Looking for a good salt beach and salt water machine

[powrsurg]

Hello Everyone,
I currently have the White V3I. I like it but wouldn't lie that its complicated and very chatty at times especially as I near saltwater. I want to buy a second detector that I can dedicate for salt beaches and bring with me on vacation to detect while in the water snorkeling. It wouldn't hurt if I could rely on it in the field from time to time although the V3I will be used primarily for that reason. My fiends say I should stick with Whites because that is all I've ever known. They said I should look at the MX Sport.
Aquachigger has had me sold on the AT Max for awhile now but reviews seem to suggests its just as chatty in the salt.
I was considering an Excaliber II but its pricey.
The Tesoro Tiger Shark seems highly rated but I don't know a darn thing about Tesoro.

So now that you know what I am trying to do with it, what are your recommendations? Thank you!

 

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[Irishgoldhound]

Tesoro is now out of business. The tiger shark is more suited for fresh water. I’d say your best bet would be an Equinox 600.

 

[WaterWalker]

For the New England beaches, since my Excal went to sleep forever, I have been using my Equinox 800 with great success and enjoyment. There is no one detector what does everything, but the 800 is coming close. I am going to put up for sale some of my 18 different detectors. That is how impressed I am with the 800 in both sale and fresh water, I do not search land unless looking for a specific lost item. The Equinox is a turn on and go machine but with the many adjustable settings, you can really customize it to suit your needs and wants.

Hey, but what about the new Minelab that is coming out soon...the Vanquish! It will be hard to beat the 800 for versatility...but I would wait to see just what the Vanquish is. Nothing know about it right now, no specs, price etc. But it is supposed to be out this fall. I hope the release does not drag on like the Equinox's release did.

Hope this helps. In the end it should be your decision and it will be up to you to learn the detector and its capabilities in your environment.

Just found more info on the Vanquish by searching for /minelab-vanquish-540-pro-metal-detector

Waterproof coil ONLY, depth stated as 3.3 FEET 3 different models from $200 to $500

 

[smokeythecat]

The Vanquish is a strictly land machine. Not waterproof. I'd go with the Excalibur as the Equinox will not go deep. The Tesoros are good but as Irishgoldhound said they are now out of business.

 

[claire]

Equinox is light weight, versatile and it goes pretty deep and reasonably priced

 

[MetalArchSC]

Second that! If I had to choose between the two, I would go with the Nox.

 

[Deep1]

I would go with neither.
You already have one of the best land detectors made.
Why buy another VLF detector?
A VLF cannot compare to a pulse induction detector for performance in salt water.
If you want to get serious about saltwater detecting, you need pulse induction.
Whites makes a good PI detector, but costly.

For the money, Garrett Sea Hunter MarkII can't be beat.
It's a deep, reliable detector.
I have one of the first MarkII's built, it is still going strong and making good finds.

 

[Irishgoldhound]

I would go with neither.
You already have one of the best land detectors made.
Why buy another VLF detector?
A VLF cannot compare to a pulse induction detector for performance in salt water.
If you want to get serious about saltwater detecting, you need pulse induction.
Whites makes a good PI detector, but costly.

For the money, Garrett Sea Hunter MarkII can't be beat.
It's a deep, reliable detector.
I have one of the first MarkII's built, it is still going strong and making good finds.

I thought the Equinox worked well on salt beaches?

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I thought the Equinox worked well on salt beaches?

So did I.......

I won't use my 800 in the water, heard too many complaints about leakage. Besides, my modded Excal II is a beast, and works in salt.....

 

[cudamark]

As long as you don't need to dive deeper than 10', the Equinox is the one you want. Get the 800 if you can afford it. It's more adjustable and comes with wireless headphones. It's a wonderful beach machine and with the 15" coil, it rivals the PI machines for depth. Also, a PI machine can be miserable for land hunting since it doesn't have much, if any, discrimination, or depth indicator. The MX Sport is a single frequency machine and not the ticket for salt water. Neither is the Tiger Shark. You want something with multiple frequencies for salt water, and if you want discrimination, your options are rather limited. If you also want it to be a good land machine, your options are even more limited. The only ones I know will work both environments well are the CTX, Equinox, and a distant 3rd, the Anfibio. Will others work? Sure, but, you have to give up something or make compromises.

