Small wife needs her own detector

[old_mikee]

Hi All

I would like to buy my wife a metal detector of her own and would like to ask your opinion on which would be my best choice given the following criteria.

Currently I have the MXT (thanks to this forum) with a 5" oval and love it. Unfortunately it is the only detector I have operated, so I have nothing to compare it to. We have had the MXT a little over a year now and we like to search at the beach, the occasional park, and we have done two prospecting trips in that time. This last time we went up to the Klamath River, on the Califorian/Oregon border, where we spent one day nugget hunting.

As it turns out the detector is a little I too heavy for my wife. After 10 minutes, she is holding on to it with both hands, and has had enough. She is small in stature, older in age than she would like to be and arthritis has left her with not much strength in her hands or wrists. It is simply not fun for her and I would like to change that.

So, here's my question. Is there a decent, inexpensive lightweight detector that I should look into that is good for beach, parks, and the occasional prospecting trip that we might take? I realize it will not be on par with the MXT, but as long as she can find treasures with it and enjoys it is all that I am after.

I know I am going to get many different answers, but if you have experience similar to ours, I would appreciate hearing what you bought and how it works.....Please remember that lightweight has highest priority. (if it is too heavy, no matter how good it is or how much it costs, it simply wont get used, and at the same time if she finds nothing with it, it wont get used either)

Thanks in advance

mikee

 

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[TimC (North Alabama)]

No question for me, a Tesoro Silver Umax.

 

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[old_mikee]

Thanks for all your input everyone, but the detector issue has been resolved.

The trial with the American Hawk proved to be worth the minor expense, and I highly recommend that little detector if for nothing else but to "test the waters," so to speak. From our American Hawk experience, we learned that my wife enjoys detecting as much as I do. After reading lots of reviews I ended up buying her a Minelab X Terra 70 detector. I made this decision primarily due to its light weight, and that it is the lighter equivalent to the MXT which I own and like.

Results? In the two short two hour excursions we have been on, she has not once complained about the weight, found lots of trash and coins, and had a great time. It is worth noting, there is a huge learning curve on the Minelab, compared to the MXT which I am hoping to overcome. I guess time will tell how well we like the Minelab unit...

One further comment that might benefit others. If you are new to detecting like us and looking for support, Whites customer service has it all over Minelab. First off, Whites will extend their warranties to cover second owners and they go way out of their way to see to customer satisfaction. Minelab, at least from my experiecne so far, will not transfer the warranty to another user, even if the detector is less than a month old and has never been assembled, and would rather you never call them once they sell you a detector. I am hoping it never needs service of any kind, as I am not looking forward to any further conversations with the kind folk at Minelab.....

Thanks again for all you comments and suggestions.

mikee