BeachHunter 300 / Surf PI DF / Excalibur II / Fisher CZ-21

[FooserPaul]

Hello all!

I am mainly a land coinshooter... I would like to make the move into the water... I've hunted the beach a little, but the appeal of getting in the water I think is the way for me...

so... that being said... I am a Minelab guy with an E-Trac as my primary MD... but does not mean I am locked into them for my water detector...

I see that have had coil issues with the Excalibur II... additionally... the Excalibur II is a few bucks more that the White's product as well... Then there is Fisher... I know little about them...

Let me add... my primary hunt area will be salt water surf... wet suit... get in the water....

Budget... Keep it under 1200$...

I am open to new or used...

Thank you for any input... Paul

 

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[petersra]

Hey Paul,
Welcome to water hunting. I don't own an Excalibur, but everything I have heard says that is the machine to own for water hunting. I am sure the Minelab users will weigh in on that one, unless they don't want the additional competition for the deep gold. Look at my last post, "Finally found one for October". See all the iron junk I found with my White Dual Field PI. Most of that you won't find with the Excalibur. Garrett AT-Pro which is coming out in November might come close to the Minelab, at a much cheaper price of $699 and perhaps better service, but probably not quite as deep as the multi-frequency Minelab. (By the way, there are lots of other posts in this forum that cover the same subject. So, a little research will tell you all you need to know.) HH. Ralph

 

[OBN]

I am a firm believer that some detecters work better then others in different locations. SSooooo Detector of choice in Conn would be a Df for in the ocean beachs and the Sovereign wet sand. Check with craig on friendly detecting forum, he lives, hunts, Connecticut and does very well. Many who live and hunt there say the excal does not do well, at both. If your going to hunt fresh water lakes, CZ 20, or excalibur. Lotta old treasure to be found there, check lorraines post on treasure depot, surf and sand forum 25 Gold for the year, If you get the Df, craig/CFmct-Pi good source of info, and CJC's book on the DF. good luck............joe

 

[-Jones-]

Paul,

I've owned the beachhunter, surfmaster, excal I 800, excal I 1000, and recently bought an excal II 1000. I've bought all my water dectectors through kellyco and resold them on consignment through kellyco, no complaints, it's worked well.

I was in San Diego a couple of weeks ago, hit the beaches with the excal II for the first time, and it worked outstanding. I was finding coins a good 9" deep in wet sand.

I travel to Florida and other ocean beach destinations detectin surf, wet sand, dry sand, and would not trade it for any other model or at least until the excal III comes out. Good Luck!

 

[EZrider]

I just picked up a clean used CZ-21. I have the ETrac as well. As much as i wanted an Excal i didnt like the storys of Minelab customer service. Having used an Excal before i seem to like the CZ better for some reason. I think the septh are the same. At least for me here in NYC on the beaches. Alot deeper than the ET on the wet salt. Maybe its just a more simple machine to run and that is what i wanted for water hunting.

 

[erikk]

IMHO if U have a lot of black sand go with the Infinium, if not the Excal better yet get them both

 

[Sandman]

IMHO if U have a lot of black sand go with the Infinium, if not the Excal better yet get them both

I got an email from a guy that told me I should differentiate between the black volcanic sand and the magnetized stuff we usually refer to as "black sand." So for others that aren't clear on the thing, Black sand we talk about sticks to a magnet and causes most land detectors to be unstable in the wet saltwater sand.

IMHO too, buy as many detectors as you can afford.

 

[Silver Surfer]

I sent you a PM...

 

[FooserPaul]

Thank you for your input... Additionally I've been reading all the forums and posts I can... Cfmct-PI who is very active in the CT coastal waters and other posts and info here have me convienced that the White's Surf PI DF is the way for me to go...

Thank you all!

Paul

 

[Smudge]

Hi Paul.

You're E-Trac should do just fine on the dry sand at the beach and you will value having the discrimination there. You should also get excellent depth with it for an MLF detector (it won't beat a PI though).

