Help a newbie out???

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whiteslate

Jr. Member
Aug 1, 2012
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Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
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220$ will get you a very nice garrett 250. Its not completely waterproof but the coil and shaft are up until the control box. So you could hunt the beach no problems and do shallow waters as long as you dont dunk your detector. And with your 80$ left over get a good metal scoop with holes and lunch. Check Metal Detector Super Store - Kellyco Metal Detectors they have the best prices regardless of the extra stuff you get from them.
 

Another way to go would be to do a little research on the detectors in your price range. From there, you can narrow it down to 3 or 4 models that you're interested in. Check those manufacturers' websites to see if there is a local dealer in your area. You can see how each detector fits you and the dealer can give you the pros and cons of each machine. Dealers normally have been doing it for quite some time and can be a great source of info. I know I've talked to my local dealer for over an hour on more than one occasion.

Good luck with your selection.
 

Just so your aware, that Ace 250 will not work in the wet sand very well at all, it can be used there but you will need to turn the sensitivity way down to get it stable, turning the sensitivity down will also be turning down the depth of your detector. Saltwater has lots of minerals in it, your detector will basically think it sees metal everywhere and will be constantly falsing unless you turn it down till it is stable, and there goes your depth............

Water detecting, especially salt water is a very specialized part of metal detecting. While almost any detector can be used on land, only a few can be used in saltwater, due to the salt minerals. You need a good multifreq VLF detector or a PI (pulse induction) detector to realy work the saltwater beaches....

The Garrett Ace 150, 250, 350 can all be use in the dry sand at saltwater beaches, but once you go below the high tide line your going to start to have major issues with it. If you use it at the beach, protect it with a bag over the controls, the salt mist in the air will get inside and it will eventually give you problems....

On the scoop, for 80$ you can get a good sand scoop, but $80 is not going to get you a very good scoop that will hold up to digging in the wet sand, you put a lot of stress on your scoop when digging in the wet sand. My first scoop was an $80 scoop, I was told to buy a good scoop, but I thought "$80 is a lot of money, it has to be a good scoop". I broke it within 30 days of buying it, snapped the handle off while digging in the wetsand......

My suggestion is to try to save up a little more money and keep your eye on our classified section, there are good used water detectors sold there by members you can trust. Your much better off buying a good used water detector, than a new Ace 250 for the salt beaches..... Ace 250 is great on land for beginners, not so much so on salt beaches....

Something many new hunters dont know is your money once spent is not lost, the value is still there in your detector and scoop... I have bought used detectors and sold then couple years later for more than 75% of what I paid for them. my first good beach scoop for the wet sand in the water, the original Beach Brute made by RTG I bought used for $100 and sold for $75 2 years later when I upgraded to a new one, the Beach Brute II...
 

Last edited:
Treasure_Hunter said:
Just so your aware, that Ace 250 will not work in the wet sand very well at all, it can be used there but you will need to turn the sensitivity way down to get it stable, turning the sensitivity down will also be turning down the depth of your detector. Saltwater has lots of minerals in it, your detector will basically think it sees metal everywhere and will be constantly falsing unless you turn it down till it is stable, and there goes your depth............

Water detecting, especially salt water is a very specialized part of metal detecting. While almost any detector can be used on land, only a few can be used in saltwater, due to the salt minerals. You need a good multifreq VLF detector or a PI (pulse induction) detector to realy work the saltwater beaches....

The Garrett Ace 150, 250, 350 can all be use in the dry sand at saltwater beaches, but once you go below the high tide line your going to start to have major issues with it. If you use it at the beach, protect it with a bag over the controls, the salt mist in the air will get inside and it will eventually give you problems....

On the scoop, for 80$ you can get a good sand scoop, but $80 is not going to get you a very good scoop that will hold up to digging in the wet sand, you put a lot of stress on your scoop when digging in the wet sand. My first scoop was an $80 scoop, I was told to buy a good scoop, but I thought "$80 is a lot of money, it has to be a good scoop". I broke it within 30 days of buying it, snapped the handle off while digging in the wetsand......

