Anybody here Metal Detect?

[JustJason]

Have a recommendation of gear, technique? I'm moving away from an old farm area and always wanted to run through it with a metal det before I did, now i'm going to do it, but still looking at detectors. Anybody have any experience?

 

[BeaufortTJustice]

Re: Anybody here Metal Detect?

My boss is a fanatic. Anytime there is construction or land clearing going on in our area, he scours the area for civil war artifacts such as bullets, uniform buttons, etc.

If nobody with personal experience chimes in, I will ask him for his opinions and report back.

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: Anybody here Metal Detect?

I have a little Bounty Hunter Pioneer 202 metal detector that I got on sale. It works well, it can differentiate between types of metal and displays it on the screen. I tried it with money, as it shows, supposedly, what type of coin it is detecting. Low and behold, the little SOB gets it right every time!

I've never used it to "professionally" treasure hunt, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. I've used it to find dropped screws, nuts, bolts, nails, etc. It can only find ferrous metals, but why it finds the pop tops from aluminum cans I don't know.

It would definitely be considered an entry level detector but it works great. I would recommend one that can differentiate between metals. You can adjust the sensitivity and read the display and not be chasing old nails and such.

Here is a quote from one of the reviews:

I have a pioneer 202 ,This metal detector keeps up with the big boys on the block! My friends have Minlabs and White's and can't beleave how good this metal detector works. Its a DEEP coin finding metal detector. My best coin so far is 1924 D VF-20 Penny. I hope this helps.

Right now a brand new Pioneer 202 can be had for 90 dollars.

 

[foodfisher]

Re: Anybody here Metal Detect?

Three things to consider. 1) Use? Coin, cache, prospect(gold) Different machines=different capabilities. Waterproof is another option. 2) Cost? In most cases the better machines cost a lot more. Up to $4.5K for the best gold machine. 3) Comfort? If the machine is heavy or uncomfortable in any way, it will sit in a closet gathering dust. Most detector shops have rentals that go out with instructions for use. Avoids you buying a machine that's inappropriate for your intended use. Warning! One good find and you'll become addicted.

 

[rayodunne]

Re: Anybody here Metal Detect?

Right now a brand new Pioneer 202 can be had for 90 dollars.

Where can you get it for this price? Cheapest I can find is $179

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: Anybody here Metal Detect?

Where can you get it for this price? Cheapest I can find is $179

Ouch, well I googled "bounty hunter pioneer 202 metal detector" and it said 90 dollars from two stores. After reading what you put, I clicked on it and it was some other weird ****, NOT the metal detector. Why do that to people? That pisses me off.

To make up for being wrong earlier, I found more reviews on it.

http://metaldetectorreviews.net/detectors/128-1-pioneer202.html

Also, here it is on ebay, you might want to keep an eye on these auctions:

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_tr...w=bounty+hunter+202&_sacat=See-All-Categories

 

[ajgraz]

Re: Anybody here Metal Detect?

You metal detector guys are probably going to hate me for this story, but here goes.

Last summer, we were camping up in Morro Bay for a week. A few sites away from us was a family of metal detectors. Yes, a family of metal detectors. Man, wife, three kids, each with a detector, a web belt with a loot bag and digging tools clipped to carabiners, they even wore matching black jumpsuits with elbow and knee pads when out on a "detecting mission." No s**t.

Every time a site would empty, within seconds they would descend on it like a SWAT strike team. I mean these folks were obviously pros. Dunno whether detecting made 'em rich or not, but I will say that their RV was probably larger and more valuable than my house.

So my son and I decided to have a little fun with them. While we were packing up to leave, we collected up a bunch of pennies, bottle caps, washers, whatever metal junk we could find, and buried them all around the campsite, wrapped in little notes like: "You're rich!," "Don't spend it all in one place," or a drawing of the landmine from minesweeper

Heck, looking back on it, those guys were such pros I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't even fall for our prank

 

[Brewman61]

Re: Anybody here Metal Detect?

I have a metal detector, a White's Brand. Was made prior to the LED display ones that are everywhere now. In it's day it was a good one- still is if you can live with a needle display. Wasn't top of the line, but it was up there.
Works really well, and came in handy when I needed to find the metal pegs that bound my property.
I don't scour campsites or anything extreme, though.
That's pretty darn funny, seeding the campsite with little "gifts".

 

[mscher]

Re: Anybody here Metal Detect?

Never got the bug, but my DB, did years ago and I remeber a couple of things.

Look around tree trunks closely, People used to sit on the ground a lot, under them and coins would fall out of pockets. The problems is over the years, root have moved in.

Usually there was a "dump", often very close to the house. Find it and although the metal, won't be in good shape, there may be antique bottles, etc. in there.

He made his own narrow, pointed "digger", out of the tube of a lawnmower handle, complete with plastic grip. Having a "probe" type digger, disturbs less ground, so it's faster. just poke it around where the metal was detected and feel when it makes contact.

Happy hunting