Buyers Guide to Metal Detectors

Metal Detecting is extremely easy to get into as a hobby, but at the same time it is an art. Anyone can read a manual and take their detector into the field and find average coins and junk, but it takes a person with knowledge and patience to find something amazing.

I've been doing it for a while, so this Buyers Guide to Metal Detectors contains a few tips worth considering:

Buyers Guide to Metal Detectors: Detectors

I know you don't want to hear this, especially if you are as cheap as I am ;-), but you're going to have to do some digging in your pockets before you'll be digging any truly valuable treasure out of the ground. That's right, you'll need to spend a little to get a good detector.

I happen to live near a coastline and do some diving, so I have two great detectors: A Whites XLT detector (i use ALL the time) and a garrett underwater detector.

The best detectors are subjective, of course, but I recommend Whites first and foremost. Secondly, look for Tesoro, Garrett, or Minelab. Consumer reports has also given their blessing to Whites.

Keep in mind detectors are different. Some are made to give you maximum depth to find good relics, like the XLT, or those made to work in diving situations. And pretty much everywhere in between.

To make a more educated decision, the Buyers Guide to Metal Detectors offers these factors to consider:

Price

metal detectors are relatively inexpensive, but you must decide how much you intend to spend, not only for the detector, but also for accessories like headphones, digging tool, and carrying bag, if desired.

Use

if you plan to use a metal detector many hours a week, then we suggest one with more electronic features than if you plan to use it only occasionally. It is a fact that the more features you want, the more you will need to spend.

Location

Do you intend to search for coins and jewelry, hunt for relics, search for gold or use the detector under water? All detectors, regardless of brand, have water proof search coils so they can be used in shallow water at the beach. They cannot be used entirely under water, although there are units on the market for this use.

There are also different detectors on the market for searching for coins and jewelry, relics, or gold. But any Buyers Guide to Metal Detectors will tell you that most common detectors purchased today are "general purpose" coin, jewelry, and relic detectors.

Buyers Guide to Metal Detectors: Equipment

Secondly when it comes to metal detecting you need the proper and necessary tools for retrieval. A little shovel and a pinpointer are all I need when detecting. You can look for equipment at auction here.

Use the shovel to dig a small hole, use a pinpointer to search the hole, then fill it back in after you have the retrieval. A good pinpointer will vibrate when near metal and light up the hole.

Buyers Guide to Metal Detectors: Where to go

Now that you have the equipment, you need to figure out where to go. There are plenty of metal detecting guides out there for specific places, but you need to do a little research on your town and area. One great find will make all the homework worthwhile. And remember that the place to find cool stuff is areas that were heavily trafficked in the past.

Believe it or not, suburbia is often the best place to go looking.

In the country, you can easily be wasting your time unless you've done some research and know that where you are looking was once populated or was a battlefield.

And in major metropolises, the space is so full of metal it becomes difficult to stay on task and go for the gold.

But in suburban areas, you are often near areas that have been settled for years and you don't have a huge amount of metal distractions.

I hope this brief Buyers Guide to Metal Detectors has been helpful.