So How Long

[Allen in MT]

So how long you been detecting? As for me the 1st detector I had in my hands was a AN/PRS7 mine detector 1968 in Nam, Then I bought my 1st detector a Whites Coinmaster in 1970.

[snakejim]

I rented an army surplus mine detector in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1966 and used it on Padre Island looking for Spanish treasure from the ship wrecks. One of my friends dad was a surf fisherman and he had picked up a piece of eight coin.

[rvpopeye]

 

Sometime back in the 80s , Micronta Discovery II ( made by Bounty Hunter).

I found a diamond ring with it in deep snow . But the owner told me where to look.😏 

Rekindled interest 4 years ago.

[RickUK]

For me 1970 and a very good friend and i built a very very basic detector from a electronics magazine article,the most basic machine every going but sowed the seed for this wonderful pastime.

[Compass]

Wow - 1970 seems to have been a life-changing year for a few of us! I was sixteen and I bought my first metal detector, a Goldak. I believe that it was designed before the word ergonomic was invented. 😄 It had a fixed shaft length, a particle board coil bottom and hard black plastic headphones like you see in scifi movies from the 50's.

[glacialgold]

Relative newbie here -- some of you guys have been swinging since before I was born! 

2016 I got an Ace 400 and fiddled around with it occasionally. In summer of 2022, I puchased a Nox 800, started putting in regular hours on the machine each week, and found I really, really enjoyed the hobby. I then joined this form, which also amplified my interest in detecting. 

Based upon the discussion in this forum, I picked up a Legend in Fall 2022, and that one has been my primary swing since. I'm probably something like 60% Legend, 30% Nox, 10% MXT Pro at this point. 

[HardPack]

On 12/27/2023 at 5:58 PM, Allen in MT said:

1st detector I had in my hands was a AN/PRS7 mine detector

I am old enough to remember, not very effective against wooden box mines. Spent some time staring at the Whites in a magazine ad. Had to wait until retirement to find the time to detect. Semper Fi

[gopher]

April 2023 I got a simplex plus, 2 months later I got a legend because I wanted something more advanced

 

So less than one year for me, but I first seen detectors on TV I guess as a kid in the 90s and I was interested in it, the guy on the beach with a detector and big headphones

 

I had cheap crappy detector in like 2011ish but all I found with it was iron, I only searched my property and the trail out back my house, also the beach once but all I found on the beach was a couple quarters in the same hole, so that never caught on, I don't even know what brand it was, I don't even think it was a bounty hunter, think it was  lousier than that, I never thought of searching parks, glad I didn't because I didn't know to fill holes back then or what a plug was

[DSMITH]

I dabbled a little bit with detecting with a friend of mine in the 90s, he had an old green detector which I believe was a Garrett, I remember going out with him trying to find nuggets with it I was in Arizona at that time, but I remember I would always be questioning in my mind as to why anyone would want to waist their time, swinging a stick with a round thing at the end of the stick, listening to a bunch of racket of undecipherable noise going on, fast forward to 2009 I moved to Ohio with my wife which was my girlfriend at the time, I purchased a house which was built in 1889 which had a huge fenced in back yard, we decided to purchase a couple of detectors because of the age of the house and property, not knowing anything really about detectors my girlfriend and I found a shop in Ohio that sold detectors, the Garrett AT Pro had just came out so we purchased one and also the shop had a used Mine Lab Xterra 705 with three coils so we also purchased it and the rest is history, the ATP I never did take to, and the 705 there was times I wanted to Rap it around a tree but I stuck with it and then the Xterra 705 after two years finally clicked with me, and very quickly became my favorite detector of all I have purchased since 2009, I can even remember the very first target I dug using the Xterra 705 which was a 1941 Mercury dime needless to say I have been hooked ever since.    

[wltdwiz]

over 50 years started  with a jetco bfo