Children’s Metal Detectors – Everything you Need to Know!
One of the most common questions that the team here at Crawfords Metal Detectors are asked is, ‘what type of detector do I need for my child?’. This is of course a great question, and one that you might be surprised to hear that even experienced metal detectorists need help with. Why? Because as any parent knows, children are a unique type of customer that often change vastly in a short space of time. They grow quickly, their tastes can change like the weather and they also need to be constantly entertained and challenged. Buying for Children can often prove to be quite a challenge, and buying a metal detector for children is no exception.
At Crawfords we’ve kitted-out thousands of children with metal detecting equipment over the years, many of whom still detect to this day. And, we’re not too embarrassed to say that we’ve been doing it so long that even years later, we’ve provided metal detecting equipment to those children’s children. My word we’ve been doing this a long time!
Please read on for a quick reference guide and some case studies on what type of detector might suit your child, based on their age, size and personality. If you’re in a real rush, head straight to the summary for a condensed account of what we’d recommend!
*A little advice - please do not be tempted by cheap, unknown brands sold from some larger retailers online (Amazon, Ebay, etc). These stores are great, and you can buy reputable metal detectors there, but they are also saturated by terrible quality metal detectors, particularly aimed a children. They will be low cost, but they will more than likely deliver nowhere in the region of the performance they state, will not be manufactured well and could ultimately ruin the detecting experience. We only stock premium brands, and have compiled the following recommendations from our extensive knowledge and experience.*
Young & Small Children
Metal detecting is a physical activity, as the equipment needs to be held and moved by the detectorist (that’s the term for someone using a detector, a ‘detectorist’). Metal detectors have to be continually moved to be effective. It is the motion that sweeps the electro-magnetic field through the ground and highlights hidden objects, or as we call them, ‘targets’. Suffice to say that the most important factor about a detector for a child is that it can be handled by the child and swung from left to right as they walk. This means the detector should be light enough, and not too long for their size.
Younger or smaller children therefore have a reduced range of metal detectors available to them and for the smallest ones we would recommend one of the four Go-Find range of metal detectors, or Nokta Mini and Nokta Midi.
Go-Find Detectors
The Go Find range of metal detectors are built by Minelab and have been cleverly designed for a few different types of detectorist. They are collapsible and lightweight, making them ideal for children, the travel market, and for more experienced detectorists who want a more convenient 2nd detector.
The Go Find range has 4 machines: The Go Find 11, Go Find 22, Go Find 44 and Go Find 66.
The range increase in features and price as the model number increases, with the later models even coming with an App which allows a phone to display the detector information on its screen. This is ideal for the parent who wants to be involved with the action but be positioned in a more comfortable distant spot. The kids can detect while we lounge on a deck chair and keep an eye on their discoveries.
The latter models also come with pin point mode for helping to narrow in on the targets once detected, and they also have some neat little colour coded LED’s as another method of identifying treasure.
We will say that of all the children’s detectors, we feel the Go Find range has the best display. The screen icons are the most aesthetically pleasing and we’ve found it more engaging for children than the other machines we’ve tested. The icons flash depending on what target type the detector has found and the detectors have different modes and additional features depending on the model selected.
These detectors each weigh just over 1kg and can be easily held and operated by most children around the age of 5 years onwards. The Go Find range have an adjustable length and work from 4 X AA batteries. They work with wired headphones and have a 3.5mm headphone socket, but the built-in speaker can be utilised if headphones are not desired (we would only recommend this in more secluded places, so as not to be a nuisance).
You can see a field unboxing of the Go Find 11 by Scott and his 9-year-old son by clicking here. (Unboxing is introduced at 2mins)
This range is great for kids as they don’t have to delve into learning too much about conductivity or target tones at this stage, and can therefore concentrate more on the simpler, more mechanical technique of metal detecting.
You can pick the select your ideal Go Find detector here.
Bigger Kids, Teens and Enthusiasts
The next option for young detectorists, or even older ones, is the Vanquish range from Minelab. The Vanquish range isn’t specifically designed for children, they are used by adults who are new to metal detecting and even those who have detected for some time, but we often recommend them to teens and larger kids because they are easy-to-use, high-performance and most importantly great value for money. They are larger and heavier than the Go Find range and so we wouldn’t recommend for those younger than the age of around 9 or 10 years of age.
