Bounty Hunter TK4 Tracker IV Metal Detector with Waterproof Coil

The Bounty Hunter TK4 Tracker IV is a battery-powered metal detector with analog controls, three detection modes and an 8 inch waterproof search coil. It is listed for coins, jewelry, relics, gold and silver, across beach, backyard, forest, rocky and muddy ground.

Who this suits

Anyone who wants to start detecting without learning a menu system first. There is no software here. You turn a dial for sensitivity and flick a switch for the mode, and you are sweeping inside a minute.

It works well as a shore companion to diving. The coil handles wet sand and shallow water, so it covers the strip of beach you walk past on the way to and from the boat. The maker lists it for adults and kids alike, and for skill levels from beginner to advanced.

Skip it if you want to read a target on a screen before you dig. Nothing in the listing mentions a digital target ID, a ground balance control or a depth readout, and the controls are analog throughout. Skip it too if you want a machine you can take under with you on a dive, because only the coil is described as waterproof.

Three modes, and when each one earns its keep

The listed modes are all-metal, tone and discrimination. Switching between them changes what the detector bothers to tell you about.

All-metal responds to every piece of metal in range with no filtering. It is the mode for maximum sensitivity, and the mode where you dig a lot of bottle caps.

Tone changes pitch with the target, so with practice your ear starts separating a coin from a ring pull before your spade does.

Discrimination lets you tell the machine to ignore the low-conductivity metals that are usually iron and foil. On a picnic-worn park lawn that is the difference between an afternoon of digging and an afternoon of finding.

Three modes is the right count for a first machine. You are not locked into one approach while you work out which one suits the ground you walk.

The 8 inch coil, and where the water stops

The coil is the flat disc you sweep, and this one measures 8 inches across. That size is a good general-purpose choice: wide enough to cover ground at a walking pace, narrow enough to separate two targets sitting close together, which is exactly the problem in a park where a coin sits beside a nail.

The coil is listed as waterproof, and the listed soil compatibility is damp soil, sandy terrain and shallow water. So wet sand, the surf line and a stream bed are all fair game for the business end.

Read that carefully though. The listing names underwater finds among its use cases, but the only part described as waterproof is the coil. Nothing else on the machine, the control box on the shaft included, is described as sealed. Keep it dry, keep it above the surface, and treat this as a beach and shallow-water machine rather than a diving one.

Analog controls, and what the listing leaves out

Sensitivity is adjustable by dial. Turn it up for depth on quiet ground, turn it down when mineralized sand or overhead power lines start making the machine chatter. That single control does a lot of work on an analog detector.

Power is batteries, and the listing does not say which type, how many, or how long they last. It gives no weight either, though it does call the machine lightweight and portable, and no coil depth figure. If battery life or exact weight decides your purchase, get those from Bounty Hunter or the retailer before you order. The machine is listed as made in the USA.

The bottom line

A three-mode analog detector with an 8 inch waterproof coil and one sensitivity dial is an honest first machine. It gets you onto the beach or into the park with nothing to configure, and the mode switch teaches you the part of the hobby that actually matters.

It is not a machine for a detectorist who has already outgrown a dial. It is not submersible past the coil. And it is not fully documented: no battery life, no weight and no coil depth figure in the listing. For a first detector that is a reasonable trade. For a second one it is probably not.

Specifications