Is the Sand Shark really this insensitive to small gold?

hobbit

Sr. Member
Oct 1, 2010
304
110
Hi everyone. I am waiting for a small microphone with a preamp so that I can shoot some actual video of beach detector field tests. I have been doing some pre-testing with my Tesoro Sand Shark with 8 inch coil and the results I am getting just don't seem to stack-up with some of the stories I have been told. I took a .3g 14kt gold hoop earring and did everything I could to get the Sand Shark to respond to the target...but I could get nothing, no matter what I did with the controls. I have heard that some people regularly dig 14kt gold earring backs at 12 inches with a Sand Shark. They weigh much less than .3g... I then tested a 1.0g 10kt diamond/ gold earring and the best depth I could get was about 1 inch no matter what I did with the controls. I am also not having any luck at all with small gold chains. There is nothing wrong with my machine, I can assure you. It actually gets fairly respectable depth on larger gold and inexpensive, high conductive jewelry. There seems to be lots of that detected with the Sand Shark. I just don't want to give this machine short shrift in my upcoming video. Can any other Sand Shark users give me their input? I would especially be interested in hearing from Sand Shark owners who actually did tests with their machines to see what kind of depth they are getting on small, real gold targets. Thanks.
 

Upvote 0

Aka Nameless

Full Member
Aug 13, 2008
132
29
West Coast
Detector(s) used
Infinium LS, Tejon, F3, CZ21
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
LOL! Since I do not sell metal detectors, and I do not work for any manufacturer, I am free to speak my opinion AKA. You are obviously upset that you spent way too much for some optional hype. That seems to happen a lot..

Let me make this clear. The Sand Shark can hang with ANY other PI detector priced $1,200.00 or less. It is the ONLY PI detector with a LIFETIME warranty. No hype, no needless bells or whistles - just performance!

Yes, you can say that all you want, but that doesn't make it true. I owned the Sand Shark, I bought one cause of all your praise for the machine, and it didn't perform as you say it does. I now own the Infinium, and it is a few inches deeper on everything, big targets, small targets, everything. I know you're going to say "You must not know how to use the Sand Shark", but come on, that machine is turn on and go, there is no way of messing up the settings.

You are obviously friends with the guys at Tesoro, which is why you will never admit the Sand Shark is mediocre. I'm just tired of seeing you fool people into buying one, thinking they are getting a top notch machine, when they aren't.

You knock a bunch of machines you never owned, and compare the Sand Shark to machines you have never owned. I have owned the Sand Shark, it's mediocre compared to the Infinium. That isn't opinion, it's fact.
 

Last edited:

DewGuru

Bronze Member
Jul 23, 2010
1,264
705
Gulf Coast Florida
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Sand Shark
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Everyones got their faves.

http://www.facebook.com/TesoroSandShark

Started Fan Page for the Tesoro Sand Shark. Hundreds of my own personal photos on it. Feel free to peruse them all. It's still very much a work in progress, Still working on sorting them out into the appropriate categories, and dupe removals. The photos speak for themselves and the Sharks abilities in the real world enviroment of the Gulf Coast.
 

guzz1

Bronze Member
Nov 7, 2007
1,509
32
Sarasota
Detector(s) used
Vanquish 540 . Carrot
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
I had one did well with it,, I would have it looked at By Tesoro.. The one i had Loved Bobby pins . Did well on smaller Gold rings .. not so good on Chains
 

Terry Soloman

Gold Member
May 28, 2010
19,421
30,104
White Plains, New York
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Nokta Makro Legend// Pulsedive// Minelab GPZ 7000// Vanquish 540// Minelab Pro Find 35// Dune Kraken Sandscoop// Grave Digger Tools Tombstone shovel & Sidekick digger// Bunk's Hermit Pick
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Awesome!

