Best detector for Salt-Beach/Shallow-water Hunting?

[Lineweed]

I have made some changes to my criteria for my first detector after looking through everyone's input and some feedback with experienced local detectors.
Hey everyone, I'm going to start out exclusively on Beach hunting, and although I have done my own research regarding which detector to buy, I would seriously appreciate input from all the pros out there in the forum!

I have made even further changes after researching on the various detectors and advice from you guys

Hey everyone, I'm going to start out exclusively on Beach hunting, and although I have done my own research regarding which detector to buy, I would seriously appreciate input from all the pros out there in the forum!

So, here are the considerations:

Price: down to 800USD. willing to buy used as long as condition is good.

Ground condition: Artificial beach made from imported sand. Salt beach, Dry Sand, Shallow(chest deep) Water. Due to close proximity to shipping routes, VERY HIGH amount of trash with iron content. small bits of rust, nuts, bolts.

Depth & Search Characteristic: As deep as possible. Superb Salt Beach AND Salt water detection is a must! Discrimination against IRON and fast Null recovery are highly valued. I have no need for a dirt detector.

Skill: Total Beginner.


So far I have ruled out all PI detectors, so the Pi DF, Pi Pro & Sand Shark are out. Excal II is out too since the price tag is too high, not to mention Sov GT seems to be of more value to me. I haven't researched the CZ-21, Sea Hunter Mark II or the Beachhunter ID, but have set my sights for either the MineLab Sovereign GT or the Garrett AT Pro.

AT Pro: Its very afforable for me, and I like that it is waterproof. I've heard that it has been compared to the Tiger Shark (Single Freq, VLF) and that it changed the detecting world when Garrett started selling it. What sold me on it was that it has been reported to have superb null recovery - apparently you can swing it fast in an iron infested area and still get hits. However I've also heard mixed accounts regarding its performance in salt water too - that it must be in Pro mode, manual GB every time the ground changes, and the possibility of losing depth.

Sovereign GT: I like it how the coils can be changed to the WOT/SEF and the possibility of adding an amp in the future. My main worry is reports of it having too long a threshold null - on iron infested beaches it may keep nulling and fail to get hits. Has anyone tried it in at such beaches before? Also is there anyway to waterproof the control box and mount it high up on my back (almost to the neck)? that way at least it has higher resistance to water when the "tides" come in. That way I don't need to pay a premium for the Excal II since I'm not diving.

"Tides"? Yea, this is our poor excuse of a tide:


I would just like to say that I acknowledge skill plays an even greater role than equipment in this hobby, but I would like to not shortchange myself by getting a weaker detector to hone my skills with, thus the research put into getting my first toy. Thank you so much to all of you for the input guys, I really appreciate the effort put into helping me get the right detector for the job!

[vegemite]

And are there any tips and tricks to beach hunting?(quote)


Yep... fill in your holes


Veg.

[stevemc]

The excal will tell you if it is iron, and will slightly discriminate all non ferrous items. The PI will only tell you there is metal. And yes the PI is deeper, much deeper than an Excal. I have both, and in certain places they each work well. If you are on a beach looking for gold jewelry, and dont want to waste time digging iron, such as sparkler wires, bread bags ties, hair pins, needles, screws nails, and other things, than an Excal is the thing. Or a Fisher CZ - 21. A good PI such as White's Dual Field is excellent, and will find gold jewelry, but it will find all kinds of metal and wont discriminate. There are a few good diggers, Sun Spot Stealth 8"and Sun Spot Sugar Sand 8" and a few others I cant think of the name now, but they have a 12" long by 8" wide scoop, with a wood handle.

[CoastalSChunter]

I really like the new Garrett AR Pro, i have a whites and a fisher as well so i like all brands, but the new AT Pro has really been a good all around detector,great for beach/water hunting....

[Lineweed]

What do you guys think of the Whites Pi Pro? will the price difference between a used pi PRO and a pi DF be justified in the increase in performance? Btw I doubt I need serious discrimination because the beaches are really clean - quoted to have a 10:1 find-to-trash ratio.

[stevemc]

I feel the dual field is a better unit. It has a transmit=TX coil and and a receive coil=RX, which allows a quicker/shorter delay in the 2, instead of using a single coil and wires, they use 2 coils and 2 sets of wires. That in itself works better. Eric Foster joined up with White's and he designed this, and he is the guru on PIs that really find stuff like gold jewelry. The tuning ability is also better than the PI Pro. The difference will easily pay for itself.

[tailofdog]

Hey everyone, I'm going to start out exclusively on Beach hunting, and although I have done my own research regarding which detector to buy, I would seriously appreciate input from all the pros out there in the forum!

Here's my plan for learning metal detecting - I'm going to start exclusively on the salt beaches before I move off to the "dry" areas of the beach - there is a lot of traffic from parties, etc. After that I wish to progress to shallow water, but it would be sometime before that happens - the area I live in, there has been reports of STONEFISHES in shallow water - I'm not about to kill myself before getting adequate equipment, namely a wetsuit, gloves and probably heavy-duty boots with metal inserts... After that I would hopefully be skilled enough to go diving in exotic places away from my home and enjoy this hobby!
Take a look at the Garrett Sea Hunter Mark11 Bulit like a tank and, seperate battery compartment with long battery life(very important)


So, here are the considerations:

Price: <1000USD.

