Discrimination has to be one of the most controversial metal detecting subjects ever. One persons says this another says that and on and on it go's. We will cut through all of that nonsense and present to you only facts and techniques that have worked for many successful and renowned hobbyists. Because this subject is so touchy we will only present facts and try to stay away from opinion. We will only present techniques that have been proven to work.

Discrimination, like all of the other adjustments on your metal detector needs to be set according to the area that you are metal detecting and your goal for each separate outing. If you are serious about your metal detecting there is no such thing as setting and forgetting. I have come across many who's modo is "All Metal All The Time", this is definitely the wrong approach. Each area and each individual goal calls for a unique setting. I can not stress this enough, it is very important to keep this in mind each time you go out with your metal detector.

So what's wrong with running "All Metal All The Time?" First of all time is very valuable and most times very limited. Not many of us have the time to dig every signal that our metal detectors pick up on. Second there's really just no need for it, the discriminator was developed for a very important reason, to assist the hobbyist in distinguishing trash from treasure without overwhelming him with chatter from undesirable targets. There is a time and place for running your metal detector wide open, but those times and places are few and far between, if you value your time. If you waste to much time digging trash you may never get to the treasure.

One very successful detectorist put it to me like this. "When metal detecting a beach Ill normally run the discrimination setting on my metal detector just below where nickels come in. I ignore all obvious coins signals and only dig the lower gold signals. If I have time left after covering the area I was targeting I will go back over the area and pick up on some of the coins that I bypassed. "

This probably go's against everything you've learned about metal detecting, but I can guarantee this mans time to treasure ratio on a beach surpasses 95% of most others out there metal detecting. By using this technique he has bypassed all other targets and focused on gold only. It works give it a try sometime.

Time should be a very important factor in deciding how you will adjust the discrimination setting on your metal detector. If you only have an hour or two to go metal detecting and there is an over abundance of trash it wouldn't be very logical to set the discrimination to low. Your goal should be to find as much treasure metal detecting in that time period as possible not to dig every signal your metal detector is capable of picking up on. Now on the other hand if you have the time to play around a bit its a good idea to set your discrimination a bit lower and to dig a bit more. Do keep in mind that although today's technology is much better than it was years ago, using to much discrimination will effect depth. Also keep in mind that a deeper coin or relic may not come through as a solid hit. A coin or relic on the fringe of the field may actually sound more like trash than treasure.

Next time your out metal detecting take these variables into consideration before rushing into any settings. Time, Trash, and your goals for that outing. Once you know the answers to these questions you will have a better idea of where to set the discrimination level on your metal detector.