month from one ring, it would need to weigh 39g of 14k. Yikes! Well, maybe you're super lucky and you find a 22k ring - it would still need to be 25g to pay you for the month. Even 950 platinum would need to be 22.5 g. I'll give you that you might find diamonds, but now you're not talking melt value, but resale value. So you can't just find a ring that *retails* for $1200, but one you can actually get that much money for. Here's
some examples of the kinds of rings you'll need to make minimum for a month. Do you routinely expect to pull one of these *every* 160 hours? Think of how many hours you've spent detecting at the beach - how many of thse quality rings do you have to show for it? If it works out to 1/160 hrs, you *might* have a shot at making it work. And then good for you! You're on your way to starting to write a business plan
Show of hands - anyone find a 39g 14k ring or a 22g Pt ring or a 1Ct solitare EVERY ~160 hours? Personally, I'd call a find like that better than "decent"
How about a "moderate" ring that will make you minimum wage for a week. You're looking at needing to find 10g of 14k (certainly doable,
here's an example) . But that's still a hefty ring. Think back to how much time you have been metal detecting at the beach, and now look at the number of big ol rings like this that you've found. Does the math work out to one of these every 40 hours? Wow, I sure wish mine did! If it does, you *MIGHT* be able to make this work.
Okay, let's try one more. a "slightly crappy" ring that will make you minimum wage for a day or two. Okay, if you call a 2g 14k ring "slightly crappy" then I'm envious HAHA. Personally, I think most forum members would be doing the happy dance something fierce over a 2g 14k ring. BUT there are a LOT of these rings posted to the forum. So surely, you should be able to find quite a few.
But to make minimum wage, you'll need to find a 2 gram 14k ring EVERY SINGLE DAY. Look back at your finds. Have you found a gold ring for every 8 hours in the field? Can you do this consistently, every 8 hours, for many years? Then you *MIGHT* be able to make minimum wage as a metal detectorist.
Can ANYONE on the forum say they find a gold ring every 8 hours?
Now, of course, none of this takes into account the associated expenses. Batteries, gas money, health insurance, etc. and it adds up VERY, VERY quickly. So to actually make "minimum wage", you'll need to do quite a bit better than the figures I've given here. But honestly look back at your finds... do you think you find this many quality finds in the same time intervals provided? If you're not pulling a gold ring every 8 hours, what makes you think you can pull more gold rings per hour by swinging more hours?
Again, I'm not saying it *can't* be done, just that no one has yet shown a plan that shows *how* it *can* be done successfully. Everyone has just said they feel it could work, but not provided any factual evidence to support this claim.