Tesoro Vaquero, or Outlaw?

[SavageHunter]

I am thinking about including a Tesoro to my arsenal of metal detecting tools. I currently use a Minelab Etrac and Garrett AT Pro, but I am intrigued by the Tesoro line up and the reviews I

 

[dirt doctor]

Vaquero .

 

[jld66]

vaquero

 

[Canewrap]

For more mineralized ground the Outlaw would probably be better, since it's a 10khz machine and the Vaquero is higher frequency. I had an Eldorado that was 10khz and I cold hit targets a little deeper in the red clay, we call dirt, than a Whites MXT (15khz). In fact, I'm in the process of buying an Eldorado to the replace the one I sold off a few years ago, for relic hunting. When you've identified a site, while relic hunting, you pretty much need to dig everything anyway. Since you said you have an Etrac already, I'm wondering why you want a Tesoro. You probably will find it hard to bond with a non TID machine if you're really used to a machine like the Etrac. Not trying to talk you out of it, but your hunting style and needs are ideal for what you already have and a Tesoro is going to have you digging a lot more trash until you've spent enough time to hear the nuanced differences. There are no tones, just a crackling, breakup of the signal over bad targets and nails will fool you a lot in low discrimination - needed for the depth you mentioned.

 

[ToneTime]

Vaquero, but also look at Tejon, it does surprisingly well as a deep coin getter.

 

[Canewrap]

My experience is that the Tejon loses depth in bad ground. I'm sure I could make up for it some by using a DD coil, but it still loses depth. I have a Tejon, but haven't bothered to buy a DD coil, just go over to another machine with a 7.5khz coil when the ground is too iffy.

 

[Ptrevino97]

I can hit a dime at 9 inches in all metal with my vaquero. And that freshly buried in high mineralized soil with the 5 in widescan coil.

 

[dan b]

Vaquero.

 

[kaolinwasher]

If you are hunting in disc, in mineralized ground , "" well if your minelabe is hitting coins that deep I would recommend the vaquero of the two , but i would put a DD coil on it . the all metal could handle the ground well but disq would be another , to badd you can't test one out in your soil ,

 

[SavageHunter]

Thanks for all of your replies! The Vaquero is the direction I

 

[kaolinwasher]

I am an advocate of having at least three different detectors, seems to me each detector has a gift for doing certain things and working better in certain situations, I totally understand, I love my mirage P,I for searching ball fields for rings, i never dig a 22 shell past 1" but it will still hit a gold ring past 6" the vaquero will hit the 22 shells @ 3" to 6" and i don't have time to dig the small stuff , but then take the farm field , Now thats when i bring out the VAQ its deep and will not miss anything as my P,I is a bit laking on depth for the job .

 

[oneguy]

but one that is good enough that I could also use when I feel like a change.

You'll love the weight, the balance, less noise of the Tesoros'. You might even find them somewhat relaxing to use if you are not on that super serious silver quest and just want to get out and dig a little. They are a well made machine with excellant CS. That etrac is one of the best silver sniffers made but they are work both physically and mentally draining sorting out all that info being pounded into your ears along with the #'s,etc.....imo. I love the ET and I'm usually in serious silver mode and have done very well with it so it's my go-to machine 100% now. The other day I'd left my battery pack at home on the charger so when I got to my hunt site I grabbed the Golden Sabre from behind the seat of the PU to use and it was a pleasure to listen to and swing for a change.....

PS....Should you decide on a Tejon, I got a damn near new one 4S........

 

[tater-tots]

I like my Tejon. I've found stuff awfully deep. Large objects, 10 inches in diameter, at around 18 inches. It is very sensitive and can become a headache in trashy areas but, it also picks up the smallest sliver of metal out there.

I do find that when I take her to the beach with black sand, it is almost impossible to use. There are oft other places where the ground mineralization is too much and you can't accurately search the area.

 

[jld66]

there is a youtube video. "vaquero vs etrac" its pretty good if you have not seen it already.

 

[SavageHunter]

there is a youtube video. "vaquero vs etrac" its pretty good if you have not seen it already.

Yes, I did see it. If we're talking about the same video, I believe it was one of 53Silver's videos. His videos were one of the reasons I started looking at the Tesoros.

 

[jld66]

me too. i was looking at the fisher f-4 for my first detector. because of his videos and tesoro's lifetime warranty. i ended up getting the vaquero. im more than happy with it. getting to know how to use it, about 3 times out of 5 now i can tell if its picking up a coin or trash. those damn pull tabs are tuff though. haha

 

[SavageHunter]

You might even find them somewhat relaxing to use if you are not on that super serious silver quest and just want to get out and dig a little. They are a well made machine with excellant CS. That etrac is one of the best silver sniffers made but they are work both physically and mentally draining sorting out all that info being pounded into your ears along with the #'s,etc.....imo

That is exactly what I was thinking. I also love the Etrac and the AT Pro, but there are times when I would like a beep and dig machine.

I made my decision today and placed my order for the Vaquero. Should be here in 5-7 days so I'm looking forward to taking it out for it's first hunt. We've been having the driest spring on record, but it finally started raining yesterday and is supposed to continue for the next 4 days. So, the ground here should be nice and moist when the Vaquero arrives.

 

[SavageHunter]

The Vaquero arrived safe and sound. I had about an hour to kill last night, so I took it down to a ball field for its maiden hunt. I have hunted this field pretty hard for about a year, so it was the perfect place to learn a machine without having to be overwhelmed with a lot of trash.

With only an hour and only a few targets in the ground, I didn

 

[kaolinwasher]

WHAT A FIND 1867 gold ring ""

 

[OhioMike]

If it's there your Vaquero will find it.
Happy Hunting, Mike