Metal Detecting on Belle Isle

[Searay215]

Does anyone know if its legal to go metal detecting on Belle Isle beach? Seached all the posts on Belle Isle, but to no avail. I will call the city tomorrow, but I have a feeling they will say no. It is legal in many state parks, most have limits as to where you can search and others are totally available.and 1/2 again have no metal detecting......Thanks in advance

[Hamtragedy]

You can walk on the beach anytime during the day. Will they make a big deal if you have a metal detector? It's still winter out so I doubt it. Do chicken bones show up on metal detectors?

[LodgeDodger]

I can't imagine it would be illegal--Belle Isle is a public place.

[Jimaz]

Why would anyone object to metal detecting on any public land? Maybe to avoid potentially disrupting a future archaeological site?

[Big Dog]

It's been heavily hunted by those that metal detect. Years ago, MD clubs would go there and have contests, and found really neat and old stuff, like old coins and even handguns. You would have to be real lucky to find anything valuable today. It's been pretty well picked.

[Johnnny5]

Up until 2 years ago metal detecting Belle Isle would not have been a problem. For some reason around that time the City decided that it was illegal [[Not only on Belle Isle, but all Detroit parks), According to some of the metal detecting forums I am on they have been sporadically enforcing it on Belle Isle. I have heard they are still allowing metal detecting on the beach, but some people have been hassled there as well.


As a bit of a side note metal detecting is actually how I found Dyes.com. I was researching a site in Detroit and a Yahoo search led me to Lowell's pictures, and in turn to this forum.

[Django]

Since gold, silver, copper etc are a non-ferrous metals, does they get picked up by a metal detector. I would assume anything non magnetic would not make a beep.

Ive always wanted to throw a big heavy duty magnet on a rope into the water from the Belle Isle bridge and fish for guns.

[Johnnny5]

Since gold, silver, copper etc are a non-ferrous metals, does they get picked up by a metal detector. I would assume anything non magnetic would not make a beep.

Ive always wanted to throw a big heavy duty magnet on a rope into the water from the Belle Isle bridge and fish for guns.

Metal detectors pick up both ferrous and non-ferrous metals. Many new detectors allow the user to discriminate out unwanted targets by their ferrous level as well as their conductivity. The main issue for those looking for gold is that it has similar properties to aluminum. Pull tabs and aluminum screw tops are about the same size as a typical gold ring, so it's nearly impossible to distinguish between the two without digging the target. Unfortunately, most parks are loaded with pull tabs!

[rjk]

Would a metal detector be able to find a German Luger in an attack? My father sent home a GL from the war and it's supposedly in his attack under one of the floor boards which have a lot of nails in them.

If the answer to the above question is yes, how much money would it cost me to rent one?
Thanks for any help.

[Goose]

attic? [[10)

[RedeemerKid]

Would a metal detector be able to find a German Luger in an attack? My father sent home a GL from the war and it's supposedly in his attack under one of the floor boards which have a lot of nails in them.

If the answer to the above question is yes, how much money would it cost me to rent one?
Thanks for any help.

Wow! That would be great to find!

There was a couple my family knew in Detroit many years ago. The husband had a very high paying job, and they lived a VERY modest lifestyles. When the husband died, my family helped the woman in many ways, including selling her home and relocating her to a retirement community.

An audit of finances showed that they were broke. No money in the bank or anywhere. Where did this man's cash go? The widow indicated that her husband often hid money around the house, and everyone knew that he spent a lot of time alone in the garage. My aunts and uncles searched that home and the garage high and low.

Never found a dime. Still a mystery.

To this day, 35 years after the widow moved out, there is still speculation that there is a great deal of money behind some bricks or under some boards in that house or the garage.

Who wants the address?

[rjk]

attic? [[10)

lol. Yeah, I don't know where attack came from.
Maybe I as thinking about attacking the attic.

As far as the luger, I wonder what kind of condition it would be in after over 40 years of the changing seasons?

[Cincinnati_Kid]

lol. Yeah, I don't know where attack came from.
Maybe I as thinking about attacking the attic.

As far as the luger, I wonder what kind of condition it would be in after over 40 years of the changing seasons?

It would need a bath in gun oil I would imagine.

