Any inexpensive underwater detectors?

pryan67

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I'd love to have something that I can actually get wet...search the lakes and rivers around me (when the weather gets nicer :) ) but are there any available in the 2-400 dollar range that are worth getting?
 
I'd love to have something that I can actually get wet...search the lakes and rivers around me (when the weather gets nicer :) ) but are there any available in the 2-400 dollar range that are worth getting?

New....AT-pro is about as cheap as they come. You can buy used in that budget and the Whites Beach Hunter is another excellent option. Another alternative is to modify a detector to make it submersible.

I've waterproofed several explorers and bounty hunters. Some pics are below and then you can google search "waterproof metal detector case" "metal detector plano box" and "Sovzilla". There are dozens of threads on the forum that show the build process.
 

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If you are in fresh water, you can also consider buying a DetectorPro Wader or Diver. Those models have all the electronics integrated in the headset so as long as your head is above water, you are fine. Used, the prices are dirt cheap. I bought my last diver for $100 and have seen the wader as cheap as $75. Honestly one of the best ergomonic setups available, only downside is they are single-frequency VLFs, so they don't get along with salt water.
 
Thank you both for the information. I love the idea of getting the AT-Pro :) But if I can do it cheaper by waterproofing my current F2 (or getting a Wader) then that's even better....I'd hate to drop a lot of money and it turn out that I won't ever REALLY use it, regardless of my intentions
 
If you're only considering fresh water I would get a used Tiger Shark. Although, if you buy it new it has a REAL lifetime warranty.
 
Are you looking for a wading machine? Or are you looking for a dive detector?


A wading machine....but something that I don't have to worry about submerging for a short time. My F2 would let me wade in knee deep, but I couldn't lay the detector down, and with my luck I'd catch a wave with it :)
 
The reason that I asked is because the Fisher 1280X and Tesoro Tiger Shark are both dive detectors capable of going deeper than you're likely to go in fresh water. Something like an AT Pro or Detector Pro Wader are both cheaper and able to do what you want easily if wading is the plan.

That said, if you do run across either the Tiger Shark or 1280X used within your price range I'd snatch it up in a heartbeat. I only paid $250 for my 1280X, and I've seen Tiger Sharks around the same price used.
 
I'd love to have something that I can actually get wet...search the lakes and rivers around me (when the weather gets nicer :) ) but are there any available in the 2-400 dollar range that are worth getting?

Yes, Garrett AT Pro is good for land as well. It will ID accurately to pretty good depths if ground balanced. Almost as soon as I had it ground balanced, I got a loud beep and recovered a dime 7" deep in a park that likely gets detected over a hundred times a year, and that dime may have been there 30 years to get that deep. I passed the coin over that dime many times and ID was always dime. Soil was moderately mineralized and very dry & hard.

With detectors like the Fisher F2, Garrett Ace 250, etc, could only get a good ID on a dime down to 4". So, perhaps a 75% improvement on land besides the ability to go in water to 10' deep. In the water near beaches, when they get in deep enough for their fingers to stay underwater, the skin wrinkles, making the fingers smaller, so often the ring slides off in the water. Plus there aren't so many pulltabs and other junk out there. Best wishes.
 
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