This has been a pretty good week. I made several trips to the gebirgsjäger camp, on one of the trips the GirlfriendWife even joined me, and I found a handfull of good stuff with some help from the metal detector. We also managed to get the entire garden up and running so that it hopefully will provide us with a bunch of free snacks and food come autumn and winter :)
On the first trip I didnt have much luck. Many hours was spent on a dump which only resulted in a couple of bottles, and a small red reflector, probably for a bike, although the field kitchens also had one. After that I walked around following signals and dug up a key, some coins, a very nice k98 muzzle cap, a lighter and some pocket knives.
Next time out I began by digging up a pair of boots, not sure if they are Wehrmacht issued as they didn`t have the typical sole. In the middle of a bunch of scrap metal left behind by ze Germans one signal stood out. The signal was clear and nice like it often is on medals, rings etc. Quite deep the blade of my digging tool scraped a root away from a thin needle attached to a badge!! I freed it and turned it around. An elephant !?? A gold colored cute little elephant. How bizarre.
The next thirty minutes I fought with rocks and roots to get out from the ground a half meter tall zink pitcher. I think it is the second one I ever found that was intact. It seems that it was popular to smash them.
I had gotten myself stuck in between some sapplings and as I tried to untangle myself the detector picked up a great signal. I opened the ground and saw a shiny grooved surface. For a split second I thought it was a bottle, but then I realized it was the bakelite grip on a Walther P38! I picked it up but it was missing the slide! That can`t be far away, I thought. But as I sweeped the detector over more and more ground I began entertaining the idea that the slide might actually be far away. Super annoying! I will return though and spend more hours trying to find the rest of the Walther.
Yesterday morning me and the GirlfriendWife were on our legs early and went to spend the day in another gebirgsjäger camp. I was gonna search , and she collect spruce shoots. These shoots are great stuff. Filled with vitamin C and other goodies, so they will keep the scurvy away when there is no more fruits in the shops. Eaten raw they have a sweet and fresh lemony taste and one can use them as tea, fresh or dried. They also work great if one has pollen allergy.
I began by checking the edge of a dumping site from last week and found several coins, buttons, a pocket mirror and a lighter. The coins were German, Danish and Finnish. Later I picked up signals from the surrounding area and under a barrell band was something tiny, but great. Blue and white enamel shone me in the eyes. It was a small Finnish travel badge. These came in many different variants and were highly popular amongst the Gebirgsjägers. I lifted it out and carefully cleaned it up a bit. In the centre of the badge is the map of Finland in white with a black reindeer, and below and above it, on the blue background it reads "Rovaniemi" and "Petsamo".
Looking for more pins and badges I found instead an interesting looking axe similar to the german pionier axes, and I spent and hour following signals down into the ground between lots of big rocks and gravel. There I ended up with a rusted kitchen knife, a porcelain jar, a leather belt, with no catch or buckle, and a losantine tablet box.
Today I was ready for more, so shortly after coffee I headed back out there. The weather was grey and the clouds hung dangerously near the rooftops, like a lid over the world. Pretty cool actually.
I started where I had found the travel badge and followed signals until it led me to a dumping pit next to the remains of a barrack. Here I spent the next four hours, sifting through rocks, soil, glass and rust. Porcelain cream jars, perfume- and alcohol bottles, cream tubes, rusted tins and cans, forks, spoons, nails and batteries. It took time to find the bottom and when I did, it was covered with nails. But not only. Because between the nails was gold! Or so it appeared. It was probably brass, but my brain had already thought "gold", so I just had to go with the enthusiasm. It was a beautifully made Finnish ring. Two parts, the band and the shield with the Finnish lion. Usually these were made from cutting the shield from coins, but this one is not from a coin, it seems to be made professionally. A fantastic find!
It was around this point my pinpointer started to fail on me. I didn`t have any spare batteries so I found it wisest to close up the pit and return later with equipment that works.
Looks like the coming week will be extra wet, but I hope to make a few trips again very soon,
Thanks for reading, and have a great week :)
On the first trip I didnt have much luck. Many hours was spent on a dump which only resulted in a couple of bottles, and a small red reflector, probably for a bike, although the field kitchens also had one. After that I walked around following signals and dug up a key, some coins, a very nice k98 muzzle cap, a lighter and some pocket knives.
