Gear Brigades First Mini Series! Well sort of...
I’m sure many of the majority of the world has never heard of a place that goes by the name of Spring Creek in Spring Texas but you have now! The creek is a 13.3 mile stream that divides Montgomery and Harris County on The North side of Houston, Texas. It is the only natural creek in both Harris and Montgomery County. It’s also the home of many Historical “Firsts” when it comes to the City of Houston lore. In the coming months we will become part of that lore as we set out to explore this well protected suburban landmark to see just what we can find below the streams surface with Minelab’s Equinox 700. Between the floods and the fact that the stream runs through some of the elite neighborhoods North of Houston, it could very well house a bonanza in treasures for us to find. There are many parks and trails that accompany Spring Creek with Canoe Launches, Boat ramps and such so those will be our entry points going forward.
Old Town Spring- Home Sweet Home
My experience with Metal Detectors:
Boy, do I have a lot of learning to do! The last time I used a Metal detector I was looking for my wife’s ring at her friend Lisa’s house on a Friday afternoon. I scanned Lisa’s entire yard front and back, her roof, the road, and her neighbor’s front and side yard with no luck. I was looking at this Detector (obviously not the Equinox 700) like “I just blew 200 plus on you, and you found me 2 bottle caps some change a few nails, and a kids earring? Really! Saturday I cleaned her roof & gutters then raked and bagged the entire yard and scanned it again to no avail. Sunday I skipped church and cleaned half her garage(The wife lost it throwing up a “Granny shot” so the ring literally could have been anywhere). Again, no Luck! What can I say, It was a nice ring! I started thinking I was being “duped” by them. :0) I didn’t mind though for my buddy Dennis (Lisa’s man) was serving overseas. I was more than glad to help out. By Monday Lisa’s place was looking Dapper and I was basically comatose for I had worked 8 long days and just needed a break. Not to mention I had to order the wife a replacement ring and that put a good-sized hole in my wallet! On Tuesday morning I get my 6:15 call from Lisa to wake up the hard sleeping wife. Lisa called every weekday while Dennis was overseas to remind me to wake the wife up! So I asked her when trash day was and she told me she was taking it to the road as we spoke. I yelled, “Don’t, I’ll be right there” (instinct kicked in)! I scurried over to her house and started rummaging through the trash. In the second can there was a Popeye’s chicken box slightly opened so I peeked inside and bam! There it was! There are no words to describe the Joy I experienced at that moment. I don’t remember if a tear dropped and wouldn’t tell you if it did but it was that kind of moment! As you can see I don’t have much experience with detectors hence the mini-series! I hope to be much better at the end of this venture!
Day 1: Pundt Park Beach Area
This seemed like the ideal place to start our venture for it is probably the most popular and used area along the stream. 200 yards to the right and 300 yards to the left through the bend the water held at about waist high at its deepest point so it was perfect for exploring. The Equinox 700 strapped to my right arm with a mini spade over my left shoulder and my Vibrams on I headed toward the water. On approach, the Equinox 700 started beeping. I quickly took a knee, having no idea why. With some numbers on the screen though (GOD I have a ton to learn here) and slightly startled because of the beeps, I was kneeling on my first find of the day. Three shovels in I found my first relic. A set of very recognizable car keys. Owning one F-150 and several “Stangs” you get to know the keys. The Keys belonged to a late model Ford of some type but they were deep enough that years must have passed and whoever lost them had no need for them now. Into my bag, they went. I combed that area though and found a few more items of little value. A rusty old zippo, some change, and a bottle opener weren’t exactly what I was hoping for.
As I started working the water the beeper went off several times by the swimming area but the only thing I found was a broken necklace pendant of a sunflower. It’s very hard retrieving things out of the streams! I need to bring something to sift the mud through on the next trip! I probably missed out on at least a half dozen items just in the swimming area alone!
As I worked towards the bend it seemed I miscalculated its depth because I went from waist deep to almost over my head with one fell swoop! The Equinox 700 is for sure waterproof because I’m pretty sure it got submerged for an instant but was still working. The good thing about this is that I found a pocket on the opposite side of the sandbar from where I fell that was kind of like a mini harbor if you will. It was an area about 5′ in circumference that was maybe 2ft deep and stagnant, with no current. As I put the Detector in the water it started beeping in two spots immediately. So I reached down in the first spot bare-handed and felt around digging with my fingertips and found a pocket knife that was rusted shut. I moved on to the spot on the left and kept getting beeps but couldn’t dig enough with my fingers so I used my spade and just tossed the mud on the sandbar. After about ten shovels’ I heard a clank! My shovel had hit something decent-sized because it stopped my shovel. I bent down and dug around it with my hand to get it dislodged. It was a case of some sort that had a hinged lid on each side. A little taller than a pack of cigarettes and a little wider but too small to hold any fishing gear.
At this point in the day, I was wet tired, and just wanted to go home and dry out. After wiping down the equipment, I took the case, the knife and the other finds to the house and treated them with some Mega Power 120 to get them opened. The hinged doors on the case opened easily and there was a wire brush inside (gun cleaning kit) behind one of the doors. The pocket knife was an “Old Timer” kind of like my Pop’s used to carry. It’s going to take some time to clean it up though. It took me a good while online to find the case and I was kind of excited about what I found though it didn’t make a lot of sense. the case was a WWII German gun cleaning kit. I’m sure it’s not worth much because all that was in it was a brush but it was still nice to find. I am going to have to study how the experts hunt in the streams because I missed maybe a dozen or so pieces by the day’s end. Things that just got swept away with the current I’m guessing. There were several times I’d get beeps only to stir the bottom up and lose the beeps completely.
I fear the Minelab Equinox 700 far outperformed my abilities on this day but I “will” get better. Sherlock needs an assistant! A smart one! I have a feeling there’s going to be a ton of lost jewelry in these waters. I just have to get them in my hands without losing them! :0) Next Stop, Jesse Jones boat launch or back to Pundt to gather all I missed?
Price 699.00
Note: Spring Creek is known for its sandy banks, undisturbed natural surroundings, and clean water, and it serves as home to many animals. If you come to visit please take care of your surroundings.