Minelab Vanquish 540 Pro-Pack

Brand: Minelab Equinox 900

The Vanquish 540 Pro-Pack is Minelab's affordable route to Multi-IQ multi frequency detection. It arrives with two waterproof coils, the 12 by 9 inch V12 and the small 8 by 5 inch V8 for trashy ground, Bluetooth headphones, a rain cover and four search modes with iron bias control. Weight is 2.8 lb and the snap lock shaft folds to 30 inches, which genuinely fits in a suitcase. AA batteries keep it going, a plus when a charger is out of reach on holiday.

Good fit for family hunting on dry and damp sand, parks and pastures, at roughly half the cost of an Equinox. Important limit: only the coil and lower shaft are waterproof, the control box is not, so wading and surf work are out. Pinpointing is reliable, but there is no manual ground balance and no single frequency options for gold prospecting.