New here from Swansea — a few questions about how you track finds and permissions
Hi all,
Long-time lurker, first-time poster. Wanted to say hello and pick your brains, if that's alright.
I'm Marc, based in Swansea. I've spent the last decade or so building software for businesses, most recently at an Amazon-owned company. I'm between things at the moment and using the time to dig into problems that genuinely interest me — and the world of metal detecting has been on my mind for a while.
Before I get ahead of myself, what I'd really like to understand is how people here actually handle the admin side of the hobby. Things like:
- Keeping track of permissions and where their boundaries are
- Recording finds properly, including anything that needs to go to PAS or the coroner
- Planning where to go next and remembering where you've been
- Looking back at a season and seeing what came out of where
From what I can tell, most people use some combination of paper notebooks, spreadsheets, the photo roll, OS Maps, WhatsApp groups, and memory. Some swear by the notebook. Others have lost finds, forgotten where things came from, or had a moment of panic when a farmer asked them something on the spot.
So, honestly:
- What works for you? What's a pain?
- What would you never want to replace?
- What do you wish existed that doesn't?
Not trying to sell anyone anything today. Just want to learn from people who actually do this before I make a load of assumptions.
Cheers,
Marc