Newbie'ish looking for California beach detector advice. Sand Shark + AT pro vs cz21

[expl0rer]

I've spent the last week reading TONS of posts and have some questions.

I want a detector for California beaches. Probably only in wet sand and shallow water. I wouldn't be apposed to something that is fully submersible because I could see myself getting into underwater detecting.

My research has led me to the Sand Shark. Im not afraid to dig everything and it seems to do well for the money. I am willing to spend more but probably not interested in spend 2500 on a 3030. I ideally want to have something for hill and dry sand plus high mineralized sand. I know this will require two machines.

I'm thinking a Sand Shark + At Pro for about $1200 bucks. Or does anybody think I should just go for the CZ-21 for an all around?

I'm also open to any other options but ideally 80% of what I will be doing is salt water beach hunting. I also have a though I assume California is really competitive. Is it better to have a really good detector to find what others miss or with the tides is new stuff always coming in. (newbie questions I know haha)

Thanks!

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Agony and Death on a Gold Rush Steamer: The Disastrous Sinking of the Side-Wheeler Yankee Blade - Grab it through Amazon!

[Terry Soloman]

Buy a used multi-freq machine with a huge coil, or go with the new Tesoro Sand Shark, and Vaquero - both for about $1,050.00.

 

[TommyB]

I like my White's Duel Field Surf PI machine. I don't miss much. It detects pretty deep. Waterproof to about 300ft(?)
At the beach you will want to dig everything so a good scoop needed as well.

 

[expl0rer]

Buy a used multi-freq machine with a huge coil, or go with the new Tesoro Sand Shark, and Vaquero - both for about $1,050.00.

Which uses multi-frequency would you recommend? Thanks for all the advice Terrry!

 

[redcobra8u]

The Excal II is as good as the CZ-21. The AT Pro is great in the dry sand. I have both but use the Excal about 90pct of the time. If you make it up to Santa Monica one day, I'll let you tryout each machine.

You are correct, tons of hunters on the beach. The type of machine in combination with being in the right place at the right time is the trick.

 

[expl0rer]

The Excal II is as good as the CZ-21. The AT Pro is great in the dry sand. I have both but use the Excal about 90pct of the time. If you make it up to Santa Monica one day, I'll let you tryout each machine.

You are correct, tons of hunters on the beach. The type of machine in combination with being in the right place at the right time is the trick.

That would be great! I actually go to a LA about every other weekend visit my girlfriend. We took a little late night stroll last night on Santa Monica Beach. Seemed like a super low tide. Looked like 30 yards of wet sand!

I would absolutely take you up on that offer sometime and buy you a beer/lunch in exchange for your time/advice!

 

[redcobra8u]

That would be great! I actually go to a LA about every other weekend visit my girlfriend. We took a little late night stroll last night on Santa Monica Beach. Seemed like a super low tide. Looked like 30 yards of wet sand!

I would absolutely take you up on that offer sometime and buy you a beer/lunch in exchange for your time/advice!

Cool. PM me and we can set something up.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Which uses multi-frequency would you recommend? Thanks for all the advice Terrry!

Fisher CZ3d; CZ21; Minelab Excalibur; CTX3030;

 

[SocalJim]

I'd go with a Minelab Excal or Sovereign. I've had a CZ70 which loved iron and a sand shark which of course missed nothing. You say you'll dig everything but when your in the wet sand and dig seven or eight hairpins in a row or a few bottle caps ten inches deep you'll be wishing your machine would have the ability to let you know before hand. The Minelab BBS technology just saves you so much time passing up the trash you have much better odds of finding the good stuff. The older Sovereigns work as well some say better than the newer ones and they always come up on the auction sites as well as here. I have to say though if you really want to clean up your beaches Tesoro has an unmatched warranty and repair center and that's a huge selling point over the other choices.

 

[expl0rer]

I'd go with a Minelab Excal or Sovereign. I've had a CZ70 which loved iron and a sand shark which of course missed nothing. You say you'll dig everything but when your in the wet sand and dig seven or eight hairpins in a row or a few bottle caps ten inches deep you'll be wishing your machine would have the ability to let you know before hand. The Minelab BBS technology just saves you so much time passing up the trash you have much better odds of finding the good stuff. The older Sovereigns work as well some say better than the newer ones and they always come up on the auction sites as well as here. I have to say though if you really want to clean up your beaches Tesoro has an unmatched warranty and repair center and that's a huge selling point over the other choices.

