Mojave Desert to So Cal Beaches: Best Wet & Dry Combo MDs with Pin-pointer?

[The Conqueress]

Finally! I am ready to take my long-held dream to reality! Instead of daydreaming about being outside enjoying the sweeping strokes and beeping tones, I'm ready to do it! YES! I've used Google + the various manufacturers' sites + the oodles of threads at this site & even Amazon + Ebay + WalMart.com (Which has a surprising number of pages with both comments on a long list of models at various price points!) The days of Summer 2013 are passing by - turning to weeks - and now: MONTHS! I need HELP and hope to receive it here, please. The model I want would have the ability to detect under water & on the dry land, including beach surf & dry sands. Not too heavy, please! I think a 10" coil - so we can dig deeper-found items. A jack for headphones is desired. We are OK with bringing several batteries, if we must. What we hope to find are lost items in parks/schools/national forests, etc + nuggets from headwaters + lost beach/surf & sand items underwater and out-of-water. I notice a 4 and a 10 step(?) difference on the WalMart site (Something to do with describing the hidden item), and it seems as though that 6-step difference equals a $10+ per step price increase... (((Worth it?)))

ALSO: I keep thinking it must be OK to seal the machine in a 2 or 3-layer covering of trash bags, to protect it from the salt water and just 'go for it' - Why won't that work? (((Please, explain)))

OK! I am happy to answer any questions and look forward to any make & model suggestions!
We would consider $200.00 VERY expensive and hope to keep the cost lower than that, please.
We VERY MUCH look forward to the freedom to adventure within a 100 mile radius of home - WEST to the beaches from Santa Monica, etc and SOUTH + as far EAST as Palm Springs + NORTH into the Lake Arrowhead & Big Bear, etc areas & Mojave Desert, etc -- - Please, Advise & Thank You In Advance!

P.S. - I've read we should associate with like-minded folk, but know only the group of males, from Riverside, seen in YouTube videos, searching vacant lots, etc - no women/girls at all... Are there any So Cal FEMALE groups, or groups that are co-ed and WHOLESOME? Please, advise. Thank you In Advance!

P.S.S. - I would be smart to learn the guidelines as to where to & not to treasure hunt in So Cal - Any rules in general, (besides ask first) - - - e.g., are roadsides OK? What about Federal Forests? National Parks? The Desert Lands? City Parks? City School Playgrounds? Colleges? State University grounds?

I look forward to reading your reply!

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

Finally! I am ready to take my long-held dream to reality! Instead of daydreaming about being outside enjoying the sweeping strokes and beeping tones, I'm ready to do it! YES! I've used Google + the various manufacturers' sites + the oodles of threads at this site & even Amazon + Ebay + WalMart.com (Which has a surprising number of pages with both comments on a long list of models at various price points!) The days of Summer 2013 are passing by - turning to weeks - and now: MONTHS! I need HELP and hope to receive it here, please. The model I want would have the ability to detect under water & on the dry land, including beach surf & dry sands. Not too heavy, please! I think a 10" coil - so we can dig deeper-found items. A jack for headphones is desired. We are OK with bringing several batteries, if we must. What we hope to find are lost items in parks/schools/national forests, etc + nuggets from headwaters + lost beach/surf & sand items underwater and out-of-water. I notice a 4 and a 10 step(?) difference on the WalMart site (Something to do with describing the hidden item), and it seems as though that 6-step difference equals a $10+ per step price increase... (((Worth it?)))

ALSO: I keep thinking it must be OK to seal the machine in a 2 or 3-layer covering of trash bags, to protect it from the salt water and just 'go for it' - Why won't that work? (((Please, explain)))

OK! I am happy to answer any questions and look forward to any make & model suggestions!
We would consider $200.00 VERY expensive and hope to keep the cost lower than that, please.
We VERY MUCH look forward to the freedom to adventure within a 100 mile radius of home - WEST to the beaches from Santa Monica, etc and SOUTH + as far EAST as Palm Springs + NORTH into the Lake Arrowhead & Big Bear, etc areas & Mojave Desert, etc -- - Please, Advise & Thank You In Advance!

P.S. - I've read we should associate with like-minded folk, but know only the group of males, from Riverside, seen in YouTube videos, searching vacant lots, etc - no women/girls at all... Are there any So Cal FEMALE groups, or groups that are co-ed and WHOLESOME? Please, advise. Thank you In Advance!

P.S.S. - I would be smart to learn the guidelines as to where to & not to treasure hunt in So Cal - Any rules in general, (besides ask first) - - - e.g., are roadsides OK? What about Federal Forests? National Parks? The Desert Lands? City Parks? City School Playgrounds? Colleges? State University grounds?

I look forward to reading your reply!

