'V' .. Welcome to a terrific outdoor sport. I especially enjoy seeing more women involved because it definitely isn't, and shouldn't be, a guy-only activity. There use to be many more females involved back in the '70s and into the mid-to-late '90s but I have seen that number decline over the past two decades. Keep enjoying this Hobby and do what you can to recruit more of the female gender.
Call Me V said:
I haven't been hunting for long, just since last August. I started with the Garrett Ace 300 just to see how much I actually enjoyed it. I quickly moved up to the AT Pro after discovering I did actually enjoy metal detecting.
I think that was a smart decision to move up to a more featured and better-performing model. Remember, too, that search coil selection is an important consideration.
Call Me V said:
I got the Garrett line because that's what my grandfather was using and I wanted to hunt with him. And I have to say that I really like it. I can't list out a dozen reasons why except that I'm used to it.
Wanting to join your grandfather is a grand idea. I wish more of my grandkids, guys or gals, would find an interest and join me in having fun. But while it is a good idea to join him in this sport, it might not have been the best idea to pick the same brand detector he uses.
It's always a good idea to have two or three detectors in your own outfit than can complement each other because there is no such thing as a 'perfect' detector. Glad to hear you like the AT Pro, however while I liked the first release that I evaluated, they fell a little short on what I wanted in the way of comfort and balance as well as in-the-field performance for my needs.
Call Me V said:
Five months, 1400+ coins, and 13 rings later it's worked great for me. Except...
Commendable results, especially if you live in Montana. It's the only state in the western half of the USA that I have never visited and I have a mental picture of it being more wide-open and not that populated so if you're just Coin Hunting, then you must reside in or close to a bigger city.
Call Me V said:
Except that I'm not a big girl, and I have tiny wrists. After about two hours of MD'ing I'm done. My wrists hurts too much from holding it and swinging it back and forth.
I'm a bit more 'aged' than you but my health limitations have me paying more attention to a detector's weight and balance since about a decade before you were born. I have trimmed all awkward and fatiguing units from my Detector Outfit, and when I evaluate any make or model I am very attentive to the fatigue factor they might cause. That's one of the reasons the Garret AT 'series' are not in my detector group. I don't care for the top-heavy feel, and prefer a more comfortable search coil for my needs.
Call Me V said:
I'm wondering if something similar like the Nox600 wouldn't be a better machine for me. I'd like to go out longer, and I know my friend I hunt with would like me out for longer with him.
Are other machines in a similar price range easier on the wrists? Is it weight, balance, or something else?
What detector and coil does he use? Have you tried it to see if it might have a better 'fit' and cause less fatigue?
Fatigue and pain are generally related to:
• Using a detector that is misbalanced, such as having a larger or heavier search coil, or a control housing that is too heavy and located on top of the detector package to cause a top-heavy of even a 'floppy' feel.
• Using a detector that, overall, is simply over-weight.
• Extending the rod too long to try and position the search coil way out in front of you with the thought that a broader, arcing sweep will cover more ground and help find more targets. That results in a terrible imbalance and feel to the package and easily causes more fatigue in the hand/wrist/arm as well as shoulder and neck.
• Using a too-broad side-to-side sweep as that induces the body to move faster and the brisker sweep motion can easily cause wear-and-tear on some body parts.
So, what can be done to help eliminate some of your fatigue?
1.. Make sure you have the most comfortable grip-to-arm cup distance to feel the best.
2.. Use a smaller-size search coil. The 5X8 DD open-frame coil Garrett offers is better than the stock AT Pro coil, although I personally prefer a smaller coil for most hunting applications.
3.. A generally recognized 'proper' rod length should have the search coil positioned about 12" to 18" in front of your leading toe and not extended way out there.
4.. Take your time. Most often I am searching with a slow-and-methodical sweep speed, overlapping, and my side-to-side sweep length is usually about 24" to 30". In some wide-open areas I might use up to a 48 Inch / 4 Ft. reach from one side to the other, but it is generally 30"-36" in more open locaions. It keeps me in control rather than fighting with what momentum causes, thus less fatigue.
Call Me V said:
As far as hunting style, I'm not a relic hunter and I typically don't dig targets deeper than 6", although I have chased good sounds to 8", but I don't like going that deep. I'm just kind of content hitting coins and rings on the surface or down to 6".
It seems like Montana ought to have some good Relic Hunting opportunities, but apparently it is surrendering coins quite well as you have shown from your 5 months into this hobby. As a Coin Hunter you are aware that the bulk of the coins we can find are usually going to be located from surface to ±4" and an occasional coin down to the deeper 5" to 6" depths. Making recoveries in that range is usually easy-to-do, and less messy in well manicured areas. Most decent detectors can handle that task.
Serous Relic Hunting usually calls for a detector that can handle a dense iron nail contaminated site well, and the AT series hasn't proven that to me, but they can Coin Hunt OK. I assign all of my detectors into two general use groups:
Work machines: Which are those best suited for unmasking good non-ferrous targets in a dense nail and iron contaminated site when Relic Hunting. These models can excel above most others on the market with comparable-size search coils. Most can also be used for day-to-day Coin Hunting.
Play machines: While some of these can also hold their own when I take on serious Relic Hunting sites, these are usually models that are very light-weight and comfortable, have ample adjustment features w/o being complex, and they are my favorite Coin Hunting detectors.
I've read the suggestions to this point and so far I am in agreement with a lot of the suggestions except two. I am not an Equinox fan because those I have used that belonged to some friends who
HAD them, they didn't work well for many test scenarios I put them through. If some folks like them, or like the AT Pro or any other detectors and I don't, well, that's fine because we all have our own likes and dislikes and opinions.
Years ago when they first came out with a contraption to sling up a detector to ease the wear-and-tear I tried one. Never would buy it, and those I have checked out since haven't appealed to me, either. I've enjoyed this great sport a while, and wrapping up my 54th year I don't think encumbering myself with some contraption is going to add to my enjoyment.
Out of the replies so far, however, I am in agreement with Jeff. I own six or seven excellent-performing Relic Hunting detectors for terrible ferrous debris sites that can also work great for Coin Hunting. But I also have six or seven units that are mainly my 'Play' machines that are all very light weight, comfortable, and have been working wonderfully at all the typical urban Coin Hunting locations.
Those include my three Tesoro's, which you might not like since you've only been using Tone ID and visual Target ID models. But this year I also bought two used but 'as-new' condition Teknetics Omega 8000's and a new Fisher F44. I keep one Omega 8K at-the-ready with a 7" Concentric coil mounted and the other 8K sports a small 5" DD coil. Handy for tight spaces and especially for hunting in and around dense trash, dealing with building rubble from a renovation tear-down, or searching near metal fences or playground structures.
My F44 also keeps a light-and-handy 7" Concentric coil mounted and is now my most-used Coin Hunting model. Simple, very Functional, and it provides ample Performance for almost any typical coin environment. I also have an additional 5" DD for the F44 for times it is needed.
Just some experienced opinions. Questions? You can ask them here or shoot me an e-mail.
Then, too, just work with your AT Pro and see if you can get comfortable with it. Smaller-size search coils are really a lot better performers than many think. I wish manufacturers ...
ALL of them ... would get away from offering a full line of detectors with an over-size search coils as standard equipment.
Monte