My family thinks I’m nuts. After all, I am only twenty-six. When they envision a metal detecting hobbyists, they envision some retiree in his early sixties sweeping the beach for spare change.

Perhaps in some past life, I was a sixty-something retiree because the prospect of metal detecting is probably the most exciting idea I’ve had of late–apart from putting my kids in daycare for two more days a week. That was pretty revolutionary.

I have been labeled an old soul by strangers, friends, and family.What can I say? I like old stuff. My family playfully suggests that my house is more like grandma’s house than… well… grandma’s house. I guess most twenty-six-year-olds would take that as a hint, not just a reminder to dust the spaghetti poodle collection and rotate the carnival glass display.

I’m not sure when my passion for old stuff started, but I can tell you when I decided to embrace it. As a teenager living in Rhode Island, I used to scour the dumps behind our house for old bottles and crocks. I would haul them all back home and stack them in the windows of our dilapidated shed. Looking back on my adventures, I wish I had known the value of my hoard before my parents decided to pick up and move us all to Pennsylvania.

It wasn’t until my early twenties that I rediscovered my love for junk relics and started picking–another hobby of mine. I would–and still do–frequent yard sales and thrift stores for something well-seasoned and ridiculously under priced. Then–like most pickers–I flip it for a few bucks and the satisfaction of putting it in the hands of a collector who could really appreciate it.

After discovering that my  uncle just so happened to live beside an old dump, I reverted back to dump digging this past Spring. I dug a handful of radial street lamps from the 1920s before having a chance encounter with a deer tick and ending up with Lymes. It took a few doses of antibiotics to kick it, but I’m feeling better these days.

All that being said, I have always been a treasure hunter and I suppose that metal detecting is just the next logical step.

I have never owned a metal detector. I have never used a metal detector. Nor have I ever had a blog. I suspect, from speaking with more experienced gentlemen in the hobby of metal detecting, that there is a learning curve. Therefore I am dedicating this blog to my adventures–or rather comedic episodes–in learning the hobby.

I purchased my Garret Ace 250 from Robert Wyatt at Quality Metal Detectors this past week and it should be arriving this week–just in time for the PA winter.

Happy Hunting to All.