Advice Please! Buying a pinpointer for Christmas gift????

[Detectorwife]

Hi all, I am not sure where this should be posted but I would like some advice or an opinion on a good pin pointer to buy for my husband for Christmas. Since he has been hunting the beach seriously for the last year or two (and finding me jewelry I would like to get him something detecting related for Christmas. He has recently been talking about buying himself a pin pointer. I have never used one (I hunt underwater with a garret sea hunter mkII when I get time, he hunts the dry sand often) so I'm not sure what to look for or if it is even something that would prove useful over the long term. I know he has had his eye on the Vibra Probe 580 and the Vibra-Tector 730. I like that they are both PI like the sea hunter but not sure what else to look for. Also not sure which is most useful, the 4" coil (not technically a pin pointer but way smaller than the coils we use) or the wand like VP 580. I definitely want to get something that can get wet since I plan to borrow it I would ask him but he doesn't know much about them either and I want it to be a surprise. So, do you use a pin pointer and what kind do you like?
Thanks in advance!!!!
C-

 

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[Metal Detecting Stuff]

If he primarily hunts the beach, a long handle scoop would be a good item to get him for Christmas. I don't use a pinpointer on the beach. If he land hunts, the Garrett Pro Pointer or Minelab Pro-find 25 are good choices. VibraProbe is waterproof also, but the one I had didn't have much depth. The one with the 3-4" coil might be good for shallow snorkeling.

Wayne

Metal Detector Sales and Rentals | Fisher, Garrett, Minelab, Lesche and DetectorPro

 

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[JAD]

I have the Garrett Pro Pointer and love it! The Pro Pointer
Works so well I have often thought about putting it on a straight shaft!
Haven't used it in the water though and if that is the plan maybe you can get
Him a Pro pointer and he can get you the waterproof one you mentioned!
Good luck!

+1 For the Garrett. I hunt mainly water and have waterproofed all 3 of mine. Been down 30+ feet with mine.

There is a good video on youtube showing how to do this. It only requires some Plumbers Putty and Plasti Dip which are both easily available at any hardware store.

Made the mistake of buying a Vibra Probe pointer while my Garretts was in for warranty work. Big Mistake. There was absolutely nothing I liked about it after being spoiled with the Garretts, which forced me to buy 2 more so I never had to go with out it again.

 

[tcornel]

I have both the Propointer and the Pistol Probe at my beach condo. When I go dry sand hunting the Propointer stays in the closet and the Pistol Probe goes with me.
On soil the Propointer shines.

The few times I need a pinpointer is because the target has been moved by the sand scoop or I need to confirm that it is deeper or in a side. The Pistol Probe gets almost
twice the depth of the Propointer so you can cover more territory without picking up the detector.

Neither is waterproof but both will withstand minimal amounts of water. I was in calf deep water and a wave got me (2 times) and soaked my Probe. It kept working
until I picked it up the next day and it was dead. I sent it back for repairs a couple days later and by the time they looked at it there was no problem. Must of dried out in transit.

I agree that a scoop is first. Or splurge and get him both pinpointers!

 

[Detectorwife]

Thanks for all the replies!!!! He is getting the STEALTH 720i scoop for his birthday in mid december, he picked that out after seeing someone else's so I hope he is happy with it. The major consensus seems to be the Garrett pro pointer so I will look at them, I guess he will just have to save getting a waterproof one for my birthday lol… I'm not too sure how useful the pin pointer will be for the dry sand hunting but the beach we hunt at the most has a lot of tiny metal flakes, BBs and bits of crab trap wire that might be easier to find quickly and move on if we had one.

 

[tcornel]

Find someone who has both and try them out at the beach before you buy. When digging in dry sand if the target got pushed a couple inches when shoving the scoop in the propointer will not pick it up and but the probe will.

Just saying try before you buy.