There is an accessory providing your pinpointer with a loupe. I think it’s stupid. If for no other reason than that the loupe will be constantly dirty. See the photo: pinpointer with the loupe.
Does anybody need the loupe when hunting? In theory, yes. But in practice you should hunt, but not sit over a hole looking through the magnifying glass. You will give a wash at home and have a look.
Initially, this accessory is intended to provide your pinpointer with a spring cord. But usually, it’s a metal ring for the battery compartment cap, to which the cord itself is attached. This is for those pinpointers which don’t have a loop for the cord on their housing. If the loop is there, you simply need a cord, and that’s all… But here you have a whole ‘head cap’ with the loupe.
I won’t even be able to enumerate all drawbacks of this accessory… In the sunlight, the loupe warms up the battery compartment cap of the pinpointer. The loupe will be constantly dirty. It will be covered in scratches in course of time. The size. A container for dust and dirt accumulation under the sliding loupe.
I feel even a little bit sorry for this Minelab Pro-Find 25… Roll on the day when Minelab releases its new Minelab PRO-Find 35 (loupe is not necessary!).
I have this loupe/tether, and I think it is a marvelous idea and a great addition to have at hand while in the filed.. I have used it for over a year and I find it very handy and a time saver. , I have never had an issue with it being dirty ‘dirty all the time’, ‘warms up the battery compartment’ is a rather stupid assertion, about a year of almost daily use and it is not ‘scratched’! Do you always haves such a ‘half glass’ outlook on life or just jealous you didn’t think of something so simple and user friendly?
From my personal experience I think you have made a short sighted and inaccurate assessment of the idea. I’ve had the loupe headcap Don is making for nearly two years now and find the idea not only useful but so do many of my hunting companions when they find something in the field they can’t quite identify. The glass in the lens is high quality and has endured thousands of digs in my Western dirt which is full of dust and broken/decomposed granite. I agree with Jerry (above) that your other issues with the cap are irrelevant. I wish I had run across this review much sooner to set you straight. Time to buy a couple more for gifts to my friends.