Best PI machine for Salt beach

[dirtdigger1581]

I'm thinking about buying a PI machine for hunting the wet sand and shallow water(up to chest deep) of a salt water beach. I'm wondering what the opinions of everyone here are as to what PI machine is best for this application. I currently use an Excal II for the beach and it's been great, but I've heard there is a big depth advantage over the Excal when going to a PI machine. How deep can they actually get compared to the Excal? I don't mind digging a few more targets while on the beach if it gets me a few more goodies that are missed by the Excal. What's everyone's take on this? And what does anyone have experience with? Thanks for your help!

Happy Hunting!

-Nate

 

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[dirtdigger1581]

Thanks for all the replies everyone! I appreciate all the input. I think when the time is right I'll look into buying either a Whites DF or a Tesoro Sand shark with a few extra goodies. Looks like that's the consensus here. I'm looking for something easy to use and learn and deeper than my excal for days when I feel like getting a workout(digging). Looks like these two machines are the contenders. Thanks again everyone!

 

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[U.K. Brian]

Spent yesterday with a Sandshark and it just wasn't that good probably due to not having a low enough pulse delay. Also wondering if your going to find it much deeper than your Excaliber used in all metal. You don't want a concensus machine you want something to give you the edge !

 

[hobbit]

If you are not diving or snorkling, don't rule out the Detectorpro Headhunter Pulse. In my conditions, with the 11 3/8 inch coil, it is DEEP, DEEP, DEEP. Especially on small mid conductors. It does eat 9volt batteries, though, and pinpointing is not the best. I am very lucky in being able to put most of my finds back into buying more detectors and I use several, as the mood strikes, just because they all have different personalities, strengths/weaknesses. Sometimes I even break out my old White's PI 1000. It is just fun to use, especially in winter with a full wetsuit and hood. It also is a non-motion detector so it doesn't detune over the target. That can be helpful in the surf sometimes. You can't go wrong with either the Dual Field or the Sand Shark. They are both great machines and very well built. I have the old Shark with the removable coils. It is too bad they don't make them any more. The 8 inch pinpoints like a laser in VCO and the 10 inch will give both the HH PI and the Dual Field a run for thier money in depth, but is not quite as sensitive as either of them, especially on small gold, because you can't adjust the pulse delay and the coil is smaller. There is NO DOUBT that both the HH PI and the Dual Field are both deeper seeking machines than the Sand Shark. If I could own just one salt water machine, though, it would be the Sand Shark. As long as you take care of the "o" ring, it will never leak. The build quality is just fantastic. It has a lifetime warranty. Battery life is great. Reliabilty is unparalled. It is a joy to swing with the control box mounted under the forearm. If I had to "bet my life" that one of my water machines was going to work...it would be the Sand Shark. Plus, you can buy one new for less than 600.

To address what UK Brian has said...depending on the mineralization of your beaches, you may not find the Sand Shark that much deeper than your Excal 1000. But it will always be there for you. Always. The Excal won't. Eventually, you won't even be able to get it fixed when it does break because the sweethearts at Minelab will refuse to service it. You will have to start replacing your own "O" rings. I have two original NY Excals and I am dreading the day when they croak...

 

[Terry Soloman]

Spent yesterday with a Sandshark and it just wasn't that good probably due to not having a low enough pulse delay. Also wondering if your going to find it much deeper than your Excaliber used in all metal. You don't want a concensus machine you want something to give you the edge !

OK, let’s nip this “Pulse Delay” rubbish in the bud right now. The pulse delay argument is a red herring, started by Whites because the Sand Shark is eating the Dual Field’s lunch in sales – period. The Dual Field and the Sand Shark is basically the exact same machine as far as capabilities.

I found $2,800.00 (melt) in gold my first season with the 8” Sand Shark. The micro-processor and circuitry – in COMBONATION with the pulse delay, allow the Sand Shark to see smaller gold, deeper. Here is some of mine..

