new to metal detecting and have a few questions

wild eyed willey · Sep 23, 2013

My main searching will be in the water ( local lakes/ beaches), I have a detector and a long handled scoop. Do you folks have some sort of strap on your detectors so you can work the scoop with both hands? Do you have a strap on the scoop?

What do you do with all of the trash IE: lead sinkers, pull tabs n such? Is there any reason to save this stuff?

SusanMN · Sep 23, 2013

What detector are you using?

wild eyed willey · Sep 23, 2013

bounty hunter fast tracker.. ( It was free). I have not been able to figure out which one to buy, there are way too many choices and bad things can be read about many of them.. I can't afford to spend tons of cash so right now I have no idea what machine to consider.

chip12977 · Sep 24, 2013

Fresh water or salt? If fresh you will be OK, just don't put the control box in the water, cause you will fry it, if it is salt water you will find it falsing a lot do to the salt in the water, in either case when you do get the money consider picking up a pi or multi frequency water machine, if your going to be doing water detecting.

I personally have 2 detectors a whites v3i for land and shallow water hunting, and a whites dual field water detector for lakes and the ocean.

Then you have the hybrid detectors like the AT pro and ctx 3030 that are good for both land and water hunting.

But to answer your original question, no, I don't use a strap, and I would guess 99.9% of everyone on here doesn't as well

Landlord Jim · Sep 24, 2013

I use my Stealth scoop with my left hand and my detector is in my right hand. No straps no cords no cables.

SusanMN · Sep 24, 2013

Since you are using a land machine in or near water, for certain you need an arm cuff, which will give you two free hands if you need and will help stop your detector from dropping in the water and becoming a large paperweight. Even with a cuff on, a good splash on the controls and it could be a goner.

If you are looking for a good strap, look online for a Tesoro tiger shark strap. It attaches with adhesive and Velcro and I have purchased them for several machines that didn't come with cuff straps.

wild eyed willey · Sep 24, 2013

I suppose I'm breaking the mold, I took some rope and devised a strap so I can hang my detector from my waders. OOOwelll. I like the option of using both hands and I have found that a scoop of dirt is heavy. To be honest I invented my own scoop and it weighs quite a bit.

I only hunt fresh water lakes so far, so the tracker should be fine for now. I think I might choose the AT pro from Garrett, But I really don't know which machine is good. Oh if only I had not chopped down that money tree in the back yard for fire wood.

cudamark · Sep 24, 2013

wild eyed willey said:
My main searching will be in the water ( local lakes/ beaches), I have a detector and a long handled scoop. Do you folks have some sort of strap on your detectors so you can work the scoop with both hands? Do you have a strap on the scoop?

What do you do with all of the trash IE: lead sinkers, pull tabs n such? Is there any reason to save this stuff?

Your best buy for the buck would be a used PI water machine. It will work in salt and fresh water. I use a tether in the ocean for the detector but not in a lake. I just hold onto the wooden handled scoop. It floats enough to find it if it gets away. Take all your finds with you and dump the ones you don't want into the trash. You'll probably hunt that same area over and over and you don't want to find the same junk again do you?

panner59 · Oct 20, 2013

This time of year is a good time to hunt low level lakes assuming you can still do that?

Sandman · Oct 20, 2013

I too hunt fresh water lakes and use a Stealth Scoop in my left hand. Not tethered to me. Usually I am using my CZ-20 or Tiger Shark and it is tethered to me by a short bungee cord. The Water detectors float at your side and are easy to reach this way when you need two hands on the scoop. Any junk you find you should save in the junk pocket of your pouch to throw away later, even hair pins. You don't want to dig that crap up again, do you? As for which detectors to use in fresh water You should look at the Tiger Shark by Tesoro which will have a lifetime warranty. You can also find a used 1280 which is built like a tank and is also great in fresh water.
http://www.losttreasure.com/content/archives/aquanaut-fishers-1280-x :icon_thumleft: