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$1000.00 to spend on new hobby.

Ky-woody

Forum Supporter
Joined
Jul 19, 2018
Messages
24
Location
Kentucky
So I’m looking to buy my first real metal detector. I live in Kentucky and would be hunting for coins and relics. I have permission to hunt a couple of hundred acres that should be good from my research I have done. I have a about $1000.00 to spend and would like to get a good detector that will last me several years, a pin pointer, a good digging tool and whatever else I might need to get started. I have watched several YouTube videos and read a lot about the Tesoro Tejon. Any other suggestions of a good machine I should research?
 
So I’m looking to buy my first real metal detector. I live in Kentucky and would be hunting for coins and relics. I have permission to hunt a couple of hundred acres that should be good from my research I have done. I have a about $1000.00 to spend and would like to get a good detector that will last me several years, a pin pointer, a good digging tool and whatever else I might need to get started. I have watched several YouTube videos and read a lot about the Tesoro Tejon. Any other suggestions of a good machine I should research?

You have choices based on your budget.
Some good ones imo.
White’s MXT
Makro Multikruzer
Minelab Equinox 600 or 800
Garrett AT pro or Max
Fisher F75 with dst tech
Technetics Patriot
Xp Deus lite version.

Best of luck with your choice.

You will need a decent shovel/digger and a pinpointer too.

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Wow. What a time to be into metal detecting!

You have quite a few options in your price range, that still leave area for a good pinpointer ($100-$150) and digging tool (Lesche and/or shovel).

Great units like the Equinox 600/800 and the Makro multi-Kruzer (single frequency Kruzer is no slouch either) are the main units out right now. They have the ability to have more than one frequency in a single unit!

Best of luck in your decision. You have a great resource in these forums!

HH
 
wish i had $1000 when i started doing this :)

Although my personal advice is to skip the AT Pro. To me it just struggles to find it's place except for being a good buy dollar wise. With the extra budget you have do your research on a multi frequency option.
 
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The thing is, you gotta find a rig that suits you and your dirt...something you have confidence in and begin to understand...And then dedicate yourself to learning its language as well as the language of the dirt...You gotta be serious even starting out on this trek...This aint like Golf or pickelball! We are tracking Humans through Centuries of time...

If I had to start all over, living in KY and putting myself in your shoes, I'd be getting the Patriot with the 11"dd coil, a screwdriver, a small hand trowel, a 24 pack of cheap alkaline DubbleA's from Sams Club... a $1 nail apron from the lumberyard for a finds pouch..and a decent set of cans like the GreyGhosts...thats it...roughly $600 into it...Pretty much how I roll to this day...

No kneepads or pinpointer..I would not quit until the full 24 pack of batts are depleted...about a year, so I know I gave it a yeomans shot....If I could not suceed by then, then this Sport aint for me, and I'd sell my gear for about half what I paid for it and move on to something else...so Yeah, I'm out $200 tops...Which aint a bad loss for a Hobby considering!!:laughing:

Choosing a first good rig is very important for you to maximize your finds and fuel your passion for this sport, and the Patriot can do it...Just saying, we all have our own personal style and unique audio recognition gifts...the Pat is adjustable enough to get you in the ballpark in order to figure out what yours are...

I'd be running the Patriot rig in DP tones and about half power, like a 52 sens, 1 disc, -3 thresh....and commit to putting in some time behind the coil without changing the settings for at least a month.....pulling as many targets in the shortest amount of time to familiarize myself with what the dirt and targets are saying, thereby condensing your learning curve...concentrating on each and every find, making a study out of why and how come this particular target was in this location, its depth, age, etc....

So its very hard for us to make accurate recommendations...too many variables...Ultimately, your success depends upon you...you start out with a decent rig, you have a very good chance of making this Sport something successful, profitable and satisfying...

Then, I'd take the left over $400, from my $1000 budget, set aside $100 for gas, $100 for scratchoffs, $100 for cigarettes, and $100 for beer...Yeah...thats exactly what I'd do if I had $1000 to piss away and didnt know diddly dink...Or I'd take up golf, and piss the full $1000 away in one shot...or go to the casino and put it all on red...

I will add, Kentucky is a really good Jump off point for a Dectectorist to live!! You can easily blast up into Indiana or Ohio, TN, hell..East Coast, Gulf Coast,..Temperate and a whole lot more year available for Hunting! You can make stinky trim just on clad and pay off your gear in short order if a fellow lived in Kentucky and simply punchin' munchkins chip kicking totters!!....You know what I'm saying?....:laughing:.
 
