anyone know anything about metal detectors?

[Dahitman44]

was thinking about getting the kids one 10th B-day on the way. I remmeber the one I had as a kid was JUNK -- are they better now? please advise.

[Macgyver55]

Actually they are somewhat better depending on what you want to spend. My dad bought one a few years back that works pretty good and actually has adjustments to discriminate between junk and something worth digging for, or how deep you want to search.

Like anything, price will determine if you get a toy or a serious unit.

On a side note, We talked to a guy on the beach last fall in Florida that was searching. I asked if he found anything interesting. He said generally he never found much more than a few bucks in change at a time, but once he had found a money clip with 30 bucks or so and another time he found a ring worth a couple thousand.

[cold one sd]

The new technology is better, I would decide what purpose I wanted to use one for and buy one with the features needed for that use. Some models are better at finding certain metals than others and there are different search coils for different uses. When I bought the one I had, I bought one from a well known company and it has a lifetime warranty which I believe is the only lifetime warranty in the business.

[Jeremy airjer W]

I purchased a higher end bounty hunter from Galyans before they switch to Dick's's. They had the wrong price on the box so I ended up getting it for the beginner/base price. I find all kinds of stuff with it. It does have the discriminator stuff and will display what it is sensing as well as how deep it is.

[Dahitman44]

ok -- so do you guys think a $150 bounty hunter would be ok - -or is that an E-Cheapo?

[Jeremy airjer W]

Depends on what you want to look for?

[Dahitman44]

I guess I don't know - -whatever my kids can find in the ground?

[Macgyver55]

We used to take our with up north and look around old abandoned hunting shacks and old homesteads we would find out in the woods. Lots of interesting trinkets and tools!

[Jeremy airjer W]

You would have more than enough fun with the kids with a less expensive model. A decent entry level will run you about $100. If you get hooked you'll be upgrading! If you loose interest you're only out $100 or so.

[Dahitman44]

cool. thanks guys.

[Duffman]

I've got a little confession to make. I've got a young guy who comes and "detects" a sand vollyball court near my house. Every three weeks or so during the summer he shows up on a Sunday morning. I decided to play a harmless prank, took a shovel and buried about ten bucks worth of change, it actually took me while. The more I worked at it I figured, the more he would have to.

I'm glad I was around for the show. He must have thought he hit the motherload, and I hope he had as much fun as I did. I paid $2.50 an hour for my entertainment, I thought he was never going to leave.

[Dahitman44]

You know that is a great Idea - -what a way to have some early success -- does anyone think I should bury a couple of old coins? Nothing expensive per se - -but like an Indian head penny or a buffalo nickle?

The boys are going to be 10 and i was thinking about buying them one to share for their b-day?

Is it kinda like giving them some extra fun and confidence? Just a thought.

[BLACKJACK]

Got a good metal detector story for you.

About 7-8 years ago we were having a family campout at Sibley park. One of my sisters lost a diamond earring. She was bummed, it was an anniversary gift, blah, blah, blah. I located a local guy with a metal detector and we went out there. I pointed out the campfire ring that we had been sitting around for two days - and he found the earring in five minutes. And this was three weeks after we had been there, and other campers had used the spot. Pretty amazing!!

[LightningBG]

Another story for ya.

About 12 years ago I worked at a Marina. One day some of the Vikings were there with their ladies. One of the ladies saw a spider and jumped, whipping her ring off into the water. We looked for a little while with no luck. Then they called in an underwater metal detector guy. He found it in about 30 minutes. ring was worth about $40K. The viking guy gave him like $50 and sent him on his way.