Minelab Excalibur, CTX 3030 and Gary Draytons books

lost items recovery

Bronze Member
Nov 29, 2012
1,295
644
Primary Interest:
Other
Minelab Excalibur, CTX 3030 and Gary Drayton's books

Ok treasure hunters I have some good sound advise for you. Ask yourself these questions as I've asked myself a numerous times before, " Am I finding as much as I could be? Am I doing something wrong? " I've found myself wondering why I'm not finding as much as other guys that post their finds or people I know but occasionally get lucky like anyone else.
A few years back a friend of mine took home 64 rings in one year from January 1st until the following New Years and me....not so much. Often I was aggravated and felt I was wasting time hunting the beach with no satisfactory results. I did notice a different strategy he was using and tried to pick up as much from him as I could but when I'd close in on him he'd catch on and circle behind me until I passed by continuing where he left off. I took as many notes as I could but he was only willing to point out a few obvious details and keep his secrets from me for years. Was or is he a better hunter then me? Honestly....yes!
He was taking home 90% more gold, silver, platinum, coins and also junk jewelry then I was. Well he finally revealed his secret to me since he's working a full time job and doesn't get out to hunt much at all anymore.
He'd been reading every book sold by Gary Drayton and told me there is a lot of valuable information on hunting techniques and where to hunt as well as reading all his posts. I now have 2 of Gary's books and I'm picking up on a lot of what he was doing and a lot of what I wasn't doing right. I can honestly say this, there is tons of detailed information in those books that I'm certain will change the way anyone hunts by pointing out the things you just don't learn aimlessly wondering the beach swinging your coil as myself and most of us do. Although we all have lucky days and get to take home great finds once in a while I now can see how important technique is, being able to read the beach and how not knowing what to do as well as what not to do can cause unsuccessful results, cause one to sell off their machine to try the new hype and purchase a new detector or just plain give up all together.
Those of you who know me, know what I do, repair and enhance the performance through modifications to the worlds best metal detectors the Minelab Excalibur and the already perfectly factory made Minelab CTX 3030 which needs no mods as it is already built from the factory with it's own pinpoint button as well as removable coils on a unbelievably awesome waterproof machine that thrives on the beach in and out of the surf, land hunting in parks, woods, farm fields, lakes and streams.
I can say that I wish I had this machine years ago as it's worth every dollar as long as you take care of it as you should!
I can't stand to hear of people complaining about their machines failing because THEY didn't treat it as they should or maintain it properly. Nothing is more frustrating then someone saying they're disappointed in their machine when I come to find out they're not using the correct settings or complain about leaks when the failed to clean their detectors battery gasket or have dropped their machine or damaged their end caps and even bothered to give it a good rinsing after each use. I've never seen a properly maintained or cared for Excalibur come to me for repair. Heck most of them come in with their coil covers packed with sand and salt and sand all over the unit when shipped to me. There's nothing like removing someone's metaldetector from it's shipping carton and having to dump the sand into the trash. Bottom line is if you take care of your detector it will take care of you, if not don't blame the manufacturer for your abused machines failure! I've hunted with my excals for years and properly maintain it and it's always turn on and huntproblem free...unless I forget to charge my battery again lol.
Getting back on track here.... If you are not satisfied on your results of your hunts or feel lost on what, how or where to hunt then I strongly recommend buying Gary Draton's books as they are the beach hunters bible and a must have to correct often made mistakes by beach hunters as well as do's and don't's of coil techniques that can be used off the beach as well. I may not have always been a believer in everything I've read in the past on the forums but I can tell you this, this guy knows what he's talking about and the results are proven.
I be seen results immediately after soaking up all the information in his books. For us hunters who are already swinging machines in excess of $1000-$2500 you owe it to yourself to get all you can out of each hunt by learning the best techniques you can or we'll all just be running or best finds to coinstar!
 

Upvote 0

NC Digger

Bronze Member
Oct 16, 2015
1,379
2,096
Gaston County, NC
Detector(s) used
Safari, Excal2, CTX, Nox 900
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Great Post! As I just got a CTX used. The person I bought it from used it for water hunts. I had him take it apart to ship and lol it was full of sand. Took me a while to clean it up. But the best part of it all was I also got Gary's first book on the CTX. Great book with lots of info. I can see where you can also apply it to any other type of hunting you do. I am hoping that Andy's book comes today to, can't wait to read that!

