is there any detector that can handle it all?

bigscoop

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Everything is a tradeoff. Since you specifically mentioned submersible then the field really isn't all that vast. And, if you want the ability to discriminate, which I can't imagine that you wouldn't given the "do-it-all" description, then this gets you to just a handful of machines. Price range - about $600 to around $2400, plus accessories. And, when you say, "submersible", if you mean beyond 10ft, then the field gets even smaller with the price range of about $1200 to around $1500 and these are all tone machines with no screens, which really isn't required. The two industry leaders being the Fisher CZ-21 and the Minelab Excalibur, with the Excalibur (in my opinion) being the most versatile. However, both of these have hardwired coils.
 

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waldopeppa

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so what would you suggest and why?

i thoughrt about fisher pulse 8x but from what i see on forums it doesnt detect gold well

ctx 3030 is getting bad reviews for salt water


im open
 

Jason in Enid

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The pulse 8x is a horrible choice for beach or turf hunting. The Excalibur is your best option but its far from ideal for turf hunting. Its home is the beach and surf.
 

bigscoop

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I've used both the CZ-21 and the Excal a lot and my personal opinion is that the Excal is the most versatile of the two. If I was going to be traveling and hunting in a wide range of environments including underwater and I could only have one machine, it would be the Excal.

The real issue is there is no such thing as a "do it all" machine but the Excal is probably as close as you are going to get for all environments.
 

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Terry Soloman

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Beach Papa

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The bad press on the CTX 3030 with salt water falsing is old news. The problem has been corrected by Minelab and it is no longer a problem. I wish Minelab was making the 3030 8 years ago when I was looking for something that "does it all", and I might not have 5 detectors now. I am not convinced the CTX is a good prospecting machine, but it seems to work for everything else. Papa
 

bigscoop

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The bad press on the CTX 3030 with salt water falsing is old news. The problem has been corrected by Minelab and it is no longer a problem. I wish Minelab was making the 3030 8 years ago when I was looking for something that "does it all", and I might not have 5 detectors now. I am not convinced the CTX is a good prospecting machine, but it seems to work for everything else. Papa

Go scuba diving with it and let us know how that works out. :laughing7: Not real clear on what he means by "submersible" but I assumed he meant more then just shallow water stuff. :dontknow:
 

Sir Gala Clad

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A shovel, sifter/grader and a magnet!

A shovel is the best discriminator there is.
The sifter/grader speeds up the process.
If the retrieved object sticks to the magnet it is ferrous (iron).

The gold/silver/clad has to be under the shovel, same as it must be under the coil of a metal detector.
 

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OBN

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I'm with Terry, No one machine can do it all. You will find Gold at the Beach..So get your self a deticated water detector....then If you still want to hunt land, which many don't, get yourself a land detector with the gold from the water......


I tried a excal on land, took about 10 minutes and never again...
 

donkarlos

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I think Terry has some good advice. I have the sandshark (affordable and waterproof) for salt water beaches and a Tesoro Cibola for land and shallow fresh water. The Cibola goes deep as anything but doesn't have ground balance (which I don't need).
 

dieselram94

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Yup, pretty much need two machines as has been said.
 

bigscoop

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I'm with Terry, No one machine can do it all. You will find Gold at the Beach..So get your self a deticated water detector....then If you still want to hunt land, which many don't, get yourself a land detector with the gold from the water......


I tried a excal on land, took about 10 minutes and never again...

Just curious, what didn't you like about it that quickly?
 

OBN

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What happened I had been a land hunter way before, using Explores, and then the SE..I got use to hunting Allmetal tones, just like the excal...but when I heard a tone I liked, then I would go to the screen...I got use to the Digital screen numbers in aiding me....there are so many trashy places on land I just feel to be the best hunter you have to have all the help you can when discriminating.

So I broke out the excal at one of these trashy places, thinking it would be easy...there must have been a few hundred tones within a two minutes of swinging...that was it...There are land machines, and there are water machines..If you want to make the most of a hunt....you have to have the best machine for the job, or your wasting time........A few years ago, I was at a camping site near the beach, we would hunt the beach during the day then come back in the evening, I tried it again, xcal....this time 3 swings.....My opinion....I'm a water hunter...
 

bigscoop

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LOL...Campgrounds can be the worst, just so much small trash in the ground. On the other hand, those little swimming holes adjacent to those camp spots can be real treasure magnets. When Mike and I were traveling a lot metal detecting, these watery campgrounds were where we lived. :icon_thumleft:
 

lookindown

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im interested in buying a detector that totally is submersible and can search on land also

i would like something that is able to detect deep and coins,jewelry,gold and relics but there are so many and so many different prices it is getting frustrating



any suggestions?
Are you going to dive with it? Fresh or salt water?
 

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CASPER-2

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I dont like getting into "my machines best" battles
what I got works for me - that being said
you DO NOT want a Pulse 8X for regular detecting
if you are trying to find a shipwreck - you might want one
it goes very deep and is sensitive
or even in a relic area where there was only period stuff - deep projectiles
but it is no good for your average bch
 

ron lord

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Why not use the Sand shark on land ,It go deeper than "H" work very well in Black sand . I use mine in AZ. and it work very well there. It's good for nugget hunting Works good on land or in the water. Just make shore you have a good big scoop.
 

Sandman

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I've used the Sand Shark, Excal, CZ-20/21 for diving in fresh and saltwater and all worked great. I found the Sand Shark to use up more of my air while diving because of lack of iron disc. I also used the Tiger Shark in fresh water only and the Fisher 1280 worked well in fresh water too. But of these, only the CZ-20/21 has a pinpoint that works well on land so your not digging huge plugs to dig up a penny. All these water machines are heavy but can be hip mounted to reduce weight. As Terry and others have said it is best to have at least two MD's. Golfers have a bag of many clubs and they use all of them.
 

firemac

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I've used the Sand Shark, Excal, CZ-20/21 for diving in fresh and saltwater and all worked great. I found the Sand Shark to use up more of my air while diving because of lack of iron disc. I also used the Tiger Shark in fresh water only and the Fisher 1280 worked well in fresh water too. But of these, only the CZ-20/21 has a pinpoint that works well on land so your not digging huge plugs to dig up a penny. All these water machines are heavy but can be hip mounted to reduce weight. As Terry and others have said it is best to have at least two MD's. Golfers have a bag of many clubs and they use all of them.

ditto on the bag of clubs, i agree, I like my etrac on the beach and the excal in the surf, I like using the etrac for the same reason of checking the number reading when I can,
 

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