Need opinions on which tesoro for my wants and needs

[texasgold]

Hi all, new to detecting and been raiding forums, posting here and there for advice and just found this place. I am interested in Tesoro, seems to be a good, reliable brand and may just be about ready to take the plunge. I don't really want to go more than $500.00 for my purchase if that helps. I want something that is good for just about everything, mainly used on land for coin shooting but also want it to work for trips to the beach. I am finding that wet sand is a no no for most vlf detectors; is there a tesoro that can handle wet sand but also excel as well as the rest of them on land for coin shooting? Also, I want a really stable detector, nothing that is going to chirp at me constantly for no reason. Don't want to regret my purchase by wanting to snap the noisy thing over my leg because it's unstable. Thanks for the advice in advance!

[Terry Soloman]

Hi all, new to detecting and been raiding forums, posting here and there for advice and just found this place. I am interested in Tesoro, seems to be a good, reliable brand and may just be about ready to take the plunge. I don't really want to go more than $500.00 for my purchase if that helps. I want something that is good for just about everything, mainly used on land for coin shooting but also want it to work for trips to the beach. I am finding that wet sand is a no no for most vlf detectors; is there a tesoro that can handle wet sand but also excel as well as the rest of them on land for coin shooting? Also, I want a really stable detector, nothing that is going to chirp at me constantly for no reason. Don't want to regret my purchase by wanting to snap the noisy thing over my leg because it's unstable. Thanks for the advice in advance!

Hey Texas! I want to explain to you - and all newbies that may look at this post - that there is NO single metal detector that is a "good all-around machine." There are two "TYPES" of metal detectors: A) Very Low Frequency, "VLF" - which can discriminate; B) Pulse Induction, "PI" - which does not discriminate. Google the differences.

When you go golfing, you don't use "one good, all-around club." You have at least a putter and a driver. You need to be good with BOTH to win. This hobby is no different. Wet ocean sand and saltwater requires a PI detector - period. I own the Tesoro Sand Shark (PI) for that. Small gold nuggets, coins, jewelry, and relics on dry land? I use the Tesoro Lobo SuperTRAQ (VLF).

Start, with an inexpensive Tesoro Compadre. Learn to swing it and listen to it. Learn to dig targets. When you have 100-hours on the Compadre, you'll have a stack of finds and enough real experience to decide if you want to stay in it, and how much money you want to sink into it!

[DetectorOCD]

I agree 100% with what Terry said and also suggest either the Compadre or the Silver Umax to start. Good luck, buddy!

[texasgold]

I'm just about sold on a compadre or other relatively inexpensive tesoro like a silver umax but will I miss the manual ground balancing and depth that a vaquero would provide? One of my hunting areas I want to cover is 10 acres my family owns, but the soil is full of iron ore gravel. Will that play hell on a detector without manual ground balancing? Thanks for all the great advice y'all!

[Smudge]

Hi Texas.

I hear a lot from people who are looking for a land detector that you can take to the beach. If you mean dry sand, no problem. If you mean wet sand/surf, that's not going to work.

There are only two types of detectors that work well in wet sand/surf conditions (and I mean salt, not fresh water), that's multi-frequency VLF detectors (meaning they run on at least two frequencies) or pulse induction (PI) detectors.

They will trounce any single frequency VLF detector that ventures into the wet sand/surf. End of story.

If you are primarily a coin shooter, I'm going to recommend either the Tesoro Compadre or the Silver uMax. If you want to find small gold also, go with the Compadre but understand you are going to get about 6" depth max, which is great on land but may cause you to miss some deep dry sand beach targets.

With the Silver uMax, you get a unit that is great on coins and good on rings and bigger pieces of gold, but not good on really small pieces of gold like the Compadre will hit. However, the benefit of the Silver uMax is that you can interchange coils. If you grab a 5" coil for trashy areas and a 12x10 coil for really deep hunting (so deep that its performance can rival just about any other detector out there) you have a great setup for any land or dry sand beach environment you can find.

If you have about $130 bucks left, I would also strongly recommend getting a Garrett Propointer. In fact, I'd buy that before I buy any other coil, it is so important. It will make target retrieval so much easier and you will enjoy the hobby much more. Believe me, I speak from experience.

Sorry for rambling on so much.

As for wet sand/surf: Tesoro Sand Shark all the way!

[Treasure_Hunter]

Lot of good advice here..... Tesoro Compadre will not work well at the beach other than on the dry sand, it can not handle the wet salt minerals and black sand.... You can turn the descrimination way down to cut down on the chatter, but you will be losing a lot of depth, and at the beach you want depth....

