Hand Held Metal Detectors
In short. A hand held metal detector is a security wand. A guard sweeps it over a person to find concealed metal. Ours run £149 to £279. Hand held metal detector cost is low, which is why most sites start here before considering an archway.
These are not hobby detectors. You will not find coins in a field with one. They exist to screen a person in fifteen or twenty seconds, reliably, several hundred times a day, with a battery that lasts a full shift. Door staff, schools, prisons, event stewards and reception desks are the usual buyers. The term gets written both ways, hand held and handheld metal detector, and it means the same piece of kit.
The Range
ThruSec, £149The ThruSec is the budget wand. Audible alert, simple on and off, and sensitive enough for the job. Right for occasional spot checks.
ThruScan, £179The ThruScan adds better build and a silent vibrate mode, which matters when you are screening discreetly or in a noisy venue.
ThruScan dX, £249The dX is the workhorse. Higher sensitivity, longer battery life and a tougher case for daily use by several people.
ThruScan dX-X, £279The dX-X is the top wand, with the highest sensitivity and the best rejection of small harmless items like coins and buttons.
What to Look For
Silent alertA vibrate or earpiece option lets a guard screen without announcing every alarm to the queue. Worth the extra on any site where discretion matters.
Battery lifeA wand that dies mid shift gets left in a drawer. Check the quoted hours against your longest day and buy a spare battery.
Sensitivity controlToo sensitive and every belt buckle alarms. The dX and dX-X let you set a level that catches what you care about and ignores small change.
Build qualityThese get dropped. A wand used by a rotating team of door staff needs to survive a concrete floor, which is most of the difference between £149 and £279.
Hand Held Metal Detector Cost
£149ThruSec. Occasional use and spot checks.
£179ThruScan. Regular use, with a silent mode.
Why Buy From Us
Official UK supplierReal warranty, spares held in the UK, and someone to ring when a unit plays up.
Screening kit we knowWe sell and support this equipment every week, so the advice is based on what holds up in daily use.
Honest adviceIf a hand wand will do the job, we will tell you that rather than sell you an archway.
Quotes and paperworkWritten quotes, purchase orders and invoices for schools, councils and venues.
Screening more than a handful of people at a time? A wand will become the bottleneck. See the walk through archways and the wider security detectors page.
Hand Held Metal Detector Questions, Answered
How do hand held metal detectors work?
The wand generates a magnetic field at its tip and watches for the disturbance metal causes. Pass it near a phone or a blade and it alarms. It reports only that metal is present, not what the object is, and it produces no image.
How do you use a hand held metal detector properly?
Keep the wand within an inch or two of the clothing and move steadily, around a hand width per second. Work a consistent pattern every time: arms, torso front and back, waistband, legs, ankles. Rushing the ankles and waistband is where most concealed items get missed.
Are hand held metal detectors safe?
Yes. The field is extremely weak, far below any exposure limit, and nothing is emitted into the body. They are safe to use on people all day, including the operator holding one.
Are hand held metal detectors safe during pregnancy?
Yes. There is no evidence of any risk and the field strength is a tiny fraction of medical equipment. Anyone who would rather not be scanned can ask for an alternative check.
Can hand held metal detectors detect gold?
Yes, though less readily than steel. Gold is conductive but weakly magnetic, so a thin ring may not alarm at a low sensitivity setting while a heavier item will. For gold prospecting you need a proper gold detector rather than a security wand.
Do hand held metal detectors detect phones and vapes?
Reliably, yes. Both contain batteries and metal components, which makes them among the easiest things to find. This is why schools and prisons buy wands.
How deep do hand held metal detectors go?
Only a few inches, and that is intentional. A wand is meant to find metal on a person at close range, so extra depth would just mean alarming at the belt buckle of the person standing behind.
Do hand held metal detectors affect pacemakers?
The advice is not to hold the wand directly over an implanted device for a prolonged period. A normal sweep past the chest is not a problem. Anyone with a pacemaker should say so and can be checked by hand instead.
