Best Metal Detector for diving

[IZMIZ]

Dear all..
I'm new to this site and I was wondering if you can help me
I recently finished my PADI and want to go treasure hunting.
I know many of you are professionals but I'm just starting and need some help.

first question:
does a waterproof / underwater detector work above water normally ?

second question:
which is the best underwater (up to 200ft - 60 meters) / abovewater metal detector on the market that is around the 400 - 800$ range ..
as many options with con and pros would be great guys

thank you so much in advance for the help and I look forward in contributing to the forms and site.

 

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[Keppy]

Well every one will ... Well most will say the Minelab Excalibur . But Deteknix will have one out in Jan. 2016 that is not far away that is called the Quest Diver it only weight's 2.6 lbs. .. My self i really like the looks of the Quest.. and yes you can use underwater detectors on land ..

 

[Gold_FInger]

Our Dive Team has 10 of these....Absolutely bullet proof...And they stand behind the ones that aren't..!!!

JW Fishers - Pulse 8x metal detector, underwater,  sonar, magnetometer, rov, video, pinger, cable tracker

or an Excaliber II !!!!

 

[Jason in Enid]

First we need to know what you are looking for? Do you want one that is all-metal only, or one that lets you ignore junk like iron? Oh, and your price-tag is meaningless, UW detectors will cost you more than that.

 

[IZMIZ]

First we need to know what you are looking for? Do you want one that is all-metal only, or one that lets you ignore junk like iron? Oh, and your price-tag is meaningless, UW detectors will cost you more than that.

Im going to be looking around area's where iron might be valuable so all metals
I think there must be a way to adjust it and filter out things on and off correct or I'm wrong ?
anyway I would like to keep it under 1000$ if possible just want something as a hobby nothing crazy and wild .

 

[mrdetector]

Dear all..
I'm new to this site and I was wondering if you can help me
I recently finished my PADI and want to go treasure hunting.
I know many of you are professionals but I'm just starting and need some help.

first question:
does a waterproof / underwater detector work above water normally ?

second question:
which is the best underwater (up to 200ft - 60 meters) / abovewater metal detector on the market that is around the 400 - 800$ range ..
as many options with con and pros would be great guys

thank you so much in advance for the help and I look forward in contributing to the forms and site.

try fisher detectors 1280 is good and cz models

 

[Jason in Enid]

Im going to be looking around area's where iron might be valuable so all metals
I think there must be a way to adjust it and filter out things on and off correct or I'm wrong ?
anyway I would like to keep it under 1000$ if possible just want something as a hobby nothing crazy and wild .

A way to adjust? Thats why I asked the question. A Fisher PulseX8 is a great diving detector but its ALL METAL ONLY. The Minelab Excalibur is another great one for diving and it can be set to ignore iron and other metals if needed.

Seawater presents very specials problems for metal detecting. Most detectors are not usable in a salt environment, so you need either a multiple frequency type, or a pulse induction type. Pulses are the best for dealing with seawater, but they can't be set to ignore iron.

Lastly, if you finished your scuba cert, you should realize that you aren't going to be using this at 200 feet, but for reliability, a diving detector should rated for at least 100 feet in my opinion.

 

[Gold_FInger]

In fact, get a few real dives under your belt before thinking you can task load yourself...

 

[Terry Soloman]

Saltwater: Tesoro Sand Shark $600.00 Freshwater: Tesoro Tiger Shark $600.00

 

[IZMIZ]

I have a few dives

 

[IZMIZ]

A way to adjust? Thats why I asked the question. A Fisher PulseX8 is a great diving detector but its ALL METAL ONLY. The Minelab Excalibur is another great one for diving and it can be set to ignore iron and other metals if needed.

Seawater presents very specials problems for metal detecting. Most detectors are not usable in a salt environment, so you need either a multiple frequency type, or a pulse induction type. Pulses are the best for dealing with seawater, but they can't be set to ignore iron.

Lastly, if you finished your scuba cert, you should realize that you aren't going to be using this at 200 feet, but for reliability, a diving detector should rated for at least 100 feet in my opinion.

thanks for the info. Yes I know I wouldnt be using it at 200ft just in case I need too ... I want to be able too ..
that being said, Pulses are the best for seawater and the only problem they have onland is they can not ignore iron correct ?

again thank you for the information.

 

[Jason in Enid]

thanks for the info. Yes I know I wouldnt be using it at 200ft just in case I need too ... I want to be able too ..
that being said, Pulses are the best for seawater and the only problem they have onland is they can not ignore iron correct ?

again thank you for the information.

Not exactly. Any water detector can be used on land. There is no difference in use above or below water. Pulse induction (PI) detectors by the very nature of their design aren't greatly affected by the conductivity of the seawater. Also, it is not possible for them to eliminate iron like VLF detectors can.

This is really a little bit complicated, but I will do my best. Saltwater is conductive to metal detector signals. Single frequency detector are basically useless around saltwater. multiple frequency detector do a pretty good job of dealing with saltwater conductivity, and PI are detectors are great at dealing with saltwater. As I already mentioned, PIs are all-metal only and the others let you eliminate metals. going under water gets more difficult. The deeper you go, obviously the more water is above the coil so there is more conductivity to deal with. The deeper you go, the less effective a VLF becomes. This also affects PI's a bit. different PI detectors use different delays in sampling. Some models are much better for use in deep saltwater (Fisher pulse 8x and Aquapulse come to mind) but they aren't the best finding small or really deep gold items. Likewise, the best PIs for finding gold lose effectiveness under deep water.

Everything in this hobby is a trade-off, no single detector does everything best. You have to look at what and where you want to hunt and then pick the best detector for that job. If I wanted to find cannons buried under sand in the ocean, I wouldn't pick the detector I use to find gold rings up on the beach.

HAve I made it all clear as mud?

 

[cudamark]

In your price range, if you want discrimination (and it sounds like you do) you'll have to buy used. The Minelab Excalibur or Fisher CZ 21 are the best choice for this. If you can live with a PI unit, they range (new) from around $600 for the Tesoro Sand Shark, to the JW Fishers 8X, which is around $2000.

 

[IZMIZ]

leading towards a Teroso sand shark for seawater / freshwater and a Fisher F44 for land .. which will keep the price around 1000.
that being said if I can get my hands on a good conditioned used Minelab Excalibur

 

[Terry Soloman]

I use the Tesoro Vaquero on land and in the dry sand, and the Sand Shark at saltwater beaches in the wet sand and water. I don't do much freshwater hunting at all.

 

[IZMIZ]

GOT MY HANDS ON A USED MINELAB EXCALIBUR 2 off ebay for around 850$ thank you all for the input and happy hunting , I will share my finds when I find stuff !!