Hobbit,
I understand what you're saying. But my point was that even with a good VLF and a knowledgeable operator, that machine really isn't capable of accurately working deep targets in the saturated sand and surf unless it's in all metal....and even then it's ability to find small gold in the saturated sand and surf is extremely diminished, so it's pretty much a dig it all situation regardless what machine you're using after a certain point. In other words, Dew is better off in the saturated sand and surf then I am because he's simply digging it all versus trying to I.D. what can't be accurately located and identified at a decent depth anyway. So say, for me, the Sand Shark would be an advantage over the Excal. Yes?
There is no way that question can be answered definitively without knowing the mineralization level at the beaches you detect. You have to figure it out, no one else really can. That is why I posted Eric Foster's PI air test advice. It is crucial when selecting a PI for a low/moderately mineralized area to get the most depth you can, because you might not be getting that much more depth than by using a VLF. A quality PI will still perform well, of course. But you may be better off sitcking with a VLF, it just depends on your conditions. Also, don't discount the effect of water depth and coil size on detector performance...especially VLF performance. That big WOT you are using senses everything around it, above and below. Ground minerals, salt water, etc. And it has to cope with those factors. It is easy to fall in the trap of thinking that you will always get better depth with a bigger coil. With a PI it pretty much
is true, with the caveat that some smaller items will be lost with increasing coil size. With a VLF it is not necessarily true because targets can get "swallowed up" and "masked" by the increased ground and water mineralization both below
and above the coil. That is why you will not generally see underwater salvors using VLF detectors in a deep, salt water environment. I love the BHID in certain situations. I have the 10 inch coil in preference to the 12 inch for precisely this reason. I would never even consider using it in deep, salt water, though.
Someone, I believe it was Clive Clynick, said that his "secret" was using his detectors
"as if they all were pulse induction detectors". I think that is pretty sound advice because a sand scoop or a hand fan really is the "ultimate descriminator". One of the reasons I like the BHID so much is that the visual ID works even in all metal...except on very deep or very small targets. This is a nice feature to have, especially coupled with what "all metal experience", pulse or otherwise, will give you: the ability to discern many ferrous targets from non ferrous ones based on detector response. It is reinforcement. The more information you have, the better decisions you will make. Anyone who has worked in the surf enough has lost targets. Sometimes you have to cut and run. It is very tough for me to cut and run when I am using a BHID and that yellow light has flashed. Or when using an Excal and that mellow "gold" tone has sounded...
I can tell you one thing for sure: I once did a field test on one of the beaches of San Diego ( Coronado ) between a Sand Shark with an 8 inch coil and an Excalibur fitted with a WOT. It was quite the "apples to oranges" test, really. I buried the targets and saturated the already wet sand with five gallon buckets from the surf. I was really curious because I had been using both detectors extensively, and while the Sand Shark was much more pleasant to use, I seemed to dig deeper targets with the Excal. The test was definitive: the Excal in all metal was deeper on small, low conductors...considerably so. As a matter of fact, it was deeper in minimum discriminate as well. This is not surprising when you think about it. We are talking a 15 inch coil VS. a 8 inch coil. But that test is valid only for those conditions. It was not underwater. It was in well saturated wet salt sand. On that particular beach. I repeated the same test some years later when I got my HHPI with the 11 3/8 coil. I never used my Excal on the wet sand in San Diego again...
I was afforded the opportunity last week to play with a sand shark and can say it was a delight to use. Your finds as well as Terry's prove that it's a serious contender in the beach hunting arena. The sand shark will be at the top of my list when I make my PI purchase. There very well may be some short-comings of this machine at certain places, but at Virginia Beach where I tested it out, I had a great time with it.
