Printable kit · 15 worksheets
The Metal Detecting Skills & Hunt Planner
Rate your skills honestly, follow a structured plan to actually get better at reading signals and recovering clean finds, then choose the machine that fits your target and ground, get permission settled before the coil turns on, and keep a real record: a settings cheat sheet built from this site's own logic, a reusable hunt log, a finds catalog with cleaning notes, and dedicated sheets for beach/water hunting and gold panning.
- 15 fill-in worksheets, 43 print pages
- 2 filled-in examples to copy the format from
- A skill self-assessment, an 8-week hunt skills plan and a 7-drill skills library, for beginner through advanced
- Companion Excel / Google Sheets tracker with a practice log, a test garden depth trend, and the coverage and dig-time planner
- Online buyer guide with current prices, by target type and budget tier
Replaces the settings you re-derive from memory every trip, the permission conversation you never wrote down, and the finds sitting in a drawer with no record of where or when they came out of the ground.
30-day money-back guarantee. Use it all; if it doesn't help, every dollar back.
Look inside
Real pages from the PDF you download, including both filled-in examples. Swipe or scroll.
What's in it
See all 15 worksheet titles
- Detector & Gear At A Glance
- Detecting Skill Self-Assessment
- Detector Buying Decision Sheet
- Settings Cheat Sheet By Conditions
- Hunt Skills Plan
- Detector Skills Drill Library
- Signal Reading & Dig Decision Guide
- Site Selection & Research Strategy
- Site Research & Permission Log
- Hunt Log
- Beach & Water Hunting Checklist
- Gold Prospecting & Panning Sheet
- Finds Catalog
- Gear Maintenance Log
- Budget Planner
Also included
- 2 filled-in example worksheets. Hunt Log and Finds Catalog, filled in for a sample hunt and a sample find, clearly marked as an example, so you can see a finished page before you start.
- 1 bonus printable. Quick Reference: Settings & Land Rules: The condensed cheat sheet and the permission checklist, cut down to pouch size
- 1 companion spreadsheet. An editable workbook: a coil coverage and dig-time planner using this site's own formulas, a one-time setup budget with a running total, a reusable hunt log, a practice log that totals your hours and good-finds rate, and a test garden depth trend. Tabs: Coverage planner, Dig time budget, Setup budget, Hunt log, Practice Log, Test Garden Depth Trend.
- 1 start-here page. The four sheets to fill in the first 20 minutes, and which sheet to reach for at buying, at a new site, or before a specialty trip.
Plus the online buyer guide
Three complete detecting kits, beginner through expert, every item priced and linked, plus every product this kit names, kept current on this site. Your kit links straight to it, so the prices you plan with are today's, not the day the PDF was printed.
Who it's for
- Anyone who wants a structured plan to actually get better at swinging, reading signals and recovering clean finds, not just another gear list
- Anyone choosing a first machine who wants a real decision process by target type and ground, not just a spec sheet
- Anyone who wants a written permission record and the public-land rules checked before a trip, not after a problem
- Anyone who wants settings logged by site type so a similar hunt next month starts from a real number
- Beach, water and gold hunters who want the specialty checklists, panning steps and specialty drills in one place
- Anyone who wants finds catalogued with a photo and a cleaning decision before anything gets damaged
Who made this
Built by the DetectorCalc team from the same settings logic, coil-coverage math and dig-time math the free site's calculators run on, plus this site's own published guides on sweep technique, ground balance, discrimination, signal reading, pinpointing, site research and clean recovery, laid out as a workbook to fill in and a plan to follow rather than a page to read.
30-day money-back guarantee
Use the whole kit. If it doesn't help, fill in the refund form within 30 days and you get every dollar back. No questions asked. Refund form.
Questions
Does this replace the free site?
No. The free site has the settings tables, calculators, reviews and buying guides; the kit is where your own machine, your own sites, your own finds and your own skill get written down, dated and improved, plus a self-assessment, an 8-week skill plan and a drill library the free pages do not carry as a day-by-day plan.
Is this coaching?
No. It is a self-guided skill plan and drill library built from this site's own published technique guides, not live instruction. It gives you a structure to practice with; results depend on how much you practice and on your own technique.
Does this give me new target ID numbers or depth figures?
No. Every settings figure and target ID band here is the same starting-point logic as the free Settings and reference pages, condensed to a printable card. Your machine's manual is the authority on what each control does, and the working numbers worth having are the ones you calibrate in your own soil with the test garden drill and write down.
Does it tell me whether I can detect somewhere specific?
No. The Site Research & Permission Log gives you a permission letter template and the categories of public land to check (National Park Service land, state parks, county and city parks, archaeological sites), but the actual rule for a specific piece of ground is always local, state and federal, and it changes. Check with the landowner or the relevant agency every time.
Is this useful if I only hunt coins in a local park?
Yes. The self-assessment, the skill plan, the drill library, the at-a-glance card, the buying decision sheet, the settings cheat sheet, the hunt log and the finds catalog all apply regardless of what you hunt. The beach/water checklist and the gold panning sheet are there for when you branch out, not a requirement to use the rest.
What if it does not help?
Use the whole kit for 30 days. If it does not help, the refund form on the contact page gets every dollar back, no questions asked. Refund form.
Printable or fillable on screen?
Both. Print it and write by hand, or open a worksheet PDF in a reader that supports typing and fill it on a tablet or phone.
The Metal Detecting Skills & Hunt Planner
15 worksheets · 43 pages · examples, workbook and online buyer guide