Last week I had two trips to the Gebirgsjäger camp, and it looks like these were the last strolls with the detector this time around.
On Tuesday I woke up to a fresh -6.3 Celsius below zero. The weather report indicated that the next days and nights would be cold so I thought it could be the last chance for any searching and prepared myself for a fresh day outside.
When I stepped into the cold forest I slightly regretted my decision. The frozen vegetation made loud crunchy noises when I walked through it, and cold needles shot through the layers of clothes and into my bones as I kneeled to check a signal given by the detector. The first half hour it felt like my fingertips were made of pain, but after a while I got numb to it and didn`t feel them for a few hours.
I wanted to check a ditch with some interesting signals I had found on a previous trip. I suspected it could be a dumping pit and needed to find out before the long winter began. I checked every interesting signal on the way over to it, but it was all rubbish, a few padlocks, parts of a broken crate, boot heel irons, nails and wires. The ditch did not have much in it either. A few lenghts of wire and a food tin had given the good signals, but it was also a large vehicle lamp in the soil there. It wasn`t in the best shape though, the glass was missing and the rust had made large holes in the thin metal.
I searched around the ditch and dug up a license plate from a vehicle and a pair of large aluminum electrical connectors made by Siemens. A bit farther away I found a small slope full of signals. I opened up a corner to see what it could be and spent the next few hours there. Just below the surface relics came popping out. It was a lot of junk, but I picked out a Finnish coin, belt support hooks, stripper clips, a few chess pieces, perfume bottles and a k98 winter trigger, and the coolest bottle of the season. A square, green, Schnapps bottle with embossings on three of its sides. It will be perfect for a display together with a few shot glasses, smoking paraphanalia and some trench-art.
By now I had begun feeling my fingers again and decided it was time to end the season, sad that I hadn`t discovered the dumping ditch that I had hoped for, but super-happy with the bottle. I had only checked a small corner of the slope and it looks like a place where I can begin next season since the relics was laying so shallow and it ll be thawed up early by the spring sun.
The next days we had milder weather again and even if some snow had fell I figured Friday the 13th would be a good day to make another attempt on closing the season. Just after breakfast I waded into the woods in ancle deep snow, sweeping snow away in front of me with the detector. It soon gave me signals to dig and together with rusted food cans I found a very nice looking RG34 cleaning kit. It felt heavy so I bet all parts are present in it. Everytime I checked a signal I had to pay extra attention to where I placed my bayonet and root scissors as they kept disappearing in the snow. Of course the detector became much heavier because of the snow getting caked on it, and it didnt take long before my trousers and gloves had been soaked through by the snow melting on me. Slowly I realized that the Friday 13th luck I had hoped for was escaping me and I ended up with very few finds, and the cold needles pulsating in my fingers made me call it quits just an hour after lunch. The last hour searching my way back to the car provided me with a couple of nice finds though. A very small dump I dug up was full of chess pieces and a silver-plated brass bracelet. One signal gave me two field torches, while another good signal was a great little find, a small keyring tag with a vehicles licenseplate info stamped into it. That one will be slipped right onto my Transporters keyring :D
The last find I dug up from the snow was a M39 Nebel head, partly rusted through, still, it could be cleaned out and make for a nice pencil holder or something :)
I guess this is it then, unless the weather turns again and we ll get another mild periode. This season was definately a great one, one of the best since I began this blog ten years ago. I ve had lots of fun and had some great finds. It is difficult to choose which was the best of them all, but probably the Ullr badge and the Nordfrontkreuz.
Now starts the job of going through all the finds, giving some of them new homes, and making art from some, while displaying others. Planning and research for next season must be done, and some half-plans for interesting trips together with friends have begun brewing.
Thanks to all of you who have followed my trips this season, I hope you have found it entertaining and interesting and will be back for more in spring :)
Have a good winter :)
On Tuesday I woke up to a fresh -6.3 Celsius below zero. The weather report indicated that the next days and nights would be cold so I thought it could be the last chance for any searching and prepared myself for a fresh day outside.