Everyones got their faves.

http://www.facebook.com/TesoroSandShark

Started Fan Page for the Tesoro Sand Shark. Hundreds of my own personal photos on it. Feel free to peruse them all. It's still very much a work in progress, Still working on sorting them out into the appropriate categories, and dupe removals. The photos speak for themselves and the Sharks abilities in the real world enviroment of the Gulf Coast.
 

firstbiggestmost

Full Member
Oct 29, 2009
127
1
Florida
Detector(s) used
Excall II, Tesoro Sand Shark
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Yes, you can say that all you want, but that doesn't make it true. I owned the Sand Shark, I bought one cause of all your praise for the machine, and it didn't perform as you say it does. I now own the Infinium, and it is a few inches deeper on everything, big targets, small targets, everything. I know you're going to say "You must not know how to use the Sand Shark", but come on, that machine is turn on and go, there is no way of messing up the settings.
AKA don’t take this the wrong way but that’s the funniest thing in this whole thread ( the part in red). How on earth did you let yourself fall for Terry’s wild claims lol??!! :icon_scratch: ??? :tongue3: :laughing7: :thumbsup:
To the OP if your after micro gold, look into getting a prospecting machine. (just my 2 cent :coffee2:) I've managed to find a decent pile of gold with my S.S. Nice gold rings and chains from impressive depths and some tiny rings too. Funny thing for me is that since I bought a Excall with some of the gold from my shark finds, Ive been completely unimpressed by the excall as far as the depth of finds and the size of the gold. In this case they are too small lol. I still like having the excall though dont get me wrong..and soon I will add a bigger coil to her an then we'll have some fun. :thumbsup:
 

tomjiggy

Sr. Member
Sep 18, 2010
321
18
Well, I thought I was gonna read a thread that was actually intellectual in nature. Instead it turned out to be a pissing contest. Once again, I have to say that I am disappointed as I had hoped to learn something. My suggestion is, if you can't think of anything nice to say even when critiquing someone, say nothing at all. You give newcomers the impression that all you get on here to do is start an argument. Again, I am disappointed in this thread. At any time ANY of you could have just quit, but it would mean you have to swallow some pride and show some humility. Here's a thought, how about private messages if you disagree so much. That would at least clean the dialogue up so others could enjoy/learn and make an educated decision based on positive points or positively put criticism. That's all I am going to say on this.
 

Aka Nameless

Full Member
Aug 13, 2008
132
29
West Coast
Detector(s) used
Infinium LS, Tejon, F3, CZ21
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Well, I thought I was gonna read a thread that was actually intellectual in nature. Instead it turned out to be a pissing contest. Once again, I have to say that I am disappointed as I had hoped to learn something. My suggestion is, if you can't think of anything nice to say even when critiquing someone, say nothing at all. You give newcomers the impression that all you get on here to do is start an argument. Again, I am disappointed in this thread. At any time ANY of you could have just quit, but it would mean you have to swallow some pride and show some humility. Here's a thought, how about private messages if you disagree so much. That would at least clean the dialogue up so others could enjoy/learn and make an educated decision based on positive points or positively put criticism. That's all I am going to say on this.

The problem, Tom, is Terry is constantly fooling inexperienced detectorists into buying the Sand Shark, saying it compares to the high end machines, when it doesn't. If I kept it in PMs, the newbies would never know the truth.
 

Terry Soloman

Gold Member
May 28, 2010
19,421
30,104
White Plains, New York
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Nokta Makro Legend// Pulsedive// Minelab GPZ 7000// Vanquish 540// Minelab Pro Find 35// Dune Kraken Sandscoop// Grave Digger Tools Tombstone shovel & Sidekick digger// Bunk's Hermit Pick
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
The problem, Tom, is Terry is constantly fooling inexperienced detectorists into buying the Sand Shark, saying it compares to the high end machines, when it doesn't. If I kept it in PMs, the newbies would never know the truth.

Cue my cool theme music here...

Announcer: "Ladies and Gentlemen, children of all ages! The One, the Only, Terry Soloman!"

Thank you! Thank you! Please, sit down everyone! Thank you!

Look, you know why I'm here so let's get right to it. I am here to fool Tom into buying a Sand Shark tonight, right now! Some of you are saying, "But Terry, how are you going to do that? Tom is a smart guy!" Friends, worry not because I have a trick up my sleeve and the righteousness of a lifetime guarantee to hasten the inevitable!

