What's in My Bag - My New Metal Detecting Setup - Featuring the XP Deus

Radio Shack Treasure Finder by Tandy. This is where the metal detecting addiction started.

I bought my first detector when I was 10 years old. It was orange, made of plastic, and came from Radio Shack. My first find was a sterling ring in my own gravel driveway. I was hooked!

For the last 5 years I've been swinging a Minelab X-Terra 705 with both a 9" Conc. 7.5kHz & 10” Ellipt. Double-D 18.75kHz coil. This machine has treated me very well and after selling a good portion of my gold jewelry finds; I had enough money to buy a new machine. It's a strange thing to always want the next best thing when the last has treated you so well, but people are weird.

I did have a few reasons for wanting a new detector. First, I feel like I've covered most of the locations I can with my machine and have had to walk away from several due to trash or heavy iron infestation. Those locations require a fast machine with adjustable reactivity and frequency. It also requires a detector that can adjust to a wide array or ground conditions. That had me looking at the CTX 3030 and the XP Deus.

My next requirement was something light and that could be easily put in a pack and then quickly deployed. I spend a lot of time hiking in the mountains and on rivers floating down long stretches through desert canyons. The Deus won that battle hands down, it's super light, wireless and folds down to about 24 inches.

My last requirement is the "cool factor". It's silly, but come on, your toys should be cool. Both the CTX and the XP Deus work for that, but in the US the Deus is the Euro sports car not many others have.

So, here is my new metal detecting setup:

XP Deus Detecor with a 9" DD coil 
WS4 Backphone Headphones
Wireless adapter for use with any headphones 
Lesche Sampson Pro-Series Shovel 
MLTOOLS® Hori-Hori Garden Digging Knife
Garrett Pro-Pointer AT Waterproof Pinpointer

I use the Lesche shovel when I'm in the backcountry. It chews through all sorts of material and is very efficient.  I use the Hori-Hori knife primarily in parks and permissions. The Hori is great for cutting small plugs or digging slits when you want to minimize impact. Check out "Fossicker's" video on digging in sensitive areas.

I retired my black Garrett pinpointer for the new AT Pro-pointer because it's waterproof...and orange! No real change in performance just added dunkability. On top of floating rivers I detect a lot of creeks and fishing holes, so I don't want to worry about water killing my pointer.

Sadly for me, I have a new detector and it's a big snow year. As I get out and test drive the new machine I will post on my trials, tribulations, and magnificent new finds!

Category: Beach Metal Detecting, Gold Nugget Detecting, Hori-Hori knife, Lesche Shovel, Metal Detecting Equipment, Metal Detector Comparisons, Minelab X-Terra 705, What's in my bag, XP Deus