$500 limit pls advise

Pinch1Off

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Joined
Aug 11, 2020
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Location
SE Michigan
Husband is buying me a detector...newbie here. I already own Garrett pinpointer and Lesche tools, but we really need to stay at the $500 price point on the detector...I have read lots of threads but as a newbie I'm still confused. Most all my hunting will be yards, parks and freshwater beaches. I've looked at Garrett Apex, Vanquish 540, Simplex..I am going to be hunting for just stuff like lost jewelry, old tools, random stuff. I care about the following too:

-Not too heavy! Can't be over say 3ish lbs or close to.
-Not really complicated to use..I can learn many things but don't want to need hours just to get basic settings figured out.
-waterproof coil but don't need the control box waterproof

Thanks for any advice, or giving me new machines to look at!
 
Good choices, add the Teknetis Patriot to your list.
An old school top end detector that used to sell for $700 as the Fisher F70, now lowered to $399.
It can easily compete with the new whiz-bang detectors you listed, single frequency, not multi, and no wireless but still this one, and it's bigger brother the flagship F75, still has a massive following and has had for many years.
Runs on 4 AA batteries, it will sip power so you might think it would run almost forever in one set.
This is not entry level but a high end unit sold at a lower mid range price...still considered one of the most capable sleeper detectors on the market.
Light weight, perfectly balanced and near perfect ergonomic design.
Use it as a turn on and go detector out of the box, it will find most everything everywhere...grow into it some and if you want to you can learn to tweak it a bit as it can handle the most difficult and challenging situations you can think of..EMI, mineralization, insane trash, heavy iron, fresh water and even salt water beaches.
I have hunted mostly yards and a million parks in 3 states with mine, I have found tons of clad and silver plus other old coins, more silver rings and silver jewelry pieces than I can count and more gold than you would probably believe which paid for mine and a whole lot of extra coils many, many times over.
many accessory coils available in the future if you get into that and tons of help here from many members and in all the forums since so many used, and still use, these high end Fishers to this day.
Check out this thread, don't bother reading it unless you get one and don't worry about the massive technical stuff at all, as I said out of the box it works phenomenally well without much knowledge.
It excels at finding treasure no matter what settings you care to use from very simple to more complex.
Just look at all the pictures to get an idea of what it is capable of finding in those yards and parks you mentioned.
https://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=173474

The new high tech detectors can be great, I know because I also have a Nox, but I still use this one too because of the shocking amount of treasure mine has found for me over the years.
You don't give up such a capable tool that works so well.
These top end Fishers became legends for many reasons and they still are considered legends to this day.
 

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The Simplex despite its name is the most complicated and heaviest (with the stock 11"coil) of the three you mentioned which are all great choices. The Simplex reminds me of a fully waterproof, wireless, rechargeable battery Teknetics T2 that has a saltwater beach mode, a vibrating handle for silent search without headphones when it is submerged......lots more features, adjustments and just an incredible detector for the money. However, just because it feels the heaviest doesn't mean it would not work for you. It is very comfortable to use.

The Vanquish 340 and 440 could not be any easier to operate. They can go very deep like the Simplex, they have great and accurate target IDs down to the limit of detection, (the Simplex since it operates on one frequency, will up average targets meaning a US nickel will eventually read like a US dime and have a high tone instead of a medium tone the deeper it is). With the Multi IQ Vanquish, that US nickel (or gold ring) will continue to display numbers and have tones like a US nickel all the way down to 10" or more depending how your dirt is and what coil you use. The Vanquish 540 adds a few more features like bluetooth wireless audio which is great, a backlight for the screen and a few more adjustments. The Vanquish are great all around detectors for the money.

The ACE Apex, by all accounts is more of an ACE and less of an Apex at least as far as depth, target separation/recovery speed or the time it takes for a detector to stop detecting one target and start detecting an adjacent one and basically detecting in iron trash. I think it would be an excellent beginner detector, for people who really need Made In The USA and I am sure it would do just fine for many detecting situations. I haven't used one yet so I really don't know for sure.

I have owned and used the Vanquish and the Simplex. They are truly fantastic for the money they cost. They are very different detectors, especially the audio and the Vanquish being simultaneous multi frequency that is well engineered since Minelab has almost 20 years under their belt making simultaneous multi frequency detectors whereas Garret has just started with the APEX. The Simplex is a single frequency detector 12 kHz.
 
If you accidentally drop your Vanquish or Apex in the water at the beach, they are toast.

The Simplex is a fantastic choice for you. I loved mine.

Contact Craig at Show Me Treasure. He’s a sponsor here and give top notch advice and great prices.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Call Jeff with Quality Metal Detectors. Net he’s a sponsor here and get a Vanquish 540 pro pack
 
Im new to these boards as well, are the classifieds sometimes sketchy, like could be a damaged unit or something, or are they usually trustworthy?

The classifieds here are at your own risk, however they are typically trustworthy. A user must have 200 posts just to be able to place an ad. Then there is the feedback system. Looks like the person selling the 540 pro pack has feedback for 21 deals here on FMDF dating back to 2013, all of them positive ratings. And in my opinion the price looks good on that deal.
 
Im new to these boards as well, are the classifieds sometimes sketchy, like could be a damaged unit or something, or are they usually trustworthy?

I actually bought a used Vanquish 540 from another forum member about a month ago, and today I just received a used Garrett pinpointer from another member. Both good buys and super nice members.
 
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