metal detector for my 5 year old daughter

[coketab]

I'm trying to figure out what metal detector I can get my daughter for Christmas. She is almost 4 feet tall now and loves to hunt with me but she can't carry my detector its way to big for her. So any advice would be good. I want a nice one for her not a cheap one. I'm also looking for a mine lab xterra 70 for me. I had one but had to sale it to pay a huge ticket I got on my motorcycle. If you can help out with advice it would be appreciated thank you.

 

[rainyday101]

Tesoro Compadre. Simple as can be, effective, great price, lifetime warranty. Be careful though, she will out hunt you!

 

[coketab]

Thank you I'll look at them. Can I adjust the length of the shaft

 

[Johnathon78]

Garrett Ace 150.

Garrett ACE 150 Metal Detector | Manufacturer

 

[woof!]

Whenever someone asks what they should get for their little kid, the beeper fans jump in recommending adult-size detectors, which was the problem in the first place.

The only US "real" metal detector designed specifically for little kids is the Bounty Hunter Junior. Adults tend to sneer at it because it's obviously not for them-- which of course is the point of it! It's not high performance, but within its performance limitations it does its job very well.

Several years ago I was asked to find a recently lost item of kid's jewelry in a church lawn, a church that's been around a long time. It was a job for which I could have used almost anything at any price, but for a small almost-surface item in a trashy lawn, the BH Jr was a better choice than the "big guns" and the BH Jr. is what I used for the search. .....I didn't find the lost item (I think she lost it somewhere else other than where she thought): my point is that the BH Jr. is a real metal detector that I not only designed, but upon occasion have used in preference to all the other units I have available.

[Don't buy it at Big Lots, their system has it priced wrong. Widely available elsewhere in the $55-75 range, and of course support your forum sponsors.]

 

[fliermartin]

Well I got an 11 year old daughter and I was looking at getting the fischer f2 with dd coil.
firstly the dd coil will help her as her coil disapline isn't that good.
secondly she likes seeing a target Id number and relates to the numberbeter than a bar on the screen
and finnaly the preset ground balance means when she plays with the buttons the ground balance should still be in the ball park.
It runs about 300 bucks. I may look online for a used at pro if the right deal comes up.

 

[woof!]

Some 11 year olds are big enough to handle an adult sized metal detector, others aren't. No 5-year-old should be expected to swing an adult-sized metal detector.

Some adult sized metal detectors have such lousy ergonomics that they're a problem even for adults. The Ace 250 comes to mind: it doesn't weigh much, but it's like swinging an anvil on the end of a pole. Some of the Minelab models have such a bad combo of weight and ergonomics that Minelab users not infrequently post they had to give 'em up because they were developing orthopedic problems.

 

[Garrett424]

The Bounty Hunter Tracker IV is a good one for kids.

5 is pretty young but if she's already hunting I would definitely consider it. I started with one myself and it WILL find treasure. It'll even surprise you once in a while. It's also inexpensive.
It kills the clad too which will keep any kid busy and happy.

The BH Junior is a good kid's machine as the above poster pointed out but when my nephew got one he tired of it rather quickly. He asked for a detector for Christmas and he got the BH Jr. I think he expected a little more performance and ended up disappointed. He dug WAY more trash than treasure with it and got frustrated after a while.
I may give him my Tracker IV as an "upgrade".

Then again, I have no doubt that lots of kids LOVE their BH Juniors. It's definitely simple enough for a five year old but if she's a smart one that already hunts, you may want something a wee bit better.

Good luck in whatever you ultimately choose.

 

[rainyday101]

Beeper Fans- Seriously Woof? The shaft can be set short, the balance is fine, and if she gives it up he has a good detector. Where is the Junior made? China?

 

[Tom Slick]

Another vote for the excellent Tesoro Compadre.

 

[DirtWarrior]

Garrett ACE 150 ...

 

[mrwilburino]

Five years old? Just get the lightest, smallest, cheapest detector you can find. By the end of the week she'll move on to play-dough and finger-paints, and the detector will be on the bottom of the toy-box.

 

[Turbo21]

The eurotek pro has a removable center shaft that makes it the perfect size for kids. And when she gets bored you can use it for a backup because it's a very good machine

 

[rainyday101]

In my experience, from having tried this, the digital displays are too much for a 5 year old. A simple beep is easier for them to focus on. Keep it simple, it beeps, they dig.

 

[Garrett424]

In my experience, from having tried this, the digital displays are too much for a 5 year old. A simple beep is easier for them to focus on. Keep it simple, it beeps, they dig.

That may be true but MANY kids are way smarter than people give them credit for. Heck, even babies are highly intelligent.
Just consider all that they learn in their first year alone.

Plus, many kids these days are already messing with computers when they're 2 or 3 years old.
They pick it really easy when they're young.

 

[Garrett424]

Ultimately, I would get the detector that best suits her as an individual. Maybe you could just ask her what kind she would like and what she expects from a detector since she already loves to hunt. She may just surprise you and make the choice WAY easier for you.

I let my boys pick out their own fishing poles early on and they wanted nothing to do with those short little "kiddy" poles. They wanted something cooler and ended up with simple closed face reels on short rods but not those really short kiddy ones. Most of those are junk anyway.

Guess what?? They caught lots of fish. My oldest caught his first small mouth bass at the age of THREE and it was a 14 incher. He caught it on a live crawdad. He opted to take it home and eat it too after I explained that it would have to die in order to do that. He calmly said to me "Let's kill it".
I'll never forget it no matter how long I may live. He ate that fish too; not all at once but he was happy and proud. He still loves bass.

As you're probably aware, you cannot underestimate the intelligence of kids. They're extremely smart. They often just haven't been alive long enough to articulate what they really know.