History Main / BeachCombing

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1335149589099982100
%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.

[[folder:Anime]]

* Beachcombing regularly serves as a GetRichQuickScheme in the ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* In ''Film/RevengeOfTheNerds Part II: Nerds in Paradise'' Poindexter spent his time on the beach using one of these. He finds a buried metal detector at one point.
* ''Film/LocalHero'': Ben, the local beach comber, becomes a huge plot point.
* ''Film/PacificRim'' had an old man and his grandson looking for treasure on a snowy beach. All they find is a toy robot, and a real robot: [[TheHero Gipsy]] [[HumongousMecha Danger]].
* How a young Louis is introduced in ''Film/KangarooJack''.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E4ResurrectionOfTheDaleks Resurrection of the Daleks]]", a local who is metal detecting on the mudflats is murdered by Lytton's fake policemen.
* British series, ''Series/{{Detectorists}}'', revolves around people who do this, all in an attempt to find treasure.

* In the [[LandDownunder Australia]] stage of ''[[VideoGame/TonyHawksUnderground Tony Hawk's Underground 2]]'', there is a guy at the beach with a metal detector. From what he tells you when you talk to him, he's having no luck with his beachcombing. So, it's up to you to help him, by picking up cans from trashcans and giving them to him.

* ''VideoGame/JazzPunk'' has its own MetalDetectorPuzzle which doesn't really motivate the plot in any way. But then again, [[QuirkyWork neither does anything else in that game...]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "A Tale of Two Stans", this was Stan's first "job" after being kicked out of home, which he romanticized as treasure hunting. He gave it up after realizing that "Apparently gold is some sort of ''rare'' metal" and became a SnakeOilSalesman.

* ''VideoGame/JazzPunk'' has its own MetalDetectorPuzzle which doesn't really motivate the plot in any way. But then again, [[WidgetSeries neither does anything else in that game...]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "When Aliens Attack", Hermes is seen [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Hermes_beachcombing_4702.jpg combing the beach with a metal detector]]. It turns out that he was using it to play hide and seek with Bender, though.

* Many of the locations where you can find stuff with the Archaeology profession in ''VideoGame/WorldofWarcraft'', are presently beaches. Beaches are particularly good sources for pre-Sundering artifacts.

* In the [[LandDownunder Australia]] stage of ''[[VideoGame/TonyHawkProSkater Tony Hawk's Underground 2]]'', there is a guy at the beach with a metal detector. From what he tells you when you talk to him, he's having no luck with his beachcombing. So, it's up to you to help him, by picking up cans from trashcans and giving them to him.

This often carries the stereotype (in Britain at least) of someone who searches the countryside hoping to find buried treasure. This is not as silly as it sounds, since hauls of artifacts made of precious metals are occasionally found in Britain, which is what leads to this kind of behaviour in the first place. It's technically legal (and landowners have a good incentive, since they're entitled to a share of whatever's found on their land) and there are even specific laws for finding buried treasure [[note]]it belongs to the crown, but the finder and landowner will be paid a fee from whatever museum that ends up taking it[[/note]], however for obvious reasons it greatly annoys actual historians and archaeologists, who'd rather see the sites properly excavated rather than plundered.

* ''WebAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsDigitalSeries'': In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsLostAndFound Lost and Found]]", Rainbow Dash and Applejack help Rarity looking for her lost earring with metal detectors. They end up digging a large pile of various objects.

* In ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "A Tale of Two Stans", this was Stan's first "job" after being kicked out of home, which he romanticized as treasure hunting. He gave it up when it became apparent that "Gold is some sort of ''rare'' metal" and became a SnakeOilSalesman.

* British series, ''Series/Detectorists'', revolves around people who do this, all in an attempt to find treasure.

Note, that in Canada, the long running TV series, ''Series/{{Beachcombers}}'' had the starring character, Nick, in an entirely different version of this activity. Namely, it was professional lumber salvaging using boats to haul lost logs into the water for towing to timber companies looking to recover their lost materials.

