Thoughts on the Mojave vs the Vaquero or Outlaw?

[Habanero]

I'm considering purchasing the well priced new Mojave to search trashed out parks as well as an old homestead that I now have permission to hunt. I'm looking for coins and jewelry but interesting relics would not be unwelcome as well. I've read elsewhere where someone sold their Vaquero and now is having way more fun with their Mojave that they now use. Besides the adjustable ground balance and depth, am I missing anything with the Mojave over the Vaquero? I will note that I owned a Vaquero for a very short while and just wasn't impressed with it so I am willing to give the Mojave a go over the Vaq if I'm not giving up too much or may even be more dissatisfi.ed with the Mojave since I did not care for the Vaquero either. I also owned a Tejon too but it just did not seem to hit hard on coins or jewelry and would give the same tonality beep on a piece of can slaw, for instance, that it gave on a coin. I've also had the Outlaw for awhile as well and really enjoyed that detector except for the quirky retune button but I felt it was far superior to the Vaquero I owned. I'd of course buy new for the Mojave since it's priced right but likely used for the Outlaw or Vaquero as the new prices are a bit steep for a backup detector.

I currently use a Whites MX Sport that will likely get traded in towards a Garrett AT Max when those are out and on the shelves for awhile. I do some freshwater hunting looking for jewelry so that is why those detectors are used to fill that niche. I just feel the MX Sport falses too often, is too jittery even with low sensitivity and gives me kind of a "fruit salad" of tones and VDI's while searching that is just frustrating. This is also from a brand new unit I just received from Whites to replace a leaking MX Sport that had to go in to Whites for replacement.

Any thoughts here from users of the three Tesoro's I've mentioned?

 

[Rob in (Ca)]

The Mojave will work great for Coin & Jewelry, can't beat the price to, with the small stock coil, It's not going to be a Depth Monster,.

Now if your looking for Raw Depth, the Vaquero wins hands down, It's also a very good Jewelry Machine

 

[Habanero]

Raw depth doesn't matter much to me as I don't believe what I'm looking for is gonna be very deep. I'm just looking to get an honest 8 to maybe 10 inches at the very most on coins and jewelry but want something that will get over 6 inches easy.

 

[D&P-OR]

Depends on your soil man.----But you ain't gonna get no 8 to 10 inches on the Mojave no matter what the conditions are.

Raw depth doesn't matter much to me as I don't believe what I'm looking for is gonna be very deep. I'm just looking to get an honest 8 to maybe 10 inches at the very most on coins and jewelry but want something that will get over 6 inches easy.

 

[Habanero]

Depends on your soil man.----But you ain't gonna get no 8 to 10 inches on the Mojave no matter what the conditions are.

Raw depth doesn't matter much to me as I don't believe what I'm looking for is gonna be very deep. I'm just looking to get an honest 8 to maybe 10 inches at the very most on coins and jewelry but want something that will get over 6 inches easy.

Well that is disappointing to say the least. I may have to opt for the Outlaw or Vaquero then.

 

[synthnut]

What coil did you have on your Vaquero ? .....I bought a new /used Vaquero with a 5.75 Widescan coil on it , and it works GREAT with coins and jewelry ....Hit's gold hard , and goes plenty deep on coins ....I recently bought an 8 inch donut ( concentric coil ) and it works as well if not better !!....It separates better and goes a little bit deeper than the 5.75 widescan coil ..... If you ground balance in soil that is NOT that mineralized you can turn the GB knob back a 1/4 of a turn (counterclockwise ) and go as deep as just about any detector on the market ....I have a few other machines including a CZ21 and an Etrac , and the Vaquero will give these machines a run for their money in depth .... I too like what I hear about the Mohave , but do not think that it will do what the Vaquero can do ....It 's an easier machine to use , and it looks like a lot of fun and is surely a great bang for the buck machine , but as far as bettering a Vaquero, I have my doubts ....YMMV ......Jim

 

[Habanero]

I had the stock 9x8 concentric coil on the Vaquero. The depth wasn't the issue really; it just did not "speak" to me as well as the Outlaw did on good targets. The Outlaw seemed to really give a great audio response that just screamed "dig me" on good targets. It, like any other Tesoro, would also give good responses to trash targets too but they also were not discriminated out.

 

[pinenut]

Master Habanero, of the three you mentioned, Vaquero will always have the edge on depth. However, of those three, my favorite in trashy spots is the Outlaw, followed by the Mojave. The reason for my choice of that order is due to their excellent discrimination. Outlaw uses the "ED120" discrimination, which eliminates small iron right from the get-go. With Outlaw, bottle caps will either be silent or just click before nickels disc out. Mojave has the full "ED180" disc range, but Tesoro did things a little differently with it, than with their other ED180 detectors... They actually made the discrimination work better than before. Discrimination is on par with that of the Outlaw, only it'll still pick up tiny iron, too. I really like Mojave, but I still think Outlaw is more versatile. I like using Vaquero too, and as I mentioned, it's better on depth. It does not discriminate quite as well as either Otlaw or Mojave though, and unless you get the high-tone version of Vaquero, it doesn't sound as good to me as the other two. I own and use all three detectors, and my choice (of those) for trashy areas is still the Outlaw..but Mojave is a close second, and it costs less too.

