i am looking to purchase a sand scoop with holes for beaches and whatnot. anyone know where i can get one? do they sell them at harbor freight? i'm looking for something cheap.
No, Harbor Freights not going to carry something like that. You can get them from most metal detector dealers. Also KellyCo, or any number of other on-line md'ing dealers/catologs.
Once you get one, you might consider doing a modification like this: Get a hip-mount set up, and fashion it to be an extension of your scoop. That way you can scoop one handed, without even stooping/bending over. Or to get an even stronger arm-mount, find yourself one of those pistol-grip mounted canes (like they make for semi-handicapped people). Those would be stronger yet to be able to take the stress of digging. Here's a pix of mine. Kind of hard to see, but if you look close, you can see how I added the cane/arm piece. I also added a brace bar to keep the scoop from bending back with stress. Some of the more expensive scoops come with that back-brace already on there.
Excal 1000, Excal II, Sovereign GT, CZ-20, Tiger Shark, Tejon, GTI 1500, Surfmaster Pulse, CZ6a, DFX, AT PRO, Fisher 1235, Surf PI Pro, 1280-X, many more because I enjoy learning them. New Garrett Ca
You would find the screen sifter types better for the dry sand and even the wet. But in the water something stronger will hold up much better to the different bottom types and last years. However the heavy duty types like the Nutall and Sunspot are not cheap.