Inexpensive pinpointers for the kids

[DownRight]

I recently picked up metal detecting as a hobby to share with the family on and around our property, and currently have a Garrett Pro-Pointer AT that we all share. It would be awesome if both of my kids had their own pin pointers as we have found many coin spills around here and have to take turns with the carrot, but not knowing how long they’ll stay interested in metal detecting with me, I’m hesitant to fork out top dollar for their own pinpointers, so I’ve been looking at some of the cheaper ones on Amazon, wondering if they’re worth a damn or not. For $30 I’m tempted to get one and have the kids test it out, but before doing so, I thought I’d ask here to see what kind of experiences people who have tried them out have had.

If anyone has any recommendations that would be great as well. I was thinking I could justify something in the ~$50 price range for them at this point.

Thank you!

 

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[Actionman]

I would buy a quality one, a cheap one from harbor freight will break if I use it, a kid that might not be as careful it probably won't last a day. Maybe put a marker on your beeps and let your two kids use the pinpointers.

 

[DownRight]

I would buy a quality one, a cheap one from harbor freight will break if I use it, a kid that might not be as careful it probably won't last a day. Maybe put a marker on your beeps and let your two kids use the pinpointers.

I actually have some markers on order for exactly this purpose.

Yeah, I’d definitely rather buy them a quality pinpointer that will last over a cheap one that’ll be in the trash in a short amount of time.

 

[eman1000]

I've bought $30 knock-off garrett carrot type pinpointers of of Amazon and they work and hold up just fine. Maybe I've just been luck. I use mine as a backup for the MI-6.

 

[DownRight]

I've bought $30 knock-off garrett carrot type pinpointers of of Amazon and they work and hold up just fine. Maybe I've just been luck. I use mine as a backup for the MI-6.

Thank you, that’s good info. My kids are really good at treating these types of things with care, so maybe I won’t rule these out completely yet.

I’m also going to do a bit of searching for something used today as well to see what I come up with.

 

[diggummup]

If you can afford the Garrett's, get it. Some people don't have the option. There is a youtube hack to increase the depth some on the lookalikes. Still not as deep as the Garrett, but it works. I'm not too easy on equipment sometimes either.

 

[DownRight]

If you can afford the Garrett's, get it. Some people don't have the option. There is a youtube hack to increase the depth some on the lookalikes. Still not as deep as the Garrett, but it works. I'm not too easy on equipment sometimes either.

Yeah, we have a Garrett now, it's great, but ideally I'd like to get two more pinpointers for the kids so I can dig a few holes and they don't have to take turns with it. Hard to justify another ~$130/ea when there's no telling what their level of interest in metal detecting will be in a year or less, which is why I'm considering a couple cheapies for them, or something used that's in the ~$50/ea range.

They're really good about taking care of things, so I'm not too worried about the durability.

Thank you for the info about the depth hack... I'll take a look if we end up going with something like that.