Miscellaneous
On each episode of National Geographic's Diggers, metal detector hobbyists Tim “The Ringmaster” Saylor and his friend “King George” Wyant traverse the United States in search of buried treasure. But treasure means different things to different people, says Saylor, who sat down with host Sean Heath for this episode of Discover the Truth by Garrett Metal Detectors. "I'm one of the very few lucky ones that make a living off this, but I don't make a living off the things I find," he said. "I would be doing this whether or not I was on television because I do it for the love of it. This is about the thrill of the hunt and the sport of hunting." But learning a sport takes time, Saylor advised. "Don't be intimidated. Do what you want and you'll get alot out of the sport," he said. While Garrett has a range of products that vary from nearly "plug and play" models that make it easy for novices to get started in the sport, veteran detectors find more as they become more acquainted with the features and technology. "We know our machines forwards and backwards. We can sense what's going on just by what we're hearing," Saylor said. "But there's so much garbage in the ground that you have to learn how to interpret each little tweak to know what's bad, what's good, and what's iffy." Among Saylor's favorite finds are an 22k solid gold mourning ring dated 1744 with an amethyst stone (the "greatest ring I've ever found in my life", according to him).