How? You ask. By using the oldest trick in the book.. Letting the machine sell itself!
 

Octopulse

Full Member
Mar 13, 2010
148
82
Perth
Detector(s) used
Current detectors;
Minelab Excalibur II
Garrett XL500 “Super Pulse”
White’s MX7
White’s XL PRO
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I thought my posts were balanced...:icon_scratch:

I have made it my mission to never make posts that can cause aggravation...either as an original poster or replier.
I guess I'm just one heck of a nice guy.....:laughing7:
At my worst, I have been known to "agree to disagree" or like I tell my wife...."only one of us is right in this room and it's not you!"
Tony...chilling out downunder.

Well, I thought I was gonna read a thread that was actually intellectual in nature. Instead it turned out to be a pissing contest. Once again, I have to say that I am disappointed as I had hoped to learn something. My suggestion is, if you can't think of anything nice to say even when critiquing someone, say nothing at all. You give newcomers the impression that all you get on here to do is start an argument. Again, I am disappointed in this thread. At any time ANY of you could have just quit, but it would mean you have to swallow some pride and show some humility. Here's a thought, how about private messages if you disagree so much. That would at least clean the dialogue up so others could enjoy/learn and make an educated decision based on positive points or positively put criticism. That's all I am going to say on this.
 

OP
OP
H

hobbit

Sr. Member
Oct 1, 2010
304
110
I want to thank everyone who has responded positively to the video tests of the Sand Shark, White’s Dual Field, Detectorpro Headhunter Pulse and White’s PI 1000 I have posted on this forum. Because of requests from other members, I have also just joined “Friendly” and posted the tests there. They are nothing more than an honest attempt to provide a relative test of the performance of the detector’s in question. The only reason I got “sucked into” this debate was because I did not know it occurred all the time. I am a big fan of a particular sub-thread on this forum and very rarely visit the “beach and shallow water” sub-forum. Recently, family obligations have kept me much nearer computers and tablets than I generally choose to be. I was browsing and landed here. There seemed to be an honest and searching question from someone on another thread who was interested in investing his hard-earned money into a pulse induction detector. I became interested in the discussion. I recommended he check out the Headhunter Pulse before he made a decision. I also stated, that for me personally: if I could only own one waterproof , hobby PI detector, it would be the Tesoro Sand Shark. There are several reasons for this. I will not elaborate on them here. Subsequently, other members posted what I believe to be outlandish claims about the performance of the Tesoro Sand Shark. I believe the claims were misleading, whether intentionally or otherwise. I couldn’t resist getting involved in the discussion because I was bored and because I have used a Sand Shark for so long. That is why it happened. I have had my say. Instead of an opinions and claims, I have tried to inject some baseline level of objective fact into the debate. If I became animated and began to sound “strident”, I apologize. I never called anyone a liar. I never called anyone a troll. Because I questioned some member’s claims, and used some “sarcasm” in regards to some of their claims and hyperbole, I was accused of the former and called the latter. It is irrelevant., really. Within the next few days I will be leaving on an extended trip and will be in and out of communication range. I am through with the discussion, but I will be happy to respond to any queries/accusations/questions in due time. I will now crawl back into my “troll hole” where I belong. I am very comfortable here. I wish you all the best of luck with whatever detector you choose to use.
Tony
 

