Need advice- away from home and found a place to hunt

[tlowery04]

hey all, I'm currently in Australia and have an opportunity to metal detect while I'm here for work. however, nobody is at home to mail me my white eagle II detector, and even if they were, i don't know that i would want to pay the import taxes to get it shipped here. from what i understand a lot of well-off people (movie stars and the like) frequent the beaches where i am and many own homes along the coast, should I just break down and buy a new detector? The upside is that I could get the taxes refunded to me when i leave, the downside is that i have no idea what kind of detector to get, I usually hunt farm sites but I want to eventually expand to lake sides but still be able to go to the beach if i get sent to work next to one

i think i just stumbled all over my own words there but basically i need some advice on what detector would be well suited to my application. I don't want to go out and buy the next 2500$ rig i see but I'm not adverse to paying a little more for higher quality not that i have my credit cards paid off.

 

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[spartacus53]

Welcome to T-Net,

Well, you're lucky I happened by to give you the best free advise anywhere on the internet

First off, why not see if you can just rent a detector for your period of time there. Renting not an option , let's then move along to the purchase.

I'm not familiar with your White's Eagle II, nor 1/2 of the detectors out there, but I can still provide sage advise

OK Grasshopper, you already have a machine and hopefully remember the price point Keeping that in mind, let's look at your budget too. You have 2 choice here, one is to buy a decent cheaper machine, and the other option is to perhaps just slightly upgrade from your current model. You can go with an Garrett Ace 250, or some Tesoro model, all capable of finding goodies on the lower end. Or, you can shoot high and get a decent upgrade and sell your white's when you get back to help offset the purchase.

Choose wisely Grasshopper, and if ever in doubt, just flip a coin

 

[tlowery04]

thanks I actually hadn't thought of renting one, I'll give that a quick look and move from there, will the lower end units still perform in beach sand? if i can get away with spending like 150$ on a new to me unit i would be fine with that as long as i get to have a little fun. The WEII is an older unit my dad bought in the 90's - good for detecting but seems about on par with my nephews ace 250.

anywho, i'll post back when i find anything out

 

[tlowery04]

well, found everything from a 40$/day "adventure for the kids" detector to the gpx5000 (sounds intimidating) goldfield prospector for anywhere from 75 to 140$ daily. in either case i would have to drive about 3 hours to go get it, and i only get sundays off of work =\ - i may be calling up a buddy to go by the house and dig through my closet.

 

[spartacus53]

Either that, or perhaps try the Ace 250, for about $220.00. After all, it is a decent machine.

Personally, I can't seeing spending that much to rent, you may as well own it

 

[seekandfind]

Try reaching out to some detectors in Australia (via internet) , you cant be the only metal detecting person in country. Just be careful there are always those predators looking to take advantage. Im with Crusader on this one, if your going to be there for awhile I would buy the ace 250 set up, what about $250 (shipping included??) gets there in a week or so and your in business. One ring could pay for it and the resale value will get almost all your money back once your home. Good luck and happy hunting!!

 

[cudamark]

You're in the birthplace of Minelab so if you're thinking of upgrading or getting a second detector, I can recommend the Excalibur for wet sand and surf, and the E-trac for everything else. I still love my Eagle II SL90 and use it often, but it's not waterproof and it doesn't work well in the saltwater or wet black sand. The CTX 3030 can do it all but the price tag is a bit steep. If you need waterproof and discrimination, you're best value is probably the AT Gold. If you don't need a meter, some of the waterproof Fishers and Tesoros are pretty good too.