If you don't have a metal detector try this

[JacksonburgFarmer]

After I "witched" them today, I went to the shop and got my Ditch Witch locater, and guess what.....I was right on the money the first time...

Only problem was the Mini Ex operator from the concrete company still located the 4" PVC w/ paralleled 4/0 CU with the mini ex

Gonna have a fun project in the next week or so......

 

[milehiwire]

Thanks!

This is really going to save on the 3000.00 tracer I was looking at buying.

Will cut and bent clothes hangers work? The reason I ask is that I have a bunch of them from the cleaners and it would be easy and cheap to make them up and put in all the service trucks.

What a godsend!

 

[LarryFine]

It is not just steel, copper or water, I can walk over a 2X4 on top of the ground, and the wires will cross.

To me, that suggests operator input, at least subconsiously, as does the video.

I'd like to see it done by someone who is blindfolded and genuinely doesn't know what is in the ground where.

 

[laketime]

I have done it before with two pieces of solid #10 and found a conduit in an asphalt covered parking lot. We called it "hillbilly voodoo"

 

[jeremysterling]

AMK Manufacturing Pipe Locator

Locates PVC plastic pipe, iron or steel pipe, electrical cable, ceramic pipe, telephone cables, asbestos cement pipe, conduits, concrete pipe, fiber optics to 10 ft. deep. Detects magnetic fields, and aligns itself with pipes, etc, when found. No batteries. U.S.A.

Sorry, I am not a true believer.

 

[mivey]

To me, that suggests operator input, at least subconsiously, as does the video.

I'd like to see it done by someone who is blindfolded and genuinely doesn't know what is in the ground where.

Ask and you shall receive. Plenty of info here:
http://www.randi.org/library/dowsing/

http://www.googlesyndicatedsearch.com/u/JREF?q=dowsing

Anyone who could really do it can go get a check for $1,000,000 after a successful demo. Despite all the dowsing claims, no one has cashed a check yet.

 

[malachi]

They call um witchin wands in Texas try walking under a service drop it will pick whats above to.

 

[mivey]

When I first started out, I worked for an old timer that swore by that method before doing any digging. Now I do the same. I can't tell you what is buried, only that there is something there.

I'm sure if you did most places you will find something.

 

[mivey]

Well iI have done this myself an have found conduit - cable - and floor boxes

You just think you are.

...I'd just like to see why all this stuff works.

It doesn't.

Its a skill most underground foremen should have in there repertoire.

The skill you speak of is convincing yourself of something that just ain't so. We all have that ability at times.

All I can say for non believers is to try it because it does work...

All I can say for believers is: prove it and become an instant millionaire.

I might add: It has been shown that dowsing is a mind game. That is not to say that the dowsers are lying, because they genuinely believe they are doing something. Unfortunately for them, when they are put to the test, they are left standing with just two sticks in their hands like any other person. Then they just can't figure out what went wrong. What went wrong is that the facts do not line up with the stuff they have imagined in their head.

 

[GUNNING]

Naysaysers are so depressing. It works well. The only problem is you cant brand it. I love to see cable marks under a pole line. The high dollar locators locate drops too. Its the locator that doesnt look up because he is in a hurry.

 

[LarryFine]

Naysaysers are so depressing. It works well.

So, go grab your million.

 

[mivey]

Naysaysers are so depressing.

That's life. Reality is not always so easy for everyone to face.

Not that there is anything wrong with fantasies in general. Allowing us to have our dreams and non-scientific walks through life stimulates the creative parts of our brain and makes us who we are. If thinking you have some other-world powers gives your subconscious the stimulation it craves, then by all means don't let anyone interfere with that. Other people feed that subconscious hunger by watching movies, playing games, etc.

The problem is when you try to take the fantasy life and weave it into real life. Most do better when they recognize where one stops and the other begins. There is nothing wrong with a little escape from reality now and then, but don't expect others to engage in the same fantasies that work for you.

