Warning: My cheap metal detector almost cost me a big find

I saved up and bought a $200 detector for a dig in New Mexico last fall. On the second day, it started giving false signals over a promising area, making me waste hours digging up old cans. A guy on site let me try his $600 model, and it pinpointed a real artifact right away. Has anyone else had a budget tool totally let them down on a project?

3 comments

3 Comments

ryan_ellis1mo agoMost Upvoted

Ouch, that's the worst feeling. Been there with cheap gear.

xenagarcia1mo ago

Buy cheap gear, get cheap problems.

henry3151mo ago

Ever wonder if the gear is holding you back or if you just don't know how to use it yet? I borrowed a friend's pro camera once and my photos were still bad, because I didn't know what I was doing. Maybe that cheap detector was faulty, but sometimes you just hit its limits and need better tools to learn what you're missing.