For many people metal detecting is the perfect hobby. It’s a way to escape from the daily stress and just wander around a specific place with one goal – to find some hidden metallic objects. And while most of these things could be as simple as a metal spoon, copper wire or scrap metal, you might also be lucky to find coins or even some more valuable items of silver and gold. If you’re into metal detecting and want to take your hobby to the next level by improving your gear, you should consider the idea of investing in a pointer.
What Is a Pinpointer?
A pointer, also known as a pinpointer, is an essential tool for digging metal. This tool uses a mixture of beeps and vibrations that are designed to give you the exact pinpoint location of the metal object that you have previously found with your main metal detector. According to expert hobbyists who are after gold and silver objects, a pinpointer for metal detecting is the second most important piece of gear alongside the main metal detector.
With a metal detecting tool of this kind, you’ll literally eliminate the guesswork and reduce the time you spend trying to precisely locate a treasure. Given the fact that most of these metal objects are hidden deep in the sand, dirt or mud, a detecting tool such as this will help you find them faster and easier. While the choice for these tools is pretty huge these days, however, there are a few brands and models that are considered worth investing in.
Minelab Pinpointers
Minelab is one of the best and world-renowned brands in the metal detection field. It’s present on the market since 1985 when they introduced their first metal detector, the Goldseekers 15000 model, and has grown a lot over the years. Each and every product coming from this brand is rugged and durable made with the latest hard-held metal technology.
All of them meet the ISO 9001 Certificate and are made to military-grade standards, so it isn’t strange that military forces around the world trust Minelab detectors and pointers. In simple words, this brand is an international leader in innovative technology solutions with customers in more than 150 countries around the world. A high-precision Minelab pointer is fast, sturdy and effective in many environments. Given the fact that this is a serious brand, you can expect nothing less than reduced time for locating the target, as well as reduced frustration and mess.
What Is the Best Minelab Pointer?
When in the search of a good Minelab pointer for your detecting adventures, you should certainly consider the brand’s Pro Find Series of pinpointers consisting of Pro Find 15, Pro Find 20 and Pro Find 35 out of which the latter is considered the most popular. Each of them has a holster, audio indication, high-visibility colouring, and a handy alarm that alerts you when the pointer is active or inactive for a certain period.
According to the manufacturer, the Minelab Pro Find 15 and 20 are waterproof up to 1,5 metres while the Pro Find 35 is waterproof up to 3 metres. The Pro Find 20 and 35 models have audio and vibration features which makes it easy to know when the pointer is detecting something in the water, for instance. Regarding the batteries of these metal pointer series, all of them use 9V batteries for their power source.
The thing that makes the Pro Find 35 model better than the rest is the fact that it comes with a lanyard (perfect for detecting metal in water) and an LED light which allows you to see the target even in the darkest place. This model also has adjustable sensitivity and a ‘FERROUS TONE ID’ which allows you to identify ferrous junk from nonferrous treasure.
Unlike the Pro Find 15 and 20 models which don’t work immediately after you turn them on, the Pro Find 35 is ready to use as soon as you turn it on. Still, if you’re after more depth than what these models offer, the company’s top-notch Pro Find 40 is impressive with its additional 10% more depth than the 35 counterpart, and five levels of adjustable sensitivity.
Garrett Pinpointers
Garrett is a company that was founded in 1964 in Garland, Texas. The journey of Garrett started humbly from the owners’ home garage but shortly after this it turned into a global business success. Nowadays, its metal detectors are one of the most commonly used ones because of their efficiency, accuracy and quality.
This company has three pinpointer options – the Garrett Pro Pointer II, Pro Pointer AT and the Pro-Pointer AT with Z-Lynk wireless. The first model is considered a great and easy-to-use pointer that comes with easy-to-find large buttons designed to seamlessly turn on and off. Once you turn it on you are ready to use it, which is the same with the other two Garrett Pro Pointer models.
Each of them uses 9V batteries and has a loop on the end designed to attach a lanyard. They also have a ruler on the side to gauge depth and a scraping blade located into the sensor end of the pointer to scrape the dirt away from the found object. All of them have a lost Pro Pointer function which allows them to start chirping after 5 minutes of inactivity.
They also have an automatic off function that is designed to turn the detector and a handy LED light that allows you to see targets in the dark or in a deep dark plug. The main difference between the Pro-Pointer II and the AT series is that the latter are fully submersible up to 6m and the Pro-Pointer II is only water-resistant which allows for use only under rainy and wet weather conditions. The Pro-Pointer AT and the Pro-Pointer AT with Z-Lynk are quite similar with one main difference – the Z-Lynk model allows you to connect it to the Garrett Z-Lynk wireless headphone system.