We still think despite the large array of metal detectors that the Vanquish series are the best value detectors in the world. Why? Multi-IQ and a heap of features, that’s why.
What is Multi-IQ?
Multi-IQ is a type of simultaneous multi-frequency, which means that the detector is utilising different frequencies at the same time when detecting. This helps the machine gather more information from the ground and the unidentified targets below. Having this additional information means the machine can more accurately decipher between different metals in the ground, and also even combat some difficulties in the terrain, such as the salt present when beach detecting. *Beach detecting is often seen as a good test for metal detectors as the wet, salty sand is conductive and can affect the performance of low-quality machines.
There are three machines in the Vanquish series, the 340, 440 and 540, and the later comes in a, ‘pro-pack’ option with a heap of extra accessories (additional search coil, Bluetooth headphones, rain cover, rechargeable batteries, charger, etc). All of them utilise the aforementioned Multi-IQ and all come, in a lightweight, collapsible,
Although the higher models in the Vanquish series are classed as quite high-performance metal detectors all of them could easily be used by children and the simplicity of all of the models, particularly the Vanquish 340 really makes them perfect for children.
We teamed up with a School in Sleaford, Lincolnshire to help them acquire 10 Vanquish 340 detectors, 10 Pro-find 15 pin pointers and 10 short spades so that they could begin their metal detecting club.
You can view the children using all of the Vanquish range on the links below.
Congratulations to the William Alvey school for their amazing metal detecting club! And also, to their staff and students who demonstrate constant dedication metal detecting and whom we loved spending time with whilst filming these vlogs.
The Adventurer
We all know about the kids and teens who just go that little bit further! The ones who don’t just splash in the puddles, but sit in them, covering themselves in water from head to toe. Well, if you have a particularly wild child who likes delving deep into streams and will want to detect in the waves of the beach then you’re going to need a more suitable, and waterproof detector.
The Go Find and Vanquish detector ranges both have a waterproof coil. This means that the search head and stem of the machine can be used underwater and only the control box needs to be kept dry. For most purposes this is fine, but if you have an adventurous child who wants to detecting in the shallows or streams then a fully waterproof detector might be for you. In this case we would recommend either the Nokta Mini Hoard or Nokta Midi Hoard which are both waterproof to a depth of 1 metre.
Both the Mini and Midi are lightweight machines with the Mini being under 800 grams and the Midi under 900 grams. Both machines have adjustable volume but the Midi benefits from three volume increments rather than two and also has the ability to adjust sensitivity whereas the mini does not.
Children tend to love the green colour of these machines too!
So, there you have it, three great options for your child’s metal detector. Which one you chose should depend upon your child.
We Suggest:
For smaller children grab: Go Find 11, Go Find 22, Go Find 44, Go Find 66, Nokta Mini or Nokta Midi
For a compact, travel detector select: Go Find 11, Go Find 22, Go Find 44 or Go Find 66
For the best performance/quality purchase: Vanquish 340, Vanquish 440, Vanquish 540 or Vanquish 540 Pro pack
For fully waterproof adventures grab: Nokta Mini or Nokta Midi
For the real enthusiast buy: Vanquish 340, Vanquish 440, Vanquish 540 or Vanquish 540 Pro pack
All of these great metal detectors are brilliant options, and you can find them all on our website!
One last thing…
We have another feel good story about children and metal detectors!
We would like to thank Miranda, a lovely detectorist who volunteers her time regularly to help small groups of children enjoy metal detecting. We caught up with Miranda and gave her some donations to help keep the club going.
The children once again use the Vanquish range here and are benefitting greatly from Miranda’s time and expertise. Thankyou Miranda!
Please call us now with any metal detecting queries on 01724 845608.
Crawfords
is proud to be an official UK Distributor for Minelab Metal Detectors. If you
have any more questions on Minelab machines and would like some expert advice
on which product is best for you – get in touch.
Team CMD