Which One? Minelab E-TRAC, Garrett AT Gold, or The XP Deus?

If you know me and followed some of my adventures from my YouTube channel, you know I am a big fan of the Garrett AT Pro. I've been using it now for a couple of years with no complaints. Well maybe a few complaints in the wet sand but for the most part the AT Pro has been rock solid and I would still recommend it to anyone for both land and "fresh"water use. I even considered the AT Gold at one point as well but I couldn't see myself buying something very similar to the AT Pro again.

However, I've been looking for a new machine to try and the Minelab E-TRAC caught my attention earlier last year. I've read a lot good reviews about and talked to some folks who love the machine so my mind was almost made up. Almost!

Minelab's E-TRAC

Then during a hunt in upstate PA this past fall (2015), I got my butt kicked by a completely different machine that totally blew me away. The area we were hunting had a lot of iron in the ground and the AT Pro had no issues telling me there was iron in the ground! In fact, it was ridiculously hot with iron to the point it gave me a headache. On the other hand, my newly introduced friend from Ohio (Ted) brought his XP Deus with him and I watched him as he dug 3 coins that day from areas I had already hunted and hunted HARD! with the AT Pro. At the end of the day, he ended up digging a V nickel right next to a hole that I had dug earlier that day but all I got was iron scrap. There was just so much iron that I couldn't hear what he was hearing. The Deus was able to cut through the iron signals enough to hear that high pitch that we all love to hear but with amazing separation.

On the positive side, I did walk away with a bunch of really nice axe heads and so did Ted but he also found a large cent, V nickel, and an Indian head penny while his friend Lonnie (also using the AT Pro) and myself didn't find any coins. (If you want to see the video of our hunt here is the link). 

XP Deus

Santa, Garretts's Ace 150, and One Happy Treasure Hunter

I had to share this story because I was given the exclusive opportunity to help Santa Claus come up with a special gift for a little girl this past Christmas.

Santa informed that a little girl named Mags had to leave her friends behind because her Dad, a U.S. Marine, recently got orders to Virgina and her family had to relocate all the way across the country from California. The move was apparently hard on the kids for obvious reasons. As a 9 year Air Force veteran, I know. Moves like that are always hard on the kids. But they all got through it and they are now settled into their new home on the east coast. 

Since the move, Mags had been expressing to her parents about her desire to become a treasure hunter. Of course, her desire reached Santa somehow and with so many metal detectors to choose from these days, Santa decided to reach out for help and contacted me! (MentalMetal314) Apparently, Santa was a big fan my YouTube Channel and informed me that his elves would be contacting me via text message for some ideas of what kind of metal detector I could recommend for Mags.

A couple of days later, Santa was right. I received a strange text message from a number I did not recognize 66-784-7053 asking me for my recommendations for a good metal detector. This had to be the elves I thought! Of course, I told them that you can't go wrong with a Garrett! So I recommended the Ace 150. They thanked me and that was last I heard from them.  

A few weeks later, Christmas day arrived and apparently Mags woke up to a brand new Garrett Ace 150. Luckily, the recent warm weather provided Mags the opportunity to try out her new Ace and I can happily report that she recently found her first nickel!

Here she is with her first nickel in hand. Nice job Mags!

Mags with her first nickel!

 According to her Mom, "Mags is psyched!" and you can find Mags and her brother Finn wandering the miles and miles of trails close to their home looking for treasure in Virgina.

A big thanks to her dad Rob for serving our country! But most of all, thank you Santa for making one little girl a very happy treasure hunter in 2016!

-mm314