since there isn't a hocus pocus category...

I can now successfully dowse for just about anything. So far, here is the list.

Hawaiian punch
Mustard
Empty beer cans
Full beer cans
A woman. (might be onto something with this)
A tomato

> Full beer cans

> A woman. (might be onto something with this)

Got my vote!

Not sure my wife appreciated being "dowsed" if you know what I mean.

[flash width=640 height=390] http://www.youtube.com/v/EndCtBuj0pU?version=3 [/flash]

[flash width=640 height=390] http://www.youtube.com/v/T7kbh-B4xwI?version=3 [/flash]

> I can now successfully dowse for just about anything. So far, here is the list.
>
> Hawaiian punch
> Mustard
> Empty beer cans
> Full beer cans
> A woman. (might be onto something with this)
> A tomato

I may have to attempt this. I need to dowse for bourbon and beer... and my lost jar of pennies in the back yard (Stand By Me reference, Vern)

Radar! That was NOT what I meant!

I find this confusing. If the same method (and result) is used to locate good places to drill, as is used to locate water lines, how can you tell the difference? In Florida, there really isn't a bad place to drill a well, so you'd think you couldn't take a step with the wires moving. In fact, I'm surprised that any wire bent into a 90 degree angle doesn't dance around the lawn on it's own pointing out all the great places to drill a well.

Yeah, but you laughed at it anyway.

You know it!

I thought it was complete hooey until I was talked into trying it in the parking lot behind the office. I just kind of cleared my mind and held the copper rods and marched across the lot and the darn things crossed. I stopped and looked left and right and noticed I was between two DI's. The thing is, I've driven through that parking lot a few hundred times and even if I hadn't, where else would a drain line be? It seemed real though. I tried to think of an experiment to take the human out of the process with a little roller buggy with the rods stuck on it, but I'll bet somehow the human is taking subconscious clues and affecting the rotation of the rods whether he thinks he is or not.

First time I saw it used was about 25 years ago, by an old man that worked for the City of Ruston, LA.
We were doing a topo on a Burger King and had to get the utilities marked.
This old man pulls out a car antenna that he had attached to a wooden handle, bet on a 90, that would turn.
He pulled the antenna out about two feet and held it strait out from his body.
His partner blocked traffic as he walked out into the street.
When the antenna turned parallel with the street he bent over and marked that spot with a paint dot, and did it again.
When he did it the second time he looked down and he was on his spot, so he painted a line.

My crew chief was standing there with his mouth open.

I asked the old man to show me how he did it and he handed me his "dowser" and said, "You just have to believe that it will work.
I tried and sure enough it turned and when I looked down I was right on his line.

> Do not try to bend the spoon — that's impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth: there is no spoon.

This thread has certainly developed a couple of kinks in it.;-)

Fancy witching rod. These actually work, but they are really hard to master. Dad has one and they do work, just too well. They will find .22 casings, metal trash, cars from a mile away, ect, ect. If you lived near me I would wager a bet that would result in you losing a gold coin and learning something new. Jrl.

Problem is, it's not a science and it's not a machine. Your mind will influence your physical actions. There is weird stuff out there. Do a search on "dial a cell phone with your brain". It can be done. My daughter has a game that uses similar technology. You put this headband on and it allows you to control A fan motor with your mind. Concentrate on the ping pong ball rising, the fan picks up speed and the ball rises! Concentrate on it lowering and it does! Really weird stuff once you do it a few times it gets easier. There are no optical sensors, it's all electrical. I guess the long story short, we still have alot to learn about ourselves.

Ironically,

the old crew chief that showed me "witching" back in my youth, was the same old crew chief that told me "Them EDMs are voodoo, how can you trust it?"

But, low and behold, not 2 weeks later we had a bright shiny new Topcon, and it shot a half mile in the time it took to set up the gun.

It was the same 1/2 mile we had just chained the week before. (It took a 5 man crew a half of a day) We hit it within .03', and I asked why it wasn't "right".

I don't really miss chaining at all.

:coffee:

"When you develop your opinions on the basis of weak evidence, you will have difficulty interpreting subsequent information that contradicts these opinions, even if this new information is obviously more accurate."

— Nassim Nicholas Taleb (The Black Swan The Impact of the Highly Improbable)

Just a quick search turns up all kinds of posts about that "electroscope" scam. If you think Science only works if you believe in it, I really don't have anything that I could say to you that would make a difference.

Electroscope Model 20

$695 is a lot of money for a box full of wire and switches that is really just a battery tester.

>If you lived near me I would wager a bet that would result in you ... learning something new.

Anyone who has shelled out for one of these flim-flam gadgets has been taught something. They just might not know it yet.