Question for the Metal Detectors out there, need advice for my kids please!

[THR214]

Question for the Metal Detector's out there, need advice for my kids please!

Hi everyone, between watching the treasure hunter shows on TV...Diggers, Savage...BOOM BABY!!!..lol my twin boys are now wanting to begin there hunt to look for treasure's!!! Since I just started playing around with panning, I just do not know where to start with Detector's..lol As you can tell, I need help figuring out what is a good one for them to start with. I'm not looking for a crappy one that is just a toy, I do want them to have a decent type, at least with them looking and being interested in the hobby, they may actually have a chance to find something as opposed to the others that are bought just to keep them quiet for a few hours..lol This may sound crazy, but they are only 6 yrs old but they want to do it, so I say "Go For It"..lol I love looking for stuff as well, so it could be a great bonding thing that can only bring us closer to similar interests in the future!!
Now They like the colors of the Wildgame Innovations Cyclone kids metal detector, but Google searching, alot of sites say that the Bounty Hunter Junior Treasure tracker metal detector is the best choice for kids. Does anyone have any options they can give, or tried for their own kids?
Any help will bring me 1 step closer to the purchase!!! (And to have them stop driving me crazy over it..lol)
Thank you all

 

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[TreasurePirate69]

I have the BH Junior Treasure tracker. It is not bad but it is also not great. It is probably one of the best detectors designed specifically for children. Most of the other child detectors are just toys and are complete garbage.

The good things about the BH junior:

1. It is light and has a short enough shaft for a 6 year old to use.
2. It has decent discrimination (but not great - see below).
3. It has decent depth (but not great - see below).
4. It is priced right.
5. The controls are extremely simple to understand.

The bad things about the BH Junior:

1. The handle is not conducive to swinging in a proper pattern. It tends to make kids want to swing it like a golf club (in an arc) which is wrong. You want to keep the coil parallel to the ground and not raise it up off of the ground on the end of your swing. This type of handle also can make your hand tired very quickly because you are supporting the entire weight of the detector on one hand without the help of your arm (no arm cuff).
2. The discrimination is technically an analog knob but you have to turn it up to almost 3/4 of a turn to get it to discriminate out iron and foil. This leaves a very small usable range. It can't tell the difference between nickels and silver coins for example. This is actually fine for kids but for someone who really knows what they are doing this would not be considered acceptable.
3. Depth is not great. You can probably find coins up to 4-5" with it which is technically not bad. For a kid this is probably fine since you don't want them to have to dig so deep anyway. Compared to many of the other toy detectors this is actually VERY good. Some of those things can't even find a coin 2" deep.
4. There is no headphone plug so you only get external speaker operation. Again, not terrible especially if you will be there with them to hear the beeps as well.
5. It has a very small coil. Again, not necessarily a bad thing for kids but when they are swinging it wrong to begin with it doesn't leave much room for error.

In general it would probably be a good buy for a 6 year old. That's pretty young and you may find yourself "seeding" their hunts just to keep them interested in it. Because of this I wouldn't spend a lot of money since you have about a 90% chance of them using it a couple of times and giving up on the hobby.

Good luck.

 

[TreasurePirate69]

As a side note, my daughter actually got me started in detecting. When she was about 6 her aunt got her one of those cheap Discovery Store National Geographic metal detectors for Christmas. She took it out in the spring and gave up after about 10 minutes. I took over and two hours later was still swinging the thing. It was a junky detector but I was hooked! She hasn't swung a metal detector since. I don't think her aunt realized that she had actually bought ME a present that Christmas.

My point is... don't be surprised if you find yourself wanting a detector of your own!

 

[racer117]

Get an Ace 150.They can be found used for 100.00 bucks,and you can sneak it out and go detecting when the kids arent looking..lol.The handle can be shortened quite a bit.

 

[Mzjavert]

Consider a Tesoro Compadre. It's light weight, easy to operate, pinpoints like a dream, and is also a great machine for those over 21 as well as future adults. Start them at their school playground. they'll be hooked when they come away with a handful of coins.

 

[Bev]

I have the BH Junior Treasure tracker. It is not bad but it is also not great. It is probably one of the best detectors designed specifically for children. Most of the other child detectors are just toys and are complete garbage.

The good things about the BH junior:

1. It is light and has a short enough shaft for a 6 year old to use.
2. It has decent discrimination (but not great - see below).
3. It has decent depth (but not great - see below).
4. It is priced right.
5. The controls are extremely simple to understand.

