Whats the best pinpointer available?

[GeauxLSU]

Bounty hunter is cheap but reviews suggest its not good. Garret and Whites are both pricey. What do you all say??

 

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[vpnavy]

One of the most useful (time saving, etc.) investments (outside the MD) is a good Pin Pointer. I prefer the Garrett™ Pro-Pointer.

 

[tigger0254]

Garretts Pro-Pointer....Nothing else i have seen comes close. Well worth the money!

 

[Ace350]

I started out with the Fisher and never having a Pinpointer before I thought it worked good.
Then after hearing everyone rave about the Garrett pro pinpointer I bought one and they were right. There is no comparison. The fisher now sits in a box and only comes out when I need a loaner to lend to someone when they don't have one.

When it comes to digging tools you will also find the Lesche will win hands down in a popularity contest on this forum.

 

[dougofpa]

GARRETT PRO POINTER.............need I say more?

 

[bowwinkles]

All answers will be opinion based but you asked for the best and that answer would be the Minelab. If you had asked the "most popular" then that answer would be the Garrett. Reliability is the driving factor in my answer. If Garrett had bad customer service then that popularity would also cause the loss of popularity. I own and use both and the two Garrett failures and return trips (postage) for repair brings the cost up to what the Minelab originally sold for. I have many more hours on my Minelab than I do on my Garrett and it has yet to fail.

 

[SusanMN]

Garrett's Propointer. I've owned mine for three years and absolutely no issues. When I bought mine I already had a Centec, Bulleseye and automax, so I did a test with all four pinpointers. The Garrrett won by a landslide, finding targets where none of the other three could.

 

[Tom Slick]

Garrett Pro Pointer

 

[killerclown]

I use a centech for now until I can afford the Garrett....$16.99 at harbor freight. But I saw a Garrett on amazon for $80 plus shipping. I will see if I can find it again.

 

[cudamark]

Garrett and Minelab make a good land pinpointer.....Vibraprobe makes a good waterproof one that you can use on land also. It just vibrates and doesn't make any noise which can be a benefit in some situations. The only downside is possible crosstalk with your detector if you get the two too close together. SunRay also makes a nice land setup for most machines but it's expensive and adds a bit of weight to the detector. The up side is that the sound comes through your headphones as it uses the circuitry in the detector. It also seems to have a bit more depth capability.

 

[TallTom]

I tried the Zircon MetalliScanner m40, which is sold as a stud finder
via Lowe's and Home Depot (mostly online; I haven't found it in
their retail stores). I think it was $29.95, but I might be a little off.

Anyway, it worked pretty well. It's reasonably sensitive and I was able
to find lots of targets when doing turf hunting. Considering the price
difference with a Garrett Pro-pointer, I thought I had a great bargain.

But it has a few problems. First, it's not long and straight like the PP.
The sensing portion is at an angle from the handle, so when you point
it at the surface, it works fine for pinpointing, but when you are working
several inches into a hole, it's sometimes hard to tell just where the
target is located. Several times I've gone the wrong direction from
the target and couldn't find it until I dug a LARGE hole.

Second, it's not nearly as durable as the PP. It's made of two plastic
halves that have a tendency to come apart if you scrape it on the
ground too hard. Also, the battery cover comes off too easily when
you bump it and/or toss it on the ground. (It works without the
battery cover, I've discovered, but doesn't protect the circuitry so
well without it, of course.) In fairness, it isn't designed to be a
metal detecting pinpointer. It's meant to be a stud finder, used
indoors to detect nails in the wall. And I think it works quite well
for that.

Finally, the problem that bothered me the most is that it isn't
waterproof or designed to work in damp grass. It gave me false
signals when I used it in moist grass (wet from dew or after rain).
Again, that's not a problem when you're looking for studs in
the wall, but it's a frequent problem when you're MD-ing.

So I asked for a Garrett Pro-pointer for my birthday when
my family didn't know what to give me. They gave me one.
It's great. it solves all the problems above. If I ever lose it,
I'll buy another one immediately, even though it's not cheap.