 

[dirtdigger1581]

Is anyone out there using the Garrett Sea Hunter Mark II? It's in the same price range as the HH Pulse and a bit more than the Sand Shark. Just under the Whites DF. Anyone have any comments, Pro/Cons on it? It looks heavy on paper, but a hip mount or chest mount would seemingly solve that problem. What about as far as depth and sensitivity to small gold rings and chains?

 

[dbsmokey]

To address what UK Brian has said...depending on the mineralization of your beaches, you may not find the Sand Shark that much deeper than your Excal 1000. But it will always be there for you. Always. The Excal won't. Eventually, you won't even be able to get it fixed when it does break because the sweethearts at Minelab will refuse to service it. You will have to start replacing your own "O" rings. I have two original NY Excals and I am dreading the day when they croak...

I second this statement: I did like the performance of the excal, even for land hunting. However, the build quality, weight and longevity of this machine has caused me abandon this product. Unlike, some, I don't make enough in finds to pay for yearly leak testing by Minelab or a the yearly purchase of a new excal. I will see how the Sand Shark treats me, as I have just acquired one. If I don't like it, I am only $600 in the hole (minus resale), rather than $1349 and left holding a broken machine.

 

[dbsmokey]

Terry,

NICE finds! Thanks for sharing the pics!

 

[dirtdigger1581]

Terry,

NICE finds! Thanks for sharing the pics!

I agree...Thanks Terry!

 

[StormSurge]

Hey Nate, I bought a Sand Shark about a month ago. Still learning it though it seems pretty easy, haven't been out much. Haven't even seen the Beach since I got it. Let me know if you want to check it out!

 

[U.K. Brian]

What a load of old bull. The whole point with Whites is that they almost totally missed the bus on the sensitivity to small item/low u/S front. There's no SMALL gold items displayed here at all. Eric Foster started to reduced the u/S settings of his machines years back and the improved performance is why people would happily pay two or three time the cost of the Tesoros and Whites.


If you decide you don't really want to make wet sand detecting worthwhile then take the cheap option and compete with the twin and multifrequency detectors. Or invest in getting results.

 

[dbsmokey]

What a load of old bull. The whole point with Whites is that they almost totally missed the bus on the sensitivity to small item/low u/S front. There's no SMALL gold items displayed here at all. Eric Foster started to reduced the u/S settings of his machines years back and the improved performance is why people would happily pay two or three time the cost of the Tesoros and Whites.


If you decide you don't really want to make wet sand detecting worthwhile then take the cheap option and compete with the twin and multifrequency detectors. Or invest in getting results.

I think you make a good point. Unfortunately, Eric Foster machines are not readily available at the moment, correct? I believe they are no longer manufactured and those that have them seldom part with them. Aside then, from the "cheap option" or the "twin and multifrequency" detectors, what do you recommend? Which PI is left that will be sufficient to find small gold that would be an investment to get results? A waterproof TDI SL? If only.........

 

[DewGuru]

Personally, I prefer big gold -- although as of lately, seems all I can get is the small gold, lol. Do the math. $80 bucks of gold compared to $800 worth. It is what it is, it aint what it was... Not complaining though. My Sand Shark gets both, fine, small, medium, and large gold. Works for me! Maybe it's how I roll.

 

[Smudge]

Well, as a guy who owned the Excalibur II, the White's Dual Field, the Detectorpro Pulse, and the Tesoro Sand Shark, the only one I kept was the Sand Shark.

The problem with metal detectors is everybody has their own preferences, so mine might not be the same as yours.

As for the Excal, I could never get used to the tones, found the detector to be too heavy (which matters if you plan to hunt all day), and could never hip mount it comfortably. So I sold it to someone who really likes them and they've been enjoying it the last time I saw them.

The Dual Field? Sorry, not a fan. That coil is ridiculously large and floats like a cork. You honestly have to apply pressure to keep the darned thing under water. Also, if you want to adjust the volume, you have to open the control box. I mean, what engineer came up with that idea? Some days the wind is really blowing and you need to adjust up or down and now you have to open the whole control box at the beach to adjust? Serious design flaw, IMHO. As for performance, once you get done wrestling that garbage can lid sized coil, it works like any other pulse I used. I know some folks like it a lot, but not for me.