[Terry Soloman]

I'm just about sold on a compadre or other relatively inexpensive tesoro like a silver umax but will I miss the manual ground balancing and depth that a vaquero would provide? One of my hunting areas I want to cover is 10 acres my family owns, but the soil is full of iron ore gravel. Will that play hell on a detector without manual ground balancing? Thanks for all the great advice y'all!

Great question! Auto ground balancing on some of the new machines is fantastic. Even the Lobo SuperTRAQ has automatic ground balancing. If you can afford the Vaquero, and you KNOW you want to really get into this go for it. But, if you are on a budget simply buy the best NEW machine you can currently afford, from a dealer that can TEACH you how to set it up, and start putting in your time.

[texasgold]

Thanks for all the great information y'all. I found a barely used silver umax in pristine condition for $190 shipped; I am hoping to see it delivered by the end of next week! I can't wait to check it out, learn how to use it and get out there and start swinging I feel pretty good about my choice And will drop back in to share my impressions and maybe even some finds! Thanks!!

[Terry Soloman]

Thanks for all the great information y'all. I found a barely used silver umax in pristine condition for $190 shipped; I am hoping to see it delivered by the end of next week! I can't wait to check it out, learn how to use it and get out there and start swinging I feel pretty good about my choice And will drop back in to share my impressions and maybe even some finds! Thanks!!

Great Deal! Looking forward to seeing some of your treasures!

[rey914v8]

I bought the silver umax,first time out $2 coins dime several pennies,little Minne mouse, and cross. not much value but a lot of fun.That was oh two months ago,been out several times allways get something,but lately been to same park where my son practices soccer I think I have hunted it out...nothing buy pull tabs and corona beer caps,need to find another place. anyway just bought the 12x10 coil and been out two times, now digging up iron deep maybe a foot,penny. not much else. Anybody have experience on how much more depth I can expect with the 12x10 c0mpaired to stock coil?

[John (Ma)]

Congrats on the Silver, you've picked a great little detector you can swing all day!

[Smudge]

Congrats on the Silver, you've picked a great little detector you can swing all day!

That's the beauty of a Tesoro, you can swing just about any of them all day!

[oneeye]

As for wet sand/surf: Tesoro Sand Shark all the way!

Sorry for the hijack, but do you recommend this model for freshwater too, or just salt water hunting?
Thanks.
Dan

[Lucky13]

I know you are looking into tesoro but my advice to you would be this, I you want a decent detector for the land and for the beach,Look into the teknetics Delta 4000 or the gamma 6000,Prices range from 279 to 500 between the two.Both have manual and auto discrimination,Plus automatic or manual ground balancing,Like said on this post before "THERE IS NO ALL AROUND MULTI USE DETECTOR" but teknetics has all the bells and whistles for doing both land and beach hunting, And for a beginner it is relatively easy to operate,Just take one day to fool around with it in different areas with different sensitivity ranges and different ground balance settings,Teknetics is also made by First Texas Instruments and are extremely great quality technology,as well as a five year warranty if it messes up on you. Not trying to sy you away from tesoro detectors, Just trying to answer your ? and stay in your price range. Good Luck and Happy Hunting.

[Adrian SS]

If you must have a Tesoro for land and beach work then you might consider the Tiger Shark.
A very nice detector and is waterproof.
I use a Sov, BHID and Infinium for my beach work and a Lobo ST backs up my Infinium for gold detecting, and if I could get my hands on a Tiger Shark for the right price I would not say no.

[texasgold]

I've come a little further since I began this thread but only say anything more since someone else revived it. I've had several hours on the silver umax now and it's a decent enough detector but enter something more. I now swing a Cortes while the silver sits at home. I like the Cortes just ok but better than the silver. It seems to be a little deeper than the silver and even though the TID is jumpy, I do like having some idea of what's under the coil. I'm giving back the Cortes to the person I got it from to get a new detector. I'm thinking a teknetics omega or fisher gold bug pro; I hear those two lock onto targets with steady read outs, have better depth, work better in trash and can be used on the beach. I'm not kicking the Cortes in the teeth here, I'm just not impressed with what it does for it's price point and my own needs. I would also love to try a golden umax if I can find a sweet deal on a used or demo. It is also, in my opinion based on it's specs and features, way over priced.

[Smudge]

As for wet sand/surf: Tesoro Sand Shark all the way!

Sorry for the hijack, but do you recommend this model for freshwater too, or just salt water hunting?
Thanks.
Dan

Sorry for the late response. The Sand Shark in fresh water is probably going to hit more junk than you will want to deal with. Salt beaches tend to erode small bits of metal and iron fairly quickly because of corrosion. But in fresh water, there's nothing to break it down, so it just sits there and waits to be dug.

For fresh water, you'll likely want to look as the Tiger Shark.