Metal detectors/treasure hunting

[CROSSROPE]

Anyone here into metal detecting? My Dad did quite a bit of it when I was a kid. I'd like to get into it so I can do some treasure hunting. Coins, rings..whatever I can find, would be a fun hobby to get into.

Here in SW Fl. we get a ton of people visiting Marco Island, Naples & Bonita Springs..my neck of the woods, so I'm sure I'd find lots of goodies.

Any tips on brands I should look into. I'm willing to buy one in the $700-800 range. I know cheap is not the way to go unless one wants to find cans & bottles. Haha.
Thanks!

 

[srsmyth]

I have been metal detecting since 1990, I have two Fisher detectors, one was $600 and the other was $1000. Both are underwater detectors good to 250 feet of depth which is why the cost is more than a standard unit but I only hunt in water.
Most of the competition is using Minelab equipment but I think they are way more money, I haven't priced them however. I enjoy it, grab your detector and a beer and head on out. Did you say " a ton of people" ?
Steve

 

[bobcat]

I've been using a White's M 6 since about 2007. A pretty good grab and go coin shooter. Other than being hard on this old man's knee's, I love metal detecting. You get to know your machine and it's signals, and sometimes you're still surprised at what comes out of the hole. Check out Treasure Net on the web for inspiration, some of those guys find some killer stuff. Here in Montana it's a littler tougher since we're not that old of a state. Kellyco Detectors has most of the manufacturers and would be good place to peruse what's available.

Best of luck in your search, like S&W's, it's extremely addictive.

 

[CROSSROPE]

I'll check out Fisher & Treasure Net. Thanks!
And yes, I recall my dad had a difficult time stopping whenever he was doing his searches. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[RSanch111]

Friend of mine goes all over the 101st Airborne's area of operations in Europe. Finds all kinds of cool stuff.

 

[MK]

Actually, you might be surprised out how well even cheap works.
Metal is metal, and no target ID is ever gonna be certain except
for maybe coins, which ID fairly consistant with no iron bouncing.
Myself, I dig almost everything anyway unless I know for sure I'm in
some kind of trash field, like say roofing nails. Rusty iron will bounce
around low and high. The iron hits low, and the highly conductive rust
hits high.
You can see most of this stuff with even the lower end machines.
Myself, I have a Garrett Ace 250 which I've had a long time.
I have the stock 6.5x9 coil, and also the 9x12, and the 4.5 inch
round sniper coil for trashy areas. The setup works pretty well
for what I have in it. The Ace 250 alone is about a $212 machine
last I looked. Paid extra for the other coils. Also have a pinpointer,
which I really recommend.
With the 250, I found over 500 coins just on this houses lot alone
the first month I had it. I pretty much cleaned out the backyard,
but I never did really finish the front yard, and am sure I could find
more. I bought it mainly for relic hunting around old sites. I've also
used it to find rebar land survey pins. Mine has paid for itself just
doing that a couple of times.
Anyway, the high end machines are nice, but the cheaper ones can do
pretty well once you get used to them.
With the three coils I can hunt most any scenario.

 

[Comrad]

I use a Whites DFX, still looking for that big score. Nothing so far but some rusty horseshoes, some loose change and more junk that I care to mention.

 

[dld]

I have a Garrett Ace 250, it is good for 6-8 inches of depth, My Omega 800 is good for 8-10 inches of depth. I had a Minelab SE Explorer pro that was good for 12-14 inches. I sold it because I could never get use to the noise it made and 12-14 inches was to deep to dig in grassy areas in parks and yards.

Make sure you get one with headphones so every body does not hear the noise they make.

 

[msinc]

Plus 1 for the Garrett Ace 250...not expensive, but sure works great to me!!!! You have to "find" a lot more stuff to pay for one of those high dollar models. I think most guys are probably a lot more careful with the big dollar ones too. Me, I throw my 250 in the truck and it goes everywhere...you never know when you will get a spare minute to do some searchin'

 

[islamoradamark]

i got a Minelab 1000 i strictly water hunt it is a lot of fun i try to go to south beach every couple weeks, the seenary is pretty good also