I would not recommend spending alot of money to start out. This could cause serious frustration. If you spend $2000 on detecting gear and head out to the local park to end up with a pocketful of pulltabs, canslaw, and foil you will not be happy. I started out with a kids "toy" Bounty Hunter Jr. This has to be the simplest detector out there. They only cost $60 new in the box. I had no pinpointer and a cheap garden trowel with the handle broken off. I found all kind of stuff with that little detector. Including a V nickel, silver coins, and quite a few wheats. I loved it and was hooked on the hobby. I soon bought a better detector and my quality of finds dropped. This brings me to another lesson. Small coils. That kids detector has a little six inch coil. The small coil is much better for picking good finds out of the junk. Also it is very lightweight. I suggest going less expensive, lightweight, and get a small coil to go with it. A pinpointer is a great thing to have. It makes finding targets much easier. A good digger is almost a must. I have a Sunjoe Hori Hori garden trowel. They are sold on walmart.com for twenty bucks and are super tough. Good luck to every new detectorist that reads this thread and happy hunting.
I also highly recommend a Garret Ace 250 as a starting machine, as well as a digger, a Garret Pro Pinpointer, a pair of gloves, and a pair of these:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CCY...UTF8&psc=1
(they are cheap and have volume control as the Ace is way too loud without)
I think the main thing about this hobby is to see if you get hooked...
if you do and keep putting in the time you'll find tons of goodies with this puppy.
Then after a few months of being sure you're in this for the long haul,
the next step would be getting out there with someone who has an extra minelab(I'm biased
) and letting you test drive it before purchasing one yourself
I've seen too many people blow a huge wad of cash to realize they're just not that into it.
Just my zincolns worth.
look for a used minelab sovereign or quattro,i've seen both for under $400. killer machines,easy to use and deep. (also one of the best beach machines on the planet) read some reviews.you'll never have to upgrade
I used a sovereign for 10 years...incredible machine. But really it depends on what you plan to do...parks/playgrounds for clad/jewerly, beaches, relics, deep turf for old silver, nuggets, etc. When I was looking for old silver...those real deep turf coins, the Sovereign was awesome. I know mainly relic hunt in old mining camps that are full of square nails and iron, and a gb pro, at pro and Tejon suit me better. What I'm trying to say, is just because an etrac is one guys favorite, doesn't mean it may be the best choice for you. Need more info.
(05-22-2013 12:06 PM)dtommy79 Wrote: [ -> ]Hi,
I'd like to buy my first metal detector, but since I'm quite new to this, I'm not sure which one to choose.
I've been checking some on Amazon. The "Bounty Hunter" models look good and received a lot of positive feedbacks. Which model would you recommend to a newbie?
Thanks
i would recommend white's new mx-5!
it's a great "coin sniffer",and very simple to use;
gets great depth,and has a very quick recovery speed
(read fast processor!)..did i say simple to operate?
well yes,and a great beginner's detector.also it is light weight,
and can be hunted with all day without feeling tired.
(h.h.!)
j.t.