The Best Metal Detector Out There

[Jeff McClendon]

1 minute ago, Chase Goldman said:

I like the way you just put your data out there to for people to interpret on their own. 

You make and voice your own conclusions but they are typically focused on a specific aspect of performance noting how you think the detectors differ in that aspect.

You don't try to crown an overall king.  And I have yet to see you neck down to a single detector that you prefer for ALL your detecting situations.  Though you probably know which detector you would use if you could only bring one for any given detecting scenario.

 

I like to contribute to this forum whether that is talking about me and my detecting experiences or supporting others.

I don't like to argue with people especially when there is an agenda involved.

I just report what I experience whether others think it is right or wrong or not applicable or just dumb.

I still have too many detectors (6) but I love them all for what they do similarly and differently and for the experiences I have using them. 

 

[CPT_GhostLight]

I'll bite, the best detector out there for me is the one that works well for me in my hunting conditions right now, one that I feel comfortable with, and makes me a better detectorist.

I have had a few detectors over the years and some of them were very good detectors, but none of them were "the best out there" for me because I was inexperienced, impatient, and I wasn't ready or willing to take the time to learn the machines or detecting properly.

Years later when I was older, more patient, and ready to learn detecting, I bought what ended up being the "best out there" for me because it performed well and made me want to learn it thoroughly and learn more about detecting.

Now I feel I have progressed enough to take on a new more complex "best out there" detector that is working well for me and allowing me to learn even more about detectors and detecting. So I now have two "best out there" detectors, but they're only what is the Best Out There for me at this point in time, in my particular hunting scenarios.

As I progress in my learning and as detector technology progresses, there could come a time when I might feel I need a new "best out there" for me detector and regardless of brand I will consider adding it to my other "best out there" for me detectors, but for now I still have much to learn.

 

[Rattlehead]

I agree, though I have to admit that I do find some of the bickering entertaining. 😆 On one side you have a group of users who constantly hype up a certain brand or model trying to convince everyone else of its sheer perfection, then on the other side you have those who feel like their detector is an extension of themselves and get butthurt over any negative comments about it. Watching the fireworks from the videos calling each other out, and the constant forum battles is more entertaining than most of the TV shows I watch. 

[CPT_GhostLight]

What's the phrase... "It's not the tool, it's how well you use it!"

 

[Digalicious]

6 minutes ago, CPT_GhostLight said:

What's the phrase... "It's not the tool, it's how well you use it!"

 

We can argue to no end about the tool's raw performance. Some might find the performance differences impressive, and others won't. The only new detector that would impress me, is a true imaging detector, or a detector that can distinguish between aluminum and gold. 

[RickUK]

What other folks use is totally upto them detecting wise,for me i use my original green T2 in my opinion its still the king of my sites and my type of detecting,i certainly dont chase the latest greatest must have detectors,if a detector grabs my attention i wait a minimum of 12-18 months before i am sufficiently happy that they have ironed all the bugs out,my last newish detector i brought was the Equinox and i fell for the hype of it but if i am totally honest i hate using it,i do occasionally take it out every 3-4 months with the small coil on as i can see a need for it on certain sites.

My T2 still continues to pull out the goodies and has found me more gold hammered and milled gold coins than all my other machines put together and also silver hammered coins as well.....if it ain't broke dont try and fix it by thinking that the latest machines will find more,i will dtill continue finding some wonderful historic find here in the UK my 2006/7 trusty old T2.

Of course what works for me and my type of detecting may not work for anyone else.For me its all about getting out and enjoying detecting and if i find something that is a added bonus and i just dont have the time for detecting politics and trust me especially here in the UK detecting Politics is all around.

 

[Daniel Tn]

I certainly am guilty of buying the latest things out.  I guess my quest is more to find the best "jack of all trades" machine out there.  The problem for me has been, these multi task machines still fall short of the solo detector kings...the ones that may only do one thing REALLY well, but nothing else can beat it for that purpose. For me, I relic hunt and freshwater beach hunt, and maybe once a year, I will saltwater beach hunt.  I'm right back to the F75/T2 myself.  For hunting fields and woods...hard to find one to beat them!  The beach scenarios...are not the F75/T2 Forte and will require a machine better at those tasks.  

Edit:  The DST models SUCK.  The F75 I traded the ammo for...well I would rather have the ammo back.  My understanding was the DST could be turned on or off.  Well it can...but it's NOTHING like the original F75s without it.  They've neutered it so bad it's not worth having now.  

[TJ Jeepguy]

My wife is certain that the best detector is the first one I spent too much money on. 

[Steve Herschbach]

If there were such a thing as a best detector I’d only need one detector. That seems to be a near impossibility for me. The only way I can seem to get down to less than four is to just write off some aspect as being minor enough that I could sacrifice and live without it. So for instance I could decide that chasing tinier gold than my Equinox 800 can find is not a big deal, and so let my 24K go. I’ve considered it. But fact is I would be giving up a definite advantage in one distinct area, and I can’t quite bear to do that. Not for the few hundred bucks I’d get and the small amount of space it takes up. Do I really use my DFX with Bigfoot that much? No. But in some ways for what it does it’s irreplaceable, and so it stays. I tell myself that I could really make do with just a good VLF and a good PI, but even then it’s two detectors. When I think about all that the idea that there is one best detector is kind of a fantasy. That would take something that swings as nice as a T2/F75 while detecting as deep as a GPZ 7000 with the target id of a CTX 3030 and the separation of a Deus while hitting gold as small as a Gold Bug 2 and leakproof to 200 feet while having a Bigfoot option along with 20 other coils. We are a long way from that detector still.

[phrunt]

I would need to superglue my GPZ, GPX 6000, GPX 5000, Nox 800, 24k and Gold Bug 2 together to get my ideal gold detector and I'd need to be able to plug in any damn coil I want to.

As for coins I'd need to glue my CTX, Nox 800, Manticore and Ace 300i together to even come close to my ideal coin detector, it's not going to happen so at this stage there is no perfect detector and I'm quite happy to own quite a few. 

You know why the Ace is in there? It's crazy deep when outfitted with a Nel Tornado coil, and it can run a Nel Tornado coil and any other aftermarket coil I want on it, the others can not.