When I stepped into the cold forest I slightly regretted my decision. The frozen vegetation made loud crunchy noises when I walked through it, and cold needles shot through the layers of clothes and into my bones as I kneeled to check a signal given by the detector. The first half hour it felt like my fingertips were made of pain, but after a while I got numb to it and didn`t feel them for a few hours.
I wanted to check a ditch with some interesting signals I had found on a previous trip. I suspected it could be a dumping pit and needed to find out before the long winter began. I checked every interesting signal on the way over to it, but it was all rubbish, a few padlocks, parts of a broken crate, boot heel irons, nails and wires. The ditch did not have much in it either. A few lenghts of wire and a food tin had given the good signals, but it was also a large vehicle lamp in the soil there. It wasn`t in the best shape though, the glass was missing and the rust had made large holes in the thin metal.
I searched around the ditch and dug up a license plate from a vehicle and a pair of large aluminum electrical connectors made by Siemens. A bit farther away I found a small slope full of signals. I opened up a corner to see what it could be and spent the next few hours there. Just below the surface relics came popping out. It was a lot of junk, but I picked out a Finnish coin, belt support hooks, stripper clips, a few chess pieces, perfume bottles and a k98 winter trigger, and the coolest bottle of the season. A square, green, Schnapps bottle with embossings on three of its sides. It will be perfect for a display together with a few shot glasses, smoking paraphanalia and some trench-art.
By now I had begun feeling my fingers again and decided it was time to end the season, sad that I hadn`t discovered the dumping ditch that I had hoped for, but super-happy with the bottle. I had only checked a small corner of the slope and it looks like a place where I can begin next season since the relics was laying so shallow and it ll be thawed up early by the spring sun.
The next days we had milder weather again and even if some snow had fell I figured Friday the 13th would be a good day to make another attempt on closing the season. Just after breakfast I waded into the woods in ancle deep snow, sweeping snow away in front of me with the detector. It soon gave me signals to dig and together with rusted food cans I found a very nice looking RG34 cleaning kit. It felt heavy so I bet all parts are present in it. Everytime I checked a signal I had to pay extra attention to where I placed my bayonet and root scissors as they kept disappearing in the snow. Of course the detector became much heavier because of the snow getting caked on it, and it didnt take long before my trousers and gloves had been soaked through by the snow melting on me. Slowly I realized that the Friday 13th luck I had hoped for was escaping me and I ended up with very few finds, and the cold needles pulsating in my fingers made me call it quits just an hour after lunch. The last hour searching my way back to the car provided me with a couple of nice finds though. A very small dump I dug up was full of chess pieces and a silver-plated brass bracelet. One signal gave me two field torches, while another good signal was a great little find, a small keyring tag with a vehicles licenseplate info stamped into it. That one will be slipped right onto my Transporters keyring :D
The last find I dug up from the snow was a M39 Nebel head, partly rusted through, still, it could be cleaned out and make for a nice pencil holder or something :)
I guess this is it then, unless the weather turns again and we ll get another mild periode. This season was definately a great one, one of the best since I began this blog ten years ago. I ve had lots of fun and had some great finds. It is difficult to choose which was the best of them all, but probably the Ullr badge and the Nordfrontkreuz.
Now starts the job of going through all the finds, giving some of them new homes, and making art from some, while displaying others. Planning and research for next season must be done, and some half-plans for interesting trips together with friends have begun brewing.
Thanks to all of you who have followed my trips this season, I hope you have found it entertaining and interesting and will be back for more in spring :)
Have a good winter :)
Padlock.
Crate part, padlock and a file.
Boot heel irons, bottle etc.
Frosted leaves.
Vehicle lamp.
License plate.
Electrical connectors.
Finnish coin.
K98 winter trigger.
The beautiful Schnapps bottle.
Crunchy moss.
Friday 13th in the Gebirgsjäger camp.
Rifle cleaning kit.
My tools disappearing in the snow.
Cutlery, bottle and food tin.
Field torches.
Bracelet.
Gaming pieces.
Snowcaked detector.
Tag for keyring with a vehicles licenseplate number.
M39 smoke grenade head.
Looking forward to the spring now :D
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