Thanks for the detailed response! I hear you for sure on the hairpins (my girlfriend leaves them EVERYWHERE in my apartment and I already hate them). Would you say the BBS technology is accurate enough that you can pass stuff like that for sure? I'm the kind of guy that I would just have to know what's down there but after 5,000 pins I might pass haha! Are the Minelab Excal or Sovereign a good machine for inland California or just for salt water?

With the warranty considerations i'm leaning towards going sandshark and an atp pro for non ocean detecting. Maybe after 5,000 boby pins I buy something more expensive and maybe save up for a 3030.

 

[Sandman]

Thanks for the detailed response! I hear you for sure on the hairpins (my girlfriend leaves them EVERYWHERE in my apartment and I already hate them). Would you say the BBS technology is accurate enough that you can pass stuff like that for sure? I'm the kind of guy that I would just have to know what's down there but after 5,000 pins I might pass haha! Are the Minelab Excal or Sovereign a good machine for inland California or just for salt water?

With the warranty considerations i'm leaning towards going sandshark and an atp pro for non ocean detecting. Maybe after 5,000 boby pins I buy something more expensive and maybe save up for a 3030.

The AT Pro is a huge mistake for the beach as it sucks anywhere near wet sand. What do you need a screen for at hunting sand. The CZ-21 or Excel both have more than one frequency but they would be heavy for inland hunting.

 

[expl0rer]

The AT Pro is a huge mistake for the beach as it sucks anywhere near wet sand. What do you need a screen for at hunting sand. The CZ-21 or Excel both have more than one frequency but they would be heavy for inland hunting.

I know both of those are great machine but I don't know if I want to spend that much right off the bat. How do you feel about the sandshark? I know i'll be digging lots of junk.....

And then my plan is down the road get something for in-land

 

[cudamark]

I got tired REAL quick using a PI machine years ago. Went with an Excalibur and never looked back. It's not a great land machine however. I use the E-trac for that, wet sand, and shallow water. You just have to be real careful not to accidentally get it wet up at the control box. If you insist on digging everything, the Sand Shark is a good choice for the money. There again, not a good land machine, nor is the CZ21. The CTX3030 is the best all around machine for your needs, but, if price is an issue, do what Terry recommended and get two machines. It's always nice to have a backup anyway!

 

[expl0rer]

I got tired REAL quick using a PI machine years ago. Went with an Excalibur and never looked back. It's not a great land machine however. I use the E-trac for that, wet sand, and shallow water. You just have to be real careful not to accidentally get it wet up at the control box. If you insist on digging everything, the Sand Shark is a good choice for the money. There again, not a good land machine, nor is the CZ21. The CTX3030 is the best all around machine for your needs, but, if price is an issue, do what Terry recommended and get two machines. It's always nice to have a backup anyway!

Thanks for the advice!

When you say the Excalibur isn't a good land machine you mean like way inland? I was thinking of using it for wetsand. I'm pretty torn between the sandshark and the Excalibur 2. I know it's highly debated but our of the excalibur and the sandshark which one is deeper? My thought are in highly hunted areas that depth is important

 

[Terry Soloman]

If you want deep, Sand Shark 10.5" beats the Excalibur with a 15" coil

 

[adamBomb]

Im not afraid to dig everything

Too many say that when they first start...put a few hundred hours on the beach with a VLF machine like the CZ21/Excal then decide if you would like a PI to compliment them...

The AT Pro is a huge mistake for the beach as it sucks anywhere near wet sand. What do you need a screen for at hunting sand. The CZ-21 or Excel both have more than one frequency but they would be heavy for inland hunting.

This.

Thanks for the advice!

When you say the Excalibur isn't a good land machine you mean like way inland? I was thinking of using it for wetsand. I'm pretty torn between the sandshark and the Excalibur 2. I know it's highly debated but our of the excalibur and the sandshark which one is deeper? My thought are in highly hunted areas that depth is important

The excal isn't a good land machine because its heavy. There are much better options for land. It will work but its like driving a school bus around to do local shopping. The depth of the machine will depend on the soil type. In low mineralization a PI and Excal/CZ21 will be very similar. The further you get in the water (like chest deep+) and more mineralization you get the PI will be deeper. Do NOT get a PI machine as your first one. Get an Excal or CZ21. They are waterproof and do great on beaches. I have both and they are nearly identical in performance. Each has some slight advantages over the other but depth wise they are the same from all of the tests I have run.