 

[Irishgoldhound]

So what’s the verdict? Does it or doesn’t the Equinox work well in salt sand and water? Does the 800 work better than the 600 in salt? I’m confused, getting mixed reviews here.

 

[Trokair]

My first detector was a V3i and I had the same problem. Beach detecting was dreadful with false signals and chatter.

After a few years of trying with it I bought an Excal II just for the beach and I found it to be a great machine and very stable. I found my first gold with it. My problem with the Excal was the cabling. I haven't taken it diving and I normally don't go very farther then hip high in the water because I am on salt beaches with incoming waves. The wired headset was annoying and the detector isn't balanced well. I moved to the hip mount kit which is much better but still feels like using a tangle of wires.

When the Equinox came out I was intrigued with everything it claimed to be able to do and the idea of using a detector that was designed with more up to date capabilities. I bought the 800 and have been very happy with it. This past weekend I found my best find on the beach with it and am really happy with the performance in salt, on the beach, and on land.

It has not been without it's own issues. The headphones had a problem powering on during one hunt and the provided software update made my detector worse which was reported by multiple people. Headphones fixed themselves and I backed out the software update easily enough so that is fixed.

I would 100% suggest an Equinox 800 unless you are going to submerge or dive. The capability of the detector at its price point is a no-brainer for me.

 

[smokeythecat]

Irishgoldhound, the Equinox does work well in salt water. Period. If you get one they have a three year warranty. The issue DeepseekerADS mentioned is a percentage of them have a known issue where the control box leaks and is therefore ruined after submerging in water. Minelab has been good about getting a new control unit to folks who have had them die, but when the three years is up, it's up. And no one knows what percentages are killed prematurely.

Look at the other Equinox threads to see what he referred to.

 

[Irishgoldhound]

You said the Equinox will not go deep. I’ve read other reviews of it being just as deep as the Excalibur’s

 

[cudamark]

You said the Equinox will not go deep. I’ve read other reviews of it being just as deep as the Excalibur’s

We're talking detection depth here, not how deep you can go underwater, correct? As for detection depth, my Excalibur with a 15" coil, detects targets about 2" deeper than the Equinox with the 12 X 15" coil. The 11" coils on both are a bit closer, but, still, the Excal gets at least an inch more depth in my testing. If I was going to be in the water only, I would use the Excalibur. Shallow surf and wet sand, it's a tossup. Dry sand, I like the Nox better. Just my preferences.....either one will work great for all types of beach/water hunting. As for choosing the 800 over the 600......it's just the adjustability of the 800 that makes it a better choice in some instances. Both have the same detection depth under normal conditions. The 800 just allows you to better compensate for abnormal conditions. I hunt at night a lot, so, just being able to adjust the backlight brightness is enough for me to want the 800.

 

[Irishgoldhound]

Oh yes..sorry my mistake. Thought you meant detection depth.

 

[Irishgoldhound]

...I guess that’s what Smokeythecat meant.

 

[bravobob]

Fisher cz-21.
I have a Fisher cz6a. It has two modes, salt and normal. The salt mode is the same electronics as the cz-21. Great depth , very stable in salt water. Duel frequency with good discrimination.

 

[Acquisitor]

You said the Equinox will not go deep. I’ve read other reviews of it being just as deep as the Excalibur’s

It aint.

 

[powrsurg]

Thanks for all the comments. Right now it looks like the Nox 800 is going to be the one. I was considering the CTX3030 but too many people have said the 800 is as good or better. In second place is the Whites Beach Hunter. Pulse is totally the way to go with a salt Beach machine but I really like having a screen to look at and Ive been told Pulse machines are useless on land.