I know many people like the Excal and there is no denying its one of the best beach machines ever built.

However, they're not for me and I recently sold mine. I found I prefer pulse induction detectors and bought the Dual Field.
It offers fantastic depth (24" is not unheard of) but no discrimination. You can try practicing understanding the tones of a PI but it comes down to this: every signal you don't dig can cost you a valuable find... or another tie wrap.

There's a couple of reasons for my preference: first, while the Excal's discrimination feature can be seen as a plus, it can also make the detector a bit boring to use. I would swing mine for thirty minutes at a time and never get a signal. Some don't see that as a problem because that simply means you're not digging trash, at least, that's what we think, but how can really know if we don't dig the target? And that kind of feeds into the second issue.

The PI, especially the Dual Field, can go about twice as deep as the Excal. That depth means a lot at the beach, especially those that are sanded in. It will also allow you to find the deep targets the Excal can't hit.

Some complain that digging 18" for a bobby pin is a bad thing. Really? You might also be digging 18" for that gold ring the Excal can't reach. And honestly, digging at the beach really isn't a chore (in the water yes, but not in the wet/dry sand). If you want a chore, dig on dry land cutting plugs, slicing through roots, etc. Don't be afraid to dig at the beach. Just get yourself a good long handled scoop (which you ought to have no matter what detector you buy) and scoop away. Kick the sand back in after you get the target and you're done.

Unless age or health is an issue, I personally believe you should go to the beach using a machine that will give the best depth and dig every target. Discrimination only gives you an excuse not to dig and every signal you don't dig might be something valuable.

I say this because most users are going to advise you get the Excal and I thought you ought to have at least one differing point of view.

Either way you go, Excal or Dual Field (the Garrett Infinium PI goes over your budget a bit), you will be using a quality machine. Just take the time to get to know it well and you will have a lot of fun and success.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Put a WOT coil on that Excal and see how deep your digging, and your still NOT digging pieces of iron................

 

[Smudge]

Remember, discrimination is just an excuse not to dig, something you don't need on a beach. Every target you don't dig might be a missed opportunity. Your choice.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Remember, discrimination is just an excuse not to dig, something you don't need on a beach. Every target you don't dig might be a missed opportunity. Your choice.

I use no descrimination on my Excals and Sovereign GTs when hunting, if I get a null, I check it by swinging from multiple directions to see if it nulls from all directions.....I have dug up at least a couple hundred nulls over the last 4.5 years, not once was a null in all directions anything but iron.....Now a null in one direction and a solid signal in another direction is a different matter...

 

[Smudge]

Remember, discrimination is just an excuse not to dig, something you don't need on a beach. Every target you don't dig might be a missed opportunity. Your choice.

I use no descrimination on my Excals and Sovereign GTs when hunting, if I get a null, I check it by swinging from multiple directions to see if it nulls from all directions.....I have dug up at least a couple hundred nulls over the last 4.5 years, not once was a null in all directions anything but iron.....Now a null in one direction and a solid signal in another direction is a different matter...

Interesting. That goes to prove that no matter what detector you use, learn it well and it will rarely steer you wrong.

How long have you been working with Excals?

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Remember, discrimination is just an excuse not to dig, something you don't need on a beach. Every target you don't dig might be a missed opportunity. Your choice.

I use no descrimination on my Excals and Sovereign GTs when hunting, if I get a null, I check it by swinging from multiple directions to see if it nulls from all directions.....I have dug up at least a couple hundred nulls over the last 4.5 years, not once was a null in all directions anything but iron.....Now a null in one direction and a solid signal in another direction is a different matter...

Interesting. That goes to prove that no matter what detector you use, learn it well and it will rarely steer you wrong.

How long have you been working with Excals?

Only about 4 years, been hunting with 15" and larger coils (WOTS and 12x15" and 15x18" SEF Butterfly coils) for about 3 years now, both on Excals and Sovereigns....