Is it a fad or is it for life?

[Neil]

Out of curiosity and Monday night boredom, I know a lot of us have been doing this for years and some of us are newer detectorists. Others have had extended breaks from detecting and then returned to the hobby.

So the question is simple where do you see yourself in 10 years. Will you still be swinging the coil or honestly do you think you may have moved onto another hobby?

Heres an interesting thought for everyone. Since we started this website we have seen numerous people appear on here full of excitement, questions and anticipation of their detecting finds. Some have even turned up to several DW rallies, not discovered their pot of gold and then eventually they have disappeared off the face of the Earth and detecting, never to be heard from again!

I personally have had loads of hobbies and interests, but this one has been a keeper for at least 5 years now and is a daily part of my life, so I am confident I will still be involved in some capacity in ten years time.

Where will you be regarding detecting in ten years? Will it even still exist as we know it today? Will we need licences? Will it be outlawed? Will we all be operating underground?

Feel free to Discuss
Neil

[Sexy Legs (Leighton)]

As a new detectorist, I initially had doubts about whether I wanted to get into it. But now I'm starting to get into it, I think I'll be sticking with this for a good while. As I've said to Steve and Deb, the thing I like about detecting is not just the lovely finds (when they come). I'm also really enjoying the club dynamic, both on here and with the people at RARE. I'm making new friendships that aren't based on going down the pub, and I'm really looking forward to all the rallies and social events we'll be having in the future.

Personally, I doubt they'll bring in tighter regulations. As I see it, metal detecting is hovering below the radar of the legislators and will probably escape the eyes of any do-gooders who would want to license it. I may be wrong, but that's how I see it.

[waltonbasinman]

Good question Neil. I think the biggest problem in ten years time will be landowners. It is difficult to see where detectors will be in ten years and where the law and detecting will be in ten years is impossible to predict. I personally will still be involved for life whether that be ten, twenty or what ever years time. Just the thrill of not knowing what you will find is just such a buzz. A good proportion of the members I have met at DW rallies is a good enough reason to keep going back but as I say we only have so much land to detect and someday it will all have been done. I am not saying it will be in ten years but add the land that has been done to the land that is inaccessible and it will be sooner than we think.

[Salty (Karl) Cardiff Scan Club]

I'm totally addicted, i think for myself , there's so much history to learn as i detect, i'll never get fed up, its fascinating. i have other hobbies so i don't live just to detect, i love my motorbikes, i enjoy shooting (recreational now, the small furry animals need worry no longer ) I love being out in the countryside, no mobile phones, no hassles at work,no dodging traffic police (bike related) and burning off some calories at the same time, and not least the good company. Detectorists are without a doubt, some of the friendliest and social people you'll encounter, yet most people perceive us as oddball loaners, Their loss

[Silurian]

Iv`e been detecting since 1992,drifted out for a while and then back in as the kids got older. Personally I have loads of other things going,collecting,fishing,wildlife plus more.I will always be into detecting,if only for my love of history and studying local histories etc.I would be quite happy walked across a beach with detector in hand,but also would more than chuffed turning over rocks and looking in beach pools without any detector at.I will always use my detector[ I`m lucky enough to be able go anytime I want,as long as her indoors say its ok!] but I tend to go out and about by myself but was thinking of joining a club in the Newport area.Is there one? Ten years time I hope to be just has happy with my life as I am now.

[PHIL YNYSBOETH]

Hi Neil

Ive been Detecting now for 12 year
Ive recently got back in to shooting after meeting Salty Saltmarsh last year on one of our Bus trips
I really wanted to put detecting on the back burner this year and have few years Hunting and Compitition Shooting but after agreeing to look after the books for RARE this it self will have to be put on the back burner 
I will be still continue Hunting (Small cuddley animals Be afraid Be very afraid  lol)
Like Karl im a keen Biker (fine weather only) and im hoping to do a lot of that in the coming months

So In short In 10 years time I want to be preparing for the next olympics where i,ll be picking up a few shooting Gold,s for Wales ! ops sorry Great Britain lol

Great post Neil BTW

[Roman (Ray)]

im another detectorist who is hooked,
and all ready know its a life time hobby.
i still enjoy cycleing.but its not realy a hobby.
detecting is so exiteing i can see why some people get hooked on the hobby
and know they.ll do it all they lives.thats how addictive it is.
for me i know its a life time hobby.i dont ant to do anything else.lol.
if you said to me sex or detecting id say detecting,ITS THAT BAD.LOL.

[Junkman]

I've been detecting for 7 years now but like others is one of my many hobbies but seems to be a consistent one. My other hobbies are - Motorbikes- Shooting- Fishing-Flying and my interests are history-nature-mechanical things.

The last year my detecting went on the backburner as I did a lot of fishing at the weekends but this forum has rekindled my detecting hobby again. I tend to drift between my hobbies dependant on a variety of factors.

I got into the hobby by buying  a machine and using it at my sisters farm house house- built in 1683 and with bucket loads of history attached. On one of her fields, I started digging up loads of really nice Tudor artefacts and after some research and plotting and recording my finds, found out that the original Tudor Farmstead was in this very field and that over the years, the farm had moved through 180 degrees to where it is now. I bagged and tagged all the finds and gave them back my sister and her husband as part of a little project on the place. My father farmed this land so I have a real personal connection with the place which helps. It was this that really got me into detecting.


It is a funny old hobby really but I just really enjoy it.

[nfl]

hi all ive been detecting alnost 4  years now, only last 2 seriously,joined a club got some  productive land etc and what can i say apart from its the best hobby going and i am sure i will still be swinging that coil in 10 years time unless the gordon brown cronnies put a ban on it then i will probably become a detecting terrorist hiding in hedgerows and sneaking about at night, i will always be the first 1 to sign any petition that puts any restrictions on this great hobby of ours with a capital NO.

[Kev]

great post NEIL,as everyone knows that I'm out of detecting for a long time and miss the hobby i love dearly not been detecting since i found my quarter noble back in the begin of January,been detecting for 6ish years iv done jogging,golfing,bird watching (which i still enjoy ones with feathers ) but i get such a buzz going out on the day of detecting weather its old or new land just cant wait to turn the detector on and go, also the hobby as said by BASONMAN that its brought me a lot of new friends and iv meet a hell of a lot of nice folks also that is down to D.W.COM ......................... its a hobby i will be doing for years and years hopefully when I'm way in my 70s  .................love the hobby always,and if it does change the law on this hobby what ever they do to alter our great hobby i know we will all get around it

[Salty (Karl) Cardiff Scan Club]

iif you said to me sex or detecting id say detecting,ITS THAT BAD.LOL.

Yes Ray, Thats Bad We need to talk mate

[Neil]

I can quite confidently say Ray that no matter how much I like you as a person, I will never, ever say to you (and I quote yourself here) "Sex or Detecting?"

To be quite frank mate - your just not my type!

Neil

[zorro]

its a very fair question Neil. I think if someone comes into this hobby thinking they are going to find a hoard and retire they will leave detecting pretty soon when realisation sets in.
but if pulling an old buckle, thimble, coin whatever the condition, excites you , you might just be around for a while
I do believe if a newbie starts the  hobby, lays out quite a sum of money on a detector that they cant use properly and then watches other detectorists fill their finds pouches, THAT can be the end of a potentially long hobby interest. I was so lucky i joined a club before buying my first detector, an elderly lady joined the same time as me. Bought a "bargain" detector from ebay (was £600 now only £80, from China) that couldn't pick a horse shoe on the surface. needless to say she came to 3 meetings then left.