Thanks for your post! :thumbsup:
 

sponge

Bronze Member
Nov 15, 2012
1,691
685
Florida
I love that emerald ring he found. Ive purchased one of his books. Definitely some cool tips to be implemented. Its the Dam Sand. All the Dam Sand. Damit Sand.

sent from a sending device
 

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
I'm sure if you got a machine for free, you'd give glowing reviews as well. :p
 

dewcon4414

Bronze Member
Mar 22, 2006
2,138
1,237
Gulf Coast, Fl
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
4
Detector(s) used
MDT, Nox, Blue Xcals and CTX
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Cant take anything away from Garys knowledge and lets admit it..... hes in a great location. Ive read a LOT of books...... but what ive learned is: If theres no gold you cant get it, if you dont swing over the gold that is there.... you cant get it, and if you swing over the gold and have no idea its gold.... you cant get it. All that reading and i still cant walk out to a beach on my lunch hour and drag out gold with any consistency...... so i have to do it the old fashion way put in the time and cover a lot of beach. There are always things to learn....... but rarely any short cuts.
 

luckyp

Tenderfoot
Jun 20, 2010
6
3
Delray Beach,FL
Detector(s) used
Excalibur
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Very nice answer to a veteran of detection by a Froggy and I am one of thems.You should be a scheme of yourself frogmaster riviera.Scuba detection, romans and grec relics, old & new gold.Against the law in Europe.I invite every one to review every post to each of those two individuials and decide .Gary Drayton does not hide behind pseudos and tell it like it it is.See you a 300 feets:hello2:
 

Last edited:

Treasure_Hunter

Administrator
Staff member
Jul 27, 2006
48,419
54,770
Florida
Detector(s) used
Minelab_Equinox_ 800 Minelab_CTX-3030 Minelab_Excal_1000 Minelab_Sovereign_GT Minelab_Safari Minelab_ETrac Whites_Beach_Hunter_ID Fisher_1235_X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I highly recommend a couple members reread our rules....
 

scaupus

Hero Member
Apr 20, 2011
888
523
Not too far from a beach
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
You alluded to Gary's posts, well, those are in Gary's blog, Gary Drayton Treasure Hunting. With dozens of posts going back several years, it's a book all by itself, stuffed full with great advice, and...my hat off to Gary...it's free (no doubt, it's inspired a few book sales). He also has a facebook page where he frequently posts his latest finds.

Another blogger I read mentioned a tip about a specific type of area to hunt for rings, it was just one line in a much longer post about other stuff. I half-heartedly tried it for a few minutes with no success, it didn't really make much sense to me. A couple of years later when he mentioned the same tip again, I gave it a sustained, serious trial because I'd come to respect his competence. This time I found 4 gold rings and 1 huge platinum band and a few silver or faux rings as well. The blog is The Treasure Beaches Report brought to you from Florida's Treasure Coast. It's a daily update on Treasure Coast beach conditions, but the author also covers much that is of general interest, including beach mechanics, land and water hunting techniques, treasure hunting, fossil hunting, collecting, and much more.

What was the tip? Read the blog, there's a complete archive. You'll pick up a lot of interesting info, not just that particular tip. The real trick is in recognizing the value of the tip when you read it. It took me a long time to realize it was worth seriously investigating. At least you've read here that a tip in that blog worked for someone who tried it.
 

Last edited:

Crispin

Silver Member
Jun 26, 2012
3,584
2,856
Central Florida
Detector(s) used
Coinmaster Pro, Sand Shark
Primary Interest:
Other
You alluded to Gary's posts, well, those are in Gary's blog, Gary Drayton Treasure Hunting. With dozens of posts going back several years, it's a book all by itself, stuffed full with great advice, and...my hat off to Gary...it's free (no doubt, it's inspired a few book sales). He also has a facebook page where he frequently posts his latest finds.

Another blogger I read mentioned a tip about a specific type of area to hunt for rings, it was just one line in a much longer post about other stuff. I half-heartedly tried it for a few minutes with no success, it didn't really make much sense to me. A couple of years later when he mentioned the same tip again, I gave it a sustained, serious trial because I'd come to respect his competence. This time I found 4 gold rings and 1 huge platinum band and a few silver or faux rings as well. The blog is The Treasure Beaches Report brought to you from Florida's Treasure Coast. It's a daily update on Treasure Coast beach conditions, but the author also covers much that is of general interest, including beach mechanics, land and water hunting techniques, treasure hunting, fossil hunting, collecting, and much more.

What was the tip? Read the blog, there's a complete archive. You'll pick up a lot of interesting info, not just that particular tip. The real trick is in recognizing the value of the tip when you read it. It took me a long time to realize it was worth seriously investigating. At least you've read here that a tip in that blog worked for someone who tried it.

Why do I have to go search the blog for the tip? Please tell us all what the tip is so that I can improve the number of rings I find. I am about 0 for 20 on the Tampa Coasts...
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top