Tesoro Cibola
Price: $450
Avg. Score: 
4.73
Based on 81 reviews
4.73Based on 81 reviews
Avg. Durability:
5.00
Avg. Ease of use:
5.00
Tesoro see-bol-a
January 16, 2017
Wow let me say, the best of the tesoro's I've owned. I've owned the tesoro
compadre and the deleon. Both were good detectors. I thought since it had
the 9 by 8 elliptical it would be crappy in trashy areas, wow was I wrong.
This detector definetly out preformed my compadre, if it did have a little
coil it would probably make it even more lethal of a detector.
In supertune I airtested a quarter at 11" and a nickel at 10". It took me a little bit to get use to adjusting the sensitivity with the discrimination. But now that I figured it out. Whoever say's it's a crappy detector is very far off.
I plan on getting a 5.75" concentric for smaller condensed hunting sites with a lot of trash. The H.O.T technology is awesome with iron discrimination, way better that the compadre are the deleon, even just before foil it would pick up big nails for some reason, but this was not the case with the cibola. I would recommend this detector to anyone who wants a top end detector and doesn't have a fortune. Also cant beat a Lifetime warranty.
Max Depth: 11 inches on US quarter
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
Yes, absolutely!
John W. from
NJ
180
Tessorrq cibola(laser trident)
January 07, 2017
Bought mine of ebay but its laser trident which is the english version of
the cibola same animal an absolute must to get for a low to mid price
detector also trident 2 same machine a bit more spec its pretty much a
family relative of the laser rapier which has earned its stripes in the
detecting world small micromax control box very lightweight bit of kit you
will not need a bungee harness for this detector a 7 year old could use it
all day without straining. Depth very respectable technophobes will love it
switch on and go runs on one 9 volt battery which lasts hours. Sharp tones
fantastic main or back up machine hats of and bow down to tessaro laser.
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
Yes, absolutely!
Jason Callaghan from
England
162
Amazing detector
January 30, 2015
I purchased the compadre 3 years ago and after using it I was amazed of its
performance. It came with the small 5.75 inch coil. I hunted a playground
at a camp ground that I have a camper trailer at and cherry picked the site
with the disc cranked up to the max. I hunted this spot a couple of hours
for 2 days and pulled out 35.00 in mixed clad coins. I dug quarters at 6 to
7 inches with no problems.
After cherry picking this site I began turning the disc down and then started hitting the yuk pennies and pull tabs. I found a few rings and lots of nickles. I purchased the Cibola and hunted the spot again starting with the disc cranked to the max. I cherry picked the site with the cibola and pulled out many more quarters that were out of the compadres range.
The Cibola hit quarters pushing the 10 inch + mark. I'm amazed of the depth of this detector. I've hunted this same spot over and over again using less discrimination and keep finding many good targets along with lots of trash. This hobby involves digging and if you want to find good targets in an area that has lots of junk you got to dig out the junk and you will find the goodies.
I hunted a spot where draft horses were shoed for logging operations and over a summer I dug over 400 horse shoes of different sizes and types. I didn't think there was no end to the shoes. After digging out all those shoes I then started finding coins and other non iron items. I dug up a few large cents and a few seated liberty dimes and quarters.I also found assorted blacksmith tools.
I cant wait to start digging again once the snow melts. I've sold most of the old horse shoes and purchased silver coins with the proceeds. I save every piece of metal I dig up and have buckets to separate the iron and brass etc. When the buckets are full I load up and off to the scrap yard.
Max Depth: 12 inches on US quarter
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
Yes, absolutely!
Paul from
Pennsylvania
244
Tesoro cebola excellent tool
July 18, 2014
I purchased the Tesoro Cebola a little over a year ago. I read the reviews
from the veteran detector folks out there and concluded that this was lower
priced professional grade tool.
When I first started to use it I was a bit rusty at determining what the different sound levels meant. I leave the bottom right knob on the iron setting and it is amazing how fast you can sweep the ground and not miss anything. Once I zero in on an object I simply turn the lower right knob all the way up and without fail it will always let me know if its a coin. Occasionally I have a problem with aluminum cans but even that can be overcome once you learn to "listen" to the Cebola.
There is a definite sound when you are over a coin. I have yet to find any gold or other valuable items. I have found several coins. This Tesoro Cebola is an outstanding piece of equipment and I am very happy with it.
Max Depth: 9 inches on US quarter
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
Yes, absolutely!
John from
New Jersey
280
745 teams so.ca
March 30, 2014
We use the lil cibolas all the time even on the dry beach sand there is NO
comparison in regards to price or quality as we also own various detectors
we like the lil C as it can beat even our whites 6t among others these
babies are workhorses, have NO doubts about this.. The garrett P.I. Is also
a winner if you like to get your feet wet.. Yet the C is easier to use on
the dry sand areas..
Due to weight. We have been doing our thing since early 1970 and are NOT the type of guys to give a bad review on a detect that pays for itself over and over again. So those bad reviews all we can think of is they should practice a LOT more..
All have a great 2014 season and keep on finding the GOOD items.
Max Depth: 10 inches on US quarter
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
Yes, absolutely!
745 Team Bill Gary Tim Etc from
South Ca
240
It's a beast
May 20, 2013
I bought my Cibola second hand about 6 weeks ago. Since then I've been out
about 10 times with it. I've found about £30 in modern currency, gold
ring, silver ring, Saxon bridle boss, Roman spindle whorl, Roman coin,
Victorian and Georgian coins, many old and beautiful buttons, buckles and
countless musket balls. All in only 6 weeks.
This machine is truly awesome. When supertuned (see the Youtube video) it's incredibly deep and I've found small targets at 9-10 inches down. It discriminates out small iron well and pinpoints targets dead on. Without any display to look at you have to listen to the range of beeps it gives off. You will soon learn its language and then dig far less trash.
