Serious question, has anyone else bought a metal detector online without checking the depth rating?

I spent $200 on one that looked good, but it only picks up stuff about 4 inches down, making it useless for most sites. What brands actually work for real field walking?

3 comments

3 Comments

brianh871mo ago

Man, that's a classic rookie mistake and it stings. You really have to dig into the specs and ignore the flashy ads. For real field work, skip the cheap box store brands. Look at used machines from Minelab or Garrett, like an Equinox or an AT Pro. They're built to find actual deep targets, not just loose change in the park.

gavinm8915d ago

Sucks to learn it the hard way though. Been there myself. You buy what you can afford and hope for the best, but the ground doesn't care about your budget.

iris_adams1mo ago

Brian's spot on about used Minelab and Garrett machines. That four inch limit is a total wall you hit with those cheap detectors. My buddy found a seated dime at like nine inches with an old Garrett Ace he got for a song. The key is looking for models built for real soil, not just sand at the beach. Those older pro level machines still have the guts to find the deep stuff if you learn their sounds.