Pinpointer question

[ccclontz]

Is there any use in buying a cheaper pinpointer than the Garrett Pro-Pointer ? I saw some on Ebay pretty cheap. I know I want one but until I can get it was wondering if anyone has any experience with the cheap ones.

 

[Monte]

n/t

 

[Silver Fox]

Save up your money and get the Garrett.

 

[POLEWAGGER]

If you're the handyman type, a CenTech cheapy ($17) from Harbor Freight will work. It will need some mods to be reliable.
I personally think the Garret is over priced for what you get. Too many videos seeing too much time wasted tweeting here and there before the object is located.
I wouldn't recommend the CenTech for those with a detector that doesn't get you within a couple inches of your target. At max sens, it will detect a penny just over an inch in the dirt. I set mine so it doesn't go off unless you're right on the coin. I can literally hunt blindfolded with it.

 

[Dirtdigger33]

My 1st pinpointer was a bounty hunter. It worked all right but was not built very solid and I had to keep adjusting the sensitivity knob because it would go off when I was not even using it. Had to adjust it every time you turned it on or just leave it on the whole hunt. The fisher one is just like it. It lasted for a while and I gave it to my dad to use when i bought my new one. It lasted him a little while and died on him. My second pinpointer I spent some more money on and will probably never buy one again unless I want another type of one from the same company. Both my new pinpointers are from a company called treasure products the vibraprobe line. You can look them up on Kellyco or visit their website at treasureproducts.com to get specs and prices. The 580 costs the same almost as the propointer is waterproof to 100m is built out of rugged stainless steel. Runs off of 1 9 volt battery. Has a 1 year warranty. Last year I put mine under water and it did not phase it. Used it in FL as well runs off of pulse induction so it will not mess up in black sand, mineralized or bad soil. You will get a lot of opinions on what to get, a cheap one may get you by for a while or you may want to invest in a more expensive one and only have to buy 1 not a cheap one now and a better one later if it does not last. HH

 

[Mike Hillis]

The best "cheap" electronic pinpointer is a Little Wizard II. Seriously. You can use it the wide edge or tip it over and use one of the ends. It gets about 2" on a coin. I used one for several years and still have it. The only beef I had with it was that it didn't like the cold. I'd have to warm it up under my arm if I was out detecting in 30 degree weather.

But the better pinpointers cost money. Luck for us, we find money and just have to decide what to spend it on

HH
Mike

 

[Topo]

I used to use a sherlock probe, about 20 pounds on ebay. nice gadget for the price

 

[MarkCZ]

I've tried some of the cheap ones,
Fisher, Not worth the cheapest 9 volt battery you can find!
The Bounty Hunter is the same thing, Not Worth the cheapest 9 volt battery you can find!
That AutoMax is not worth the cheapest battery you can find!

Of the cheap ones the Harbor Freight one is a little better. The worse problem with it is as it warms up you have to keep adjusting the sensitivity. If its cold out you have to keep it inside your coat or it don't have ANY sensitivity. Now what I ended up doing was presetting the sensitivity to about 3/4 and then I made a sung fitting metal band that I could slide up and down the prob tip, when you turn it on you can slide the band/ring out towards the tip just until it sound off and then back it off about an 1/8" and it will hit coins near two inches away.

By far the most used pin-pointer is the Pro-pointer!
Its built to military specs!
Its water all but the little speaker!
It works hot or cold!
I don't know about the video's and people having problems with them??
I have one (Now)
My brother has one,
My co-worker has one, his girlfriend has one, (He tried the Sunray inline and didn't keep more than a could of week, he also bought the Pistol probe and never took that monster out side)
His brother has one,

Many people will go out and buy $150.00 headphones,
Pay hundreds of dollars for extra search coils,
$50.00 for one digger (small hand held)
They'll drop $1,200.00 for a detector,
$50.00 for a tote bag,
then say the Garrett is to pricy?? I don't think so! And I having spent over $400.00 on a detector in the past 25 years, but I did buy a Garrett Pro-Pointer!