lookindown

Gold Member
Mar 11, 2010
7,089
4,936
Florida
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
ACE 250,AT PRO, CZ21...RTG pro scoop...Stealth 720
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I want to thank everyone who has responded positively to the video tests of the Sand Shark, White’s Dual Field, Detectorpro Headhunter Pulse and White’s PI 1000 I have posted on this forum. Because of requests from other members, I have also just joined “Friendly” and posted the tests there. They are nothing more than an honest attempt to provide a relative test of the performance of the detector’s in question. The only reason I got “sucked into” this debate was because I did not know it occurred all the time. I am a big fan of a particular sub-thread on this forum and very rarely visit the “beach and shallow water” sub-forum. Recently, family obligations have kept me much nearer computers and tablets than I generally choose to be. I was browsing and landed here. There seemed to be an honest and searching question from someone on another thread who was interested in investing his hard-earned money into a pulse induction detector. I became interested in the discussion. I recommended he check out the Headhunter Pulse before he made a decision. I also stated, that for me personally: if I could only own one waterproof , hobby PI detector, it would be the Tesoro Sand Shark. There are several reasons for this. I will not elaborate on them here. Subsequently, other members posted what I believe to be outlandish claims about the performance of the Tesoro Sand Shark. I believe the claims were misleading, whether intentionally or otherwise. I couldn’t resist getting involved in the discussion because I was bored and because I have used a Sand Shark for so long. That is why it happened. I have had my say. Instead of an opinions and claims, I have tried to inject some baseline level of objective fact into the debate. If I became animated and began to sound “strident”, I apologize. I never called anyone a liar. I never called anyone a troll. Because I questioned some member’s claims, and used some “sarcasm” in regards to some of their claims and hyperbole, I was accused of the former and called the latter. It is irrelevant., really. Within the next few days I will be leaving on an extended trip and will be in and out of communication range. I am through with the discussion, but I will be happy to respond to any queries/accusations/questions in due time. I will now crawl back into my “troll hole” where I belong. I am very comfortable here. I wish you all the best of luck with whatever detector you choose to use.
Tony
Dont worry about it Hobbit...some people just cant take the truth...they will always say "My daddy can beat up your daddy."
 

tomjiggy

Sr. Member
Sep 18, 2010
321
18
I fully understand what constructive criticism is. I also understand and recognize when someone is slamming someone else. My comment was to get the critics here to back off a little on the harmful comments being directed at each other. If someone had better results with a product than someone else did there's no need to all but call that person a liar. From what I've seen here I can honestly deduce that some people have had relatively little success finding smaller than .8 gram pieces of gold hether it be jewelry or nugget. If you have found smaller and wish to refute someone elses claims then give up your secrets and try not to slander the others involved in the discussion. For those being given advise, please try whatever is advised before you make your comments. The constant bickering between each other makes it hard to follow what is being said. In my limited experience with metal detectors, each model differs somewhat. But, I have seen two of the same model differ both slightly and drastically. So, when I say that I compare everyones comments and take away what I can from it, it's because no two machines are always alike. Certain people adapt to specific machines better than other people do. And yet other people are "Jacks of all trades" and have an ability to pick up any machine they come across and use it like a pro. I use a Safari primarily for the majority of my detecting, but my Dad has 2 old Cobra II's I grew used to while I was in Korea. I swear by them, but they're only good for about 8-10 inches unless the target is larger than a quarter. My Safari, on the other hand is a beast and will pick up small(about the size of a pin head) iron nails at 16 inches plus. Problem is it will cancel out objects less than 3 inches deep, and that's with a stock 12 inch coil. I haven't tried the beach yet with the Safari, but I want to know if it's going to do the same thing in wet sand that it does in dry sand. Or, am I the only one having these issues?
 

Can Slaw

Sr. Member
Nov 20, 2007
461
47
So Gulf Coast, FL
Detector(s) used
Excalibur, CZ-21 Sov. GT, Sea Hunter MK II, CZ-6a, Troy X5, MXT, Ace 250
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Let me make this clear. The Sand Shark can hang with ANY other PI detector priced $1,200.00 or less. It is the ONLY PI detector with a LIFETIME warranty. No hype, no needless bells or whistles - just performance!

Terry, There are a few of us that would sure like to see your video. You have made a lot of talk, now how about the walk? Hobbit has done an outstanding job of his walk, how about yours??
 

Terry Soloman

Gold Member
May 28, 2010
19,421
30,104
White Plains, New York
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Nokta Makro Legend// Pulsedive// Minelab GPZ 7000// Vanquish 540// Minelab Pro Find 35// Dune Kraken Sandscoop// Grave Digger Tools Tombstone shovel & Sidekick digger// Bunk's Hermit Pick
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
..My Safari, on the other hand is a beast and will pick up small(about the size of a pin head) iron nails at 16 inches plus. Problem is it will cancel out objects less than 3 inches deep, and that's with a stock 12 inch coil. I haven't tried the beach yet with the Safari, but I want to know if it's going to do the same thing in wet sand that it does in dry sand. Or, am I the only one having these issues?

