Whats the best relic detector?

[Sonny1965]

Any opinions would greatly be appreciated

 

[chet mowbray]

i use a tesoro cibola for civil war relics. it has paid for itself many times over.

 

[brnn53]

F75 is winning me over. I have always loved the Nautilus 2B but it plays second fiddle now.
Mike

 

[GRAY GHOST]

hi sonny. i really like using my tesoro tejon and sometimes the cibola. both machines have quickly and easily paid for themselves. the tejon paid for itself in the space of a one week period when i dug two virginia staff buttons and another virginia button. my hunt partner, frank [olddigger] has an f75 - it's an impressive machine too.

 

[d-2]

I'm a Cibola user my own self and love it. Found a US buckle, sword and all sorts of stuff. Got a bud that used the f75 and he likes his also. Dont think you can go wrong with ether one...d2

 

[ihuntrelics!]

Any machine will find relics if you are where relics are in the hands of an experienced user. As to say which machine is the best......well there isn't just one machine that excels above all the rest in all the different situations you'll find yourself hunting in. The main things I would consider is finding the right one or two or three or more that gets the job done for the task at hand. For example, I have been a Minelab Explorer II & SE fanatic since 3/08/03. They have found me tons of relics over the years and what I have gotten very familiar with. I took that same machine to dig in the hot soil in Culpeper Va. and it would barely see into that powdered iron dirt and the machine that I used to slay relics with was about to be wrapped around a tree due to my frustration. I did find relics with it there but you couldn't use any discrimination at all and no use looking at the target ID because in that soil if it beeps you better dig it no matter what the id said( which was usually telling me it was all iron). I hunted side by side with my buddy while he dug good target after good target with his TDI in a very small area and I only had a few goodies in my pouch. Well now I have a TDI in my arsenal. Now hunting with my buddies at local sites I find myself buying another machine because I simply can't even hear the targets with my Explorer SE that they are diggin' with their White's 6000 Pro XL machines. Again I was frustrated because even with all the years experience I had on my Explorers I still couldn't hear those deeeeeeeeeep signals consistently if even at all. Well to get to the point I now have another machine coming to be in my arsenal of relic diggin' machines. There are many other machines that I would like to add to my collection as well but I'm not made of money so I'll have to do with what I have for now. Here's some that are still on my wish list......
Troy Shadow X5
Fisher F-75 LTD
Also would like a good water detector for recovering relics.

Well long story short..........find the machine that's right for you, consider it's weight, price and features and get used to it, experiment with different settings as this will help you in most situations you will encounter while out diggin'. Good luck diggin'!

I hope this sheds a little light for you.
Scott

 

[Canewrap]

I used to have one too, but it only hunts like that in good ground. Being in N. Bama, if I go south to hunt I need something with adjustable ground balance (which the Cibola does not have), if I go up into Tennessee then the Cibola would work fine. It really depends on the ground you're digging in.

 

[Canewrap]

ihuntrelics told the story real well. It really does depend on the kind of ground you're going to be hunting in, how much weight you can swing for hours at a time and what your budget is. I would strongly recommend that if this would be a first machine, not to get a TID machine as you'll lean too heavily on what the machine is telling you and you'll be walking over good targets. I've been doing this for a few years now and I use a Target ID (TID) machine to try and locate sites and when I locate a hot spot I'll go over to a non-TID and start digging pretty much everything.

Like ihuntrelics said, it largely depends on your needs. If I was just starting out again I would get a Tesoro Vaquero, as it will give the best pinpoint, will get targets at the 8"-9" average depth of where relics are found, in reasonable ground and its real lightweight and won't bust the budget. I need to add one of those back into my arsenal as I used to have an Eldorado (just like it, only a little earlier vintage) and like an idiot traded it because I hadn't been using it much while I experimented with other machines. The Eldorado is a great relic hunter as it will handle slightly bad ground better than almost anything I've used in the Tesoro lineup. Its too bad they don't make that model anymore.

 

[TennBob]

FOR ME IT'S THE WHITE'S MXT -300 ALL A ROUND METAL DETECTOR TURN - ON AND GO M/D


GOOG LUCK ! 1954 STREET ROD

 

[Jigflipper]

All that I would add is to master which ever machine you have. Several good machines have been mentioned here, all will find relics but none will if you are not over them. Research plus machine plus dedication equals relics. I do know that the pulse machines do well in mineralized dirt but the F75 ain't a bad machine there either. I run a F75 and a MXT but had to learn what they both were telling me before I started finding a lot. There is no magic relic machine, just folks that master which machine that they have. I personally know Scott and he is a master at the explorer. I'd listen to what he has to say because he helped get me going the right way more than he'll ever know. Thanks buddy. Flipper out

 

[digginwodd]

interesting topic and great answers, but i also am looking for a detector in my hot soil in central virginia. right now i have a tejon and my brother has a f75. Is troy ever going to put anything out, and why did they stop making the x5 if its so good? just wondering...........

 

[cdsmith46]

I talked with Troy himself about 3 weeks ago and there is another machine in the works right now. Bugs should be worked out soon and available in say 3 months...
Chuck Smith

 

[ihuntrelics!]

n/t