If you follow me on Facebook or on our Metal Detecting Facebook Group “All Metal Mode” you probably seen my post on Friday how impressed I was with Nathan Jaeger at Tesoro. Bob and I will have him on the show soon and there are some things I want you to hear from him so I’m not going to go into why it was such a great conversation. All I will say for now is he told me things about Tesoro machines that have me excited!
If you’ve been metal detecting for even a short time you’ve heard of Tesoro Detectors. In this modern age of metal detectors that have features like wireless headphones, built in GPS, computer interface capabilities and a multitude of options to do anything, you have probably looked at a Tesoro Metal Detector and asked yourself… Why?
I know because I used to ask the same thing! I started metal detecting about twenty years ago, even then most of your metal detectors had VDI displays and I questioned why anyone would have a machine without one. If you go here you will see my first article I wrote about the Tesoro Outlaw. I had heard so many great things about Tesoro Metal Detectors over the years that I begged Tesoro to let me borrow one and they gave me one for a month. I will be honest, not having a VDI was really rough at first. I honestly felt naked (not something anyone in their right mind wants to witness I assure you) but I quickly fell in love. I lived in Ohio, was a relic hunter and I was fortunate enough to borrow the Tesoro Outlaw right after the weather broke and the fields weren’t planted yet. In the past I had used so many different so called relic metal detectors and I never found one that I felt was doing as good as my Minelab E-Trac in the two tone ferrous program.
There I am in the fields swinging this metal detector, that to me, felt like a toy in my hands it was so light and to be honest, my initial thought was it looked like a toy. Let me tell you, I was mistaken and it took me no time at all to appreciate and respect the Tesoro Outlaw . I started off detecting with it and then coming behind with the Minelab E-Trac but only after few short hunts I wasn’t even using the Minelab E-Trac and it became my back up! To this day it is the best relic machine I’ve ever personally had in my hand.
The reason I was talking to Nathan the other day in the first place was to beg and plead to borrow it again. I started the website, All Metal Mode so I could write metal detecting how-to articles and do metal detector reviews. I mean real reviews from a real detectorist who gets out metal detecting and will put it through the paces. I want to do reviews, in depth podcast discussions, in depth articles and not these cookie cutter reviews like one I just seen before I started this article that no lie, was everything the manufacture put out on the machine just worded different!
When I used the Tesoro Outlaw the first time my only thought for this machine was relic hunting. I have been in the world of VDI displays for so long it never crossed my mind that this machine could be a great metal detector for yard hunting or even schools and parks! Lets take a Minelab E-Trac for example since I used one for so long. You would not believe how often someone will put so much faith into those numbers that they decide not to dig good targets. There are many Minelab E-Trac users out there who go off the tone exclusively and running one for a number of years I can tell you, when you hear a silver coin on an E-Trac you don’t need the numbers! What’s stopping me from quickly turning the disc knob over a target to see where it goes out? I bet, with time I can tell you whats under my coil by doing that, how is that any different than spending time swinging over a target and looking at the numbers?
I don’t know how it will go using the Tesoro Outlaw at a park, school or house but I am about to find out soon. Here in Texas, with the grass tall and the fields planted there is no place to hunt but these kinds of sites. I am going to hit all those places that I never thought about taking the Tesoro Outlaw and through this blog, our website, YouTube videos and Facebook I am going to let you see how it’s going along the way.
What I hope to gain is to show people out there Tesoro has a place in our great hobby and should be taken serious. I hope to show you that you don’t need built in GPS, complete wireless systems and a VDI screen to go out and make some great finds in tough conditions. Like I said before after using several different metal detectors for relic hunting (most way more expensive than most Tesoro Detectors) the Outlaw was the only metal detector that I found that could easily handle all the iron, squeak out small targets surrounded by iron and at some very impressive depths.
After using the Tesoro Outlaw the first time I felt ashamed that I had doubted Tesoro for so many years simply based on appearance and lack of a VDI screen and I hope to right that wrong by showing people how impressive these detectors can be.
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