Beach hunting at Damai in August

Did a beach hunt on Aug 25 at Damai beach. Caused quite a lot of people to be curious of what I was carrying around. There was even a bunch of Chinese kids who went near me and loudly made a 'beep,beep,beep...kaboom' sound. I just smile and ignored them.

Probably their father or what, an older one approached me, 'Ini dapat cari diamond kah?' (This thing can diamonds?) honestly I replied, 'well if it has metal on it'. He still looked surprised as though I might find tons of treasures.

Not really though, what I got were plenty of nails and junks. Furthermore i was adjusting to the sound and the tuning of the metal detector on salty mineralised ground which could make it go haywire with sounds.

Nevertheless I tuned down the sensitivity level a bit and got it to balanced right with the ground.

So this is what I found.The rounded one at the bottom what I thought was just a bottle cap turns out to be a shell casing from World War 2 era made of high grade brass. I did a bit of research and found out that the Japanese landed near Santubong, but there was no specific account where. I also learned that a small Punjabi regiment defended the shore and they were equipped with a 16-inch gun light artillery (probably a BL 5.5 inch Medium Gun) which was supplied by the British. That shell casing really fits the description because it probably came from medium sized artillery shell. So now I know where the fighting took place.

The two big nails came from shipwreck.

Oh ya the swell came in late to wash the shore off most of the sand and exposed what was buried underneath. This photo was taken on our last day at the beach. Huhhhhh....

First Trial and Finds

The first field test for my new Garret ACE 250 metal detector was on Aug 10 where I brought it to a nearby beach next to a small Malay village.

I was quite nervous to bring the metal detector out just in case some people are over curious to bombard with a lot of questions which I myself would not able to answer or won't bother to answer.

Actually I wanted to do the field test earlier on Aug 5 at the same beach, and when I arrived there I saw a platoon of soldiers conducting their training at the same beach. And I said OMG, what a day to start with! So I just shelved the idea to try out my new toy that day.

Luckily on Aug 10, there were only three girls, sitting on a log admiring the scenery and I believed a guy,probably one of the girls' boyfriend or probably he's a lucky one having the three of them all at once, inside a parked car at the other end of the beach. So I chose the empty end of the beach to avoid curiosity for the meantime.

Coming back to my trial, I followed closely the instruction manual which says to practice with the 'All-Metal' mode for the first 10 hours or so in order to be familiar with the detector.

So I switched it on and pressed the 'All-Metal' mode button. I scan the beach floor and not long there was an array of blips, dings and dongs, indicating that there is a good metal or trash underneath my feet. I listen attentively for the right tone while swinging the detector as instructed.

Once I pick up a consistent tone, I squat down with my trowel in hand and dig the ground not expecting anything much. True enough my first find was a beer bottle cap! yeah. Ok, I started again listening on the headphone to get a signal and right away another constant tone. I dug and a nail, another try, some aluminum foils, a lead fishing sinker and other trash.


Suddenly there was this particular bell tone sound, it was under an ash of a barbecue pit . I dug and walla! A 10 sen coin, I scanned again the same area, the same tone came up, three more 10 sen coins and a 20 sen.





Wow! not bad for a first day trial. It was great fun. At least I got the hang of how to use my new lovely gadget and getting it right the first time. It was a joy.

So Go Hunting.

My Metal Detecting ala Sarawak

I believe that metal detecting is an entirely new hobby in Sarawak although there are metal detectors already in existence (left in the dust in some stores somewhere) used in industrial application (eg. search for metal pipes), airports and the armed personnel for security purpose.

So I try to look around for anyone who shares a similar interest with me, but none here in Sarawak. Actually I have been eyeing for one since my interest into the hobby took off 10 years ago, but then there was not much money to buy one (during that time in 1998 it was mostly for industrial purpose and the price of a simple metal detector was RM3,000 a piece!!).

Even when I was in UK when I had the opportunity to attend a fellowship study in 1999, I was tempted to buy one, on sale at a store for 500 British pound = RM2,500 before duty and shipping!! But reality sets in and I come to my senses that my family back home needs the quid more than I do. So I practice patience, until another opportunity arises.

Furthermore to find friends to share my interest and finding non, is nearly another letdown for me. But presevere I must.

There are several factors presumably contribute to non interest in this hobby locally,
(1) The Price - which may be unreachable or too expensive for an average joe. A metal detector with an average price of RM1,000 may be well end up to become RM1,500 after the shipping charges and customs duty (10% of total price) upon entry.
(2) No Dealers - there are no local dealers in terms of warranty handling, or somebody who could be blamed for repairs and maintenance. There are a couple in KL and Johor but the dealers there charged a high price for a unit of metal detector. I enquired one online and found that they charge a huge profit compared if you buy one on e-bay on your own.
(3) Wrong Perception - probably the local never seen an ordinary guy with civilian clothing like they do, swinging an extended stem with a big rounded tip and a headphone. They are familiar with Hollywood interpretation of military personnel in uniforms looking for hidden bomb!! I encountered one on my first trip to the park with a metal detector and one of the middle-aged lady who had been curious about my presence there remarked: "I thought you were looking for an atom bomb" (Duh).

Finally I decided to buy a metal detector, making my order on an e-bay dealer from the US. The first metal detector a Garret ACE 250, after tons of research on the internet I decided that this one will be the best option for a beginner like me.

This one has all the ground balance, dsicrimination, sensitivity, pinpointinf in 5-type modes just by pressing a button plus the LED graphic indicator is such a big bonus. Compared to 10 years ago where you have to distinguish an object on the ground by ear after tuning precisely on several knobs. The Garret ACE 250 is so easy for any well researched novice and on the first day you are good to go.

The third love of my life (after my wife and children, that is) arrived on August 4 and ever since then it has proven itself, more than I expected for a beginner's metal detector. What a piece of beauty.

So Go Hunting.