[[AC:ComicBooks]]

[[AC:FanFic]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

'''Dark Helmet:''' No you fool, we're following orders -- we were told to comb the desert, so we're combing it! [[note]] But "We ain't found shit!"[[/note]]
* In ''Film/RevengeOfTheNerds Part II: Nerds in Paradise'' Poindexter spent his time on the beach using one of these. I think he even found [[ChekhovsGun something that turned out to be plot-relevant]].
** He found a buried metal detector at one point.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* The fourth case of the first ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' game has Phoenix use ([[TrouserSpace and carry around]]) a metal detector lent to him by Detective Gumshoe. First he uses it to find a clue, at the end of the trial [[spoiler:he uses it to prove that Von Karma has a bullet in his shoulder from when he murdered Edgeworth's father]].

[[AC:WebComics]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "When Aliens Attack", Hermes is seen [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Hermes_beachcombing_4702.jpg combing the beach with a metal detector]]. It turns out that he was using it to play hide and seek with Bender though.

[[AC:RealLife]]

** There have been several instances of Roman artefacts being buried on British soil, from the time that the Romans had attempted to invade. Another example is the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoxne_Hoard Hoxne Hoard]], found by a retired gardener in the Suffolk village of Hoxne. This served as inspiration for the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV-kiCEYKtU Eric the Gardener]] by Music/TheDivineComedy.

[[IThoughtItMeant This trope is not limited to beaches]]. See also MetalDetectorPuzzle when this occurs in VideoGames. Occasionally seen in {{Beach Episode}}s.

'''Dark Helmet:''' No you fool, we're following orders -- we were told to comb the desert, so we're combing it!
*** "We ain't found shit!"

* A recent example is [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10546960 this guy]]. Who found the single largest stash of Roman coins in Britain.

Note, that in Canada, the long running TV series, ''Series/{{Beachcombers}}'' had the starring character, Nick, in an entirely different version of this activity. Namely, it was professional lumber salvaging using boats to haul lost logs into the water for towing to timber companies to looking recover their lost materials.

* Parodied in ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}'', where Dark Helmet has his men ''literally'' comb a desert planet with giant combs.
-->'''Col. Sandurz:''' Are we being too literal?
-->'''Dark Helmet:''' No you fool, we're following orders -- we were told to comb the desert, so we're combing it!

This often carries the stereotype (in Britain at least) of someone who searches the countryside hoping to find buried treasure (not as silly as it sounds, since hauls of artifacts made of precious metals are occasionally found in Britain, which is what leads to this kind of behaviour in the first place). It's technically legal (and landowners have a good incentive, since they're entitled to a share of whatever's found on their land) and there are even specific laws for finding buried treasure (technically it belongs to the crown, but the finder and landowner will be paid a fee from whatever museum that ends up taking it), however for obvious reasons it greatly annoys actual historians and archaeologists, who'd rather see the sites properly excavated rather than plundered.

* In ''RevengeOfTheNerds Part II: Nerds in Paradise'' Poindexter spent his time on the beach using one of these. I think he even found [[ChekhovsGun something that turned out to be plot-relevant]].

* ''LocalHero'': Ben, the local beach comber, becomes a huge plot point.

-->--'''Music/TheyMightBeGiants''', "Metal Detector"

* In one episode of ''Series/TheAdventuresOfPeteAndPete,'' Dad explains that he met Mom when he was beach-combing and his detector went off at the metal plate in her head. In the same episode he tells this story, he's still combing the beach looking for something else really good..... and finds an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutlass_Supreme Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme!]] He and his family dig it out of the sand and drive home in it.

* The fourth case of the first ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' game has Phoenix use ([[TrouserSpace and carry around]]) a metal detector lent to him by Detective Gumshoe. First he uses it to find a clue, at the end of the trial [[spoiler:he uses it to prove that Von Karma has a bullet in his shoulder from when he murdered Edgeworth's father]].
* In the [[LandDownunder Australia]] stage of ''[[TonyHawkProSkater Tony Hawk's Underground 2]]'', there is a guy at the beach with a metal detector. From what he tells you when you talk to him, he's having no luck with his beachcombing. So, it's up to you to help him, by picking up cans from trashcans and giving them to him.

* ''AmazingSuperPowers'' has a [[http://www.amazingsuperpowers.com/2012/02/beachcomber/ beachcomber]] who found some "good advice" ([[CrossesTheLineTwice see also]] the hidden panel).

->''I've got something to help you understand\\

I'm the inspector over the mine''
-->'''Music/TheyMightBeGiants''', "Metal Detector"