Need a new detector but I dont know what to get.

[MineralsAndThings]

Need a new detector but I don't know what to get.

I'm 23 and looking to get back into detecting and I'm looking for advice on what I should get. I think I had a bounty hunter before and it was fine for what I was doing. I'm just not sure what brand would be better at the moment and I wan't to get as much info as I can before buying a new one. It's an investment and I'm still in college so I do have to watch the money I have to an extent. I really am starting to miss this hobby a lot though.

Any advice is welcome,
Thank you

 

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[RustyGold]

The big question is where do you plan on detecting? Parks, fields, beaches or all three? There are a lot of good choices but it helps to target the areas you'll hunt in. It will help to "define your needs" and then detector suggestions will be easier to give advice on.
I think an all around great park detector is the Teknetics Eurotek Pro. It has excellent TID capabilities.
Best of Luck!

 

[MineralsAndThings]

The big question is where do you plan on detecting? Parks, fields, beaches or all three? There are a lot of good choices but it helps to target the areas you'll hunt in. It will help to "define your needs" and then detector suggestions will be easier to give advice on.
I think an all around great park detector is the Teknetics Eurotek Pro. It has excellent TID capabilities.
Best of Luck!

I would probably be in all three places but more or so parks and fields. I just want something that is beach capable for the summer. I guess if I had a limit on money it could be up to $210 and if need be a little more. I like to see my options though and then consider what is worth the price. Water proof stuff is also a welcomed plus.
Thank you so much.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I would probably be in all three places but more or so parks and fields. I just want something that is beach capable for the summer. I guess if I had a limit on money it could be up to $210 and if need be a little more. I like to see my options though and then consider what is worth the price. Water proof stuff is also a welcomed plus.
Thank you so much.

Sorry, but in the price range quoted you want find a detector that works on the wet sand on salt water beaches below the hide tide line. Any detector will work in the dry sand above high tide line, but once you hit the sand below the high tide line your in a different ball park.

For price range quoted some good choices are the Garrett 350 and 250, as well as the Eurotec already mentioned.

If you increase your budget to $600 you move up to mid range detectors that can handle the high mineralization of wet salt water beaches as well as the land areas you want to hunt..

 

[adamBomb]

given your price range there is the fisher f2, garret ace models, bounty hunters, tesoro compadre, etc. They will probably all perform nearly the same once you learn one of them. None will work on the wet salty beach sand but they will work just fine on the dry beach sand. I would probably check out the brands I mentioned and be sure to PM the stores from here or on their website, usually you can get a better deal than the face value price, although given you are already in the low end I doubt they have much wiggle room but hey even $10 off is savings. I would compare all of those machines features and see which works the best for you, there is no right answer here as all will perform pretty much the same.

and as treasure hunter mentioned, if you want water proof and better beach machines you need to triple your price...at the very least.

 

[Beepndig]

I was in your shoes not so long ago and struggling to decide. To make it even more of a challenge , I was shopping the craigslist. I would find one I thought I might be interested in, do some internet digging/ research on the model, decide what I thought might be a good used price .......... If it was a decent detector and a deal, it was gone before I could make an offer or get across town to nab one. I did learn in the process a little more about what I might be looking for. As luck would have it, an ace 350 popped up on Craig's for $200 vs $300ish retail and I pounced. Great and versatile machine. Easy to use yet powerful . The pin point feature is a must in my opinion and is pretty accurate on ID and depth. I later picked up a bh pioneer 202 for kids and/or wife and it is not even close to the ace. I end up using the bh and letting them use the ace so they don't get frustrated as quickly . Water proof and salt sand performance you will prob not find in that $200 range. Ace series detectors are a good compromise for most park, field, and dry beaches. You don't have to get wet to find stuff on the beach. Sound like fisher f2 is similar to the aces . I will be stepping up to a garret at gold in future. I am in Colorado and atv in old mining areas all the time, so why not have something capable of hunting nuggets. They are water proof and have tons of features or can be used in simple turn on and go functions to shoot coins or what ever. Cost about $600 is a little steep. Once the ace has found $200 in coinage , I will be stepping up and the ace 350 will be be secondary in my line up. Good luck and be patient, you'll find the right detector for u. If not, find some coinage with it, sell it , and buy a different one.

