One-Spot Wonders: My Best Find from the Smallest Spot You know those moments where your gut says, “Just give it a quick swing” ? Well, this story is exactly that—and it taught me a lesson I won’t forget. The Setup It was a long day out at a rural permission I’d had my eye on for months—an old farmhouse with history stretching back to the early 1900s. Most of the yard had already been combed over. I’d pulled a few relics earlier in the day, a button or two, a rusted spoon, and plenty of old iron junk. The usual. After hours of detecting in the hot sun and feeling like I’d tapped the place dry, I called it quits and started packing up. But as I walked past the side of the house on my way back to the van, I noticed this little 6x6 foot patch of grass wedged between a crumbling concrete step and the base of a downspout. Honestly, it looked like nothing. Too tight to swing in, trampled flat, and filled with roots. But that itch hit me. The one that says, “Just swing the coil one...

So, you just picked up a Garrett Vortex , and you’re ready to hit the ground running—literally. You’re pumped, visions of lost treasures (or at least a handful of loonies and toonies) dancing in your head. But after an hour? Nothing but bottle caps, old nails, and a weird piece of metal that might be from an alien spacecraft… or just a rusty bolt. Canadian coins are weird . If you’ve ever tried detecting them, you already know they’re basically the ninjas of the metal detecting world —sneaky, hard to find, and way too good at hiding in plain sight. That’s because, unlike American coins that behave nicely for metal detectors, post-2000 Canadian coins are mostly nickel-plated steel , which makes them way harder to pick up. Why is the Vortex VX9 Struggling to Find Your Loonies? Blame the nickel. Nickel is terrible. It has low conductivity, which means your detector has to work extra hard just to notice it. Add in the steel core that a lot of Canadian coins have, and suddenly, your V...

Alright, picture this: you’ve got your Garrett AT Pro , your headphones are on, and you’re feeling like a modern-day treasure hunter. Today is the day. You’re gonna walk away with a pocket full of Canadian coins—maybe even a whole roll of toonies if the universe is feeling generous. Except… after an hour, all you’ve got is bottle caps, an old nail, and what might be a cursed chunk of metal from a long-forgotten farm tool. Sound familiar? Yeah, Canadian coins are annoyingly tricky to detect. Unlike American coins, which are mostly made of copper and practically throw themselves at your detector, Canadian coins are full of nickel and steel. That means your AT Pro sometimes mistakes them for junk. But don’t worry—if you know how to actually use your machine right , you’ll start pulling up loonies and toonies instead of frustration. Stop Ignoring the Good Stuff So here’s the deal: if you’ve got your iron discrimination cranked up , you’re making a huge mistake. The Garrett AT Pro ...