1 or 2 detectors

[Hoosier Kingfisher]

I plan to start detecting this spring. Beaches (fresh and salt) and dirt. Should I buy 2 detectors or is there a detector that will do both well? Thanks, Ron

 

[Sandman]

Water detectors are built heavier than land units an usually don't have pinpoint mode because it isn't necessary. You can get by with one, but it will waste your time in one place or the other. For saltwater you are going to need a saltwater mode or a Pulse Induction type detector.


Your better off with at least two detectors, or like many of us, lots more. It's more fun that way.

 

[stoney56]

Your better off with at least two detectors, or like many of us, lots more. It's more fun that way.

Kind of like playing golf with only one club to choose from. :P LOL

 

[eagle77]

ONE DETECTOR! NEVER! The more detectors equates to how serious (addicted) you really are
I'm up to 3 and I have my eyes on #4

 

[Hoosier Kingfisher]

I don't want to spend over $1200 What two (or three) would you suggest. Thanks again , Ron

 

[TonyinCT]

Whites M6 and Surfmaster PI Pro. Give me a call for a great deal.
TonyinCT
www.tcmetaldetectors.com

 

[Eu_citzen]

I don't want to spend over $1200 What two (or three) would you suggest. Thanks again , Ron

Get out and read reviews/feild tests a good tip, see if anyone gets your attention the come back and ask again. But be watch full not all tell the truth!
Most PI units should handel that ( i.e. Surfmaster PI Pro, Infinium LS are a few Pi's)

 

[ronald99]

When you call tony tcmetaldetectors.com He has a great website,explain where you plan on detecting the most,Like my self i concentrate on the Florida beach more,So i purchased a Excalibur 1000 Plus a minelab SE this detector cost around 1200 dollars,and its a great detector,land,and also at the beach,Minelab makes top of the line detectors,Ronald99

 

[swingman]

If you're not detecting in the water, then two will do. (Do you have some spare cash, though?)
One should be a higher-end Minelab (my opinion). It loves saltwater beaches, and also mineralized dirt which you will find somewhere. The many frequencies and DD coil give you the extra depth. You can get a larger coil for beach (or farmfield) coverage. [For years I've used an older Sovereign with the 15-inch WOT coil. I just bought the new Explorer SE, and I'm just going with the standard coil. Both were a bit challenging to learn.]
My second choice might surprise people - it would be a higher-end Garrett (I have the 2500). The Treasure Imaging (size, depth) feature is great, especially if you're primary interest is coins (like me). You won't dig anything large if you don't want to, and the depth feature is pretty accurate. Easy to learn, too. It has much more 'depth' than I thought, finding some deep silver in the wake of my Minelab.
That may be in part to its CONCENTRIC coil. I like to have both types of coils for good sites - I just keep going over and over them. Even if you get 2 less expensive machines, I'd still go for the two coil types.
[I've never used the DFX, but you can get these 2 coil-types and just one machine. I don't know what others might think of this.]

 

[THEDUKE]

this is a interesting topic and some real good reply's

 

[Sandman]

Using two coil types like Swingman says is solid thinking. Many hunters miss those deep targets not because the detector is not deep, but because at it's deepest depth, the field from a eight inch coil is about 2 inches wide with a concentric coil. If your not overlapping your sweeps by 2 inches you are missing some ground. But this is hard to do and many just swing away like they are using a grass whip and rely on luck to hit a deep coin. So long as they are having fun.....

For dry sand and some wet saltwater sand I like to use the Tiger Shark because of it's huge 18 inch Clean Sweep Coil for covering lots of realistate in a short amount of time. The coil isn't made for the Tiger Shark anymore but is made for the rest of the detectors made by Tesoro, or most of them anyway. However it is not a real deep coil for it's size and mainly reaches to 6 or 7 inches. Deep enough for recently dropped items.

HH,
Sandman

 

[Hoosier Kingfisher]

Thanks for all the great replies. Ron

 

[Eu_citzen]

When you call tony tcmetaldetectors.com He has a great website,explain where you plan on detecting the most,Like my self i concentrate on the Florida beach more,So i purchased a Excalibur 1000 Plus a minelab SE this detector cost around 1200 dollars,and its a great detector,land,and also at the beach,Minelab makes top of the line detectors,Ronald99

I am honest to say I've never treid a Minelab, beacuse they are so darn expensive, nothign for a poor student.
(you could say 'over priced')

 

[Sandman]

As for minelab being over priced, you get what you pay for. Sure they cost more, but then so do other top of the line detectors. Minelabs and many other major brands pay for themselves easy with the finds and the fun they give.

 

[ernie]

don't start buying more than one i have thirteen and sold some and my wife wants me to get rid of more.

 

[ronald99]

Alot of people,want to metal detect,They think they can buy a detector,and go out and start finding underground treasure.Well yes this is true,but alot of people get discouraged,when they can't understand what there doing wrong.Before you purchase your detector,ask yourself what do you want the detector to search for,then read these forums,post questions,and then decide,if it's beach detecting,look at the beach forum's and read the results.You can spend a thousand dollars,and search the beach,and you will find coins,jewelery,and hopefully other treasure,or you can spend a couple hundred dollars."be aggravated,An want to give up and forget about metal detecting.The right detector will make your detecting time more enjoyable.Ronald99

 

[sideswiper]

ONE DETECTOR! NEVER! The more detectors equates to how serious (addicted) you really are
I'm up to 3 and I have my eyes on #4 oh no i got into metal detecting to get me away from my addiction to FTA (free to air satalites),does this mean im cross-addict

 

[TomNWMI]

I plan to start detecting this spring. Beaches (fresh and salt) and dirt. Should I buy 2 detectors or is there a detector that will do both well? Thanks, Ron

For wet salt sand near the waters edge the ML Sovereign would be a good pick. If hunting dry sand only or fresh water beaches you have many choices to pick from. Any of the better "relic" detectors with good sensitivity in the nickel range will do the job on jewelry. Just be sure to pick one that give good depth when using a moderate sweep speed, some of them are "slow" sweep dependant which is not a good thing when covering large areas on beaches.

Tom

 

[Sandman]

I use the Excal in the water while wading most of the time and it has the slower sweep speed that gets deep. For the sand out of the water and even into the waves, I like the Tiger Shark with the Clean Sweep Coil that's been discontinued. It cover a large area with a faster sweep speed than the Excal to beat the competion from all the new guys hitting the beaches. More ground covered equals more finds per hour. ( the Dirt Theory)

 

[WV Hillbilly]

Hey Ronald99 , I couldn't help but notice you've spent a lot of money on detectors in the last 6 months or so . How about posting some of your finds so the rest of us can appreciate what these machines can do ? Thanks WV Hillbilly