The bad things about the BH Junior:

1. The handle is not conducive to swinging in a proper pattern. It tends to make kids want to swing it like a golf club (in an arc) which is wrong. You want to keep the coil parallel to the ground and not raise it up off of the ground on the end of your swing. This type of handle also can make your hand tired very quickly because you are supporting the entire weight of the detector on one hand without the help of your arm (no arm cuff).
2. The discrimination is technically an analog knob but you have to turn it up to almost 3/4 of a turn to get it to discriminate out iron and foil. This leaves a very small usable range. It can't tell the difference between nickels and silver coins for example. This is actually fine for kids but for someone who really knows what they are doing this would not be considered acceptable.
3. Depth is not great. You can probably find coins up to 4-5" with it which is technically not bad. For a kid this is probably fine since you don't want them to have to dig so deep anyway. Compared to many of the other toy detectors this is actually VERY good. Some of those things can't even find a coin 2" deep.
4. There is no headphone plug so you only get external speaker operation. Again, not terrible especially if you will be there with them to hear the beeps as well.
5. It has a very small coil. Again, not necessarily a bad thing for kids but when they are swinging it wrong to begin with it doesn't leave much room for error.

In general it would probably be a good buy for a 6 year old. That's pretty young and you may find yourself "seeding" their hunts just to keep them interested in it. Because of this I wouldn't spend a lot of money since you have about a 90% chance of them using it a couple of times and giving up on the hobby.

Good luck.

Well said. Good and bad.

I have a Bounty Hunter Jr for my now 9 year old and she likes it. You're right about the swinging motion and the handle configuration. She finds things in the yard and on the beach but her attention span is short and gets bored quickly. She's really small too so the Jr. works fine, anything else may prove too bulky or long even at it's shortest set up. My 11 yr old uses a BH Tracker IV that I scored out of a house I was selling. The owner didnt want it. He uses that but wants to use my AT Pro. I've seen him using the Tracker. He's not ready to use my AT Pro yet. If he drops the Tracker, I wont be happy- but I wont faint dead away either.

In hindsight I shouldve kept my Ace 250 for them but life happens. My suggestion would be scour Craigs List for an Ace 250. It's durable, they can grow with it and the resale is always good if they do decide it's not for them. Dont forget the yard sale season is upon us too. Always grab any metal detector cheap.

 

[THR214]

Thank you all for your input, basically the Cyclone is out, they only want that for the color. My choice is up between the Ace and the Bounty. Between the both, there is a 50-75.00 difference but that is between new and used. I may lean toward the Bounty only to make sure they keep the interest for the length of the summer and also learn the basics of what to do, I have to remember they are only 6, this may be cool today, but tomorrow they may like Angry Birds again..lol. If all goes well, an upgrade will make a great Christmas gift. I do appreciate all the feedback I have been given and knew this would be thr place to ask for it! Once they hit the ground and get some finds, it will be posted here to share!
Thank you once again!!

 

[Nevada Coyote]

I have a bounty hunter gold digger I use more often than my White's V/sat or Fisher Gold Bug. I like it because it's simple and easy to use (two knobs, off and on and discriminate). I've found nails and other trash as far down as 5 inches with it.
Nevada Coyote

 

[richbat]

If you have a Hobby Lobby close by try and get ahold of the coupon and pick up a Tracker IV,you should be able to walk out with 1 for around $60 or so.

 

[bigfoot1]

My daughter has hunted with me since six years old.She has a bounty hunter jr.She wont even take it out of the car after a couple hunts.She looks for surface finds and likes to use the pro pointer.She is now 12,last year she started using her moms f2.She digs it.Consider a better machine for the young ones,the know what a toy is.ace 150,f2 etc.You can cut down lower leg if you have to and the target id is the most fun for them.Team hunt.One swinging the coil and announcing the target,other retrieving it,then switch.
Keep score on who is right on target id most....big fun.I always equated a find with how close to buying ice cream we were getting.Seed Seed Seed untill they are into it.Keep expectations age appropriate,hunt times short or broken up with other activities.Lots of praise for a job well done.
Consider adding bird watching or something like it to kill boredom.Bird counting prolly more like it.

Treasure hunting is the quality time I get to spend with my preteen girl.She digs it and I do to.Best thing I ever did was getting her into it.

good luck and happy hunting
pat