1. Thou shalt not leave behind unfilled excavations.

2. Thou shalt not trespass or defy in any way the lawful decrees of thy city, county, state, province or country.

3. Thou shalt not harm vegetation, the creatures of the field, natural resources or the personal property of others.

4. Thou shalt not covet the finds of thy companion. Nor shall ye covet his metal detector, digging tool or the hallowed place in which he diggeth.

5. Thou shalt not ignore nor neglect thy family and friends whilst in the endless pursuit of thy hobby.

6. Thou shalt assist the distraught owners of lost goods and the archeologists and the enforcers of law and all others who may need thy skill as a metal detectorist.

7. Thou shalt return found treasures to the proper owners whenever their true identity can be rightfully determined.

8. Thou shalt report to the proper authorities any find relating to criminal activity or of archeological significance.

9. Thou shalt be considerate of others on the beach and in other public places whilst waving thy search coil and digging holes in the sand and the soil.

10. Thou shalt speak out against the unjust laws and stand firm against the Philistines who would cast out all those who would use detectors of metal.

And if thou dost not abide by these Commandments,
may you be plagued with mineral-bearing rocks,
hard packed soil, pestilence, serpents, locusts,
poisonous vegetation and great multitudes of pull-tabs,
bottlecaps and rusty nails. May ye spend
the remaining years of thy wretched life digging
signals of false origins. For thy iniquities shall
surely bring the overzealous wrath of the ignorant,
heathen bureaucrats down upon those of us who are innocent.
For we are the righteous and the just and ye who do not obey the
Ten Commandments of Metal Detecting are doomed to bad luck.

-Author Unknown