Rubber Tips For Pinpointers

[Bill (S. CA)]

I'm just curious as to how many folks actually use rubber tips to protect the ends of their pinpointers.  It seems they are everywhere now and are almost assumed to be a necessary item.  Personally I don't get it.  I have my original Garrett ProPointer from years ago and a Carrot and both have been used heavily.  The tips are scuffed from use but I'm never worn one out.  I know a lot of the newer generation seem to think that pinpointers are diggers and use them as such.  I use mine to pinpoint with, that's it.  Perhaps that's the reason mine have held up. 

Any thoughts on this? 

 

 

[F350Platinum]

I do, on all of them. Harder to get dirt out of scratches than rinsing it off vinyl for one. Always clean my stuff after a hunt.

The MI-6 in particular has "thin skin", it might be rugged but I've seen too many replacement shells for comfort. I do agree that the Carrot is tough, but see above. Quest pointers come with them so that was easy. I think the Fisher came with one too.

[strick]

I've never bought them...I can see on some of my pinpointers where I have worn the plastic a lot but not down to where it ruins the pinpointer...maybe they become more sensitive as your wear down the plastic lol...that being said I usually break my pinpointers due to  other bad habits  rather then the tip going out...I'm constantly throwing them off to the side once the target has been located. 

strick 

[GB_Amateur]

Heat shrink tubing is another option, as long as you make sure not to melt the case when installing.  (Not likely, but you all know about Mr. Murphy....)  I've never used a protective cover myself, though.

I think I'm somewhere between Bill S. and strick in how I (ab)use pinpointers.  I don't 'dig' per se, but I do slide it around in the hole, often pushing dirt out of the way to get closer to the perceived target.  As such mine get scratched and worn down.  But consider the following:

I bought a Garrett Carrot back in August 2015.  While still under warranty (don't remember exactly when but 1-2 years later) it acted up and I sent it in for repair.  Although the repair documentation it was returned with never said exactly what went wrong, they replaced a lot of it, including the case.  My suspicion is that I cracked the case and water got in, damaging some of the electronics.  It hasn't been back to its birthplace since.

I've mentioned and detailed in the past that I carry two pinpointers (other being a White's TRX) when coin detecting parks and schools (90% of my detecting time).  I won't go into the reasons or methods (done that before) other than to say this same Garrett Carrot gets most of the use.  And when I go West ghost-towning and nugget hunting I use the Carrot exclusively.

A few months back I noticed (when I cleaned the dirt off the tip...) that I had worn a hole through the housing at the tip.  But the Carrot was still working (cue the Timex commercial...).  After cleaning it well I filled the hole with epoxy (one of those that specifically works well with plastic, not the typical 5-minute garden variety) and so far so good.

This Carrot no longer works perfectly.  The led often stays on even after it's been turned off.  And lately I haven't been able to access the adjustment mode to check on or turn down the sensitivity.  (It's on 3 -- highest level -- and as long as it stays there I'm happy.)  When I'm done for the day I try to remember to take out the battery, but when I forget I just have to swap in a fresh one (I use rechargeable 9V with it so not a big deal).  Other than those minor things this beat-to-hell unit still runs as well as the day I got it, after well over 1000 hours of (ab)use.

[Joe D.]

    Have always had either/or a tip on, or a dip in Plasticoat™️! Both inexpensive insurance, and easy to remove! The thickness is nominal, so it shouldn't affect sensitivity at all! Hasn't on mine! Tips cheap on Ebay!

   And also a lanyard/bungee is cheap insurance for loss of pinpointers! Can't tell you how many times it's saved mine from loss, other than many!🍀👍👍

[CPT_GhostLight]

I never use a tip protector. I use a TRX, F-Pulse, X-Pointer Max, and MI-6. The only one that has worn out on me was my Pro-Find 35, but that was from a small crack in the search tube near the handle that allowed moisture inside.

I do ocassionally get dig-happy with my pinpointers, but they all seem to be holding up well. I consider anything that makes contact with the ground (Pinpointers, Push Probes, Diggers, Shovels, Coils covers, etc) to be wearables and know that they will all have to be replaced at some point. Oddly enough, the only thing I wear down is my Push Probes, which are steel T-handled hex wrenches. They start out with a nice rounded end and wear down to an ice pick that's a couple of inches shorter than when they started out in about a year or so of use.  Fortunately, in about 4 years of fairly constant use, none of the other items have had to be replaced yet due to wear. 😎

[PimentoUK]

Quote: "I have my original Garrett ProPointer from years ago ...The tips are scuffed from use but I'm never worn one out."
Well they DO wear out, I wore through my original black Propointer. It was hard to spot, as the ferrite rod / coil is encased in black resin "potting compound". There was a slightly shinier black bit, contrasting with the duller black of the case. But it was still working fine, so that's when I started protecting it with a short ( 45mm / 1.75" ) length of regular heatshrink sleeving. I completely removed the totally pointless 'sifter blade' , leaving a nice round tip that the heatshrink fits on. The sleeve does have a tendency to slip or move, so I started glueing it after shrinking to fit, using a low-strength adhesive. Evo-Stick, bicycle tube puncture repair glue, both seemed OK. the heatshrink lasts a few months before re-fitting / replacing. The pointer is still going strong 7 years later.

[KD8GIS]

  1980,  No forums, No internet, No Pin pointers.  NEVER SEEN Shovels being used, Did see plenty of screw drivers.  You sure wanted to leave a nice plug to return to the hole. SOoo learn how to pin point with the detector, YES you can do it.  Forward to 2015 I got a double D coil and I thought I was gonna need a PP.  Got one but then soon found out you can pp a double D  as easy as with a concentric coil.  (Screw driver) popping shallow coins is so much easier than a trowel dig.  I have watched people dig a basket ball size hole only to find the coin on the ground next to the huge hole.  I have tried to show some people how much LESS WORK doing a detector PP is.  OH, right, Ah wearing a hole in the PP, People can't even PP with a PP.  Anyone angry with me yet? 

[PimentoUK]

Quote:"Anyone angry with me yet?"
For posting off-topic? This is a friendly civilised forum, we can tolerate that.

So, while we're off-topic, here's a few reasons to have a pinpointer, and a few disadvantages:
older pinpointer thread

[schoolofhardNox]

I use anything that fits on my pinpointer as a tip protector. 😄 My old electrolyte tablets came in a long tube that fit perfectly on the carrot. Digging a lot of beaches, you will rub right through the normal protectors and eventually through the shell of the pinpointer. I ruined a couple of them until I found that my electrolyte case worked excellent. I also found that the caps used on water bottles are a more rigid plastic than the original protectors provided. I just duct tape the cap to the pinpointer now.