How often do you score?

[adshepard]

I collect all my finds while scuba diving and I find that I find something pretty decent about every three or four dives. I was wondering how often other bottle divers score and how often privy diggers and dump diggers score. By score I just mean finding something really worth keeping.

I don't mind hitting every third or fourth dive at all. Diving itself and the search make the strikeout dives fun. What do you diggers experience in terms of strikeout holes. Is the dig where nothing comes of it a real bummer or is the thrill of just digging worth it?

Alan

 

[GuntherHess]

thought the post was going to be about singles bars there for a second

 

[lexdigger]

With privies, it is hit or miss. I find that about one out of every ten holes is Loaded with stuff... but not always Keepers. Some of my Best digs have come from dipped pits where not much else was found. Seems like about one out of every One Hundred pits spits out something Exceptional. Now, my definition on a "keeper" and others definition Greatly vary. When I say keeper, I mean a bottle that was desired and had not been dug before... OR something Rare or Valuable. Do I still "keep" the patent meds and straight sides Cokes... Yes! But after a while, it takes something unusual to write Home about. Haha.

 

[Plumbata]

Lately, 3 out of 4 digs produce new local items I need for the collection. Typically they're druggists worth not much more than 10 bucks but I consider them good scores if I don't have them yet.

 

[cacarpetbagger]

Not as often as I would like.

 

[RICKJJ59W]

I'm with Lex.I love digging period. But I pray for that one (((bam!)))bottle to pop out. I dug the puce Eagle 5 years ago so I am about due []

Sometimes your on a roll and sometimes your not getting Shiitit.

 

[MINNESOTA DIGGER]

it varies , some pits are loaded . some are not . digging something new for the collection is always nice , maybe 1 out of 8 pits yields something new . When we start digging a new town it is nearly every pit has something new . if you dig the same city for several years , or dive the same river / lake it may take many attempts to produce something new for your collection . bottle digging is like fishing , part of the fun is in the hunt

 

[blobbottlebob]

From a diving point of view only. It depends. Trying new spots is much more hit & miss. I'd say it might be 1 out of 10 on new spots. Going to old standby spots, I'd say one out of two yields something worth keeping.

 

[Bixel]

For me, its once every 6-7 times out I would say. I am with Plumbata, my "scores" are normally local meds that are worth 10-20 bucks, or a cobalt coffin poison, or just something interesting(full set of bone carved dominoes in a metal box and a solid brass keg spigot are a few of the things I consider "interesting")

The local sodas or beers are more special as they are not in large numbers.

 

[cannibalfromhannibal]

I tend to agree with Plumbata, but like Rick, digging something really rare and big $ is a thrill of a lifetime. My finding the Wilcox Cure was not as special as it should have been due to my ignorance of its significance and rarity. I knew it had 4 major factors of value: color, pontiled, embossed cure, and condition. In the field, I assumed it was a thousand dollar bottle; after getting it home and cleaned up to certify no damage, I figured a couple grand. Was blown away at what the ABA suggested for insurance value. But back to the question at hand, moving from the west coast to the Midwest was based partly in my belief in my ability to dig better and more bottles. In the 5 years I have been here, I have exceeded even my own hopes, and keep at it. Out west, I would find something worth bringing home about one in ten outings. This leads to a change in philosophy that the thrill is in the exercise and the hunt, regardless of the finds. The west has been hit hard in the 50's & 60's and local and state regulations now make digging almost a thing of the past, equal to taking the silver out of the coins did for the coin collectors. I usually find the reverse here, and the one in ten is often a hole that was dug 25+ years ago and gives a probe a false read, until that surprising mountain dew can appears at 5'! The heavily dipped pits are always a bummer, but the small ones can often be nice surprises. The permissions are also in reverse here. I have heard the "NO" word only twice, and they were polite about it! There are still plenty of "commoners" I have yet to dig, and I find digging anything I don't have as a keeper. I just dug my first undamaged Kilmers large size this February, and still it was the remedy, not the cure. Then dug 3 broken cures in a pit in the yard next door. Just dug my first perfect amber Lightning fruit jar Thursday and was as thrilled as when I dug my first scroll flask. Well, ALMOST! But I still get a thrill finding a local pharm I don't have as well. What I have found is digging the 1860's and earlier pits are like I have never dug before in my life! Even the shards are amazing. Usually, I can pick up an 1890's shard and tell exactly what it was......it's all an adventure to me. Jack