[Richard]

A lot of fed land is off limits to metal detecting thanks to those that choose not to bury their holes afterwards.

rjk you can try some thermal film in a camera and snap some pics of the attic floor the temperature difference in the luger verses the floor boards may show up.

So now I guess would be the time to ask the old timers where the long forgotten swim holes are ,or I like using http://ghosttowns.com/ and make an adventure out of detecting.

[Johnnny5]

Would a metal detector be able to find a German Luger in an attack? My father sent home a GL from the war and it's supposedly in his attack under one of the floor boards which have a lot of nails in them.

If the answer to the above question is yes, how much money would it cost me to rent one?
Thanks for any help.

Depending on the construction of the house you should be able to use a metal detector to find the Luger. You would need to run the detector in all metal and turn the sensitivity setting down just about all the way. Otherwise it would pick up every nail in the floor, and with a normal sensitivity setting it would also pick up electrical interference from the wiring. The detector may sound off to other large pieces of iron/steel, so a good signal is not necessarily going to be the pistol.

I'm not sure about renting one, but my suggestion would be to post an ad on Craigslist. Someone experienced with a metal detector would have a much better chance of finding the gun, and would be better able to tell the difference between the gun and nails. Many detectorists would jump on the chance to do a recovery like that. I'd offer to help, but after re-insulating my attic last year I have zero desire to crawl around another. =)

[rjk]

I'd offer to help, but after re-insulating my attic last year I have zero desire to crawl around another. =)

The problem is that I'm not 100% certain that it's up there. My father supposedly hid it somewhere [[He says the attic) many decades ago so some curious children couldn't get at it. Unfortuanately memories fade over the years and it's possible he gave it away and just can't remember. It could be anywhere.

I did spend some time in his attic removing some floor boards, but had no luck.
Like you, I did some re-insulating in my house last fall. It's really hard to get motivated to spend time in his attic crawling around on my hands and knees [[Ouch). It would be a different story if I was positive it was up there.

[JBMcB]

It would be a different story if I was positive it was up there.

There are companies that will do thermal imaging of your home so you can see where you need to add insulation. I'm not sure how much it costs, but if they were high-res enough, and you had it done in the evening after temperatures have fallen, you might be able to make it out if it's hidden in the walls and not totally obscured by insulation. The metal of the gun would cool at a different rate than the surrounding insulation, so it just might show up.

[Savoyard]

Leaving aside the question of whether it's legal to MD on Belle Isle, I've heard the best spots would be in the canals. They've been in use since the late 1800s, and the theory is that if you dropped something on the beach, it was fairly easy to see and pick up. If you dropped something into a canal, it's nearly impossible to retrieve, especially since MD wasn't around back then.

[Rochelle St.]

If you find a Luger, be carefull with it, especially if it's loaded.
These guns were known to discharge unexpectedly by american GI's who got ahold of them during the war.
Witness poor Pvt. Hoobler!

[Zacha341]

Attack is about right - LOL! My Attic is so scary I dare not go up there to 'Attack' the mess and start to sort it out!

attic? [[10)

[EASTSIDE CAT 67-83]

I have seen some old photos of swimmers on the beach at Belle Isle [[Shorpy I believe) and if I remember correctly there were hundred of people in the water going all the way out to neck deep, the picture was probably from the teens or early 20's, now multiply that by every day of the summer over a period of several decades and believe me there are still many targets in the water and the water is where you want to search. With the right equipment and skill a detectorist could pull quite a bit from that old beach. I detected out in Hawaii for about 14 years when I lived out there [[found scores of rings and things). tourists had been frolicking those beaches for over 100 years and I found rings as old as from the teens to something that was lost the day before...it just takes patience for every ring you find you have to go through 40-50 pieces of junk and pennies. would love to MD on that old beach in Belle Isle though!

[EASTSIDE CAT 67-83]

Found it here it is, gotta love shorpy!

[EASTSIDE CAT 67-83]

Beach picture linkhttp://www.shorpy.com/node/9254

[Wintersmommy]

If you find a Luger, be carefull with it, especially if it's loaded.
These guns were known to discharge unexpectedly by american GI's who got ahold of them during the war.
Witness poor Pvt. Hoobler!

Poor guy wanted that Luger badly

[Honky Tonk]

Beach picture linkhttp://www.shorpy.com/node/9254

Good Lord! Fantastic shot!