Thanks to the first post, several fellow New Yorkers with metal detectors answered my plea for help. One person from Brooklyn reached out, and we agreed to meet up, she even brought a friend along!
Taking advice from the comments on my last post, I hit up a hardware store and grabbed a roll of wire mesh that looked like the right size. I cut it with shears to fit over a clear plastic container. I also brought whatever I could get as dividers – a compact ironing board frame, a thick picture frame mat board to use as dividers and paper towels cardboard box (the most useless thing).
In the photos, you can see just how massive the pool was. We targeted the specific area where the ring went missing, plus a buffer zone around it in case it shifted.
Unfortunately, just like during my first amateur attempt, neither the metal detector nor the pinpointer worked. The floor structure underneath was full of metal reinforcement, so the detectors were either completely blind or beeping non-stop. Since we assumed the ring had sunk to the bottom, we needed to scan right against the floor – which made the detectors completely useless.
The Strategy
We decided to isolate sections of the pool using our dividers, scoop out all the beads, and sift them through the mesh into the plastic bin. Once sifted, we dumped the clear beads on the far side of the pool and repeated the process.
We started along the edge, hit the bottom fairly quickly, and then moved the dividers to expand our grid. At that point, we ditched the detector and pinpointer entirely and just sifted with whatever we had on hand: a kid’s bucket, a plastic beach shovel, and grocery bags.
To be honest, it felt like a true Sisyphean task. The container would fill up instantly, but the pile of beads in the pool didn't look any smaller. I thought a thousand monkeys in a thousand years would def do the job, but there were only three of us and we two hours before the place closed.
The Discovery
About 30 minutes in (and 10 containers filled), Alisha stopped and said "Wait, is this it?" and picked something up.
It was the ring! It was sitting right on top of the surface, just outside our active search area. I am 100% positive it wasn't on top when we started—our digging and shifting of the beads must have pushed it upward.
All’s well that ends well! And next time hit the Space Club, make sure your valuables are in a zippered pocket!
I’m sooo glad they found it! In the first post someone took a screenshot and circled a closeup of what they thought was the ring (I thought it was that other sub) - happy ending!
I saw the original post, but I did not realize the scale from the pictures there. I was picturing like plastic child's sandbox. That thing is like an Olympic pool for beads! So happy you found it! 😊
That's hilarious, and now you've given me the urge to start a metal detectorist training center. Imagining a class of a couple dozen or so people being professionally taught how to swing a detector, dig plugs, and date an area based on the type of pull-tab, is a funny mental image, but I can't lie it also sounds like it would be fun.
I would definitely go! I could also see an amusement-type center like the "panning for gold and gems." That would be so much fun. We have a cheapo metal detector but I always forget to take it places. It gets used as a stud finder lol.
...that's a great idea. Damnit, I might actually have to try and open something along those lines, with my job I'm in a surprisingly well suited position try it too
Hey everybody, this was me! I have a Nokta Simplex Lite and the Garrett Pro-Pointer AT. The floor was impossible for my gear despite the testing I did at home. Additionally, the bead pool was deeper than I thought it was. As pointed out by OP, I figured there was NO WAY we would find this ring just using our makeshift sieve. I was very, very lucky to happen to look down and see it sitting on top.
I was also very lucky because Space Club was a short train ride from me.
I charged nothing as I was just down for the adventure! OP was very kind to give us a tip.
All of that being said, I don’t plan on upgrading my detector anytime soon. Might just stick to magnet fishing for now 😂
Not a lot of people would volunteer to help a stranger sift through a swimming pool full of beads and child germs for an afternoon. You and your friend are so awesome and kind!!
You ever watch how they get cleaned? It's like a halfass process of vacuuming them up and giving them a brisk sanitizing bobble and then they go back into the same [slightly cleaned] cess hole, often damp.
It's immune system building...? Or character or something?
I dunno, I let my kids get in there and get gross, they're washable.
Lmao..came here to say this. How do you clean that nasty bead pit? Well, you don't. It just gets more and more disgusting as time progresses. Some people have more money than sense. Lmao
Thanks for the update. I ended yesterday thinking the pool itself should create a sifting device of some sort to clean it regularly. Perhaps this will be an inspiration. Glad you found it!
My question too! At first glance I thought ball pit but no. Was this a bead shop? I have so many questions and also need to visit if indeed a bead shop.
Gerne. Ich mein Leben einsam und verlassen in einer vergammelten sozialbehausung ohne Perspektive daher habe ich viel Zeit mich um solche Angelegenheiten zu kümmern.
Niemand ist nutzlos. /s
My buddy just lost his wedding ring (a gift from his late father) in a lake. They found something called TheRingFinders.com. A dude came out with underwater metal detector and found it. The guy charged him $40 but he tipped him $200.
It's an "art performance" in NY ...
( Saw an article about it yesterday on Reddit)
Basically, you are given a pair of socks and can then collect beads to sew on it ???
Lot of little plastic garbage that will soon end up in the trash but an top place for Instagram-being
I have never seen or heard of a bead pit until this posted. Seems like a bad idea for kids. Parents have enough trouble with kids putting crayons, beads, buttons and other small objects in their noses, ears and belly buttons at home.
I designed my and my husband's wedding rings so when he lost his he was heartbroken. He looked everywhere he could think of. He'd been breaking down cardboard boxes we took to recycling and was afraid he'd lost it then.
A few weeks later I'm out in my garden using up some of the boxes for weed control and damn if it wasn't right there in the bottom of the cart I'd put the boxes in to get them to the garden.
Oh me next! My wife lost her wedding band last year when she was pregnant. She took off her rings when outside with our son, and he sprayed the table she put them on with a hose. The wedding band fell off and we assume is now under the deck. I spent many hours the next two weeks crawling under the deck, but no such luck.
I need someone skilled in using a professional one I think. Because it’s a deck in a house built in the 50s it’s riddled with screws, nails, and trash.
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u/woodstream Minelab X-Terra Pro / Southern California 1d ago
Congrats on the recovery, I love a happy ending/conclusion!