XPointer Max

The Quest XPointer Max is a handheld pinpointer — the probe you reach for after your main detector has given a signal, to fix the target's exact position inside the hole so you dig once instead of five times. It is not a substitute for a full-size detector: its useful range is a few centimetres, which is precisely what pinpointing asks of it. What sets the Max apart in its class is discrimination. Where most pinpointers only tell you that metal is present, the Max separates ferrous from non-ferrous and reports it three ways at once — a distinct tone, a two-colour LED beam projected onto the ground, and an OLED display that also shows relative target size and battery state. Quest describes the technology as VLF with balanced induction, and states that the Xpointer family does not false on salt water or black sand. Power is a real advantage on long field days: a built-in 1000 mAh lithium battery charges over USB-C at the tail cap and runs for around 14 hours, so there are no 9-volt cells to carry into the bush. The supplied Magic Holster drops the probe into standby the moment you sheathe it, which is how that figure is reached in practice. Four sensitivity levels (1–3 plus BOOST) and five speaker volume steps let you set it up for quiet beach work or noisy, windy ground, and alerts can be sound only, vibration only, or both. A 360-degree detection field with a concentrated, more sensitive tip, an LED flashlight for dawn and dusk digs, a manual retune that ground-balances in heavily mineralised soil and narrows the field onto a target, and a lost-probe alarm after three minutes round it out. It is rated waterproof to 5 m (16 ft) in fresh and salt water — Quest tests the probe at 5 m for 30 minutes — so wading, surf recovery and shallow snorkelling are all within spec.