Currently I use a Mine Lab Metal Detector. I've recovered relics in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, the Carolinas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Louisiana. My main interest is in bullets, cartridges and artillery. I consider myself somewhat of an expert in those areas, but I am also knowledgeable about buttons, uniforms, and other Civil War items.

My wife, Paula, is descended from the famous Ohio Abolitionist Congressman, Joshua Reed Giddings. We collect Giddings items and currently have a first edition signed copy of his book "The Exiles of Florida", the Civil War discharge papers from his son Grotius Giddings, a copy of a speech he gave to Congress and old postcards from his law offices in Jefferson, Ohio.