Land locked detectorist needs help with salt water hunting

[oldsmith]

Good evening everyone, I have booked airline tickets to the maritime provinces of Canada for a family vacation this summer ( N.B. N.S. and P.E.I. ) 2 weeks starting off at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Although I am originally from the west coast I did not start detecting untill I moved away from the coast some 20 years ago. What I did since then was hunt ghost towns, rivers, lakes, fur trade, mining camps, etc. My tool of choice now is the at gold and garrett propointer, along with the tools that I pack in remote locations on my back or in a canoe or atv. What I need now is a mid range salt water, beach, detector. I don't scuba dive but enjoy wading. I have rented an suv to get off the beaten track and any help with the type of detector I need and places to go would be much appreciated.

 

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[WaterWalker]

For only a couple of weeks, I would try to borrow (or rent) a detector for the salt water. If you are not going into the water your ATGold will find targets in the dry sand and the wet, although not as deep as a detector made for the salt minerialization. You might also try to find another detectorist in the area you are going to and hook up with him, he might have a detector he would let you use for the few days. Other wise a light weight, small foot print detector and a scoop...Airline weight restrictions are getting expensive if you go over the weight limit. Just a few things to think about...

Good luck and
May the ring of gold be in your ears and its glitter in your scoop!

 

[oldsmith]

Thanks W.W. and Casper-2, your points are much appreciated. I will take 2 detectors on the plane. Just leave some clothes behind, I guess. Thinking of the Tesoro sand or tiger shark. My wife and kids can trade off with the at gold on higher/drier ground. Again, your input is muchly appreciated.

 

[Sir Gala Clad]

If I packed into remote locations, I would want a rugged detector which could be easily carried and was waterproof to prevent water damage from rain or accidental dropping into the water.

Two recent detector models (Garrett ATX Extreme PI, and the Minelab CTX-3030) fit this criteria but are heavy and pricey. If you purchased either of the above detectors used in good condition at a reasonable price, you should be able to use it during your vacation and sell if for what you paid later as they hold their retail value well.

If I primarily hunted the Gold Fields and needed to detect in the water and on wet and dry sand where there is not a lot of trash I would choose the ATX Extreme PI which is optimized for gold prospecting. This selection would be subject to my being willing to dig all targets (including the deeper ones) and having the stamina to dig do so.

I would choose the CTX-3030, which has a visual display for advanced discrimination and selectivity - to detect in trashy areas on the beach as well and in parks. I would carry a pin pointer with this detector, even for beach detecting as it is unusually sensitive to small targets, such as ancient hammered wire silver coins found in Europe. Again, I would have to have the stamina to detect deeper targets.

In my opinion, None of the above detectors or any all terrain detector would be suitable for detecting in water(s) with strong currents, surges, anything but tiny waves, or for diving.
For this you would need a more rugged detector, which was designed for diving under such conditions. I would choose a Minelab Excalibur, Fisher CZ21, or Whites Beach Hunter 300, if I needed a detector with advanced discrimination capability.

Or I would choose any one of the below PI detectors below if I did not need/want discrimination and wanted deeper depth in the water: Tesoro Sand Shark, Garrett Sea Hunter Mark ll, Whites Surf PI Dual Field, Garrett Infinium LS

 

[Beach Papa]

Unless you are hunting for virgin gold nuggets, I am not sure why would you want to get off the beaten path. I would think if you are looking for jewelry and coins you would be looking for the most heavily travelled beach spots where sun bathing and swimming take place. Research of where folks USE to swim and sun bath might take you off the beaten path. Happy hunting to ya. Beach Papa

 

[donkarlos]

I would have to agree that while I appreciate the adventurous spirit of the trip, the off the beaten path nature of it might leave you in a target-poor situation. I find that even my slightly off the beaten path trails end up being 90% shotgun shells (which I don't care for).
Even so, I might suggest a Sand Shark if the area will have few targets. Hip or chest mounted because it can be heavy to swing. Its waterproof and rugged. Dont forget extra batteries, whatever you do.

 

[sponge]

I use the Sand Shark and recommend it as your pi machine. It is a pi so u will dig everything. It is also fully submersible up to 200 ft. Great for hunting the trough. Good luck with your hunt. Yaaarrr

 

[oldsmith]

Thanks again to everyone that has offered me all this excellent advice. The salt water hunting aspect of the hobby is new to me . Thankfully there are members on this site that take the time to help others with there queries. I think that I will go with the sand shark. Hunting the west coast of B.C. is something I will do in the future so a PI detector will get plenty of use. The reason that I included the off the beaten track comment is because where I live now is remote and my searches here are along fur trade and mining routes (mostly relic hunting, and gold prospecting) so it won't hurt to have rugged tools, as the going can get a little rough. Cheers, oldsmith.