RUTUS Expert Team - detectorists who use our products in the pursuit of uncovering history
Meet them in 2019 at the Rodney Cook Memorial Rally 6-8th September and at Detectival 13-16th September - just look out for the Rutus Expert Team logos. Check out their site, Youtube, App, Instagram and Twitter accounts where they'll be sharing finds, hunt stories and tips for using our detectors.
Luke Higgins
Using the Rutus Alter 71 since early 2018, I've used a few other machines in my time but gelled with the Alter straight away. I love the versatility of the machine and being a small guy balance is important, whilst the Alter is not in particular a light machine it's so well balanced it's one of the few I can swing all day with little fatigue. The VDI has to one of the most accurate on the market and is brilliant for coin shooting. I genuinely believe that the Alter is able to compete with any machine on the market even those that cost twice the amount! Recently I have been using the machine in All Metal Mode, listening to everything under the ground, I run in dynamic but switch to dual mode on occasion. A lot of my land is surrounded by electrical lines and fences and the ability to switch frequency to avoid the worse of EMI is priceless to Me. I have found many hammered coins, Roman coins on my holiday permission in Devon, Bronze Celtic units, a fob seal, Votive Axe and A beautiful Saxon strap end as well as many silver pre decimals. I have found gold ring but a gold coin continues to allude Me! I work on The Archaeology and Metal Detecting magazine and also the All Metal Mode UK podcast and Co run The Detecting The Weald and UKDF 4 life groups in East Sussex.
The Archaeology and Metal detecting magazine
METAL DETECTING UK DIRTFISHING
Detecting location in the UK
East Sussex and surrounding areas
Rutus used
Alter 71 Version 2.0 for the last year
Fave Rutus settings
All Metal Mode in dynamic mode
Other hobbies
Wild camping
Niall Bailey
I have now been detecting for just over 2 years and I can definitely say it is now a big part of my life and not just a passing hobby which I have had many of! I have always been fascinated by british history and historic places from a young age so a couple of years ago I finally decided to bite the bullet and buy an entry level machine to take my love of history further.
After a quick facebook search of local groups I found UK dirtfishing which had just been set up by fellow Team Rutus member Luke Higgins. Coincidently he only lived up the road from me so we started sharing permissions and after finding my first few pre decimal coins I was hooked.
Luke upgraded his machine to the Rutus Alter 71 and instantly started finding much more. So not wanting to be out done and left behind I copied him and purchased an alter 71 too. It is the machine I still use today. I love it, it really is a hammy hoover and since using it we can’t stop pulling them out from our permissions!
It is hard to describe why I love detecting in a single sentence as the hobby brings so much to me. It is the banter and friendships created, being out in the fresh air in some beautiful scenery and of course finding cool relics! I love finding something knowing the I am the first person to touch it in hundreds if not thousands of years, it is as close to time travel as we will get.
METAL DETECTING UK DIRTFISHING
Detecting Location
Sussex, mainly East Susex
Rutus Used
Alter 71 version 2.0
Fave Settings
Dynamic mode, recently all metal mode aswell
Fave Finds
My collection of hammered coins
Medieval Oval Vessica Seal Matrix
Silver stag seal matrix
Tony C
My interest in detecting was initially piqued when someone suggested I watch 'Detectorists' as it's a great lesson in brilliant comedy writing - my other hobby is writing screenplays.
And I loved the show from the start, though it didn't immeadiately result in me taking up the hobby. No, that came a couple of years down the line when a birthday left me with a small pile of Amazon vouchers and nothing that I needed to spend them on.
So a brief but sucessful couple of months with a Chinese detector and I was hooked and ready to get a proper machine. I watched Youtube, read magazine articles and reviews, compared features and finally decided to get an Alter 71 due to the combination of great switch and go settings and a wealth of settings for me to grow into as I became more familiar with the machine.
I've never looked back...
I'll be at Detectival, hope to see you there.
tcDetects on YouTube
@tcDetects on Twitter
Detecting location in the UK
West and North Yorkshire... occasionally South Yorks too
Rutus used
Alter 71 Version 2.0
Fave Rutus settings
Dual Mode - my personal settings are at the end of my videos
Fave finds
1 - Victorian Policeman's 'Sad Lion' cloak clasp
2 - Edward 1st (maybe 2nd) Farthing, from same field as the 'Sad Lion'
3 - My first gold - and my first ring
4 - 1930 Florin, I just love the design
Other hobbies
Screenwriting, Poker and following West Ham Utd - oh and Dr Who jumpers.
Matteusz David
As a kid I was fascinated with exploring old villages with castles and palaces and, of course, reading and listening to the legends associated with them.
When I was 16 my father bought me my first metal detector, which was a Rutus Proxima 2.0, and since that day I became a professional detectorist - at least I thought so :)
With each day out with my Proxima I learnt more about my detector and with every success, big and small, I got more into the hobby.
With more than 10 years of experience I now treat metal detecting as unearthing history rather than treasure hunting. Anyone who also is into this hobby and who has found an item lost by someone, a couple of hundreds or thousands of years ago knows this great feeling.
So for the last 10 years I've been a loyal Rutus owner, with a Rutus Alter 71 since last summer.