I strongly advise that you dig weaker two way signals because they could be really old targets at depth. I am confident that if my Cibola coil passes over a good target it'll shout at me.
At the current rate it'll pay for itself well within a year. What more could I ask.
Max Depth: 9 inches on US quarter
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
Yes, absolutely!
Bob Johnson from
Essex, UK.
290
Great detector
March 30, 2013
Hello everyone I have been detecting for about 5 years now and I've been
through a few detectors fisher f70 with f75dd coil, minelab xterra-30,
garret ace 250 with 10x14dd coil, all were good, the xterra-30 was great
found many old coins with this, the garret ace 250 was a good coin detector
hated the fisher and now the cibola.
I've had this for about 2 years now, I detect with my md buddy(dad) he has the mnelab safari and I keep right up with him, every signal he gets I can pick right up on, I can tell you this thing goes deep the deepest coin finds was in the 9-10inch mark, and hits hard on silver. Found silver dimes on edge at 6-8 inch mark no kidding, found barber quarter 1909 right after my dad just found a 1906 with his safari, I found 1822 large cent, many indian heads, a few mercury's, many gold plated rings, hundreds of wheaties, many buttons.
All this stuff was found on locations that have been considered "hunted out" I love it, it's a great machine that will not let you down if your not finding anything it's not there.
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
Yes, absolutely!
Steve from
PA
262
Excellent first metal detector
October 18, 2012
This review is mostly for newbe's. Most folks come to MetalDetectorReviews.net to cross-reference reviews: they're shopping for a detector just as I was this year. If you're looking for more enlightening recommendations and accounts from a more experienced 'swinger' you should probably move on down the list of reviews: there's lots more experienced folks here with more substantial reviews than mine.
Tesoro Cibola is my very first detector. I bought it based on reviews from this site and knowledgeable threads from an assortment of metal detector forums. Initially though, I started out almost buying a Whites 6000DI ("lunch box") thinking that old technology was the way to start. Then, the concept of 'weight' caused me to reconsider: ten pounds on my right arm with its weak shoulder and elbow tendonitis is maybe not a good idea. I then waffled between a Fisher F2 and a Garrett 250 for a couple weeks before discovering the Tesoro of detectors.
The Tesoro units are generally basic and light weight. Hearing the subtle and not-so-subtle nuances of tonal discretion to define a target and its depth appealed to me more than the idea a VDI detector that displays numbers with target criteria. Nothing really wrong with VDI units but, it just turns out that I wanted to learn the art of tonal discretion and to interpret the machine's voice.
The only reason I did not buy a Silver UMax was because the Cibola was said to have greater depth and a bit better sensitivity. That, and the Cobola's versatility of variable frequencies. I believe the reviews were right.
Since most any detector will find stuff at 2-4", it's won't be long before the importance of depth and discrimination becomes more serious. That's especially true with the potential of finding gold and precious stones usually associated with rings and other jewelry.
You will want the luxury of depth.
In metal detecting I've found a hobby where it's a luxury to be able to ask myself, "How deep do I want to dig for this target?" Cibola had me asking that question a number of times this year. Several times over rifle casings at 17" (that's "SEVENTEEN inches"). A couple clad quarters at 10" and a penny at 14".. .. This machine will amaze you at how deep it finds stuff. A small part of a foil gum wrapper, all crinkled and packed in mineralized soil at EIGHT inches. The list could go on but you're probably already bored.
The only thing that I found these past few months that really had my heart pumping was a ring with an amethyst stone. It turned out to be costume jewelry. But, story of how I found it is of more importance. Everybody's seen bike racks at the beach, right? They're usually made of heavy, galvanized metal. You can't discriminate something that dense out of your detector. You just have to work around it delicately. Well, in swinging close to the bike rack, just an instant before that galvanized metal signal obscured everything else, there was a faint 'bzzt, bzzt'.. . again JUST prior to the overload. I first figured it was a pull tab because of where my disc settings were but dug it anyway. Four inches down, there it was: an alloy ring that looked like silver with an amethyst-like stone. It could easily have been silver or gold.. . and I just about didn't dig it. I remain amazed at the Cibola's performance right next to a dense galvanized pipe bike stand!
The learning curve on Cibola's voice is challenging. But I'm becoming a lot more confident in its discrimination capabilities and I'm getting better at reading its voice. I'm of the mind that it's sometimes better to grow into something that's beyond the comfort zone than take an easier road. Glad I started with a tone machine of exceptional quality and warranty.
Overall Rating
Edward from
Frost Bite Falls, Mn
353
Ciabola finds 1845 dime!
July 24, 2012
Wow, love this detector. On my first outing with it I found an 1845 dime,
civil war bullets, flat buttons and other neat stuff. A great simple
detector, highly recommended! Hands down 5 stars!
Overall Rating
lucas from
york pa
171
Dedicated to Foster.
June 10, 2012
It is with a heavy heart that we have lost one of our team members. . . and
another is now planning to move back to the East Coast. Though we all own various Tesoro models the lil cibola has been a constant tool in our search Mountains, desert etc. Tesoro built one dang good detector that can take on the BIG guys hands down. This year alone ( it is only June 2012 ) we have been lucky from coins to 12-14-18 kt
Our tour has been cut short this year, yet we will start again in july. . we also are looking forward to the new outlaw model. . we would like to be able to post some of our pics here on the review page maybe one day they will have the capability to let all our TH'er friends to post. Have a great summer and if you should bump ito an old beared guy with his cibola and panama hat say hello for us to Foster
Take care.
Overall Rating
745 team gary,rene,bill,brad,steven from
Southern ca
183