Most of those cheap ones really isn't worth giving away! Well, I had the Fisher F-Point that came with my F2 and a guy on the forum wanted wanted it and was willing to pay me a little bit of money for it, but I told him it wasn't worth the price of shipping and I mailed it to him free, I still felt like I ripped him off and that's the truth!

Mark

 

[tvr]

Pro Pointer is the best pinpointer I've tried and worth the price. I now have a second one as a back up / loaner. Having used several others, including one of the water proof vibraprobes, I would recommend saving your money and getting a Pro Pointer if you are going to get a pinpointer.
Cheers,
tvr

 

[MarkCZ]

Sometimes a used one comes across the forum classifieds, I've seen them go for around $80.00
Just a thought.
I've also seen them offered up for trade for things like search coils and headphones.

Mark

 

[BarberBill]

One you don't see mentioned much is the Treasure Mate by Tesoro. I have one and the Propointer also. The Treasure Mate has similar depth to the Propointer, but is a bit quirky and requires adjustment tweaking where the Propointer is just turn on and go, easier battery change and includes the led light. In field results, in my experience, has been pretty comparable, but the Propointer is a little less spendy.
BB

 

[pkrska]

I have a Harbour Freight and it works well. Sometime I do have to search a bit of dirt for the target but it does the job. I figure it does the job it's ment for. The range is around 1" or 1/2" or less depending on the size and material. If it was more, it would be beeping like your metal detector 5 inches away and you wouldn't know where to search. It comes with a pouch - which seems to cover the sensitivity switch. You could cut a hole. Another mod.

I paid $22 which included the shipping to Canada. Can't beat that price. Also I have not made any mods to it since it ain't broke yet. So why fix what's working???

But I agree with the others here that a Garrett Pro Pointer with it's proximity beeps is the best one to get. It tells you your either getting close or not. Wow. That cost $129 before taxes and shipping. Ouch. Gotta find a lot of coins for that. I can only hope I find a nice ring to get the cash faster.

 

[joe dirt_1]

Save your money and buy the Garrett pin pointer. If you buy junk you will never have anything but junk to use. Although I do not like Garrett detectors, they did a good job on the pin pointer. Shop around and you should be able to find a new one for a tad over 100.00.

Roger

 

[G.A.P.metal]

go to zircon.com look at the Zircon m40 2 " on coins see the video there $31.00 at home improvement stores thay are as good as the Garrett PP if not better
Gary

 

[MarkCZ]

go to zircon.com look at the Zircon m40 2 " on coins see the video there $31.00 at home improvement stores thay are as good as the Garrett PP if not better
Gary

Have you compared them to the Garrett Pro-Poniter, or are you saying its as good because they'll hit a coin at 2" and they are more affordable?

Garrett did a really good job on the design of the pro-pointer, (I would like to see a little three LED light battery state of charge indicator)
But the Garrett is built to Military specs and is designed with metal detecting in mind.
The probe is shaped right,
It has a scarper blade on one side of the probe,
Its has proximity detection,
It handles well,
Its sized right,
And they cost about the same as a new search coil and a coil doesn't have any electronics in them.

It would be nice to be able to get a Pro-pointer for $19.95 but its not going to happen.

I mean $50.00 bucks for a digging tool is thought to be a good deal! I have compared them with a good $20.00 soil knife and I wouldn't trade the soil knife for the offset blade $50.00 digger!
The Pro-pointer is as good of an investment as a good digger.

Now that's not to say that its not pricy and start'in out a lot of people may get a cheaper pin-pointer and use it for awhile or even a season until they can get the money to buy the Garrett. Or if your like a lot of people that the wife has a hard time buying gifts for let her buy you one for your birthday or Christmas, the wife was glad to find me a good gift that she knew I wanted and would like, I started out with the Harbor Freight one.

Mark