Tesoro Bandido II on ebay is mine!

[morbiusandneo]

Stop bidding me up. i NEED it,a nobody will outbid me. I've spent over $300 on another garrett I bought that will NOT do what this bandido will according to "alec", which is why i am bidding so frickin hi on a used discontinued model. I got all my duck in a row except the right detector for my cache! In essence i am paying the combined prices of these TWO detectors for the actual in-field expected service of the Tesoro-bandido II only.I have a whites eagle spectrum with bigfoot coil that could not locate my cache. garbage! garretts 2-box i threw away! garbage. get the picture? I know the cache is there!I need a deep finding detector! stvn.

 

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[Kentucky Kache]

stvn, calm down man, It's not worth having a stroke. If you're that determined, I'm sure you'll get it. I had to try a few times before I got what I was trying for. I, for one am not bidding on the detector, so, I hope you get it.

 

[SwampHunter]

From what I understand this is a great machine that has alot of uses from looking for coins to finding caches within 3 foot of the surface. Sounds like just the machine alot of folks are looking for. I would have never known that this machine was on Ebay had I not seen this post.

 

[tdec1000]

It obviously not yours if you are trying to win it!! hahaha But am I not trying to win it either!

 

[morbiusandneo]

stvn, calm down man, It's not worth having a stroke. If you're that determined, I'm sure you'll get it. I had to try a few times before I got what I was trying for. I, for one am not bidding on the detector, so, I hope you get it.

Yep, I am sorry, but I am emotional cuss(or is it curr!!).....I won it for $335 without the shipping cost. Yes! I paid a steep premium over the going market for this, but that was due to all the positive endorsements at this forum about it, I'm sure....stvn.

 

[elkman13]

Have one of these mashines. There great. Got mine with a gold coil "DD" also. Can pick up a bee bee . Long batt life and light to use. Got mine from some one at the factory who sold them. Not much more than your bid.

 

[morbiusandneo]

From what I understand this is a great machine that has alot of uses from looking for coins to finding caches within 3 foot of the surface. Sounds like just the machine alot of folks are looking for. I would have never known that this machine was on Ebay had I not seen this post.

Howdy SwampHunter! (great handle, btw!) I hope you are right. I just got a rather disturbing private email from I assume someone who is a member here which was quyite negative. He said ,"NO regular detector can detect below the 13 inch level!", so I hope he is just a disillusioned pot-smoker, or something else as pitiful. Otherwise, if he is right, that means I've been naiive at the least. I am NOT saying that, though. I think this forum is simply fant-frickin-tastic!! everyone generally is so helpful, knowledgable and down-right nice!! I am so happy I found this forum, because it has renewed my interest in cache-hunting & treasure-hunting in general. There are so many facets to this past time, which is one thing that makes it so very interesting. So.......Everyone, I thank you all for contributing and sharing about this Bandido md!! steven.

 

[cryptodave]

From what I understand this is a great machine that has alot of uses from looking for coins to finding caches within 3 foot of the surface. Sounds like just the machine alot of folks are looking for. I would have never known that this machine was on Ebay had I not seen this post.

Howdy SwampHunter! (great handle, btw!) I hope you are right. I just got a rather disturbing private email from I assume someone who is a member here which was quyite negative. He said ,"NO regular detector can detect below the 13 inch level!", so I hope he is just a disillusioned pot-smoker, or something else as pitiful. Otherwise, if he is right, that means I've been naiive at the least. I am NOT saying that, though. I think this forum is simply fant-frickin-tastic!! everyone generally is so helpful, knowledgable and down-right nice!! I am so happy I found this forum, because it has renewed my interest in cache-hunting & treasure-hunting in general. There are so many facets to this past time, which is one thing that makes it so very interesting. So.......Everyone, I thank you all for contributing and sharing about this Bandido md!! steven.

I know for a fact the Minelab Explorer XS can detect further than 13 inches, because I have dug and measured it! Don't mind the know it alls that are attracted to this site.

 

[SwampHunter]

From what I understand this is a great machine that has alot of uses from looking for coins to finding caches within 3 foot of the surface. Sounds like just the machine alot of folks are looking for. I would have never known that this machine was on Ebay had I not seen this post.

Howdy SwampHunter! (great handle, btw!) I hope you are right. I just got a rather disturbing private email from I assume someone who is a member here which was quyite negative. He said ,"NO regular detector can detect below the 13 inch level!", so I hope he is just a disillusioned pot-smoker, or something else as pitiful. Otherwise, if he is right, that means I've been naiive at the least. I am NOT saying that, though. I think this forum is simply fant-frickin-tastic!! everyone generally is so helpful, knowledgable and down-right nice!! I am so happy I found this forum, because it has renewed my interest in cache-hunting & treasure-hunting in general. There are so many facets to this past time, which is one thing that makes it so very interesting. So.......Everyone, I thank you all for contributing and sharing about this Bandido md!! steven.