Next time out I began by digging up a pair of boots, not sure if they are Wehrmacht issued as they didn`t have the typical sole. In the middle of a bunch of scrap metal left behind by ze Germans one signal stood out. The signal was clear and nice like it often is on medals, rings etc. Quite deep the blade of my digging tool scraped a root away from a thin needle attached to a badge!! I freed it and turned it around. An elephant !?? A gold colored cute little elephant. How bizarre.
The next thirty minutes I fought with rocks and roots to get out from the ground a half meter tall zink pitcher. I think it is the second one I ever found that was intact. It seems that it was popular to smash them.
I had gotten myself stuck in between some sapplings and as I tried to untangle myself the detector picked up a great signal. I opened the ground and saw a shiny grooved surface. For a split second I thought it was a bottle, but then I realized it was the bakelite grip on a Walther P38! I picked it up but it was missing the slide! That can`t be far away, I thought. But as I sweeped the detector over more and more ground I began entertaining the idea that the slide might actually be far away. Super annoying! I will return though and spend more hours trying to find the rest of the Walther.
Yesterday morning me and the GirlfriendWife were on our legs early and went to spend the day in another gebirgsjäger camp. I was gonna search , and she collect spruce shoots. These shoots are great stuff. Filled with vitamin C and other goodies, so they will keep the scurvy away when there is no more fruits in the shops. Eaten raw they have a sweet and fresh lemony taste and one can use them as tea, fresh or dried. They also work great if one has pollen allergy.
I began by checking the edge of a dumping site from last week and found several coins, buttons, a pocket mirror and a lighter. The coins were German, Danish and Finnish. Later I picked up signals from the surrounding area and under a barrell band was something tiny, but great. Blue and white enamel shone me in the eyes. It was a small Finnish travel badge. These came in many different variants and were highly popular amongst the Gebirgsjägers. I lifted it out and carefully cleaned it up a bit. In the centre of the badge is the map of Finland in white with a black reindeer, and below and above it, on the blue background it reads "Rovaniemi" and "Petsamo".
Looking for more pins and badges I found instead an interesting looking axe similar to the german pionier axes, and I spent and hour following signals down into the ground between lots of big rocks and gravel. There I ended up with a rusted kitchen knife, a porcelain jar, a leather belt, with no catch or buckle, and a losantine tablet box.
Today I was ready for more, so shortly after coffee I headed back out there. The weather was grey and the clouds hung dangerously near the rooftops, like a lid over the world. Pretty cool actually.
I started where I had found the travel badge and followed signals until it led me to a dumping pit next to the remains of a barrack. Here I spent the next four hours, sifting through rocks, soil, glass and rust. Porcelain cream jars, perfume- and alcohol bottles, cream tubes, rusted tins and cans, forks, spoons, nails and batteries. It took time to find the bottom and when I did, it was covered with nails. But not only. Because between the nails was gold! Or so it appeared. It was probably brass, but my brain had already thought "gold", so I just had to go with the enthusiasm. It was a beautifully made Finnish ring. Two parts, the band and the shield with the Finnish lion. Usually these were made from cutting the shield from coins, but this one is not from a coin, it seems to be made professionally. A fantastic find!
It was around this point my pinpointer started to fail on me. I didn`t have any spare batteries so I found it wisest to close up the pit and return later with equipment that works.
Looks like the coming week will be extra wet, but I hope to make a few trips again very soon,
Thanks for reading, and have a great week :)
Reflector.
Muzzle cap.
Padlock.
A Finnish and Norwegian coin.
A horseshoe with ice cleats.
A boot.
A small very well made elephant badge.
This large pitcher was not easy to get out of the ground.
The annoying find, P38.
Gold in the form of an EKM :)
"the dusky cockroach" Ectobius lapponica.
A small shavingmirror.
Lighter and buttons.
Finnish, Danish and German coin, and a gaming piece.
The travel badge.
The GirlfriendWife collecting spruce.
Axe with a nail puller.
Belt and stuff.
I like to find these map tools.
A beautiful bottle.
A jar of german Reichs honey.
Fork and losantine box.
Two lighters and a bottle opener.
Scrap :)
The Finland ring.
Watermelon is good to have on those warm days :)
RSS Feed