Ultimate Christmas gift guide for metal detectorists, from under a tenner to thousands of pounds

Ahead of the Black Friday and festive sales I sought out the hive mind of the treasure-hunting community to ask what they hope Santa will be sending them this Christmas.

Pocket-money pearls

When you are digging in mud, gloves are a must – and hand warmers are a close second.

These single use air-activated HotHands picks are super easy to use and don’t take up much room in your kit bag. Simply shake them and heat will come through within 15 minutes. With 20 pairs included, these are good value.

Rechargeable handwarmers obviously produce less waste: this one comes with its own power bank and they only take seconds to warm up once you hit the button.

Heated gloves with touchscreen fingertips are pretty neat, with the added advantage of being windproof – vital when out in the fields over winter.

I’m a little bit in love with the SHO food flask (they had me at built-in spork and built-in condiments slot). Keeping food hot for eight hours or cold for 16, hot soup in a cold field sounds a pretty good match to me.

Finders, keepers

Finds bags, coin boxes and on-field cleaning equipment are sure-fire hits.

I really fancy this Searcher Pro with ample space for both finds and tools, while this leg pouch is another good accessory. Personally, I hate carrying kit in my bag, as it is awkward to keep taking on and off for digs, so these styles work for me.

A mini finds box like this from Regton is super handy – I love the gentle coin slot area to protect those precious finds, plus the separate trinket boxes… and while we all hope for jewellery, that would be so good for sea glass and sea pottery found on beach days.

And this one is on my own wishlist: the DIG Mate artefact cleaning kit, with a water bottle to spray off the mud and a gentle brush and pick. The lanyard will stop me dropping it in the field, while the kit itself will help me see at a glance what’s treasure and what’s trash.

And if you fancy digging for glory, Ace of Spades Black Ada not only think they are the best, they give their products names like the Invader, Gladius and Maximus … you can almost hear the history crying out to you! Try code ID10 which gives money of many accessories. Check out their pink range too – you certainly won’t mix it up on a shared dig!

Bigger ticket buys

Not all pinpointers are the same, as I found out to my cost when my early forays were determined on price alone. My first had to be returned as it wasn’t as waterproof as it claimed and had failed by day two. The second started misfiring whenever remotely near my Minelab Vanquish 360, and I had to separate them by a good few feet to ever get a clear signal. The constant chattering had me sending it back too.

When I finally convinced myself to invest some serious money in a pinpointer, my early investigations led me to choose between the Garrett Carrot (AKA the Pro-Pointer AT) and the XP Mi4. Both have similar qualities, including big promises on the waterproof front, though the Carrot’s colouring making it easy to spot if you drop it in the mud. But I was swayed by the chunky look of the XP and a couple of personal recommendations. I’m happy so far.

The money-is-no-object wish list

Asking my fellow enthusiasts what they would ask for if budget didn’t come into it was eye-opening.

“Decent land with all year-round permission to dig, and guaranteed finds” was a common, if unrealistic, theme. But by far the most popular upgrade choice among my compadres was the Minelab Manticore, currently available for a fairly hefty £1799, though this deal direct from the manufacturer will also get you free coils. This beast is often referred to as the gold-hunter – what’s not to like?

However, the slightly more modestly priced Nokta 2 Legend is a decent upgrade model for most people. Crawfords also have their on Diggits reward scheme – like a clubcard system.