I take any and all reviews with a grain of salt. Most reviews I have seen on the net say down to about 8" to 12" is about maximum for the Bandido. One review said it will go down to 3 foot. Not very good odds in my book. I know that it all has to do with a bunch of factors on how deep a machine will go too. Most of which will never be met. I have an Ace250 and if everything is just right it will get down pretty deep. I found an aluminum can at 17 inchs one time. It was in the edge of a swampy creek bed. Most of the time it probably won't pick up an aluminum can past 9 inchs. Most everything else in the creekbed was fairly deep for the machine too. Of course I couldn't give an honest report and say that you should expect the machine to go that deep all of the time. In fact I wouldn't even mention that if I was giving a review because I wouldn't want anyone getting the impression that they can expect this from the machine.
Yep, I am sure that sometimes the Bandido or other inexpensive machines will pick up a fruit jar full of gold or silver at 3 foot given the right conditions. I wonder what those conditions are and how often they come around. I bet it's very rare. If I had really thought this machine could detect a fruit jar full of gold or silver down to 3 foot on a regular basis I would have paid $400.00+ for the machine. I have use for a machine that could do that, and I have more of a need for a machine that can detect small items down to 13 inchs and larger items down to 3 foot. Who wouldn't want a machine that can do all of this? In fact if the machine done all that the one guy said it would, you wouldn't have won that machine. You can bet that someone would have bid well over $600.00 for a machine that could do all of that. But I don't see these things selling like they should if it was able to do this on a regular basis. In fact the company discontinued the model, so it must not have sold very well. I don't think how the person described the machine was a well kept secret. Too many folks have tried the machine and said it will only do about the same as other inexpensive machines. You know in this day and age that when someone actually finds a machine that would do what the one person described then you would read this in the majority of the reports.

Biggest thing is you need to enjoy the machine even if it doesn't do what you want it to. It would be a shame to not enjoy it since you wanted this machine so badly.

Good luck with the machine.

 

[alec]

Swamphunter,

Don’t take this the wrong way but you sure seem pretty pessimistic!

I keep several things buried in my yard from individual coins to full mason jars and larger items, all at different depths just so I can test a detector when I buy one. The Bandido II will find a quart mason jar at two and one half feet every day all day in soil ranging from dry to moist to wet. If the moisture content is just right it will find the jar at three feet consistently. It will find an object like a dutch oven at three feet without a problem. This has been proven in my yard and in the field. These are NOT open-air tests, this is on actual buried objects that I have encountered or expect to encounter in the field.

With any detector the soil conditions will change the depth that it can work at but there’s not much you can do about soil conditions. I have found that frozen ground hampers the depth capabilities the most, other than clay.

I would hazard a guess that the reviews that you read about the Bandido and the max depth of 8-12 inches were based on coin hunting and what the maximum depth for finding an individual coin would be. If you are testing a coin machine it’s rare that it is tested on anything but coins. The Bandido is a great little cache hunting machine as long as your cache is within that three to four foot area and good size like a quart jar or maybe a copper pot or dutch oven.

The Bandido and the Bandido II were discontinued for the new model which I believe is called the El Dorado. This is basically the same machine with a new look and new electronics. Being a model that was discontinued doesn’t make it a bad machine, it just means they changed the name. I don’t know that I would have paid $335 for a Bandido but that’s just me. There’s always one popping up here and there that you could get cheaper than that. They usually go for about $190.

I’m starting to sound like a salesman now and I apologize, I just think the Bandido is a great little machine and it has served me well and I see no reason to keep information about something that works to myself.

 

[SwampHunter]

Swamphunter,

Don’t take this the wrong way but you sure seem pretty pessimistic!

I keep several things buried in my yard from individual coins to full mason jars and larger items, all at different depths just so I can test a detector when I buy one. The Bandido II will find a quart mason jar at two and one half feet every day all day in soil ranging from dry to moist to wet. If the moisture content is just right it will find the jar at three feet consistently. It will find an object like a dutch oven at three feet without a problem. This has been proven in my yard and in the field. These are NOT open-air tests, this is on actual buried objects that I have encountered or expect to encounter in the field.

With any detector the soil conditions will change the depth that it can work at but there’s not much you can do about soil conditions. I have found that frozen ground hampers the depth capabilities the most, other than clay.

I would hazard a guess that the reviews that you read about the Bandido and the max depth of 8-12 inches were based on coin hunting and what the maximum depth for finding an individual coin would be. If you are testing a coin machine it’s rare that it is tested on anything but coins. The Bandido is a great little cache hunting machine as long as your cache is within that three to four foot area and good size like a quart jar or maybe a copper pot or dutch oven.

