What Detector

When your starting in any hobby it is a minefield of stuff to wade through. Knowing who is telling you something just to sell something or get hits on their channel etc is off putting. I have been running Scotland’s largest metal detecting club for many many years where we go out every week to dig and up to 100 people regularly. When I sell a machine to a person I usually see them at my dig and help them get started, NOT many IF any detector retailer offer that service in the UK. If I was selling you something that was not fit for purpose I do not think I would have many people at my digs. I only sell what I know works so you can start to find coins and artefacts right away.

The Garrett Ace range are genuinely the best you can get for your money when you are starting out. They are well built, find stuff with ease and great value for money. If its for a teenager they will do the job but for smaller kids down to the age of 5 the Nokta Mini & Midi Hoard are honestly the best on the market. They are waterproof, have great discrimination and a meter. Below I have put videos of detectors up to £600 so that you can get started in this hobby. If you are looking for anything more expensive please do not hesitate to contact me. I also offer training on any aspect of this hobby so please contact me to get started in this brilliantly fascinating hobby. Thanks Toddy Irvine

Kids Metal Detectors Below £120

Nokta Mini & Midi £94.99 & £114.99 are the only metal detector for kids up to around 10 years of age. They are lightweight and are not toys but real metal detectors. Anything else below this price is going to be very poor quality. Midi or Mini

Metal Detectors Under £200

Garrett 200i £169.99 is an updated Ace 150 and has been the best value entry level detector used by teenagers and adults for 15 years. Tried and tested by 1000s of detectorists you do not need to look any further for the best budget detector on the market under £200.

Detectors under £300

Once you get to £300 you start to get more choice and honestly compared to only a few years ago and what you get for less than £300 now would have cost you £800. So as you can see this is a great time to start in the hobby. I offer advice on metal detectors I stock and I stock them because I know they have an excellent reputation. I do not stock all makes and models.

Garrett Ace 300i Special £299.99 Firstly comes with around £160 worth of FREE accessories : Garrett AT Pinpointer, Coil & Control box cover and Garrett headphones. This is superb value for money and you also get a VERY capable metal detector that is proven to find the stuff in our soil. Many detectorists at my digs use these detectors.

Nokta Simplex Honestly shook up the detecting world priced at £279.99. WHY? well it is waterproof to 3 meters and comes with a built in long lasting lipo battery, back light, 11″ coil as standard with coil cover. This detector is updatable online and if it was not for the free accessories you get with the Garrett 300i then this would be the only choice in this price category but the free pinpointer etc make it a very hard choice.

£279.99 not dollars

Detectors Under £400

Garrett Ace 400i Special Firstly comes with around £160 worth of FREE accessories : Garrett AT Pinpointer, Coil & Control box cover and Garrett headphones. One of my best sellers and comes with a larger coil than the other Ace detectors and a deep detector with an iron audio feature. It has plenty of features you can see in the link.

Nokta Simplex WHP (With wireless headphones) Honestly shook up the detecting world priced at £369.99. WHY? well it is waterproof to 3 meters and comes with a built in long lasting lipo battery, back light, 11″ coil as standard with coil cover. With added Wireless bluetooth headphones the price is £369.99. Headphones are needed at all detecting events because it upsets other detectorists hearing lots of different beeps going off…ALSO when its windy it helps to hear the deeper softer signals.

Detectors under £500

There can be ONLY ONE ! at this price range. That is a BOLD statement and one that can be backed up.

Garrett Ace Apex £459

Why is this detector SPECIAL? well many reasons but the MAIN one is frequencies the Apex has selected all the best frequencies from detectors over the years and put them into the Apex. THE MAIN one is Multi Frequency & Multi Salt. Multi Frequency was previously only found on high end metal detectors that cost around £2000 and still do. Lower frequencies like 5kh find bigger thicker items like cartwheel pennies deeper than say 20kh which would find a thin gold ring deeper than 5kh. The Apex offers 5, 10, 15, 20. So you have it covered BUT what we also have is multi frequency covering all those frequencies and more at the same time which mean its offering maximum depth on all types of targets at the same time. The Multi salt mode is A MUST if you plan on doing WET salt beaches WHY because the salt water acts like a target on single frequency detectors so to combat this you have to add more discrimination and less sensitivity meaning less depth! Not with the multi salt mode again offering maximum sensitivity and depth on all parts of the beach. Listen to the designer explain.

Detectors under £600

The Garrett Ace Apex WHP £519 (With wireless headphones)

New Garrett MS3 Z-Lynk Wireless Headphones

  • Built-in Z-Lynk receiver. High-fidelity audio.
  • Volume control. Adjust signal levels to suit individual hearing requirements and to enhance weak signals.
  • Comfortable headband and ear cushions.
  • Folds down for easy storage.
  • USB charging cable included.
  • Speaker impedance: 8 ohms
  • Frequency response: 30-18,000 Hz.

XP ORX with X35 coil £599

This detector is like the XP Deus in style but was design specifically for gold nugget hunting but with the addition of the X35 coil it allows us to detect in frequencies below 30kh which suits relic hunting. This is one of the most sensitive detectors I have used and a powerful super light detector. Frequencies it can operate on 35 frequencies: 5 main frequencies with 7 wide offsets 3.7 to 4.4kHz, 7.1 to 8.4kHz, 10.5 to 12.4kHz, 15.2 to 17.8kHz, 23.5 to 27.7kHz. So as you can see it offers frequencies that suit most thicknesses and types of targets. If you are not looking to do wet sand this is a great choice.

I hope you enjoyed looking through them and my website and the list I have set out. These detectors are not all the detectors on the market but what are the most popular at my events and digs. They are popular for a reason. Kind Regards Toddy