Trying to Decide, Sea Hunter II or Whites Duel Field??

[TimC (North Alabama)]

I'm trying to make my mind up for either the Sea Hunter II or the Whites Duel Field. The amount to digging that comes with the PI units won't be a bother. I just want to make the best decision for the money and if I get the right detector the money won't matter because I'll be happy with it. I'll be hunting the Florida panhandle and maybe some at Myrtle beach now and then. Thanks for the help.

Tim

 

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[Sandman]

I would go with the Garrett, not because I am a big Garrett fan, but the Whites PI Pro and Beach Hunter's leak with the black O ring. At least many report that they do. I think it is just lack of watching the O ring. The dual field detectors are made with the same box. If you have the money, you should check out the Infinium LS. It is much better in my opinion as a PI. Let us know which one you go with.....

 

[GuerillaBill]

Tim,

Last summer we took a Garrett's Sea Hunter II, a Minelab Excalibur and an Ace 250 to detect the beaches around Panama City and Pensacola.

After 5 days, the Minelab Excalibur was the preferred detector, followed by the Ace 250, while the Sea Hunter quickly was relegated to the trunk of the car and not used.

The problem with the Sea Hunter was that it lacked the ability to discriminate, and those beaches are filled with pull tabs, bottle caps, tin foil, bobby pins, and aluminum bits - which meant digging trash almost continually with the Sea Hunter.

The Ace 250 had far better discrimination and found more good targets. But the Ace 250 doesn't work well in wet sand. (I wish Garrett would come out with a salt water proof Ace 250!)

And the only problem with the Minelab Excalibur was it kept finding deep targets - many of which turned out to be 50 caliber machine gun shells from WWII airplane straffing practice on the beach. But a few turned out to be rings, so it was worth the effort.

On returning home, I sold the Sea Hunter, and bought a Whites Beachhunter 300, which is now my preferred detector.

That might change when I get the Minelab excalibur back from Minelab for needed repairs, though.

Bill

 

[Jason in TN]

I have had both and also the infinium and now only own the dual field. It is the best and deepest by far of the three. There was some problems with the old ones leaking but the new ones have no problems Whites went with a new type of o ring and the problem is solved. If you buy a the new orange colored orings do not leak like the old black ones did. can tell a bobbie pin or nail by the double beep 90% of the time but bottle or beer caps I have to dig with the dual field. May miss a gold chain not digging the double beeps though.

Jason

 

[Diver_Down]

I have to take exception to the mention that the Sea Hunter II cannot discriminate. This is not true. I use mine every day. Trashy sections of beach, I can tune it to eliminate bottle caps and the like. By doing so, I know I might be missing some good targets, but I'm not digging trash either. With these settings, I'm still able to find targets at depths of over 2'. For whatever the reason, a nickel rings the same as a bottle cap. Yet, dimes and the rest of change ring loud and clear. So for trashy areas, I tune out the bottle caps and leave the nickels. For other stretches of beach, I tune the dial and it rings on all.

 

[ramfan]

If you tune out nickels don't you tune out gold also?

 

[Diver_Down]

If you tune out nickels don't you tune out gold also?

Not the last gold band that I dug at 8". Rang loud and clear.

 

[TimC (North Alabama)]

Thanks guys for all the great information. I've always been of the mindset that if I can't decide I'll buy both and decide that way and sell the other one, that is the only way I'll know for sure which one will be the one for me.

Thanks again!
Tim

 

[S.S.Tupperware]

I like my dual field, no leaks... If I am on a beach I don't wanna miss any targets, I sure don't feel like I do. Before I would worry about Disc out things you just need to get good at fast recovery... more targets dug up =, the better the odds.

 

[AUDuke]

If you disc out nickles, you Will disc some gold rings.. Learn the hard way.

 

[Diver_Down]

If you disc out nickles, you Will disc some gold rings.. Learn the hard way.

Thanks, Duke. I'm aware of the possibility.

Let me explain the topography of the beaches in St. Johns count. First, we are allowed to drive on the beaches here. All vehicles must park between the dunes and the driving lane. This zone is productive for the change that falls out of people's vehicles. Also, this area is where the majority of alcohol is consumed. There are no glass bottles allowed on the county beaches, yet the parking zone is littered with bottle caps. The locals can keep the bottles in their coolers in the trunks/truck beds as this way they are legal. But of course, they are slobs and pop their tops in the sand. This area is good for change and bottle caps.

Between the driving lane and the high tide line is where the beachgoers set up their gear. There is virtually no bottle caps in this area. Change, toys, glasses, watches, and jewelry are the expected finds. I tune the Sea Hunter accordingly.

Of course, the wet sand and the water are prime hunting areas and the Sea Hunter is tuned accordingly.

Some days, when I only want to kill a half hour without getting all salty, I scan the parking zone for some quick clad. Did so two days ago. I had a half hour to kill and picked up over $3.00 in clad. Rinse my feet and I was good to go for my meeting. Thanks again for the advise, though.

 

[Indasurf]

I would go with the Garrett, not because I am a big Garrett fan, but the Whites PI Pro and Beach Hunter's leak. The dual field detectors are made with the same box. If you have the money, you should check out the Infinium LS. It is much better in my opinion as a PI. Let us know which one you go with.....

The leaking issue was resolved from White's about 2-years ago. Since then all the new units coming out of the factory have the orange seals which were improved over the faulty black ones.

