Cutting to the Chase what's the top Metal Detector in the World-Money no object

Deathgiggle

Newbie
Aug 20, 2016
3
21
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Wife turns to me and says she wants to get a metal detector and check out our property here in rural Louisiana. Used to be an old train depot here in the 1880's and there are 3 old homesteads on our property from the 1800's as well. My wife also knows a lot of these old country folk and won't have trouble getting permission to search other possible areas and old home sites.

She has worked extremely hard over the years to put herself through college and med school while holding down a full time job. After that she spent the last 2 years working 12-20 hour shifts, all nights and weekends and wore out many pairs of shoes along the way. Now that she has established herself she has a better rotation of 4 days on and 6 days off, we can start enjoying life.

In all the 12 years we been together my wife never asked me for hardly anything. She wanted a car that ran to get her to school and work, a new pair of shoes every 3 months and food cooked when she got home. She never asked me for anything for Christmas, birthdays, etc. Now she out of the blue says she wants a metal detector and asked me to do some research and order her one.

I Googled around for top metal detector but as you can imagine every company would like to think they are the best. I come to you because I know that many of you have put in years of real world testing, research and for some of you it is your main hobby and you take it seriously.
I'm not looking for a beginner machine or something easy to learn. My wife is super smart, she can name off every bone and muscle in the body. She can pronounce medical words I can't even spell, lol. I'm pretty sure no matter the difficulty, if she puts her mind to it, she will learn to use it.

I just want to know what you would purchase today if money were no object. Let me identify the possible places she would be using it as well.
Mainly she will use it on old homesteads and rural Louisiana land. She may want to take it down south to the beach or to Florida when we go, but she won't be putting it in the water. Our beach trips are just a couple times a year so not a big priority. We probably won't ever go out west and hunt nuggets or anything like that. She has more of a historical interest than anything else.
I fully intend by the end of next week to order her the best machine I can find. I am just still shocked she asked for something and I'm determined to put the best in her hands. She never said no to me when I wanted a boat or an ATV, etc. I will never deny her anything in this life if it's within my power. I love her more than anything on earth an if she wants to detect something I'll be her chauffeur and personal digger, lol.
 

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☠ Cipher

Full Member
Aug 16, 2016
165
182
Middleburgh, NY
Detector(s) used
Whites: Spectra V3i, MX Sport, Bullseye TRX. Fisher: F75 LTD, 1280-X, F2. XP: Deus. Minelab: X-terra 70, Garrett: AT Pro, Ace 250, Propointer II. Tesoro: Compadre. Bounty Hunter: LRP, QDP, 3300, 2200,
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Intelligence does help in this hobby certainly. But experience is the best knower and there's no way to bypass it or substitute it in this hobby. I'm about as intelligent as they come (not to brag, but it is what it is), and being to ambitious at first draft led to frustration and nearly quitting. Intelligence will determine how fast you can process the necessary information and adapt, but it will not enable a person to skip over it and use intuition. This is a technical hobby. It is easier to adapt to a smartphone than to use a top end machine right out of the gate. It can be overwhelming. That's my opinion. Not that she couldn't do it, but that it may not be the best route.
 

Deft Tones

Bronze Member
Mar 24, 2016
1,547
2,352
Hawkeye State - Area 515
Detector(s) used
Whites V3i, XP Deus, Minelab Sovereign GT, Garrett AT Pro, Whites TRX (2), Predator Raven, Predator Raptor, Lesche Sampson
Primary Interest:
Other
This whole thread seems to be a joke. WTF happened to the OP with only 3 posts and never returned?

Money no object for the wife's detecto and then couldn't pay the internet bill?

Thanks for leaving all these people hanging on ignore and wasting the time of all involved giving you advice. Stay classy!
 

Terry Soloman

Gold Member
May 28, 2010
19,419
30,082
White Plains, New York
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Nokta Makro Legend// Pulsedive// Minelab GPZ 7000// Vanquish 540// Minelab Pro Find 35// Dune Kraken Sandscoop// Grave Digger Tools Tombstone shovel & Sidekick digger// Bunk's Hermit Pick
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Did we "cut to the chase" yet? :laughing7:
 

Xraywolf

Silver Member
Feb 28, 2005
3,576
4,360
MI USA
Detector(s) used
Ace 400, AT Pro, equinox 800, Simplex,Vanquish 540
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Happens alot, people get geeked up wanting to enter a potentially exciting and rewarding hobby, then possibly lose interest or financial situation deteriorates.
Plus, being winter, maybe they did get hooked up but bad azz new detector is still in the box waiting for spring, who knows. Maybe we'll see it on classifieds or ebay before too long.
Some threads take a life of their own, and these multi page "whats the best detector I can get ??" threads will be repeated over and over.
 

EKG

Full Member
Mar 19, 2017
174
266
From Germany but in South America at the moment
Detector(s) used
Minelab Fisher Jeohunter
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
my tools for the big Playground on this Planet Deep seeker jeohunter 3D ,for the ocean and beach Minelab Excalibur Minelab Golden Hawk ,SD2001 and Fisher 1225-X and for testing rock samples The Falcon MD20 Metal Detector.
it always depends what you looking for .
 