Things I wish to find: Other than gold, silver, and precious metals, ridiculous amounts of coins litter the beaches here. Also, I won't mind collecting nice pebbles/rocks/shells or even meteorites, but I think those are rare here...

Coin Composition: Copper-plated Zinc/Steel, Aluminium, Bronze, Cupronickel.
Size: from diameter 15.9mm to 24.66mm

Ground condition: Artificial beach. Sand imported from Malaysia and Indonesia. Wish to hunt Salt beach, Dry Sand, Shallow Water. The easiest beaches to hunt on are kept very clean - little trash whatsoever. The harder ones have such trash, data from 2007-

Styrofoam pieces - 27,460 (24.8%)
Bags - 14,470 (13.07%)
Cigarettes / cigarette filters - 11,613 (10.49%)
Food wrappers / containers - 11,504 (10.39%)
Straws, stirrers - 11,051 (9.98%)
Beverage bottles (plastic) 2 litres or less - 4,495 (4.06%)
Plastic sheeting / tarps - 4,431 (4.0%)
Caps, lids - 3,817 (3.45%)
Cups, plates, forks, knives, spoons - 3,394 (3.07%)
Glass beverage bottles - 2,002 (1.81%)

Depth: As deep as possible. I Am in my early 20s, fairly fit, so could use a good workout myself!

Skill: Total Beginner. I like fiddling with advanced stuff though.

Well thats it! Personally, I have heard really good things about the Whites Surfmaster PI Dual Field & the Minefield Excal - A local guy has the DF and he says in these forums he's digging his head off every 2 steps lol. As for the Excal, I've heard that it has bad knobs, doesn't detect deep enough as the DF, battery burnt, no way to check battery level, etc. Both have good customer service though, I think.

Am I right that I should go for a PI detector, since its the beach, searches the deepest, and the lack of trash makes discrimination unneeded? I also heard that I should detect in/right after the rain, not sure why though. What is the best sand scoop for hauling huge amounts of sand since I'm going to dig so much? And are there any tips and tricks to beach hunting?

Thanks so much for the input guys!

[Lineweed]

i've updated my criteria after thinking over some information people in the know have given me... please take a look!

[bigscoop]

The CZ-21 is "probably" your best choice. Very user friendly, easy to learn, good depth and discrimination, three tone signal, control housing can be belt mounted which really makes for a much lighter shaft and coil assembly and a lot less resistance in the water. I have and use an excal, but I wouldn't recommend it to a beginner unless he was willing to spend a lot of time to learn to use it. Fisher also has, at least in my experience, good turnaround in the event of problems. From what I'm hearing the same can't be said with the excal. Great machine, but just takes more effort to master its use and full potential and the service is questionable.

[Lineweed]

i'm concerned about the difference between a dual freq vs multi freq detector. i was told the CZ-21 is dual freq and won't work as well as a multi-freq on salt beaches

[Sandman]

i'm concerned about the difference between a dual freq vs multi freq detector. i was told the CZ-21 is dual freq and won't work as well as a multi-freq on salt beaches

Multi freq can mean more than one frequency or more like a PI. I had no trouble using a CZ-20/21 at saltwater beaches even with the varying amounts of salt concentrations and black sand. A Pulse has many freq and processes them differently as Steve says. I stopped using Pulse units because I felt I was wasting time digging deep holes for tiny iron.

[Lineweed]

I've hit a very unexpected snag in my purchase of a Sovereign GT - every dealer i've contacted said "sorry, we are unable to ship Minelab products out of US." even kellyco. I've never encountered such a problem before with regional blockades.

Desperate, I've even called Plexus Corp. in Malaysia to ask if they can ship it directly down to Singapore, its just down south. They said they only manufacture the parts and are unable to deliver. It's really funny - I'm to buy a machine that's made in a neighboring country, shipped to the US, then shipped back to practically the same geographical location with a hefty shipping fee!

My last resort was to contact the SOLE distributor in my country... and guess what? The quote is 1200USD, with the Excalibur at 1500USD No way i'm paying for that!

I will continue searching for an avenue for about 3-4 days - if all else fails... I guess the CZ-20 isn't too shabby. Might be a blessing in disguise with its waterproofing too.

[Keppy]

I've hit a very unexpected snag in my purchase of a Sovereign GT - every dealer i've contacted said "sorry, we are unable to ship Minelab products out of US." even kellyco. I've never encountered such a problem before with regional blockades.

Desperate, I've even called Plexus Corp. in Malaysia to ask if they can ship it directly down to Singapore, its just down south. They said they only manufacture the parts and are unable to deliver. It's really funny - I'm to buy a machine that's made in a neighboring country, shipped to the US, then shipped back to practically the same geographical location with a hefty shipping fee!

My last resort was to contact the SOLE distributor in my country... and guess what? The quote is 1200USD, with the Excalibur at 1500USD No way i'm paying for that!

I will continue searching for an avenue for about 3-4 days - if all else fails... I guess the CZ-20 isn't too shabby. Might be a blessing in disguise with its waterproofing too.

If you go on Ebay some one there probably will sell you a minelab and ship it to you.......