For A Blind Person?

E33

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Aug 24, 2022
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I’ve been detecting and an idea popped into my head..

My uncle is legally blind, but can see just enough to go on long walks, mow grass, run a snowblower, and things like that, but can’t tell dollar bills apart from a 5 to a 10 he has no idea..

He also places high value on antiques and even has an old farm site on his property with a bunch of old fieldstone foundations in ruins, which would be awesome to detect!

He really loves walking.. Goes walking everywhere all the time.. Even when visiting family he will go off and walk a mile each way to a store..

So bam, idea, let’s buy him a metal detector (and a pinpointer)!

I’m thinking something that works similarly to the Excalibur, with no screen and you rely on sound only for everything..
But maybe a bit less expensive eh? And he won’t be going in the water (highly doubt it)..

I’m thinking even something vintage would be great!

He also takes really good care of his stuff, always cleaning up his stuff, appreciates nice things..

Something:
Turn on and go without a whole bunch of settings (or take the knobs off like an excal)
Something that is VDI by sound, not adjustable preferred, and I think the best would be like a continuously higher frequency with higher VDI, rather than steps, but maybe something like the 50 tone in the Nox would work well.. But not a NOX because too many settings..
It doesn’t have to be anything with amazing performance, but I think he would appreciate a quality vintage machine..

We are thinking about just surprise buying him one as a present..

I used a detector to find his septic tank lids a while back and he still mentions how much that helped him.. So he even already has the thought in his head that metal detectors are useful..
Ideas?
 
It is a tough call....I mean....could he retrieve a coin once he dug for it?


Septic tank lids are pretty big....coins are small.


However......why not just a vanquish??


Or even one of the older makro racers with the tone ID and vibrating handle??


The Excalibur is heavy.....and the knobs are easily moved.


Heck a teknetics eurotek with a big target ID and tones

..not too hard on the pocket book either.
 
I am not familiar enough with vintage detectors to be capable of offering a recommendation, but I just wanted to comment that this is a really thoughtful gesture! I hope you find just the right machine for your uncle, and that he'll truly enjoy the hobby (as it sounds like he will). :thumbsup: Please keep us posted!

From what I recall, forum member Silversmith45 has an appreciation for vintage detectors; and Pryan67 has a detecting buddy who is also legally blind. Perhaps they will chime in with some suggestions. And of course there are many others on the forum who have valuable advice to share. I'm interested to learn what you all come up with!
 
If you want tones without a screen....how about a deus lite???

In full tone mode ....with no screen.....great set up.


Not sure of your budget but.....once you put it on the program you want.....it pretty much can save it every time you turn it on whammo....ready to go.


No screen and sound only and a kick butt little unit.


Vintage detectors.....well.....there are some built like a tank but most are heavier and a lot of times if something goes wrong......it is hard to find replacement parts or get it fixed
 
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Bigtim wrote what I was going to write about vintage detectors.

How about a Bounty Hunter Tracker IV? It's simple to use, only costs $150 new, and that price includes a pin pointer :)
 
There is one thing with the Tracker IV that I forgot to mention...

Its battery compartment is the worst, and most annoying by far, of any metal detector that I've used.
 
Thanks guys!

If you want tones without a screen....how about a deus lite???

In full tone mode ....with no screen.....great set up.


Not sure of your budget but.....once you put it on the program you want.....it pretty much can save it every time you turn it on whammo....ready to go.


No screen and sound only and a kick butt little unit.


Vintage detectors.....well.....there are some built like a tank but most are heavier and a lot of times if something goes wrong......it is hard to find replacement parts or get it fixed

I’ll look into that deus but that seems a bit complicated..
Pairing wireless headphones may be an issue..

Weight isn’t going to be as important. He is a shorter stocky football player type and is quite strong.. Does heavy lifting often..

I’m really thinking something with knobs on it he can feel..

Fisher 1265x, 1270, 1280x
 
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They come paired already when you buy a deus lite.


The old fishers were good units back in the day but remember......they are single tone units not multi tone the Ines you put up there.
 
So the minelab sovereign series detectors are pretty much the same thing as the excal but not waterproof?
 
My hunting buddy is 100% blind. He started with Tesoros about 14 years ago and upgraded a couple years ago to the Nox 800.

He's found more goodies than I can hope to.


It will take him awhile to get used to it, and to get his swing right, but it certainly CAN be done.

The settings on the Nox aren't that complex, and it's simple to count the number of presses of each button. He customizes his settings on his own, and understands the nox settings better than I do.
 
My hunting buddy is 100% blind. He started with Tesoros about 14 years ago and upgraded a couple years ago to the Nox 800.

He's found more goodies than I can hope to.


It will take him awhile to get used to it, and to get his swing right, but it certainly CAN be done.

The settings on the Nox aren't that complex, and it's simple to count the number of presses of each button. He customizes his settings on his own, and understands the nox settings better than I do.

That’s impressive!
 
Blind detectorist

I'm also legally blind. I have no peripheral vision at all. I'm unsure of your uncle's condition. You mentioned he has difficulty reading dollar bills. Is he able to read extra large print? I'm hoping to buy a legend one day - I'm on a budget - but the large display and vibrating handles and water proofing are the key reasons why I want it. Hope this helps.

regards,
 
He may be able to read one digit if it was the entire size of the screen..
He can read phone numbers written in bold permanent marker taking up an entire 8X11 paper.. One phone number per paper..
 
I'd suggest an analog beep n dig. Anything digital
and the settings could be hard to adjust and could get changed by accident. With knobs he can EASILY adjust sensitivity, ground balance, threshold and disc for his location and targets desired. Simple and fun.
 
I'd suggest an analog beep n dig. Anything digital
and the settings could be hard to adjust and could get changed by accident. With knobs he can EASILY adjust sensitivity, ground balance, threshold and disc for his location and targets desired. Simple and fun.

The weaker the eyes the stronger the other senses.. Go with the beep and dig and depend on the audio. Audio will provide more info than numbers.

g
 
Check out (see it my way) on YouTube. He's a blind metal detectorist and does well.



Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk
 
I have been giving this post some thoughts my suggestion is to get him a Simplex plus there is not much in the way of settings and once they are setup they are there when you boot the simplex up as it remembers what you were on when you shut it down, the simplex also has a vibrating grip feature just like the legend, the TIDs are fairly large also and the simplex plus is a great detector, basically turn on the vibrating grip and someone set things up for him and he would be able to turn on and start detecting
 
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