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Tom_in_CA

Gold Member
Mar 23, 2007
13,837
10,360
Salinas, CA
🥇 Banner finds
2
Detector(s) used
Explorer II, Compass 77b, Tesoro shadow X2
This whole thread seems to be a joke. WTF happened to the OP with only 3 posts and never returned?....

Well said.

It was a good (understandable anyhow) question. And no one can fault the person asking, eh ? Like "what's the best car to buy?" type question. So a myriad of long-time md'rs give it their best shot, cast different lights on the question, etc... But lo & behold, the OP never returns. So you're left wonding if your efforts at penning an answer were even worth your time ? Even to get a contrary counter view would be satisfactory. But as least to know that the OP even cared to read/digest the inputs.
 

RVRoamer73

Silver Member
Apr 19, 2016
4,283
8,064
Georgia
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
CTX 3030 Nox 800
Stealth 720i ,RTG 6"
Lesche GS 36
Predator Raptor
TRX pp
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
dang!! Aug. 2016, might of grew up, had a family, started new hobby of collecting stamps and riding alpacas bare back...
 

foiler

Sr. Member
Mar 17, 2013
395
389
Kansas
Detector(s) used
Fisher, Wilson-Neuman, Whites, Minelab, Tesoro and others I've long since forgotten
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Rather than buy a machine and hope she likes it, make a field trip to a dealer or two and try some out. You will get some good info on various machines, local preferences by experienced users and she can actually put a few different machines in her hands. A nice outing for a hard working gal. Take her to lunch while your at it, she deserves it.
 

Xraywolf

Silver Member
Feb 28, 2005
3,576
4,360
MI USA
Detector(s) used
Ace 400, AT Pro, equinox 800, Simplex,Vanquish 540
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Lol, people still offering advice after he has been MIA for half a year ,,, Maybe time to give it a rest ??
 

Deft Tones

Bronze Member
Mar 24, 2016
1,547
2,352
Hawkeye State - Area 515
Detector(s) used
Whites V3i, XP Deus, Minelab Sovereign GT, Garrett AT Pro, Whites TRX (2), Predator Raven, Predator Raptor, Lesche Sampson
Primary Interest:
Other
I'll bet she was PO'd. I knew he didn't value his wife
 

RVRoamer73

Silver Member
Apr 19, 2016
4,283
8,064
Georgia
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
CTX 3030 Nox 800
Stealth 720i ,RTG 6"
Lesche GS 36
Predator Raptor
TRX pp
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting

Kansas_Jayhawk

Full Member
Mar 11, 2017
151
175
Colorado
Detector(s) used
Fisher F75 and Tesoro Silver uMicromax
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Wife turns to me and says she wants to get a metal detector and check out our property here in rural Louisiana. Used to be an old train depot here in the 1880's and there are 3 old homesteads on our property from the 1800's as well. My wife also knows a lot of these old country folk and won't have trouble getting permission to search other possible areas and old home sites.

Okay I'm a novice compared to many. I'm not about to tell you which detectors to buy - because I'm looking for one and there are way too many choices that couldn't tell you which one is better than others. I do believe that as you spend more money the detectors become more complex. At the same time there are probably - based on your comments - detectors you don't need to worry about ... like one that is used for gold. So here is a thought -

First - see if there are folks or possibly a detecting club in your area. Go there and see if someone will be willing to take you guys out and try out what detectors they have.
Second - if no one available buy a detector in the $500 to $1,000 range. I would suggest an all purpose detector that are geared to coins and relics. In this price range these should be decent detectors that can do the job, allow you to hunt, but also have options on them that you can learn to help be a better detector.

Even a simple detector that only costs $300 can be purchased and learn the basics from then move onto the more complex detectors. To me getting out there and finding things is the fun part and I don't need a real expensive unit. As I get better maybe I'll look at one that has tons of bells and whistles. But even with a simple detector you need to learn tones, discrimination, possibly ground balancing, and so on.

Or a third option - find a dealer in your area or call a dealer and talk to them.

Needless to say - there is not top dog detector. What makes them work is the person who is holding them - her intelligence will prove to be her best tool in figuring this hobby out.
 

ICON

Jr. Member
Dec 22, 2012
49
25
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Iwould rent or barrow them for her to try , first to see what she likes .
 

Charlie P. (NY)

Gold Member
Feb 3, 2006
13,003
17,106
South Central Upstate NY in the foothills of the h
Detector(s) used
Minelab Musketeer Advantage Pro w/8" & 10" DD coils/Fisher F75se(Upgraded to LTD2) w/11" DD, 6.5" concentric & 9.5" NEL Sharpshooter DD coils/Sunray FX-1 Probe & F-Point/Black Widows/Rattler headphone
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Happens alot, people get geeked up wanting to enter a potentially exciting and rewarding hobby . . .

I think some discover owning a metal detector isn't the babe-magnet they had hoped. :dontknow:
 

Deft Tones

Bronze Member
Mar 24, 2016
1,547
2,352
Hawkeye State - Area 515
Detector(s) used
Whites V3i, XP Deus, Minelab Sovereign GT, Garrett AT Pro, Whites TRX (2), Predator Raven, Predator Raptor, Lesche Sampson
Primary Interest:
Other
This thread is getting more fun without Deathgiggle. LOL.
 

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