Metal detector for 8 year old

[Digaholic]

My son (8 years old) is starting to show an interest in metal detecting. I would like to get him his own detector (not a toy). I was considering the Garrett Ace 250, 350 or the Whites Coinmaster Pro. He will be hunting at the beach primarily, most likely in the dry sand and maybe a little in the wet sand. Can anyone provide any feedback or information on any of these machines? I am open to all comments or recommendations. Thank you.

[Big Boys Hobbies]

Dig all those are great choices for a 8year old. My 10 year old is starting to get into it too. He uses a omega 8000. Course I have to help him set it up but then he is off and running. He is really getting the hang of it. He mostly does it by himself now. He picked it upmvery fast. Kids just "get" it faster than we do. Lol
If you are hunting a beach area I suggest getting something with ground balancing. Salt and sand are hard on any machine. Might even look at the AT pro and teknetics G2/Fisher gold bug pro. All those are very good beach machines.
Call or email me with any questions. Love to help you out. HH!

[JBEXPRESS]

Garrett Ace 250 is great for the dry sand, works iffy in the wet sand if you know what your doing. Falses a lot from black sand and minerals in the water.

[tjr35]

Give him yours!!! Its a great excuse to upgrade.

[Clayton]

My 8 year old uses an Ace 250. Don't hunt the water much though. It is good in a pinch with sensitivity turned down.

[tater]

Ace 250 or any tesoro. My (now 12) has used the 250, silver Umax,and now my Troy Shadow X3. All good machines

[Digaholic]

Great idea, however I have a Whites Spectra V3i (V3 upgraded) , Minelab Excalibur II and a Whites Surf PI Dual field all are too heavy for him. Besides what would I get as an upgrade?

[goes4ever]

I would get him the 350 much nicer coil

[Gemcutter]

Hi all -- lurking about a bit fishing for info as my 7 year old is showing some interest in "treasure hunting". I'm pretty sure he has visions of being the next Indiana Jones, but I'm hoping to divert him to something we can actually do in real life. We already look for arrow heads & lost coins wherever we go, so metal detecting seems like a natural for us.

I've read this thread carefully & Googled the referenced detectors, but I'm not too keen on spending $200+ on a unit for a little guy who may not care. Are there any "entry level" detectors that aren't junk?

If this has already been answered, feel free to point me to the thread...

peter