Here is a quick checklist to help you proceed to booking your holiday here. Read the following links carefully before you decide to book. Below is a checklist for what to bring to save money and what you dont't need to pack.

If you are not 100% happy with the terms and conditions, exporting and abiding by the Treasure Act then don't book here please.

1. Please read and agree to the standard terms and conditions on the holiday page near the bottom Holiday blurb

2. Read and agree to abiding by the Treasure Act and the export laws regarding metal dectecting in England Treasure Act and laws

3. Pick the type of accomodation that suites your taste. Full board or self catering

4. Check out the daily hunt format to see how it works

5. Select a free slot from the availability page and send an e-mail to ensure it is still vacant. Availability

7. Pay for your trip in full. Book the correct flights to meet the regular taxi/Barn mini bus pickups from the airport. Send the confirmed flight details to me or your Barn leader.

Get your batteries on the charger !!!

These are used when ID'ing and exporting your finds, they are twice the price over here than they are in the USA.

Bring one large zip lock top type and a number of small individual finds bags. You write your name on them and they have the ID of the find written on the front when they are sent to you after exporting

They need to have the white writeable strip on the front

There are 240 V to 120 V inverters here for chargers and a new pulse charger for individual pencil and 9v cells. If you have a spare inverter bring it with you as we keep blowing them up !!

If you use wet batteries then save money and bring spares with you as they are nearly 3 times the price here than in North America. The local shops, 3 minutes away, have batteries but again they will be a lot more expensive.

Diggers

No need to pack your own

There is no need to pack a digger.We supply long handled trowels and spade types for you to use. The ground is ploughed and rolled so it is really easy to dig normally, we do not hunt stubble fields.

Always bring spare headphones. If you are using Deus machine always bring a 2nd charged coil and a powerpack to take to the field.

Walkie Talkies - pack your own

A number fo the Barn groups use Walkie talkies extensively so bring your own to be sure you are in contact

ALWAYS bring a full set of good quality lightweight waterproofs, 100% waterproof boots and a waterproof detector control box cover just to be safe. Bring warm clothing in the winter period, hand warmers are brilliant. A good idea is to bring a water bottle to carry with you out on the vast fields.

Also please bring your house slippers or a spare pair of trainers , more important than your detector as wearing muddy boots don't get past the back door !!

Each Barn leader serves different types of food in their self catering accomodation from Basic chow to Organic. Check out what they offer.

Check out the hotel stay link for food details

Various good tips from the members

Couple of newbie hints:

Don't throw ANYTHING away until it's looked at by one of the Senior guys. A lot of stuff looks like crap, but could actually be something

Don't show up with 4 suitcases and 47 different wardrobes. This is a detecting tour, not a fashion show. You only need a few changes of clothes since you will wear your detecting clothes a few days till they need a change. I bring 3 pairs of jeans, or shorts, along with Tshirts. I find it best to have a pair of sweats to change into at night while lounging around the house.

Bring slippers with you for wearing around the house since no shoes are allowed in the houses.

Where you haven't detected before, listen to the other members as they are full of helpful hints. Don't be overwelmed by the size of the fields, keep your detector low and slow, that \"best\" find isn't necessarily on the \"other\" side of the field.

Make sure you bring a good size pouch for your goodies and trash. You will be digging a ton of targets. Put everything you find in your pouch, even if it's a soda can. These fields get hunted over and over and nothing is more annoying than digging up trash that some lazy-ass left from a previous hunt.

You most likely will be digging on land that has been cropped, so make sure that you do a good job on filling in your holes. It pisses the farmers off to see open holes on a field. We need these farmers and want to keep them happy!

Do what feels right to you. If you go to a field in the morning and like it, stay there for the afternoon. Everyone else may say it sucks, but go with your feelings. Don't listen to anyone as far as picking fields go with your gut feeling.

Bring a good set of rain gear, the cheap stuff leaks and if your out there for 10 hours in the rain, you don't wanna be miserable. September should be good weather, but it can change in a minute.

Bring a backpack with you to take to the fields everyday for your batteries, rain gear, extra clothes etc...

Bring a small plastic case with some cotton or foam in if for your good or fragile finds. Don't put a hammered in your pocket or apron, by the end of the day it will be in 4 pieces

Also, don't rub the crap out of hammereds or fragile stuff, it WILL break (right TX Gary?)

Bring a small brush with you to brush the dirt off your finds.

Wear comfortable shoes (broken in, not new ones) the walking can be tough and you will be on your feet for many hours.

Be sure and read http://www.colchestertreasurehunting.co.uk/treasureact.htm it will help you out.

If you don't have a pocket probe, you may want to get one. It doesen't have to be top of the line, just something to help you out finding those tiny treasures when you get them out of the hole.

Keep your discrimination just above iron. Alot of the hammered coins will read as foil, so you want to dig everything.

If you have a walkie talkie, bring it along but we have quite a few. They are great to have in the fields since you will probably be ½ mile away from everyone when you dig that pony

Don't forget your camera.

Have a great time, you will really enjoy it! If you have any questions, fire away on the forum, there are lots of helpful folks here.

Mass Bruce

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Lots of good advice there-
Bruce hit most of what you need-- you might consider rubber farm type boots- wellies in the UK- no metal in them though--and get a comfortable pair or your feet will hurt after 10 to 60+ hrs in the dirt- which can be lumpy, shall we say, at times?

I always wear light leather gloves or at least carry them in case it turns wet and cold with the ever-present wind.

Gosh, no one asked the usual question--not that it matters--what detector? a gallon (4liter?) ziplock bag can keep it dry unless it is pretty water resistant/proof.

I water bottle can go in your pack or hip bag-- can get dry by noon or 6.30pm.

Definitely get a little probe- like White's or any that work well. Will really save time on the ground. It can take as little as 30-60 sec to retrieve a target safely.

There are top-of-the-line battery chargers- so no biggie there unless everyone has to use it at once.

A note pad for noting where your better finds were is good for long term memory and other hunts. There are SO many fields!

Definitely try to get your legs in shape- you'll be digging / bending / kneelin all day- maybe 100+ per day. Walking is good too- you'll cover a lot of ground some days-- other less. Some fields are a good 1/2 mile long.

Nev Gary

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I would suggest you walk a lot, do a lot of bending excercises, etc, in preparation for your hunt, as it is walking all day and keeping in tune with your detectors threshold.. ... Practicing your Powers of Observation will also help, your eyes will for the most part be on the ground in front of you, but you will need to be looking around to notice changes in the ground matrix, colorations, materials brought up by the plow etc...

.Good Luck HH...Alakan Geo

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It's going to be hard to find shoes that don't have either a steel toe or a steel shank, although there is one that is made with no metal (not even eyelets) that Doc (in the US) used to sell. It's made by \"HiTech\", but I'm not sure they're made anymore. More importantly, I'd consider any boot that you can walk in uneven, hard dirt in for hours on end, without blistering. For this, you'll want to break in whatever you end up wearing. Not having steel toes would be a good move, too

Bring snacks also to have out in the field. Since I'm a whisky nut, I also bring a flask with my favorite malt to give me some extra warmth. Sunscreen is important, as is a hat and layered clothing. Bring all the things you'd bring for an outting in the outdoors. Also, I don't believe there's any mosquitoes (or bugs, for that matter), which is always a nice change for those of us that are used to hunting in bug-infested areas.

Oh, and lastly, you might wish to bring some of your favorite muscle relaxant/anti-inflammatory, as you will be SORE from all the digging/bending over/walking, etc.

Cheers Cal Jeff

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