My suggestion is to try to save up a little more money and keep your eye on our classified section, there are good used water detectors sold there by members you can trust. Your much better off buying a good used water detector, than a new Ace 250 for the salt beaches..... Ace 250 is great on land for beginners, not so much so on salt beaches....

Something many new hunters dont know is your money once spent is not lost, the value is still there in your detector and scoop... I have bought used detectors and sold then couple years later for more than 75% of what I paid for them. my first good beach scoop for the wet sand in the water, the original Beach Brute made by RTG I bought used for $100 and sold for $75 2 years later when I upgraded to a new one, the Beach Brute II...
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U hit the nail on the head, I was out bout month ago with my 250 at the beach and it was going nuts in wet sand.
 

whiteslate said:
I read all you guys post and more other places and would love to start MDing but have a limited amount of money to spend, could you guys help me out? I'm looking to work the beach as I am in socal, and malibu is a 15 min drive I'm looking to spend $200 to $300 on everything I need, if that is even possible??? thanks and HH
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The beaches in SoCal during the summer will have lots of competition, so with your budget I would get the best water detector I could afford....even if it's a used one. If you don't mind digging EVERTHING, I'd get a PI (pulse induction) unit. It will give you the depth and they aren't as expensive as ones with discrimination. You might be able to get an older White's surfmaster or other similar model in your price range.
 

whiteslate said:
I read all you guys post and more other places and would love to start MDing but have a limited amount of money to spend, could you guys help me out? I'm looking to work the beach as I am in socal, and malibu is a 15 min drive I'm looking to spend $200 to $300 on everything I need, if that is even possible??? thanks and HH
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Hello from White Plains, New York! YES, it is possible in DRY SAND.

Tesoro Compadre $170.00 Tesoro Metal Detectors - Official company web site with metal detector models for treasure hunting land or water.

RTG Hand Sandscoop $34.00 RTG PRO SAND SCOOP #723 : New England Detectors, Discover The Detectorist in You !!

Finds bag Treasure King pouch $35.00 Treasure King Pouch-Model Delmar : New England Detectors, Discover The Detectorist in You !!
 

Terry Soloman said:
Hello from White Plains, New York! YES, it is possible in DRY SAND.

Tesoro Compadre $170.00 Tesoro Metal Detectors - Official company web site with metal detector models for treasure hunting land or water.

RTG Hand Sandscoop $34.00 RTG PRO SAND SCOOP #723 : New England Detectors, Discover The Detectorist in You !!

Finds bag Treasure King pouch $35.00 Treasure King Pouch-Model Delmar : New England Detectors, Discover The Detectorist in You !!
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Terry, You sure do promote the BEST BANG for the buck man,there are a a few SLEEPERS out there!
 

I won't be easy to find a detector that will work in the wet sand in your price range, so if we eliminate digging in the wet sand then we can eleiminate as $80 wet sand scoop. Go with a detector that will perform in the dry sand like mentioned above, like a Tesoro Silver Umax, or Garrett Ace 250. Buy it used for $200 or less. Then get yourself a set of Headphones. Light weight headphones will work fine ($12). Next you need a good dry sand scoop. Get a scoop with a handle about 12" long. This keeps you from bending all the way over and it's not too heavy. Don't bother with stainless steel as it's heavy and more expensive. Just a metal scoop with a WIRE basket. Wire baskets almost sift themselves. Baskets with drilled or punched holes sift the sand too slowly and you have to shake them too hard. Drilled holes are preferred for water and wet sand hunting. A good dry scoop will set you back about $30. Let us know what you end up with and how it works out for you.
 