The Bandido and the Bandido II were discontinued for the new model which I believe is called the El Dorado. This is basically the same machine with a new look and new electronics. Being a model that was discontinued doesn’t make it a bad machine, it just means they changed the name. I don’t know that I would have paid $335 for a Bandido but that’s just me. There’s always one popping up here and there that you could get cheaper than that. They usually go for about $190.

I’m starting to sound like a salesman now and I apologize, I just think the Bandido is a great little machine and it has served me well and I see no reason to keep information about something that works to myself.

Me pessimistic? Nope!

I don't have a clue where you got half the stuff from my post. Not going to go back over it again as you more than likely wouldn't understand it the second time around. Enjoy your machine, sounds like it's great for your yard.

 

[alec]

I understood what you said just fine. Maybe re-reading your post would be a good idea for you.

 

[SwampHunter]

I understood what you said just fine. Maybe re-reading your post would be a good idea for you.

I don't have to re-read it. In a nutshell it said that one report out of several is not something I would put alot of faith in. That's not being pessimistic, that's being a smart shopper.

Enjoy your machine.

 

[Kentucky Kache]

I keep several things buried in my yard from individual coins to full mason jars and larger items, all at different depths just so I can test a detector when I buy one. The Bandido II will find a quart mason jar at two and one half feet every day all day in soil ranging from dry to moist to wet. If the moisture content is just right it will find the jar at three feet consistently. It will find an object like a dutch oven at three feet without a problem. This has been proven in my yard and in the field. These are NOT open-air tests, this is on actual buried objects that I have encountered or expect to encounter in the field.

And think about those jars buried for 75-100 years. Even better.
Do you get those depths with the 8 inch coil? Sorry if I already asked you this.

 

[alec]

You are correct about the stuff that has been in the ground for a long time giving a stronger signal. Most of the test objects I have buried have been there for less than 10 years. The things I have found in the field had been in the ground much longer than that and the signals were stronger.

You can and will get those depths with the 8" coil but you will need to wear headphones most of the time. The 9" eliptical coil doesn't get you much more depth but it makes the signals you do get just a little stronger. I would have to say you might get one to two inches deeper with the 9" coil but it won't be much. If it came down to buying a detector with the 8" coil or nothing I would definitely buy the machine with the 8" coil and use your headphones.

 

[Kentucky Kache]

I wonder what is the biggest coil you can get for that machine.
I might have to invest in one of these.

 

[Kentucky Kache]

I just read about a cache test above (alec).

 

[Kentucky Kache]

My Compass X-100 Challenger (made in 1988) will hit musket balls @ 15” in the right soil conditions and with proper ground balancing. Anything is possible.

Are these your words?

Anyway, those are some impressive looking machines. I have the Fisher two-box, but I have to order a handle for it. $125.00.

 

[alec]

I see a Whites, a TF 900 , a Minelab, a Garrett and a Fisher. That’s a fine collection you have there, also a lot of weight! It must be hell swinging that Magnum coil, you must have some Popeye arms!

I read lots of reviews of equipment but the best test I can do with one is to use it myself. I test what I use in what I consider real conditions, the type of soil and terrain I normally hunt in, and that’s where I get my results along with measuring the depth and size of a target when it is found in the field.

I don’t want to be snide but maybe it was operator error or even a bad soil condition that kept you from finding the cache. Apparently something worked or you wouldn’t have known there was a silver cache. I hate the Minelab, it just didn’t do the job it was supposed to and it was a pain in the butt to use with all of the cables getting in the way and the rechargeable battery. It didn’t get half of the depth of the Tesoro but it weighed about four times as much. The Fisher two-box is a decent machine sometimes, but the one I have seen in action wasn’t worth carrying around. The TF 900 is a great little two-box, it just takes some practice to use properly and is tough to use on a slope and is pretty much useless inside a hole. The Garrett (is that a 2500?) is decent for shallow stuff but I wouldn’t use it for anything deeper than two feet. A dedicated two box is always better than an add on. I’ve never owned a Whites other than a TM-808 so I can’t speak to their abilities other than the TM-808. It too is a good two-box and I would choose it over the Fisher Gemini any day.

I don’t know what else to tell you. The Bandido does what I say it does for me all the time and has for several years. Most of it is in the electronics of the unit and Tesoro does a good job of ground balancing which makes all the difference. Using any machine in an automatic ground balance mode is limiting yourself and if you don’t fine tune in a manual balance mode then you are cutting your depth again. I’m not trying to start an argument here, I’m just telling you what my actual experience has been, not something I have read somewhere.

 

[alec]

Holy crap!! And I thought I was over doing it with nine detectors!

There's a small teasure trove there just in detectors!