The Detectorpro Pulse was a great, lightweight detector that went deep and did suck the batteries dry. It also has EXTERNAL volume control. But since I had the Sand Shark, I couldn't justify owning two. But right now, if I gave up the Sand Shark for some reason, I'd by the Detectorpro.

The Sand Shark is my choice for now. I use the 8" coil model. It does deeper than I usually care to dig, I like the tone setup, I really like the external volume control, I like the build quality and the lifetime warranty. I have also found plenty of very small targets, so I'm not concerned about missing small gold jewelry if its down there.

Well, there's all my personal preferences. Hope you found it useful, or amusing, or both.

 

[dirtdigger1581]

Well, as a guy who owned the Excalibur II, the White's Dual Field, the Detectorpro Pulse, and the Tesoro Sand Shark, the only one I kept was the Sand Shark.

The problem with metal detectors is everybody has their own preferences, so mine might not be the same as yours.

As for the Excal, I could never get used to the tones, found the detector to be too heavy (which matters if you plan to hunt all day), and could never hip mount it comfortably. So I sold it to someone who really likes them and they've been enjoying it the last time I saw them.

The Dual Field? Sorry, not a fan. That coil is ridiculously large and floats like a cork. You honestly have to apply pressure to keep the darned thing under water. Also, if you want to adjust the volume, you have to open the control box. I mean, what engineer came up with that idea? Some days the wind is really blowing and you need to adjust up or down and now you have to open the whole control box at the beach to adjust? Serious design flaw, IMHO. As for performance, once you get done wrestling that garbage can lid sized coil, it works like any other pulse I used. I know some folks like it a lot, but not for me.

The Detectorpro Pulse was a great, lightweight detector that went deep and did suck the batteries dry. It also has EXTERNAL volume control. But since I had the Sand Shark, I couldn't justify owning two. But right now, if I gave up the Sand Shark for some reason, I'd by the Detectorpro.

The Sand Shark is my choice for now. I use the 8" coil model. It does deeper than I usually care to dig, I like the tone setup, I really like the external volume control, I like the build quality and the lifetime warranty. I have also found plenty of very small targets, so I'm not concerned about missing small gold jewelry if its down there.

Well, there's all my personal preferences. Hope you found it useful, or amusing, or both.

Great info smudge! I really like the sound of the DetectorPro, and the Sand Shark seems to be a fan favorite. Can you speak to the depths you're getting or have gotten with both those machines when finding the small gold? Do you regularly pull up chains with them? That's one pet peeve I have with the Excal is it's lack of detection depth when it comes to chains and small gold. I love when it hits the big rings, but those are few and far between. I'm afraid there's smaller stuff that it's missing that would add up. Can you pull a gold bracelet/necklace from the wet sand with either of those machines at 6". Or deeper? And what about small women's rings? Is 6" attainable? Too easy? Can it get them deeper? I'd be interested to hear what kind of depths they get. Of course depths are tough to tell in sandy conditions...So I suppose that could be debateable. Anyway...I really appreciate your input and hope to hear more about these two.

 

[hobbit]

I think you make a good point. Unfortunately, Eric Foster machines are not readily available at the moment, correct? I believe they are no longer manufactured and those that have them seldom part with them. Aside then, from the "cheap option" or the "twin and multifrequency" detectors, what do you recommend? Which PI is left that will be sufficient to find small gold that would be an investment to get results? A waterproof TDI SL? If only.........

The Headhunter Pulse really IS an Eric Foster design, actually.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Loving the debate!

Wow, great thread!

So here is my 2-cents. On a saltwater beach you have two options: 1) Buy a $1,500.00 BBS machine, and miss everything under 15" or, 2) Buy a VLF for the dry sand and a PI for the wet sand and water, and not miss anything. Most old fogies will scream how you are wasing valuable time and energy digging everything in wet sand, and that their Excal's are shooting just as deep.. That's fine. I know better. I find more treasure with my $600.00 Tesoro Sand Shark in the wet, than any of my hunting buddies with their Minelab Sov's and Excal's - much more. I actually walk behind them on the beach without fear.

