Make Your Own Dowsing Rods

This is from my original Hallowfields’ course about homemade and low-tech ghost hunting equipment: Dowsing Rods for Ghost Hunters.

Here’s how to start working with homemade dowsing rods.

You’ll need two wire coat hangers. They should be thin wire, the inexpensive kind that dry cleaners and laundries use.

Trim each so you’re using a little more than half of the coat hanger. (You’ll discard the part with the hook.)

Here’s the one-minute video.

How to Make Dowsing Rods for Ghost Hunting

Easy directions for making ghost hunting dowsing rods. In this one-minute video, you’ll see how to make free or inexpensive dowsing rods that really work.Yo…

Dowsing Rod Directions

1.) Use two thin wire coat hangers. (Some people use just one dowsing rod for their investigations. I’ve tried that, and prefer to use two. I think they provide more accuracy and clearer results.)

2.) Cut them so – at the bend – you have one short side (at least 5″ long) and then the long side (the lower part of the coat hanger).

3.) Bend each dowsing rod so each is at a right angle, about a 90-degree angle, not the sharper angle you started with.

4.) Use your pliers to curl each dowsing rod’s longer side, so the pointed/cut end isn’t a hazard. (During “lights out” investigations, it can be far too easy to unintentionally jab or injure a fellow team member.)

The next step is optional. If you want to be sure you’re not influencing your dowsing rods, you have two choices:

• Use a hard plastic straw – not the flimsy kind that come with fast food. Grocery stores usually sell them in the soft drink aisle. Cut it into two sections, each about 4″ (9 – 10 cm) long.
• Or, get a metal tube (brass or copper can be ideal) that has an opening wider than the coat hanger wire. The tube should be narrow enough to support the dowsing rods, but let them swing freely, as well. (A DIY store may cut the tube for you. 4″ is a good length, or longer if your hands are large. You may also ask them to burnish the cut edges, so you don’t risk cuts.)

Whatever material you use, be sure it’s firm and won’t yield to pressure from your hand. That way, you won’t inadvertently influence the dowsing rods with your hands.

5.) Whether or not you’re using those added handles, the final step is to curl the lower (handle) end of each dowsing rod, for safety.

Note: If you’re using the optional handle protections, be sure each curled handle end is at least 1/2″ below the end of the straw or tube. Otherwise, contact between them could prevent the dowsing rods from swinging freely.

That’s it. You’ve made your first set of dowsing rods.