Metal Detecting Guides & Reviews

A metal detector can only find shallow metal pipes and cables, not plastic lines. Learn how professional locators work and why you must call 811 before digging.

Metal detectors cannot detect groundwater. Learn the physics, the methods hydrologists actually use, and where electronic groundwater detectors fit in.

Steel safes and metal containers are detectable, paper cash is not. Learn which deep-seeking tools suit cache hunting and how to plan a realistic search.

Standard metal detectors cannot find non-metallic gemstones or crystals. Learn what they can find while rockhounding and which methods actually locate gems.

A metal detector cannot detect diamonds, only the metal in a ring setting. Here is the science, how diamonds are really found and what diamond detectors claim.

Copper is the benchmark conductor and reads high on detectors, while brass reads mid-range. Learn what to expect from coins, relics and native copper.

Titanium and tungsten carbide rings are detectable but give weak, low-reading signals. Learn why and how to search for a lost one successfully.

Stainless steel is one of the harder metals to detect. Learn why 300-series grades give weak signals, how 400-series differs and how to find stainless items.

Aluminum is easy to detect, and that is the problem: foil and pull tabs read like gold. Here is how aluminum behaves and how to handle the trash.