Beach Metal Detectors: Gridding The Beach 101

Metal detecting on a beach is hard work. After all, beaches are large areas – you cannot hope to cover an entire beach in a single day without the risk of missing several potentially valuable finds.

You can come back another day but, this time, you risk going over the same area you covered the day before without any idea that you’re just wasting your time. To solve these problems, you have to grid the beach.

Here’s what you need to know in gridding the beach:

What is beach gridding?

Beach gridding is a metal detecting technique where you divide a large area – in this case, a beach – into several smaller areas or grids prior to searching. Then, you concentrate on covering and searching each grid individually before moving on the next one. This way, you don’t miss potentially important finds or go over the same area twice. Markers such as lines drawn in the sand are often used to divide grids.

What are the benefits of beach gridding?

There are several benefits to be had by gridding a beach. These are:

1. Covering a large area systematically. Whether you are metal detecting solo or with company, it helps to know what areas you have searched so there’s no unnecessary overlapping and extra effort involved.

2. More productive metal detecting. With beach gridding, you get to cover and search an entire area more thoroughly; reducing risks of missed finds and improving your chances of getting valuables.

3. Staking your claim. If and when fellow metal detectors saw that the beach is gridded, they’ll look for another place and leave the beach to you as metal detecting etiquette dictates.

Are there specific patterns in beach gridding?

There are several patters you can use when gridding a beach. Before starting up your beach metal detector, consider applying these patterns on your beach:

1. Straight. To mark a straight pattern, walk from the high beach line to the low tide line in a straight line while dragging your sand scoop to mark your path and swinging your beach metal detector. Do these until you cover an entire grid. Use the trail of your sand scoop to mark straight lines you have searched.

2. Circular. When you locate your first target, that’s your center. Search in a circle around that target going out. Keep your beach metal detector at the recommended search height as you metal detect.

3. Sideways. Similar to a straight pattern, only instead of searching in a straight line from high beach line to low tide line, you detect sideways at the high bank line. Keep doing this for every 12 feet or so before turning. Overlap your swings to give your beach metal detector enough area to cover.

Are there other techniques when beach gridding?

There are other no nonsense tips that can help you achieve maximum benefit from beach gridding. These are:

1. Using the right metal detector. A beach metal detector is the best tool for this job. It’s water and sand proof so water and sand can’t get into the battery. Most beach metal detectors are also programmed considering the mineral content of sand and salts. For high quality beach metal detectors, visit Metal Detector Town.

2. Walkie talkies or communicators. Whether you opt for walkie talkies or radios or mobile phones, have communication gadgets ready when you metal detect with someone so you’ll know what grids have been covered without shouting back and forth.

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