Metal detectors.

>where do I start ?

At this point... I advise you not to. Otherwise you may well end up wasting money (lots of it!) on something unsuited to what you wish to do.

My advice is that you spend some time (probably quite a lot of it) learning about gold prospecting before you buy any kit beyond a $10 pan - and the pan would be an excellent place to start.

It's not the detector which finds the gold - it's the man waving it.

Mike Harding

Vince have a look at the following thread.

ThreadID: 49106

Peter

Vince ...........

We all started " not knowing where to start," so to speak.

I'm a 'relative' newchum as well .............. looked at all the "stuff" but ended up getting the older MineLab Model SD2000 detector [two, actually !!] one @ $1250 and one @ $1380, both originally purchased on the same day, in WA and VIC. How about that ?? Got the original receipts for $5,200 and $4,950 [SALE PRICE !!].

Current models are STILL around that price ......... to me, paying that much is a bit like buying the old famous Aston Martin DB4 to learn to drive in!! [ James Bond drove one ...........!!]

AND, lest I offend ......... that's NOT knocking the latest models or those who can afford them .....
iffen I coulda bought a MineLab 4000 I woulda ..........

I'm having great fun with the SD2000 and I get in heaps of camping My thinking was guided by me bro, who detects for a living. Learn all the basics on the SD2000, find lots of gold and then get the then affordable GPX4000.

On account, there's not just the detector ......... there is a grand lot of other "STUFF", depending on how keen you become, that you will need/want/must have ::::::

Like picks, shovels,extra batteries, good hiking boots [sans metal toe-caps] 4WD quad, GPS andEPIRB,good compass for when they both fail, lots of barley sugar to keep up your energy [them hills get tiring at the end of the day], satellite phone for calling Mum, hat with corks on it, large water bottle for leaving back at the camp, guitar for playing mournful songs around the campfire when all you've found after 6 hours of hard yakka was barbed wire and boot-tacks and ring-pulls and lead projectiles and shell casings and old pick-axe heads and etc. etc. ......... plus large amounts of alcohol to drown your sorrows 'cause a sleazy dingo impregnated your dog while you were asleep .... the list just goes on and on !!

But the next hole you dig JUST MIGHT be your retirement nugget : what would you pay for that opportunity ???

Getting a MENTOR should be a prime requisite for new prospectors and he/she/they can guide you to the best equipment most suited to your needs.

And the best of AUssie luck to you .....

Vince and all the others,

Best advice is - don't buy a metal detector - ever, at all, never.

If you do, you'll find a nugget (eventually), then you'll want to find more and then more,,,,,,,then it takes over your life. All you'll talk about is gold, every holiday will be in a goldfield somewhere. You'll spend mpore money on more gadgets to find gold than you'll ever find in gold to pay for 'em.

I know,,,,,,,,,,,,,I've been doing it for for 20 odd years!! But I've found heaps of gold ;)

Bilbo - "The golden hobbit"