--Tom

 

[mrwilburino]

It’s like asking what the best metal detector is; people are just going to state their favorite. Of the current mainstream pinpointers there are five that stand out: Vibra-Probe, Pro-Pointer, Pro-Find, Pistol-Probe, and the Sun Ray Probes. Never used the Vibra Probe or the Pro Find so I can’t comment on them. Of the rest:

The Pro-Pointer is a good all-around pinpointer. Small, very solid build quality, good depth, and accurate. Gives an audible signal and vibrates when it finds a target. I don’t really care for the vibrating feature but others like it. A bit loud for my urban sites, can attract attention and get the nearby dogs barking. On the other hand, if you like to dig with your headphones on you’ll still hear it.

Pistol Probe- Love it for the depth. Not as well built as the Pro-Pointer. Large. Expensive. Looks like a gun (who’s bright idea was that?). Some feel it’s not loud enough although I have no problem with the volume.

Sun Ray Probe- works through the detector, which is a REALLY nice feature. I use one with my CZ which tends to false on rusty nails. I just pull out a plug, stick in the probe, and the Sun Ray tells me whether it’s really iron or something worth investigating further. Saves a lot of time and effort digging trash in my hard-packed ground. Good depth too. The cons: adds weight to the machine, more wires, not quite as accurate at pinpointing as the other two. The most expensive of the brands.

If I had to pick a favorite, it would be the Sun Ray with the Pistol Probe second; although I would be happy with any of those three.

 

[scotty544]

I love my Garrett Pro Pointer, the little led light comes in handy when its getting dusky dark. Man does it save digging time and helps keep the holes smaller. Cant go wrong with it. got mine from KellyCo and they gave me a Gator digging tool for free. The gator is really stout and does a good job.

 

[McKinney_5900]

Garretts Propointer. Save the grief of buying anything else and then eventually buying one anyway, and just get one. martin

 

[Ism]

As far as ease of use and ergonomics, Garrett. But failure rates are high based on my experience.
Customer service is great, but I would rather I didn't need it.

 

[Trooper733]

Garrett Pro Pointer...I like the way the audio and vibration rate increases as you get closer to the target, finally changing to a solid audio tone when right on the target.

 

[Power Guy]

If you havent figured out by now that the Garrett pin pointer is one of the best out there let me give you my 2 cents worth. I have the garrett Pin pointer and I like it because you can lay it on it's side and do a quick sweep if you have an area with mutiple hits. I have had cheaper ones but the Garrett Pin Pointer is the best by far.

 

[xr7ator]

Interesting that Bowinkles has used the Minelab, which is a ripoff of the Garrett design and only adds the option of turning off the audio but costs more, longer than the Garrett but yet the Garrett has been out for ever and the minelab just came out last year??
I like Garrett and Minelab.
I own and use the Garrett pinpointer. It is so used that the tip is almost completely gone and there is a hole in the plastic because i've worn it away using it. I use it as a digging device, or at least I used to until I broke it and it will false signal if you push on it too hard. It didn't do that when it was newer and I know when I broke it abusing it. I never sent it back, I just don't push that hard on it any more. I'll have to buy another soon because the tip is literally gone. On the next Garrett pinpoinert I buy, I'll add a pvc tip to it and I'll never abuse it using it as a digging tool. Live and learn and HH.

 

[scotty544]

Interesting that Bowinkles has used the Minelab, which is a ripoff of the Garrett design and only adds the option of turning off the audio but costs more, longer than the Garrett but yet the Garrett has been out for ever and the minelab just came out last year??
I like Garrett and Minelab.
I own and use the Garrett pinpointer. It is so used that the tip is almost completely gone and there is a hole in the plastic because i've worn it away using it. I use it as a digging device, or at least I used to until I broke it and it will false signal if you push on it too hard. It didn't do that when it was newer and I know when I broke it abusing it. I never sent it back, I just don't push that hard on it any more. I'll have to buy another soon because the tip is literally gone. On the next Garrett pinpoinert I buy, I'll add a pvc tip to it and I'll never abuse it using it as a digging tool. Live and learn and HH.

Don't glue the pvc tip on until you test it out, it may kill the sensitivity.

 

[Digger2]

I haven't tried the Garrett, but I really like my detectorpro pinpointer. While it's a little pricey, it really does the job, and is very easy on batteries.