 

[Habanero]

Thanks Pinenut! I do value the discrimination ability above the depth of the Vaquero; I just don't see targets getting over 8" where I hunt at. I also prefer the tone of the Outlaw over the Vaquero as you stated. I just need to keep my eyes open for a good used Outlaw as I have not been seeing them come up on the classifieds section or on ebay or just go for the Mojave new.

 

[synthnut]

I notice that sometimes with the Vaquero , I the discrimination not responding as well as I would like ....I can get less noise and better discrimination by turning down the sensitivity ...As mentioned in other threads and by Tesoro , in some grounds the deer in the headlights situation applies to hunting with high sensitivity especially in mineralized soil ..... Less sensitivity also allows the detector to find larger targets and not having to deal with the small stuff that consumes the detector therefore allowing for good targets to shine thru..... The tone is something else ....You can't change that unless you mod the detector or have Tesoro do it for you .....Perhaps the Mohave or the outlaw will be a better fit for you .....????.....Good Luck with whatever you choose .....


PS ...My brothers little Silver uMax is not as powerfull as my Vaquero , but is a smooth operator !! ..... IT's turn on and. Go at it's best !! .... When I know I 'm in an area where I 'm looking for targets that are not as deep , I like using the Silver uMax ..... It has a comfortable feel to it .... Different personalities but they both get the job done ....Jim

 

[Habanero]

Thanks Jim; I've owned the Silver umax, my very first detector. It's a good one but for the same money I can get the Mojave that does at least have the high/low GB switch so that is why I was looking at that one.

 

[Habanero]

I found a decent deal on a used Outlaw with the 8" donut coil for slightly more than I'd pay for a new Mojave, so went with the Outlaw!

 

[pinenut]

I found a decent deal on a used Outlaw with the 8" donut coil for slightly more than I'd pay for a new Mojave, so went with the Outlaw!

Good choice. Be sure to pick up a 5.75" coil for it too.. It'll be awesome in the trashy spots with that 5.75", but the 8" is a great coil when trash isn't heavy.
Happy hunting!

 

[Dancer]

Sometimes a person can put too much thought into it. If your hunting trashy, go in with the MoJo. Afterwards if you think you need to, take a depth monster in.

 

[JimGilmore]

Personally if i am in a trash ridden site i want the 4 inch coil...

 

[UtahRich]

Master Habanero, of the three you mentioned, Vaquero will always have the edge on depth. However, of those three, my favorite in trashy spots is the Outlaw, followed by the Mojave. The reason for my choice of that order is due to their excellent discrimination. Outlaw uses the "ED120" discrimination, which eliminates small iron right from the get-go. With Outlaw, bottle caps will either be silent or just click before nickels disc out. Mojave has the full "ED180" disc range, but Tesoro did things a little differently with it, than with their other ED180 detectors... They actually made the discrimination work better than before. Discrimination is on par with that of the Outlaw, only it'll still pick up tiny iron, too. I really like Mojave, but I still think Outlaw is more versatile. I like using Vaquero too, and as I mentioned, it's better on depth. It does not discriminate quite as well as either Otlaw or Mojave though, and unless you get the high-tone version of Vaquero, it doesn't sound as good to me as the other two. I own and use all three detectors, and my choice (of those) for trashy areas is still the Outlaw..but Mojave is a close second, and it costs less too.

Excellent information there pinenut, thanks for that.


Rich (Utah)

 

[Nomad NJ]

I have a Vaq and use the 5.75 & 11x8 coil and for me both coils are better than the 9x8 coil.

 

[hihosilver]

Master Habanero, of the three you mentioned, Vaquero will always have the edge on depth. However, of those three, my favorite in trashy spots is the Outlaw, followed by the Mojave. The reason for my choice of that order is due to their excellent discrimination. Outlaw uses the "ED120" discrimination, which eliminates small iron right from the get-go. With Outlaw, bottle caps will either be silent or just click before nickels disc out. Mojave has the full "ED180" disc range, but Tesoro did things a little differently with it, than with their other ED180 detectors... They actually made the discrimination work better than before. Discrimination is on par with that of the Outlaw, only it'll still pick up tiny iron, too. I really like Mojave, but I still think Outlaw is more versatile. I like using Vaquero too, and as I mentioned, it's better on depth. It does not discriminate quite as well as either Otlaw or Mojave though, and unless you get the high-tone version of Vaquero, it doesn't sound as good to me as the other two. I own and use all three detectors, and my choice (of those) for trashy areas is still the Outlaw..but Mojave is a close second, and it costs less too.

Ok, ok, I give up... looks like I am just going to have to own all three.