You've asked a boat-load of questions in a single post. All could have multiple pro's and con's answers. I don't know of any hard-core female hunters down your way (or anywhere else in CA for that matter). Seems a mostly male dominated hobby. I've known a few female hunters who hunt solo. But typically, whenever I've run into female hunters, they're with their husbands, for instance.

As for finding a machine that goes both underwater and on land for "$200 or less", that's not going to exist (depending on what you mean by "underwater" and depending on how picky your are about it's on-land abilities). If by "underwater" you meant just to submerge the coil (while the water laps around your ankes to knees), then ANY machine's coils are submersible. But if you meant to dunk the whole machine underwater (as in snorkeling or scuba), then no, your options become greatly limited. And no, you're not going to find something for $200 that's utterly submersible. Well, yes and no. Certainly you can find an older while pulse machine that is a dive-type unit. But heaven help you if you try to use that pulse machine on land, doh!

Not many machines are submersible, yet equally adept at the type of land hunt sites we all have in mind (ghost towns, ruins, parks, schools, campgrounds, etc...). A few come to mind: The CTX (expensive and with a LONG learning curve), and the fisher CZ20 (if you care for the silent search). But even on ebay, you're not going to get those for $200, me thinks.

And as far as laws and rules, perhaps you can hone it down to a specific type land or site. Because ... the wide range of sites you give, can cover a book to go into the pros and cons' and minutia of each one. So you want to be more specific about a site you have in mind?

But if you ask me: Any site that doesn't have a 1) sign that says "no metal detecting" , and 2) as long as it's not an obvious sacred historic monument that someone can say "you should/could have known". But that's just me, and I don't worry a whole lot, and just don't wear big red Xs on my back when I hunt at low traffic times.

 

[cudamark]

I agree with Tom. With your stated budget, your "long held dream" is going to remain so.

 

[The Conqueress]

Thank you both for responding to my first-ever (and long) list of questions. :-)
I did not mean all-the-way-underwater; I meant get-the-coil-wet-only.
And, I meant in both fresh & salt ankle-deep waters.
It has come to seem to me that the layers of plastic bags would be 'over-kill' - and, if I were to 'drown the coil', they seem not only replaceable but interchangeable, e.g., some posts refer to having various coil sizes.
_______
I am looking at the current sale in Big 5 Sporting Goods for a down-from-$300-to-$220 kit.
It seems to me (based upon datestamps for Amazon, etc comments), that this is, minimally, a 2001 model...
Does that make any sense? I wonder because I've read about 'advances in the technologies involved', and so think a dozen years may be sufficient to render it obsolete-rather-that-new-and-on-sale?
_______
This is how the progression has gone since my initial post:
1.) Bounty Hunter TK4 Tracker IV Metal Detector, $87.+ tax, down from $140.
Not much online to be found about it though...
Then, I moved on to:
2.) Bounty Hunter QD2 Quick Draw II Metal Detector, $158.+tax, down from $250.
It only goes down farther than the first one, e.g., 3-foot depth detection is listed.
Then, I moved on to:
3.) Bounty Hunter SS2 Sharpshooter II Metal Detector, $151.+tax, down from $350.
It goes down farther still, e.g., a 5-foot depth detection is listed.
________
I find it odd the one that detects 5-feet down sells for a few dollars LESS than the one that 'only' detects 3-feet down.
Comments?
________
ALSO, the one on sale right now comes with the carrying/storage case + the pinpointer + the digger tool, etc.
The same model, but without the kit, is offered online at $151 + about $70 for the 'kit items' (carry/storage case, pinpointer, digger tool, etc).

The on-sale one comes with headphones. The online one does not.
That may be a mute point; is this even the ideal model?
ALSO: I can seem to find WEIGHT on any of these 3 models, just vague mentions of them being fatique-free, or terms like that - nothing specific as to weight.
_______
I appreciate the candor on point of gender for the hobby: While I could set up a nice camp and leave him to his reading & snacking there, it would be torture to hear, "are you ready to go now" non-stop were he to be nearby, (like I see so many couples/groups/etc on YouTube) (((((sigh))))) It'll NEVER happen...
HOWEVER, and with that said, I CAN go out and about and adventure, no problems.
And, I can spend a couple of hundred on stand mixer; sewing machine; metal detector - I am allowed some 'fun' when not serving as cook, maid, nanny, etc :-)
So!
I plan to have my metal detector in-hand and ready to delight me, 9/5-8/13 - seashore (Venice to Santa Monica) + area parklands + Silverwood Lake area.
Which of those listed, or other not listed but in the price range, would you suggest?
_______
I am also interested in advice/links to forum threads where like-minded folk congregate, if possible.
Thanks!