Is It the End for Tesoro Metal Detectors?

Last night I noticed a message on my Instragram account and I was shocked that someone had contacted me to find out if I heard Tesoro laid everyone off. I couldn’t believe what I was reading! He then sent me a link to the post on the Treasurenet forum. I’m not going to name anyone in this article but this was coming from a reputable gentleman.

I couldn’t find anything else so I took to Facebook to see if anyone else had heard. Some people couldn’t believe it while others said they had seen it coming but to this point no one had really heard anything. I stayed on Facebook looking for any more news on the matter with mostly just speculation coming in.

This morning I woke up and the first thing I did was check Facebook. Of course there was a lot more talk going on and more coming in that it appeared Tesoro did lay everyone off. I waited for Tesoro to be open as I wanted to talk to them myself. I made three calls today that went unanswered which is never a good sign! Throughout the day a few more trusted people had called Tesoro and had somehow managed to speak with them and was confirmed to them that indeed Tesoro laid everyone off in the factory and would soon be closing their doors.

Tesoro Metal Detectors – End of an Era

Anyone who knows me can tell you that Tesoro has had a special place in my heart for a number of years. I remember the first time I had the opportunity to use a Tesoro metal detector. One was loaned to me for a month to use. It just happened to be spring and the fields weren’t planted yet. I had heard a lot of great things about Tesoro metal detectors over the years but I will be honest with you, when I unboxed it and seen the size of the housing and that gold shaft, I wasn’t impressed!

I asked to use it so I felt like even if it looked like a toy metal detector I had to give it a chance. Within hours of relic hunting with it I was hooked and no longer seen it as a toy. That single tone, toy looking metal detector went through the iron better than any other detector I had ever used up to that point and I found myself pulling stuff out at great depth as well!

I fell in love with Tesoro metal detectors for their ability to work through the iron but I know people who can work through modern trash with them and find coins better than a lot of people can with VDI detectors. Then there were so many who bought them for their lifetime warranty and although I’m not a seeded hunt person I have heard they are very popular with those folks.

Why Tesoro Fell

I’m really torn over this. It’s now after midnight and it has been on my mind all day. On one hand I blame Tesoro for not keeping up. All of these detectors with sleek designs, multiple frequencies, VDI, Waterproof and the list goes on. While Tesoro on the other hand kept it really simple and hadn’t changed much since their beginning.

On the other hand I think a whole generation of detectorists have no idea what they’ve missed out on and never got to understand the beauty in the simplicity that was Tesoro. Until recently I had not come across a metal detector that worked better in iron than a Tesoro and that is in all the price ranges. So many people I have talked to over the years just couldn’t wrap their mind around something so simple could beat out their hi-tech looking metal detector. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t convince them, some even after proving it to them!

A Sad Day

While many could care less, I will mourn the loss of a great American company who made great metal detectors. It’s depressing to me that so many I know could have benefited from a Tesoro who couldn’t put down their hi-tech metal detector for a moment to give them a chance. I feel sorry for the people who lost their jobs along with the people who have loved and followed Tesoro who like me, are sad to see them go. Like others, I wish something could be done, it could have gone a different way but in the end we will just have to move on.

A lot of metal detectors have come and gone in my life but Tesoro metal detectors will always be in my collection and I will still use them for many years to come.