Saltwater Beach Detecting 101: Will One Detector Do It All?
 

Terry Soloman

Gold Member
May 28, 2010
19,421
30,104
White Plains, New York
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Nokta Makro Legend// Pulsedive// Minelab GPZ 7000// Vanquish 540// Minelab Pro Find 35// Dune Kraken Sandscoop// Grave Digger Tools Tombstone shovel & Sidekick digger// Bunk's Hermit Pick
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Terry, There are a few of us that would sure like to see your video. You have made a lot of talk, now how about the walk? Hobbit has done an outstanding job of his walk, how about yours??


Slaw, I have nothing to to prove. If I made a video of the sun rising you and the other members of the "Core Four" would surely scoff, say it was setting and that I was running the film backwards. You guys believe - and pay what you want for your machines. But again, let me make this clear. The Sand Shark can hang with ANY other PI detector priced $1,200.00 or less. It is the ONLY PI detector with a LIFETIME warranty. No hype, no needless bells or whistles - just performance!
 

Can Slaw

Sr. Member
Nov 20, 2007
461
47
So Gulf Coast, FL
Detector(s) used
Excalibur, CZ-21 Sov. GT, Sea Hunter MK II, CZ-6a, Troy X5, MXT, Ace 250
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Is salt water hunting 101 where you tell all the rookies how to be prepared, then after being advised that you missed carrying a spare coil bolt on your list, you drove 54 miles for your next hunt and didn't have a spare bolt and broke yours? I loved that one!
 

Can Slaw

Sr. Member
Nov 20, 2007
461
47
So Gulf Coast, FL
Detector(s) used
Excalibur, CZ-21 Sov. GT, Sea Hunter MK II, CZ-6a, Troy X5, MXT, Ace 250
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
I see, still all mouth.....no show. Let's see your video that shows otherwise. Forget about me, show the rest of the people on this forum you can backup what you say. The OP has shown all sides, how about you?

Slaw, I have nothing to to prove. If I made a video of the sun rising you and the other members of the "Core Four" would surely scoff, say it was setting and that I was running the film backwards. You guys believe - and pay what you want for your machines. But again, let me make this clear. The Sand Shark can hang with ANY other PI detector priced $1,200.00 or less. It is the ONLY PI detector with a LIFETIME warranty. No hype, no needless bells or whistles - just performance!
 

Last edited:

Aka Nameless

Full Member
Aug 13, 2008
132
29
West Coast
Detector(s) used
Infinium LS, Tejon, F3, CZ21
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
But again, let me make this clear. The Sand Shark can hang with ANY other PI detector priced $1,200.00 or less. It is the ONLY PI detector with a LIFETIME warranty. No hype, no needless bells or whistles - just performance!

Tell that to the video proof of the opposite...

What are all these bells and whistles you speak of? All other PIs have 3 controls like the sand shark, they just have a pulse delay control instead of a useless pulse width control, and a ground balance or gain control instead of a useless volume control... Sand shark even has one knob dedicated to switching between vco or normal mode... lol. Whoever designed the controls on that machine should be fired.

lol, you're a funny guy Terry.
 

Last edited:

Terry Soloman

Gold Member
May 28, 2010
19,421
30,104
White Plains, New York
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Nokta Makro Legend// Pulsedive// Minelab GPZ 7000// Vanquish 540// Minelab Pro Find 35// Dune Kraken Sandscoop// Grave Digger Tools Tombstone shovel & Sidekick digger// Bunk's Hermit Pick
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
 

Attachments

  • Heard.jpg
    Heard.jpg
    135.4 KB · Views: 115

Can Slaw

Sr. Member
Nov 20, 2007
461
47
So Gulf Coast, FL
Detector(s) used
Excalibur, CZ-21 Sov. GT, Sea Hunter MK II, CZ-6a, Troy X5, MXT, Ace 250
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Is this your video Terry, it look just like the one firstbiggestmost did. Nice vidio, but I didn't see where it showed anything different that what the video Hobbit posted.

 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top