I have a Beach Hunter 300 and like it over my CZ20 and old Sov that I once had. When I want to use my PI, I grab the depth demon Infinium (built like a tank) and dig sweet signals that no VLF can hear! You really can't go wrong with either the White's or the Garrett that you've listed!

I know hunters that have done very well with the Sea Hunter, and have heard great things about the DF too!

Now all the machines I've listed are fine and will get the job done, it's just personal preferences that come with the pros and cons of each!

If you spend the time to really learn what your detector is telling you, you'll do fine with it!!!

Good luck with what ever you decide to use!

Thanks!

 

[Moe (fl)]

I agree with Indasurf!

I am not familiar with the Sea Hunter or the Dual Field, but I have owned some of the detectors mentioned in the postings: Ace 250, Whites Surf PI, Whites BHID and BHID300, and Excal-2.

The Ace 250 may not work well on wet sand but it is a great machine (and fast) for land and dry sand. The Whites Surf PI, I had 2.5 years ago and it did not leak. It was very deep but I was digging 20-30 trash targets for every good target. It was fun but soon it got tiresome. This is when I switched to the BHID (9.5-inch coil). The BHID was much better for the beach because of the LED lights that would very accurately tell me what type of target I might have. When I switched to the BHID300 depth increased greatly! None of my BHIDs ever leaked. As Indasurf says, the issue with some units leaking has been resolved by Whites for a couple of years already. I have not heard of any of the newer versions of BHIDs leaking.

Moe

 

[ReidMan]

Infinium!!

 

[JackInFlorida]

I like my dual field, no leaks... If I am on a beach I don't wanna miss any targets, I sure don't feel like I do.

Here! Here! Been using a PI Pro for almost three years and still love it. No leaks. Yes, there are some beaches that make you wish you could knock out the nails etc., but not every machine is for every location. A wise man in these forums once said. "The fancier your machine, the more excuses you have not to dig." I agree, just dig it. If you hunt the same beaches all the time, then they will eventually clean up just from your own efforts.

If you are getting the replenished signals, like the Clearwater area where scrap iron is coming up on shore, then you definitely need some discrimination ability.

Jack

 

[JackInFlorida]

but the Whites PI Pro and Beach Hunter's leak.

Jeez Sandman, can't believe you would say that. I've never heard anyone say that before. Only when they have changed batteries on the beach and got sand in the seal. I learned from their mistakes to never do that.

I scuba dive and work up to neck deep with mine. Almost 3 years and never a leak. You can also use this thing to pound in nails too, it's a pretty heavy duty piece of equipment.

 

[The-Bone]

one last thing worthy of mentioning is speed....you can swing the BHID a whole lot faster than the minelabs

 

[davest]

I have had a seahunter and used it each weekend except for the three it was in the shop for the past two years. I would not recommend it to anyone. First time, after two weeks I began to get falsing, everywhere, all the time, point it at the sky, point the coil sideways, whatever. No matter how I tuned it. I finally sent it back to Garrett and when it was shipped back the invoice said, "calibrate", no charge, along with a new coil. Maybe I didn't know how to use it but hey, turn it on and go was my thought. I used it in both standard setting and discreete with the disc set at 0. Sometimes I'd try to disc out the bottle caps but that was impossible to do.

this machine will pick up everything metal in the world, 1/4 inch pieces of sparkler wire, ss screws 14 inches down, every pull tab in the area of the coil, so it definitely isn't for the faint of arm strength.

Well, now I've had it back for about 8 weeks and at the end of every swing, I get double clicks and weird sounds. In fact it's starting to act just like it did before I sent it back. Anyone want to buy it?

 

[Diver_Down]

I have had a seahunter and used it each weekend except for the three it was in the shop for the past two years. I would not recommend it to anyone. First time, after two weeks I began to get falsing, everywhere, all the time, point it at the sky, point the coil sideways, whatever. No matter how I tuned it. I finally sent it back to Garrett and when it was shipped back the invoice said, "calibrate", no charge, along with a new coil. Maybe I didn't know how to use it but hey, turn it on and go was my thought. I used it in both standard setting and discreete with the disc set at 0. Sometimes I'd try to disc out the bottle caps but that was impossible to do.

this machine will pick up everything metal in the world, 1/4 inch pieces of sparkler wire, ss screws 14 inches down, every pull tab in the area of the coil, so it definitely isn't for the faint of arm strength.

Well, now I've had it back for about 8 weeks and at the end of every swing, I get double clicks and weird sounds. In fact it's starting to act just like it did before I sent it back. Anyone want to buy it?

Standard setting - set the elimination between 4 and 5. You'll still get bottlecaps and every piece of metal, but you won't get hit on the foil in the gum wrapper. Set it at 6 to 7 to eliminate bottle caps, but still ring up the clad along with jewelry including gold.

Discreet setting - set the elimination between 3 and 4.

I also have my threshold set at 1. Saves my hearing.

I use my every day. I'm heading out as I type this to catch low tide as we had some substantial beach erosion on the First Coast.

 

[scrooge]

I have owned Whites products for 20 plus years a Whites PI and a Surfmaster II. I used the PI in the water and on wet sand on average 2 days per week for those 20 years never once a leak nor were either sent in for repairs. I have owned a Garrett Infinium and in the last year it has been sent in twice for repairs. I would go with the Whites.