 

[WhiteTornado]

At the price point of $200, I'd focus on a good parks and fields machine and not worry too much about beach hunting (at least wet sand, anyway). Tesoro, Garrett, Whites, Fisher, there are many good brands with entry-level type machines. I use a Tesoro Cibola and I've heard many good things about the Tesoro Compadre (which would be in your price range). Are there any dealers local to you? If so, that would be a chance to try several different machines in person. There are of course several dealers right here on TN, too.

In addition to research here, look up some YouTube videos of the various entry-level machines. Many people have made videos of reviews so you'll get an idea of the pros and cons. Don't forget there are brand-specific subforums here, so you can find more details there as well. Last but not least, just remember: there is no such thing as a dumb question!

 

[Indian Steve]

For $300 you could pick up a Tesoro Compadre and a Garrett Propointer . The Compadre is $160, Weighs 2.2 pounds, GREAT discrimination, One knob, easy to use, find everything the other detectors that cost more find and it has a LIFETIME WARRANTY. Good Luck!

 

[Phantasman]

Might as well plug that I have a Fisher F2 for sale in the For Sale section here. It's like brand new and comes with a 4", 8" and NEL Sharpshooter 9.5" DD coil for $175 for all and shipped 48 states. It's a good setup for the price and will get you started.

 

[MrMikeJackie]

Might as well plug that I have a Fisher F2 for sale in the For Sale section here. It's like brand new and comes with a 4", 8" and NEL Sharpshooter 9.5" DD coil for $175 for all and shipped 48 states. It's a good setup for the price and will get you started.

Great deal right there

 

[JOe L]

Compadre, F2, inexpensive and great detectors. If you want to get to the wet salt beaches, different selection and price goes up.

 

[Detector Wars]

The best cheapest detector is the Compadre, had one and for the price, it's very good. Spend a little more, you might be able to find a second hand Sovereign, there a some decent coil choices to that as well. Sov GTs might be going for a fair price, you might be able to find earlier models for less.

When choosing a detector, think about coil choices. For example, when the $10,000 Minelab GPZ 7000 came out, it came out with all the hype. It was found to be very sensitive for it's coil size, coil for coil it was better than the previous unit, the GPX 5000 (this can be debated, but lets assume that's the case anyway). Problem was, the 7000 couldn't use any previous aftermarket coils. You could put a larger coil on the 5000 and get deeper nuggets. Put on a smaller one and get smaller nuggets deeper. Months later, still no coils for the 7000, so effectively the 5000 remained a better detector, simply because of more coil choices.

 

[MineralsAndThings]

Might as well plug that I have a Fisher F2 for sale in the For Sale section here. It's like brand new and comes with a 4", 8" and NEL Sharpshooter 9.5" DD coil for $175 for all and shipped 48 states. It's a good setup for the price and will get you started.

Would you mind if I PM you later then?

 

[G.I.B.]

You didn't pay for college with cash did you?

Well, you shouldn't buy your detector with cash either. Both are a future investment in your financial well being.

Go get the most expensive detector out there!

 

[Phantasman]

Would you mind if I PM you later then?

No problem. I'm retired and have nothing better going on.
PM me if you are interested. I can give you my phone # or you can give me yours and we can discuss if you like.

 

[Phantasman]

Glad to post that MineralsandThings bought the F2 and it's there. My thanks to MrMikeJackie and RustyGold for the thumbs up. I gave her a new set of Treasure Wise headphones I had as well. So I feel good giving to a new detectorist, especially MineralsandThings. Smooth transaction.

 

[Patriot 1776]

I'm 23 and looking to get back into detecting and I'm looking for advice on what I should get. I think I had a bounty hunter before and it was fine for what I was doing. I'm just not sure what brand would be better at the moment and I wan't to get as much info as I can before buying a new one. It's an investment and I'm still in college so I do have to watch the money I have to an extent. I really am starting to miss this hobby a lot though.

Any advice is welcome,
Thank you

Check out the ACE 350, any questions give me a call

Metal Detectors - View Blog

 

[MineralsAndThings]

Check out the ACE 350, any questions give me a call

Metal Detectors - View Blog

I just got an F2 recently but thank you.

 

[Phantasman]

Hows it working out J?