Been wanting to get into detecting but don’t know where to start.
Reading up on it, it seems the Nokta Legend gets a lot of positive reviews.

Anyone got a good recommendation for a detector, etc?  
I also read where they said the Garrett pinpointer was the go to for that role.  
I’m a novice so it will be basic at first but I’d like to have some room for growth.

Good stories from your hunts would be great too.

Narrow down what you want to do with it.  Beach and water , relic, prospecting, park coin hunting, etc. ?  Different machines for specific uses .
I’m a wet sand beach hunter so my detector is a Fisher CZ-21 which can handle wet salt water sand . It’s designed to cancel out false signals from the salt water .

Like any hobby, you can spend as much or as little as you want to get started.  Much also depends on where you plan to hunt - if beaches, streams, or lakes are involved, you will need a waterproof coil at a minimum, if not a waterproof control unit as well.

I typically hunt old farmsteads and the occasional city park. I also will sometimes hunt shallow rivers or creeks adjacent to old farms/home sites.

Prior to the pandemic, I went every year for spring break to South Carolina to hunt with friend that's been a relic hunter since the early '70s and hit some civil war and revolutionary war encampments on private property where he has permissions.

The best piece of advice I ever got was to buy the best detector you can afford - there are lots of cheap detectors wrapped around trees for a reason.

I also recommend buying from a local dealer, if you can find one, rather than a big box like Kellyco. I have nothing against Kellyco, but your local dealer will typically fix or repair issues onsite. Think of it like buying from PSA, BCM, Primary Arms, etc. vs. your local gun shop.

My personal recommendations are one of the following - all are good and proven detectors. Prices go up as the features go up:

Garrett AT Max
Garrett AT Pro
Nokta Legend
Minelab Vanquish 540
Minelab Equinox 800
XP Deus II

I personally swing a Minelab Equinox 800 for the beach and rivers. I have an XP Deus II that is my primary field/cellar hole/relic machine.

Pinpointers are a must for many. You can live without one, but for $150 bucks it's worth it to me.  I have both a Fisher F-Pulse and Garret Carrot. I prefer the F pulse over the carrot.

The other best piece of advice is to spend a whole lot of time learning your machine. Each one responds differently and the sounds and visuals vary from machine to machine. Read all you can, buy any "how to" books that might be out there related to your machine, and watch youtube videos. There are ton of them out there.

I prefer to carry when I hunt bigger city parks. However, appendix carry while detecting sucks. 4 o'clock or 6 o'clock is your friend in that regard. Ask me how I know...

Good luck, let us know where you end up and I am happy to share whatever info I have. I am not an expert by any means, just someone who has dug a lot of dirt and junk over the years.

I’ve got a Nokia legend. I admittedly don’t get out that much anymore. It has a lot of features of more expensive machines and is a great machine for the price. Whatever you get you will definitely have to get out and dig a lot of junk to learn your machine before you will find the good stuff. I would skip buying books and look on YouTube for information. Check out metal detecting NYC on YouTube as a place to start. I also recommend getting a good pinpointer. You can go without one but it will save you a lot of time digging through plugs to find your target.