Which metal detector do you use and why?

[banny]

Yeah I only use the VDI as a rough guide, but it does help give you a idea of what size and metal, but as you say its never 100% and often the same items come up with different numbers.
I don't generally use the MXT in all metals mode (trigger forward?), as I have found that in heavily mineralized rock/soil it makes too much background noise. I believe you get more sensitive readings (deeper) in all metal mode.
Here in Hong Kong the hillside is very hard and ww2 item are generally only an inch or two down, I only use "all metal" mode if I'm searching a trench or foxhole which has silted up.

[88irocarmy]

Another White's XLT user here. It has been great for the last 3 years. It has found everything from relics to ear rings. Has only been in for repair once. Although, they are no longer producing the E-Series XLT, White's has a great line up. I will not claim the the XLT is the deepest and best relic machine....but it has paid for it self over and over again. Lastly, for beginners the ACE 250 is hard to beat. My son has used it and found a 200 year old coin in his first 5 minutes. On the White's models in the all metal mode, they do detect very deep targets.
Now if you want a serious machine =$$$ OKM metal detectors, gold detectors & geophysical phase readers - OKM Metal Detectors

[Zeller]

I started with the hobby with a C-scope 1220xdp. A powerful md but unfortunately bulky and heavy. Then I bought a Fischer 1236x2 and finally in 2006 a Teknetics T2.
T2 has his fans and those who hate it. It is a very sensible machine but it's a killer for small objects. I like to hunt places where other detectorists have intensively searched and still I can find something : small tags, buttons, etc.
It is easily disturbed by electrosmog: even a mobile phone in your pocket can drive it nuts.
However, I learnt to know it very well and I wouldn't change it for other MDs.

[teginder81]

I use a Garrett AT Pro and love it. Pretty much can go anywhere including up to 10 ft of water. It has standard and pro modes and good instructions and a bunch of video tutorials.

[goldfinder]

Have you ever have to dig 1,20 meter or an object using your XIN JIAN GC1023?
The last years there are alot of detectors been made in China (brands like Blackbull, Blacknight, Xin Jian ect), often for incredible prices, and they all say their products will find objects beyond depths any other detector will go. The truth is they are able to detect an oil drum just under the surface. These detectors hardly discriminate iron and are not sensitive enough to detect a coin or medal deeper than 10 cm. No detctor on earth, not even the 42.000 euro ground radar can detect a small coin deeper than 50 cm. However, if you use a detector like the XIN JIAN GC1023 on a battlefield you will find loads of metal and iron bits and pieces lying just on or under the surface that an other detector will not pick up, as they normaly discriminate small iron (well I don't dig small rusty iron).
I you are looking or a cheap detector that will preform better on military than other detectors in its price range Blisstool is a good choice. They are made in Bulgary by the same factory that makes the large SEF coils, and cost just under 400 euros. But I wouldn't swap my Whites XLT for 10 Blisstools.

i had to join this forum just to educate you a little sir .I am sick to the hind legs of guys like you who think they know everything about detecting and are qualified to declare a machine useless without ever having seen one or picked one up . The gc-1023 is a fantastic budget machine that will match almost anything out there upto 8" ,its recovery speed is a match for a fisher f75 and descrimination is excellent . The blackbull you mention is a gc-1023 with a 12" coil which i have been struggling to get feedback for because its mostly popular in italy,but sure it will be 3" deeper but loosing some separation abillity. Both have been around for a decade and found many millions of coins worldwide. can they detect 1.2 metres ,well a oil drum would be no problem for any machine at that depth in all metal ,but we dont hunt oil drums do we . I have read gold century site and they say 20cm for qtr which is spot on.if any seller advertised it as capable of 1.2mtr detection range it didnt say on coins ,so dont imply they did.Most of what we find is shallow and what the gc-1023 sacrifices with its 8" coil in depth it more than makes up for in clean disc and target separation. Here is a link to the gc-1023 that shows its pedigree is way beyond what you declared ,it might be built a bit cheaply but it performs great.
Gold Century imported detectors?
i think you owe the guy a appology,and stop insulting chinese goods ,most of what you use has chinese components in it ,inc whatever machines you tote. EXAMPLE A TEKNETICS T2 SAYS MADE IN USA ON BOX ,Big lie we all swallow ,every component is produced in china .the assembled control boxes ,stems ,coils ,etc get shipped to states . Then some cheap labour mexican immigrant spends ten minutes doing minimal assembly and packing in box and slapping MADE IN EL-PASO USA stickers and security holographic stickers ,hey presto a american product (not),using american labour (chinese & mexican,lol) .
Chinese are very good hard working people who deserve more respect than most of us give..

[lew07]

Wow what a first post!!!!!!!

[goldfinder]

it will probably be my last ,lol. i just cant believe the poor guy with the gc-1023 ignored him. Maybe this being a war-relics site the anti chinese sentiment runs high and he knew he would make enemies standing his ground . Regardless of who was rude to who,the info Feuerbach dished out was totally inaccurate. The chinese learn quickly ,a few years back my daughter brought a chinese mobile phone very cheap ,wasnt quite as good as she hoped .She recently brought a more recent one and she loves it saying its a good as her friends well known phones. Thats my girl ,finding her own way ,not just following the crowd.
same goes for detectors yes they have produced some cheap entry level rubbish ,but there are some jewels in amongst them like the gc-1023 . And the teknetics t2 clones from china are almost perfect probably because they come off same production line then get badged with different name .you can get 4 boosted t2se clones shipped for the price of one shop/dealer sourced one. In cache mode those t2se machines go real deep.

[goldfinder]

oops .just noticed it says banned by feuerbach's post ,so not much chance of him seeing post . Nice to see the young lad has added many posts since 2010 and hopefully has progressed to a deep machine .Wonder if he has hung onto the gc-1023 or did it break?

[MAP]

Mr. Goldfinder,

Welcome to WRF. Don't know MD from a hole in the wall but I do know this...

There is no "Anti" anything here at WRF with the exception of Neo-Nazi and such

We pride ourselves on being a global community with members from all countries...yes..even China.

So while I respect your views on technical aspects of the hobby, I just needed to be clear as to who we are and what we are not. Being the son of an immigrant and married to an immigrant (oh and yes...she is Chinese ) I would not stay here if this was not true.

Stick around. Lots of great threads on medal detecting and battle field archaeology that you may find interesting.

[goldfinder]

Mr. Goldfinder,

Welcome to WRF. Don't know MD from a hole in the wall but I do know this...

There is no "Anti" anything here at WRF with the exception of Neo-Nazi and such

We pride ourselves on being a global community with members from all countries...yes..even China.

So while I respect your views on technical aspects of the hobby, I just needed to be clear as to who we are and what we are not. Being the son of an immigrant and married to an immigrant (oh and yes...she is Chinese ) I would not stay here if this was not true.

Stick around. Lots of great threads on medal detecting and battle field archaeology that you may find interesting.

Hi MAP
Thanks for the welcome and putting me right as to what kind of people use the site.
Sadly on metal detecting sites ,there is a anti-chinese product sentiment ,even though top manufacturers use china to produce thier superior product .
I was amazed at the ww1 german helmets harvest found and sold off .didnt realize iron was where the real money was.