ok guys, tank you for all the info, I have another Q... am I likely to find a lot down by the water? the high tide does not reach the area most people sit, but I would think most things are lost down by the water? how big is the difference in my finds if I were to just hunt dry or be able to hunt wet also? I am 16 and have a good job at In-N-Out so I can easily save more money if its really worth it
 

The only thing I will add (pretty well covered above) is DON'T spend $35 on a finds bag. Make one for nothing! Hand-sew one from any pant leg or such. TTC
 

whiteslate said:
ok guys, tank you for all the info, I have another Q... am I likely to find a lot down by the water? the high tide does not reach the area most people sit, but I would think most things are lost down by the water? how big is the difference in my finds if I were to just hunt dry or be able to hunt wet also? I am 16 and have a good job at In-N-Out so I can easily save more money if its really worth it
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Look I will tell you this, metal detecting is the only hobby in the world that in the long term it can pay off by itself.
My advise is this buy yourself a starters metal detector like a Tesoro compadre a Garrett ace 250 or a teknetics delta. Start detecting and see if you really like it. If you do like it you will have the time to upgrade your detector later in order to get a detector that will work on the wet sand. If you upgrade you can keep the starters detector as a backup or you can re-sale it and most likely you wont loose anything. How is that?
Ok let's say you buy a compadre $160 new you start detecting and after a couple months you decide that you want to sell it ether to upgrade it or just because you didn't like detecting. If you did your detection right in a couple months you should have gotten at least $40 worth of goods (clad and other finds), so you sell the used compadre for $120 and you are back as you started.
So you see metal detecting is very nice just because of that, you can pay for your hobby just by going out and looking for things.

I have had many hobbies in my life, all demand a cost, like for example rc planes, well you had to pay for the gas, or eventual damages.
Firearms, very nice hobby, never lost much money from buying and selling my weapons, but still I needed to pay for ammo, even if not that much since I recharged most of my ammo, and still it was expensive.

Thank god I started metal detecting, now my costs are zero and even if I just find clad and never get to find a diamond ring I am happy (even if I did find a gold ring and some nice stuff)

Sent from my iPhone using TreasureNet
 

norbyx said:
Look I will tell you this, metal detecting is the only hobby in the world that in the long term it can pay off by itself.
My advise is this buy yourself a starters metal detector like a Tesoro compadre a Garrett ace 250 or a teknetics delta. Start detecting and see if you really like it. If you do like it you will have the time to upgrade your detector later in order to get a detector that will work on the wet sand. If you upgrade you can keep the starters detector as a backup or you can re-sale it and most likely you wont loose anything. How is that?
Ok let's say you buy a compadre $160 new you start detecting and after a couple months you decide that you want to sell it ether to upgrade it or just because you didn't like detecting. If you did your detection right in a couple months you should have gotten at least $40 worth of goods (clad and other finds), so you sell the used compadre for $120 and you are back as you started.
So you see metal detecting is very nice just because of that, you can pay for your hobby just by going out and looking for things.

I have had many hobbies in my life, all demand a cost, like for example rc planes, well you had to pay for the gas, or eventual damages.
Firearms, very nice hobby, never lost much money from buying and selling my weapons, but still I needed to pay for ammo, even if not that much since I recharged most of my ammo, and still it was expensive.

Thank god I started metal detecting, now my costs are zero and even if I just find clad and never get to find a diamond ring I am happy (even if I did find a gold ring and some nice stuff)

Sent from my iPhone using TreasureNet
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help, I'm going to start looking around for a detector, and will be looking to buy one after i get my car so that I can drive to my dig sites :D thanks again and HH
 

I too have just gotten into the hobby.I first bought and older whites and found it way too complex for me to use.I now have a used tesoro Deleon and couldn't be happier.it works very well and is simple to use,not to mention the lifetime warranty. I sent it in to be checked over, just to be sure everything was alright with it and tesoro didn't even charge me even though I was the original owner, try getting that kind of service with whites. Try a tesoro , insure you won't be disappointed.
 

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