The real secret to successful beach hunting is not so much the detector, as much as it is the beach itself. Unless there is treasure there to find, it doesn't really matter what machine you have. If you want to get "old" gold, you need to go deep. That is where the PI is King. I LOVE my Sand Shark on the beach!

 

[U.K. Brian]

THe C-Scope P.I.'s are also originally Eric Foster designs but do lack a few vital controls (but are cheap and easy to get repaired if needed). Headhunter has the depth with the large coil and is very sensitive to thin silver and gold chains with the smaller fitted. Still does eat batteries but there's great new batteries out there. Pulse delay is 15 to 40 compared to the D.F.'s 15 and the Tesoro lagging at 22.

Eric Foster does seem to have retired from producing detectors but is still working with other companies. Hopefully the Pulse Devil and Surf Devil will help fill the gap in time.

Most required control in my view is an adjustable SAT control. Whilst others have to reduce their sensitivity to gold to deal with black sand and volcanic issues adjustment of the SAT deals with any problems with having to offset other controls from their best settings. Can also be used to sharpen up the audio signal aiding with both I.D. and pinpointing.

 

[davest]

I'm using the Seahunter and have found rings and large chains, nothing the size of a small ankle bracelet though. It picks up pieces of sparkler wire at 8 inches, bbs at the same, and beer cans at 18. I've chest mounted it and just swing the coil and shaft while neck deep. I run it at zero discrimination (the elimination/discreet mode is a joke) with a barely audible threshold. I dig every signal, even the double bobbypin beeps and this thing will find metal trust me. Most of the rings I've found have been within 8" of the sand surface,a 49.8 gram 14k necklace was one scoop under, sometimes I find pennies two scoops down.

I had a problem with my initial coil which I worked out with Garrett to my satisfaction, I also had a problem with(not sure if it was my fault or not)with water intrusion, Garrett was more than fair in handling that.

Would I buy another. YES but then again I've not used an Excal or CZ.

It all boils down to passing an 8" coil over a 1" circle in a multi million square mile body of water and although you can find cuts and areas, it's not like fishing at all.

 

[DewGuru]

Ha! I love the whole "u/s" theory. LOL. Yep. Sand Shark is surely lacking in small gold, aint it Terry?

Just a few of the Small gold items, that the Shark doesn't find.

I wonder if I should post some of the big gold, that it also doesnt find, lol.

Fact: If you have a can of corn that costs $5 and a can of corn costs $1, guess what? The $1 can tastes as good, if not better, than the $5 can. Corn is corn.

 

[Smudge]

Great info smudge! I really like the sound of the DetectorPro, and the Sand Shark seems to be a fan favorite. Can you speak to the depths you're getting or have gotten with both those machines when finding the small gold? Do you regularly pull up chains with them? That's one pet peeve I have with the Excal is it's lack of detection depth when it comes to chains and small gold. I love when it hits the big rings, but those are few and far between. I'm afraid there's smaller stuff that it's missing that would add up. Can you pull a gold bracelet/necklace from the wet sand with either of those machines at 6". Or deeper? And what about small women's rings? Is 6" attainable? Too easy? Can it get them deeper? I'd be interested to hear what kind of depths they get. Of course depths are tough to tell in sandy conditions...So I suppose that could be debateable. Anyway...I really appreciate your input and hope to hear more about these two.

Depends what you mean by "small gold". If you're talking about something like the back of an earring, I don;t think there is a detector made today that can find one in the wet salt sand. If you're talking about small gold rings, the answer can really vary from beach to beach based on salt content and ground mineralization. Though expecting 6"-8" does not seem a tall unreasonable. As to gold chains, you have a similar problem. No PI or vlf detector really hits on these unless the clasp on the chain is large enough or if there is a pendant attached to the ring that the detector can lock on to. You'll likely notice that gold chains tends to be the least found of the valuable objects pulled from the sand, no matter which detector you are using.