Newbie to metal detecting

[Hbar164]

I have 3 acres, some woods, and a lake near my home. I want to take my boys metal detecting (11-17). I read some different reviews on metal detectors but am not sure what would be best for us. The equinox 800 seemed like a good one. Would anyone suggest that for us starting out or have any suggestions. We would be detecting the property, the woods, and the lake area. As for water, we may want to have a detector that can be used as we are wading; but not diving or anything like that.

 

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[Davey Crockett]

I'm guessing different people will you give different answers so it depends on your personal situation as far as wants and needs. My situation is similar here, Living on the family farm and I like to dig almost everything so it didn't make much sense to me to buy an expensive machine. I ended up buying a Garrette acer 250 and plan to upgrade from there and pass that on to my grandkids. They are already hooked on detecting, I bought them a cheap harbor freight detector and buried a couple bucks worth of coins in their sandbox and they loved treasure hunting. I read that Lowes and other big box stores rent metal detectors , Might be worth checking that out and trying a couple different models and see what you like.

 

[Curlymaplebandit]

The Nox 800 is a great machine. If you have no intention of gold prospecting, the 600 is a fantastic machine as well.

 

[Hbar164]

Thank you. I will look into the rental suggestion. I wasnt sure if it would be too difficult to learn on a higher end model and not jave to upgrade for a while or buy a couple lower end ones for each of us. My friend bought one around $100-150 (dont know the name) and he stopped because all they were finding were nails, cans, and treasures of that sort.

As for the 600, I read if you are going to pay for the 600 you might as well get the 800 for some of the additional features and the headphones; since it offers benefits other than just gold.

 

[jmc24]

Some people will disagree with me which is okay. The Equinox is a high gain detector. Even on Minelab's website it is listed on their upcoming model list as an "enthusiast" detector right next to the Etrac and the CTX. All three of those detectors would be a handful or worse for most beginners. I have grown up kids that detect with me when they can. I would still rank them as newbies even though they have detected before. They were totally overwhelmed by the Equinox even when setup in default Park 1 with just 2 tones, and low sensitivity. I help seasoned detector users who recently bought an Equinox learn this detector for the club I am a member of. It takes a while even for folks that have detected for years.

So, if you are sold on the Equinox already which is fine for an adult or fairly strong teenager, great. Be prepared to be patient, study a lot, stay within the default Park 1 mode for awhile and keep it simple. The Equinox will definitely detect metal from millimeter sized at 1 to 2 inches depth up to a quarter sized down to a depth of 1 foot in most soil accurately and easily once you learn how to use it. It will go deeper on larger metal objects.

For your 11 year old, the new Minelab Vanquish 340, 440 or 540 would be great since it has some of the same technology, target ID range and tones of the Equinox and is much less expensive. My grown kids had no trouble learning how to use the Vanquish. Not only did they find good targets quickly, they really enjoyed swinging it. I have helped a couple of kids from my club with lighter weight Garrett and Fisher/Teknetics detectors along with the Vanquish. They preferred the tones and easy adjustability of the Vanquish. These kids were 12 years old. They also tried the Nokta Makro Simplex and really like it too even though they both felt like it was too heavy with the stock coil. Hopefully Nokta Makro will release other smaller coil options soon. Being waterproof, it would be a great option for a lot more people if it was lighter.

 

[angelito1]

welcome to tnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

[cudamark]

Kids these days are pretty tech savvy. I don't think they will have any problem learning the Equinox. A great machine. I can barely figure out how to use the basics of my smart phone and I figured out the Equinox quickly.

 

[djackson7348]

Welcome from North Carolina. I have an Equinox 800 and I consider it the best of the many machines i have owned over the years. But, the bottom line is whichever detector you buy you will only have good results if you learn the machine thoroughly and understand what it is telling you. Best of luck as you move down this path.

 

[Rookster]

Good luck and Welcome to Tnet from Mississippi

 

[Davey Crockett]

I was thinking about getting a Garrett AT Pro and keeping my Acer 250 for wife and grandkids but I just did some research on the vanquish 540 and now I'm back to kicking tires. A question for you seasoned diggers , If you could only have either a Garrett AT Pro or a Vanquish 540 what would you choose. Is there much of a learning curve from a 250 to an AT Pro ? I'm guessing there is a bigger learning curve going from the 250 to the vanquish ??

 

[RustyGold]

Although a fine detector the AT Pro is a bit long in the tooth so, if I was shopping, I’d get the Minelab 340, 440 for the boys and get the 540 Pro for yourself. The 540 Pro comes with the extra, small coil. Good luck and welcome to the forum!

 

[trdking]

For the Noob I recommend a Garrett AT Pro EZ to learn and EZ to use

 

[Colonial kid]

Simplex..made by nokta macro sell.s for 250.00..i love mine lot.s of feature.s water proof to 10 feet slide.s down to about 20 inch.s..i use it over my at pro ive dug a V nickle at 11 inch.s nice machine for cheaper price with lot.s of feature.s top machine.s have

 

[firemanphob]

Welcome from Indiana