Open Forum → Re: De magnetize a compass

I suspect a bit of humor intended
Not too far off my intention though

In my work I frequently need to dig near residential utilities
I carry a pair of dowsing rods in my truck to use for locating buried pipes and wires
Wind sometimes interferes so want to try the dumb compass idea

One time I was working at a turn of century ranch house that had been bought by a mining company to house the field office for a mine they are trying to develop

My dowsing rods drew a crowd of engineer skeptics
They watched me plot the path of the water lines and the accuracy of my results

I let the alpha engineer take the rods and when he passed over the marks I had scratched on the surface with the heel of my boots, and the rods crossed - he promptly returned my rods without comment and disappeared inside....

When I first started in the utility business, I thought "divining" was some kind of joke.
Then I tried it. At first it was a little creepy.
The only problem is there's no way to differentiate what you are locating.
I do like proving the skeptics wrong though. It's fun to watch the looks on their faces.

I don't have any 'special' skills yet I have found that with the combination of desire and practice, you can in fact differentiate utilities by dowsing

I set it in my head I want to locate water lines, for example and ignore others - one utility at a time
Makes it easier to establish the gas line from the water - I give more berth to the gas electric and phone lines as my locating skills get it down to several inches and not exact

You guys are going to blow up a gas line some day.

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