daughter wants a metal detector

[ems_is_4_me]

I just got in to the sport a few weeks ago and now my daughter wamts a metal detector for her birthday. I have been looking at the ace 250 it seems to be a nice one for the money and she should be able to use it for years. she also wants to enter a hunt coming up next month.

[Patton]

You didn't say how old your daughter will be, but the 250 is a nice machine. Might also want to look at the F2 or a Tesoro. Good Luck!

[ems_is_4_me]

she is about to turn 10

[Patton]

Well, my grandson is also 10 and we got him an F2. He loves it! Very easy to operate and has a tone and screen ID. Our sponsers can also be a big help.

[SkiWhiz]

Ace 250, F2, or any of the Tesoro's would make her a good detector. Hope she has a great birthday and has a blast with whatever you get her.

[vanstheman3]

Welcome from Lake Dallas Texas. I am asking anyone new to MD to Please Read "The Treasure Hunters Code of Ethics", and to Please learn to cut Flaps/Plugs and to be sure you know proper digging and REPAIR Techniques! Please use Shovels only in the Woods or Farm fields, Please Don't Dig in Sports fields During Season, And Don"t Leave any debris or scrap at a search site! Realize everything you do now Reflects on our Hobby and on MDers everywhere!!! Please make the effort to be an Asset not a Liability!!! Good Luck and Happy Hunting..... P.S.: You get 5years warranty with the Fisher, and 2 years with the Garrett, I think a 10 year old would want a display not a tone/sound only MD! The Tesoro's are Lifetime warrantied though! If I was going with Tesoro I would get her the cheapest one that comes with changeable work coils!!! I say F2

[SkiWhiz]

If she wants a display fine but if you want her to learn on a non display first, get her a Tesoro Compadre. They are reasonable priced very light weight and she can take it to the tot lot section and by keeping the discrimination down she can dig alot of stuff. Even if some of the things are worthless it would still be fun for her to dig them I bet. The Compadre will sniff out the tiniest things you can image, I have found things as small as watch gears,ear rings and even ear ring backs. If detecting doesn't turn out to be for her you will have yourself a great little detector or you could post it for sale and get about what you paid for it.

[TerryETex]

This may suprise some but I learned with the BH Tracker IV and using 2 tone it proved to be an easy to use machine with many good finds. It was quick and accurate. For a very cheap price. It also gets more than 4" that is talked about easily. Were looking at 6" + no problem.

[JimboG]

There was another dad around here that painted a detector pink or used pink duct tape to dress up his daughters machine. I never saw a picture of it but it had to be cool for her. Home Depot has all kinds of crazy colors and patterns of duct tape these days.

[vexhold]

My 8 year old daughter wants one too. Took her to the local store here and she wants a compadre due to it being light as a feather.

Today she got to try one out and still wants it.

Local place wsnts 160...

Gonna shop around a bit.

[Milhaus]

I hope your daughter wins that competition with a Hello Kitty Compadre and walks away with a V3i.

Vex I'm pretty sure $160 is the bottom dollar Tesoro authorizes for the Compadre.

Originally Posted by vexhold

My 8 year old daughter wants one too. Took her to the local store here and she wants a compadre due to it being light as a feather.

Today she got to try one out and still wants it.

Local place wsnts 160...

Gonna shop around a bit.

[imalookin2]

The F2 or Ace are a good choice. Kids grow up with displays. Give her one with sound too. Remember to buy her a quality digger like a Lesche or small shovel.

[nittany1]

When I was her age I got a Micronta 3001 which got damaged in a flood, but I was hooked on the hobby and my parents got me a Fisher 1210-X which I adored. It had a 5 year warranty and it busted shortly after the warranty ran out and I got another Fisher after that, but it was similar, I just forget the model number. That second Fisher lasted up until the mid 90s when it got lost during a move, I think it just grew legs to be honest. In 1997 I got the Tesoro uMax Bandido which I still have, my son uses it now. If you stick to the major USA made gear, Fisher, Tesoro, White's, Garrett and Teknetics, they're all going to last a long time. So if you don't count that 3001 which was basically a toy, my first 30 years in the hobby I had basically three machines: Fisher 1210-X, another Fisher, then the Tesoro uMax Bandido. It's only in the past two years that I've branched out into other gear and have more than one machine at a time. I've been detecting for 32 years now.

I think the top contenders are going to be: Fisher F2, Garrett Ace 250, White's Coinmaster, Tesoro Compadre, although in no particular order. They're all pretty solid performers, each of them have a strong following with plenty of treasure to show for their efforts. There's one machine that was a really nice entry level, the Fisher 1212-X. It's not made anymore, it was a sweetheart of a detector, it reminds me of my old 1210-X.