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I was in your same shoes 4 months ago. My choice was Minelab equinox 800 or 600, its light, its arguably one of the better machines on the market. If you get a deal from a dealer on here, you can get a pinpointer and a digger included. Its waterproof, and has a good warrenty, ( i have been in the water with it but have not dunked the whole unit yet). Whites trx pinpointer, its deep and directional, really helps find the target in the hole, but sure likes to eat up batteries and does not function well when batteries get low. Leshe digging tool, or whites digmaster, deteknix digging tool are all about the same and excellent choice for a digging tool. I have a small lechse sampson shovel, but rarely use it as I usually hunt in parks and private property that it is important to leave to trace of digging. If i get out in the field or forest, the shovel will get more use. Thats what has worked for me so far! Good luck!
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. I’m going to do some more research before I decide. Luckily for me I have a good friend that has about 150 acres that is right on the Kentucky river and from the research we have done it was used during the civil war to watch over the river traffic. We think cannons where once mounted on a cliff on his property. I also have access to a dozen other homesteads on different farms I can play around on.
 
Be sure to consider warranties into your purchase....

iu
 
New at pro,and still have enough for all your extras

I agree with woodbutcher. I'd recommend getting the AT-Pro for around $550 or the AT-Max for about $750.

The Max is the new Pro with more features, including volume control, back-lit screen, built-in Z-Link Wireless headphones, and some other things. Both are waterproof to 10 feet, auto or manual ground-balance, pinpoint, etc. For complete comparison chart, click here: Garrett AT Pro versus Garrett AT Max. :D

For a Pinpointer, I'd recommend the Garrett ProPointer AT for around $130 or the Garrett ProPointer AT Z-Link for about $150. The Garrett ProPointer AT Z-Link is the same as the Garrett ProPointer AT, except it has built-in Z-Link Wireless system to connect to the Z-Link Wireless headphones that comes with the AT-Max. For complete comparison chart, click here: ProPointer Comparison Chart. :D

Then, as others have said, get your other gear with what's left. :digginahole: This is the digger I use, I really like it. Carbon steel blade makes it a very durable, serrated blade helps it cut plugs easily, and blaze orange handle makes it very hard to loose: 12" Long Metal Detecting Digging Tool - About $14

Hope this helps, happy hunting. :mder:
 
Used Tesoro Vaquero $250
Used 5.75 concentric coil. $60
Garrett pro pointer AT $117

Spend the rest on gas and beer and your set.
You will find just as much with the Vaq then any 9thwr detector mentioned, save lots of money and have it all paid off in no time at all.
Added bonus is if you learn the language of the Tesoro, every other detector you buy after that makes you wonder why you bought them.lol
 
This is like asking what kind of car to buy...hard to say, it all depends on the person.
I have used a Vaquero, an F70/Patriot and now an Equinox800...three completely different brands and units that all work differently but I can recommend them all.
Plus there are so many others.

You also need a good digger, a pinpointer is extremely helpful and I won't hunt without headphones.
 
I have narrowed it down to a Nox 600,800 or a Tesoro Vaquero, Tejón. I like the lifetime warranty but also like the ability to use multiple frequencies at one time but don’t like the internal battery. I don’t plan on doing and under water detecting. Leaning toward the Tesoro Tejon so far but still reading reviews and watching videos. A lot of people say there is a learning curve to the Tesoro but to me that sounds like fun.
 
If your new to detecting and Tesoro, you would be better served with a Vaquero over the Tejon. It handles a variety of soils better because it is easier to GB. Don't get me wrong, the Tejon is a beast but more of a relic machine and I would still have one if I didn't have a VGG. Vaquero set up right is as deep as any machine made especially if you get a hot one. Tesoros are a blast to use. Their lite, have excellent discrimination and won't set you back a ton if you decide this hobby is not for you. Another plus is they hold their value better than most machines. So getting your mone y back if you sell it should be easy.
 
I have narrowed it down to a Nox 600,800 or a Tesoro Vaquero, Tejón. I like the lifetime warranty but also like the ability to use multiple frequencies at one time but don’t like the internal battery. I don’t plan on doing and under water detecting. Leaning toward the Tesoro Tejon so far but still reading reviews and watching videos. A lot of people say there is a learning curve to the Tesoro but to me that sounds like fun.

While I have used neither and they each have their place, While the performance may or may not be similar, one thing to note is how you receive the data. Neither of the Tesoro's have a visual display and these as I understand are still one tone machines. The later can make it more challenging to learn good signals from bad. With a multi tone machine it generally is easier to distinguish good from bad since the tones are different.

Forgive me if this information on the Tesoro's has changed.
 
Used Tesoro Vaquero $250
Used 5.75 concentric coil. $60
Garrett pro pointer AT $117

Spend the rest on gas and beer and your set.
You will find just as much with the Vaq then any 9thwr detector mentioned, save lots of money and have it all paid off in no time at all.
Added bonus is if you learn the language of the Tesoro, every other detector you buy after that makes you wonder why you bought them.lol

Absolute truth.lol
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. I’m going to do some more research before I decide. Luckily for me I have a good friend that has about 150 acres that is right on the Kentucky river and from the research we have done it was used during the civil war to watch over the river traffic. We think cannons where once mounted on a cliff on his property. I also have access to a dozen other homesteads on different farms I can play around on.



Watch the Digging with Seven videos on YouTube. He is in KY and does your kind of hunting. Great videos.


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