When people try to push these fantasies as reality, it can actually cause harm. The following link is about the arrest of a man selling dowsing type bomb detection devices that actually cost some soldiers and civilians their lives.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php...esponds-to-the-arrest-of-james-mccormick.html

Trying to sell this stuff as fact in this case was irresponsible and dangerous. Promoting such nonsense as a way to locate power cables borders on the same type of irresponsible behavior.

I'm not saying all things can be explained scientifically, but something like this should be able to produce scientifically measurable results. A real dowsing ability could be proved, even if not explained. No dowser has been able to do anything beyond the fantasy in their head. I know you think you can, but you are just fooling yourself. I don't care if you continue to fool yourself if it makes you happy, just don't expect others to play along.

There may be someone who can actually locate stuff underground in some such manner but they have yet to be found. This post from a previous thread pretty much sums up how I feel about it:

OT: Do you believe in witching? #117

You would not benefit from $1,000,000? I wish I had real dowsing abilities as I would be all over it.

I have never said I don't believe in "other" abilities, as I do. I see that an actual ability to dowse would be the perfect ability needed to collect the money. I'm not particularly fond of James Randi as I think he seems like a pompous windbag. I would love for someone to take the prize to shut him up, but I don't have any special abilities.

There are many things that can't be scientifically proved. You can't prove you love somebody. Your actions may indicate it but they can be faked or based on other motives. I don't see how science could prove it.

I believe the prophets in the Bible called fire down from heaven. I don't think they could have done it for a $1,000,000 prize from James Randi.

How does an old sow know to bed on the south side of the hill when the weather report says no storm is coming? How does a rabbit know to burrow up before the snow and bad weather even has a hint of coming and the weather forecasts are predicting fair weather? How can the little drake that was born on a lake up north, and has never left that lake, lead a flock of ducks straight to the rice fields in Louisiana? There are many things that science can't answer.

If you claim you can dowse, and won't put your claims on the line, then you sound like a lot of talk and no action. Maybe you are scared, maybe you are not sure of your abilities, maybe you despise riches, or something else, but it don't help your claims.

Dowsing is an ability that could be scientifically proved. If you truly have this ability, it should be an ability like the ability to run, jump, speak, solve complex math problems, speed read, etc., but just an ability that most people don't have. James Randi is willing to pay to see it. Go show them and collect your money. If you don't want the money, I'll be glad to take it off your hands, as I could use it.

Prove me wrong and I will be the first to say you are a real dowser. Until then, you are just playing a mind game with yourself.

 

[cadpoint]

Naysaysers are so depressing.

That's life. Reality is not always so easy for everyone to face.

I didn't know there was a challenge! Now I do, More Work! :grin:

 

[benaround]

The $1,000,000 is for paranormal stuff not for dowsers. Mivey never beilieved in Santa either.

 

[mivey]

The $1,000,000 is for paranormal stuff not for dowsers.

Thank you for proving my point. People who believe in this nonsense just can't seem to separate fantasy from reality. They are so determined to believe the dream that reality completely escapes them. Snap out of it. Stop fooling yourself. In the words of Polonius: This above all: to thine own self be true.

From the link I provided:

By far the most common claim made for the Million Dollar Challenge offered by the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) is dowsing.
...
Many applications that are received at the James Randi Educational Foundation from dowsers will express great wonderment at why the million-dollar prize has not already been awarded, when dowsing is such an easy thing, they say, to demonstrate. Many are amazed that dowsing is eligible for the prize at all, since it is so widely accepted and believed in. And each dowser assures me that they are going to be the one to show me the error of my ways, and to dazzle me with a simple demonstration.
...
Each dowser goes away from any trial of their powers, dismayed by their failure, puzzled at the reasons for the failure, but always capable of coming up with a reasonable to them excuse.
...
I must say that of all those who have ever tried to win the Pigasus Prize, and of those who I have otherwise tested in every part of the world, no claimants even approach the dowsers for honesty. These are persons who are genuinely, thoroughly, self-deceived.