Beach detector suggestions.

[mike_n_nc]

Hello everyone,
I am looking for advice and suggestions for a beach detector. Here is my situation, I will be nunting both dry sand and wet sand, will probably never be more that knee deep in the surf. I am not a "tech guy" so I am really looking for something that is as close to set it and forget it as I can get. I do not want or need a display and I do not mind digging most anything that beeps. So, with all that said, what are your suggestions? Also, I will be detecting on the coast of North Carolina.

Thanks,

Mike

 

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[bigscoop]

Fisher CZ-21 would be a very good turn on an go beach & water machine. Very user friendly and built really well, reliable & good reputation, has very good and simple discrimination and ground balance capabilities. Control housing can also be hip or chest mounted, which is a really nice option on long hunts or when you're wanting to reduce the drag on the shaft in the water. Whatever you decide on, get a quality beach and water machine. Knee deep is fine but splashing and spray and accidents will come into play sooner or later so may as well cut those events off at the knees before they happen. Using your guidelines, the CZ-21 would be tough to beat.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Depending on your budget, youth and desire, the most economical way is a pulse induction Tesoro Sand Shark $600.00 - No Discrimination, Maximum depth. The next step is a multi-frequency VLF detector like the Fisher CZ3d $810.00, or CZ21 $1,125.00. From there you move up to Broad Band Spectrum multi-frequency machines like the Minelab Explorer $1,299.00 and Excalibur $1,349.00.

 

[Mainelypulltab]

My suggestion is to try a few different detectors out if you have that option. I like the Excalibur II. No screen, it can be a turn on and go but I think most detectors have different options or switches to change settings. What the excal II offers me is the threshold/tone I hear is a low gravelly sound. I can hear it. Some of the detectors with higher tones, I cannot hear. So for those with hearing problems similar to mine, an excal is the way to go. Think long term, will you ever get in fresh water up to your chest, might you get in to salt water up to your waste? Like Big Scoop says, consider splashing, spray, dropping your detector in the water. Detectors which are only good to get the coil wet up the box are not what I would use for water/beach hunting. I know a guy who ruined his detector because he got the box wet and over time, he fried the machine. A hard lesson to learn, so I learned from his mistake. Best of luck in making a decision, there are so many great detectors out there, you will have to throw in a few more eliminators to whittle down the field to choose from.

 

[cudamark]

It's hard to beat the Excalibur if you want discrimination. If you don't have much iron where you hunt and want to dig every sound, you might also consider the White's Beachhunter 300 or the Surf PI along with the Garrett SeaHunters. If you have lots of junk iron targets, the PI detectors can be pretty miserable to hunt with. They do go deep though.

 

[bigscoop]

Really, your very best option is to probably find a local club so you can try a variety of machines first hand and get a lot of valuable input from those who hunt your local beaches. You don't have to join and those guys are almost always happy to offer you direction.

 

[firemac]

ive had good luck with my E-trac at the beach, but last week my excal ll came in and I will be using it in the water, like bigscoop said I didnt want to short out the E-trac. good luck with your choice