See you at the Rodney Cook Memorial rally.
Instagram: uk_south_detectorist
Detecting location in the UK
East Sussex and the London area
Rutus used
Rutus Proxima for 4 years and the Alter 71 Version 2.0 for the last year
Fave Rutus settings
Dynamic mode: Sensitivity as high as possible, Ground filter 3-4, Masking 2-3, Disc 0-13, Sound gain 30, 13khz.
Fave finds
1 - Early bronze age axe head found with Rutus Alter 71
2 - 9ct gold weeding band found with Rutus Alter 71 on the Seaford beach
3 - Snake Buckle
4 - My first silver coin
Other hobbies
Fishing, gym and travelling... and remember, If in doubt dig it out!
Adrian Gayler
I originally had an interest in detecting when my grandad used to go out in the late '70s with an old Garrett detector my uncle brought back from America when he was stationed out there in the RAF. I decided to look into detecting again after my old next-door neighbour I grew up with posted on Facebook that he had purchased a machine and was looking for land and also someone to detect with.
I purchased my first machine, a Whites Treasuremaster and then we both started gaining permissions. We both try to get out at least every weekend and some weekdays on a varying range of permissions in Essex and the London areas. I have been fortunate to have used a wide range of machines over the years and first got my hands on the Alter 71 when asked to do a review for Treasure Hunting Magazine. After not having a Rutus machine before I was intrigued on how it would perform. After the first day out detecting I realised this is the machine for me. I love the ability to ‘tweak’ all the settings, the tones, the display and the balance. I cannot ever see myself getting rid of my Alter 71.
Detecting location in the UK
Essex
Rutus used
Alter 71 Version 2.0
Fave Rutus settings
Basic setting, why? Because for a machine straight out the box it just ticks all the boxes perfectly and is ideal for those first starting out.
Fave finds
1 - Gold plated picture locket found in pasture in Chigwell Essex
2 - Elizabeth half groat 1558-1603. Found on pasture in Essex 11 inches down and first day out with my Alter 71
3 - British Sea Service 1835/51 rifle musket. Found in Bradwell, Essex. Love the history behind this
4 - 16/17th lead token found in Essex field. Very decorative
Other hobbies
Real Ale, Gardening, Walks with my dog, Computers
Yvonne
I started mudlarking on the Thames with a metal detector which was very hard going given the amount of ship-building iron and nails as well as general rubbish that has been thrown into the river over hundreds of years.
Then I saw that you could go metal detecting in fields and I was hooked. The Rutus Alter 71 is my second ever machine and I love it to bits. I started with using the set programmes and my finds rate compared to my earlier machine went through the roof.
As I explored the settings more and more, I realised that it has a super sophisticated engine behind it and can adapt to almost any ground. I also love the concentric coil which I believe gives it the edge over other machines. I’ve also customised my Rutus Alter with a fibre shaft.
I have found hammies, silver and gold rings, roman coins and roman brooches.
I'll be at Rodney Cook Memorial.
Rutus used
Alter 71 (V2.0)
Fave finds
1 - Silver thimble
2 - Crotal bell
3 - TBC
4 - TBC
Other hobbies
Making Beer, Food & Travel
Richard
I started metal detecting in the late 1970’s with a C-Scope BFO 50 on the mud flats off of Canvey Island, Essex. My passion at that time was sea fishing so I used to search for lead weights that had been snapped off the fishing line when people cast out. I found so many that I used to sell them to the local fishing tackle shop and make a bit of pocket money.
In my opinion the most important thing you can do with your finds is to record them. Whether its in a diary, on your own database or using the P.A.S., you really need to record what you have found and where you have found it. Without this all you have is half the story.
The greatest thing I have done in the hobby is spend a week metal detecting in Croatia for the Croatian Department of Culture and Vinkovci museum. It was an outreach project in an area that is plagued with illegal detecting. The outreach project was to show the Department of Culture that, when used in conjunction with G.P.S. and working in conjunction with the archaeologists, metal detecting can be a very useful tool in identifying sites of habitation and recovering coins and artefacts that might otherwise be lost or destroyed by modern farming methods. The week was very successful, we found two coin hoards from the mediaeval period and one from the Celtic period and identified three further sites that have since been given protected status by the Croatian Government – similar to our scheduled ancient monuments.
Although I have used and own(ed) most high-end machines, nowadays my favoured machine is the Rutus Alter 71. It doesn’t mess about, the three-way discrimination methods are almost flawless, it gives better depth than most machines available, and is sensitive enough to find the smallest targets without wasting your time by sounding off on single shotgun pellets. It’s simplicity makes it a great first high end machine yet it has the capability to out perform much more expensive machines once you get used to what the settings do.
I'll be at Rodney Cook Memorial and Detectival.
Rutus used
Alter 71
Fave finds
1 - Hoard of Celtic bronze & silver coins, 100 B.C.
2 - Appolanian silver coins - 1st century B.C.
3 - Single day finds, 31 Medieval silvers, 3 silver rings and 1 Celtic bronze
4 - Thurrock Potin, 120-100 B.C.
Other hobbies
Sheds
