I took the DetectorPro Pirate to the river on Sunday. I really enjoyed using it because it is so lightweight. I found a few coins and also a necklace, (I don't think it is real) but a nice start anyway. It seemed to penetrate very deep as far as I could tell. River hunting is not at all like the ocean where your hole fills in right away. This is why I know it gave good depth. My granddaughter was actually playing in the holes in the water that I dug the coins out of. Very simple to control since there is only two knobs, volume and discrimination. I am looking forward to taking the Pirate to the salt water beaches! The volume is crisp and easy to pinpoint the target. After I finished fooling around with it, the kids were excited and wanted to use it and since it is so light and easy it took me no time to explain to them what to do. I say kids - but they ranged anywhere from 5 - 20 years old. They loved it and I gave the older ones Kellyco catalogs that I carry in my car. I am hoping to enjoy this detector at the beach this coming weekend. Wanda E