Compadre, recommended for a newbie?

[Hombre]

Hi fellow Tesoro users

I have mentored several of my co-worker friends on choices and techniques with metal detectors. One friend bought a Bandido (original) on my recommendation, and I have been able to 'coach' him since we hunt together. I have been able to teach him to tune his Bandido, and how to properly dig targets. The newest guy that is wanting a detector lives out in the country and implied that he wants to detect at old farm houses. I'm thinking that the Compadre with it's ability to hunt in the rusty nails and iron would be a good choice for him, although I have never used a Compadre, I have read about it. I will not be able to mentor him and I figured that the simple Compadre would be just the ticket for him. So......all of you Compadre users, what are your thoughts on this detector? Like, how deep will it detect a ring or coin in the ground, not air, and how well does it separate ferrous from non/ferrous, etc. Thanks

 

[Monte]

Performance, if the ground conditions are favorable, will be very close to that of the original Bandido. maybe a little less depth, but with similar Discriminate set-up, quite similar performance.

Monte

 

[cammobunker]

I think the Compadre is one of the most overlooked, under-appreciated machines out there. The performance is all out of line with the cost. It does not have the complete line of bells, whistles, and nifty screens, but it is easy to learn. It's a great way to learn the basics of how a detector works, and it's light and handy enough to swing all day without fatigue. A Compadre, a good set of headphones and a good digging tool will find the "good stuff" once you learn it. The key for your newbie is to get him to put together a good test garden and practice in a known area so he can learn the machine.
Once you learn it's ins and outs, a Compadre will send you digging insanely deep targets you'd never expect.

 

[Monte]

I guess I should say the performance of the Compadre and original Bandido will be similar IF:

The Bandido uses:

 

[JB(MS)]

A Compadre is a good choice for someone new to the hobby. I've recommended them to local newbies every since Tesoro began selling them. Not only are they lightweight and inexpensive, they're simple to use, have darn good performance and I think they give a newbie a perspective about detecting that they wouldn't get if starting with a metered detector. Not only is the Compadre a good starter for newbies, it's exceptional for hunting iron laden sites. It takes a little time to learn to hear the good stuff mixed with iron, but it does work really well and it's also darn good on small gold jewelry. Tabdog is still posting gold he's finding with his Compadre on other forums. I've posted the story below before, but it's a good example of what the Compadre can do and how it convinced a skeptic.

When Tesoro first started selling the Compadres my main hunting buddy at the time, Jim, asked me what detector I would recommend for his 10 year old son. I had used the Amigo II briefly and it had worked well, so I suggested the Compadre as it's basically an Amigo II in a uMax configuration. Jim had me order one and it came on a Friday afternoon. We had a trip to a stagestop and inn site, built in 1834, scheduled for the next day and I suggested he give the Compadre a try there. He had hunted there twice with his Fisher and came up empty, but he thought the Compadre was a toy and was leery of using it. There had been a huge two story inn, a trading post,a couple of houses and a blacksmith shop there but by the early 1950's they had fallen down and the owner burned what was left of the buildings, then plowed what was left under, including all the old square nails and blacksmith shop iron, and made two garden spots. There was more iron in the ground there than anywhere I've hunted, every swing gave multiple iron hits and there was usually at least one rusty nail under the coil at all times, but I knew the Amigo II worked well in iron and convinced him to try the Compadre.

The first thing he found, less than 10 minutes after we got there, was an 1831 dime and he went on to find a few old buttons and assorted pieces of copper, brass and lead. We went back the next weekend and the first signal he got was a 1776 half reale, then more buttons, bullets, lead, brass and copper. On later hunts he found four or five indian head pennies, a half dime, a shield nickel, two or three early V nickels and also a couple of early Barber dimes and quarters with the Compadre. Jim still uses the Compadre as his main detector. It looks like it's been in a train wreck but he's found enough coins and jewelry to pay for probably 10, maybe 20, detectors with it, and his son is in college and still hasn't got to use it. Photo shows his coin finds from the first two hunts, maybe four hours total time, at the stagestop site. Not too shabby considering it was the first and second times Jim used the Compadre.
[attachment 155119 Compadre.jpg]

 

[fowlercharles]

that I almost always rope mine off and shoulder it, or if I'm packing in to a place I just cram it in the pack and it is always there for those places you always find that are just a bit more naily and you need a backup machine that is known for having a nose for sniffing out the goodies in those irony situations.

 

[Hombre]

Thanks for your posts Guys

I am always in awe of the experienced posters on this forum. I had a good idea how the Compadre would work in the nails and iron junk, I'll recommend this little powerhouse to my friend and also have him read this thread. Thanks again!

Randy

 

[tab-nabit]

Several times I walked by the Compadre when I was visiting a local dealer. I didn't give it any thought all those time because of it's price and how it looked (toy like compared to other detectors). During a visit, a customer was returning a rental detector, a Compadre, and was successful find his ring he was after. I was like, hummmm... that little thing worked because the ring being on the surface and probably getting the coil scrubbed on it gave an indication like it might with other metals - well the dealer rents out several models but was telling me that the Compare is a good little detector and good for someone who don't need to get confused with a bunch of bells and whistles.
I started reading a little about it, including here at Findmall, and was like "What!.... can that little thing be that good?".
Well next trip to the dealer for accessories, and that included a Compadre. I don't know what to say, but find it's a sleeper at a very affordable price that works well and is quality built with a warranty not to sneeze at.
Out of all the detectors I have, it's doesn't collect dust. It is such a simplistic fun detector, both the Compadre and Silver.
For what I use it for, I don't feel all handicap with it. I just crack a little smirk every time that little booger sniffs out a nice find.