 

[expl0rer]

If you want deep, Sand Shark 10.5" beats the Excalibur with a 15" coil

This is basically where I am at.

I'm willing to spend the money on an Excalibur 2. The things that worry me is, they seem to have some issues with wires corroding etc. Also they take forever to mail them in for work. But i'm not gonna lie, not digging what people say is 50,000 bobby pins and bottle caps sound nice.

The sand shark gets great reviews. I did see one youtube video where they did a nickel test on the beach and the depth wasn't as great as I suspected but that was only 1 video. The lifetime warranty is AMAZING. Right not I work at 9 am and i'm planning on doing a few early am hours on the weekday followed by some detecting on the weekends. With shorter sessions am I better off with something that has discrimination so I don't waste so much time on boby pins?

I know this is a dumb rookie question that has a TON of variables but with the sand shark are you looking at 1000 trash targets for 1 decent find? And with the excalibur 2 would you be closer to 10 trash to 1 decent find? Is the discrimination that good?

 

[expl0rer]

Too many say that when they first start...put a few hundred hours on the beach with a VLF machine like the CZ21/Excal then decide if you would like a PI to compliment them...



This.



The excal isn't a good land machine because its heavy. There are much better options for land. It will work but its like driving a school bus around to do local shopping. The depth of the machine will depend on the soil type. In low mineralization a PI and Excal/CZ21 will be very similar. The further you get in the water (like chest deep+) and more mineralization you get the PI will be deeper. Do NOT get a PI machine as your first one. Get an Excal or CZ21. They are waterproof and do great on beaches. I have both and they are nearly identical in performance. Each has some slight advantages over the other but depth wise they are the same from all of the tests I have run.

I can see this is the over anxious rookie statement haha.

Also I wouldn't go with the ATP pro for beach hunting. My plans was Sand Shark plus an ATP pro for in-land and cost wise I would be at like 1200 for two machines.

With regards to the excal 2 I've read a lot about corroding issues that worry me and long wait times on work from Minelab. Is the discrimination that good? I know this is impossible to quantify with too many variables but would you say with the sand shark you're going to dig 1000 trash targets vs 1 decent find? And with an Excal you could cut that down to 10 to 1?
I'm trying to get a sense of how much junk you'll really dig. I'm probably willing to spend the money for an excel but I also thing the extra depth with the sand shark will be nice in the overly hunted CA beaches.

Thank you for your thoughts!

 

[Top]

I cannot comment on all the different models.

I can tell you that I bought my used CZ 21 for well under $1000 and I am very happy with using it.

I have a total of 34 hours hunting time with it so far and the discrimination works as advertised. I have dug 593 targets in that time including 63 coins and 6 items of jewelry (gold, silver, palladium).
My deepest target (6 inch tent peg) in wet sand was about 18 inches and have found several small bits that fall though the scoop at around 6 - 8 inches. So, it is deep enough for me.

I'm still on my first set of batteries too.

I made my decision between the CZ 21 and the Excal based on the quite operation of the CZ vs. the always on threshold of the Excal. I thought the constant buzz would drive me crazy. YMMV.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Rogue Relic Hunter]

I cannot comment on all the different models.

I can tell you that I bought my used CZ 21 for well under $1000 and I am very happy with using it.

I have a total of 34 hours hunting time with it so far and the discrimination works as advertised. I have dug 593 targets in that time including 63 coins and 6 items of jewelry (gold, silver, palladium).
My deepest target (6 inch tent peg) in wet sand was about 18 inches and have found several small bits that fall though the scoop at around 6 - 8 inches. So, it is deep enough for me.

I'm still on my first set of batteries too.

I made my decision between the CZ 21 and the Excal based on the quite operation of the CZ vs. the always on threshold of the Excal. I thought the constant buzz would drive me crazy. YMMV.

Good luck with your decision.

where did you but the CZ 21 for "well under $1,000?" you must have bought it used? curious.