Excalibur or Infinium

[astro-nut]

Hi

if you were getting a machine just for water detecting. which would you choose the Excalibur or Infinium, and why ? Or would you get another machine that is not one of these two? Also if choosing the Excalibur which on would you get the 10 inch coil or 8 inch coil? I am very interested in your choise and why.
manny

 

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[Eu_citzen]

I would get the Excalibur since it has discrimination better then the infinium.
I think I'd go with the 8" since many beaches here are not hunted, though in hunted areas a 10" will be better as it covers more ground.

If the area is heavily hunted the Infinium will go deeper (probably) since it's a PI.

For more info on the Infinium I'd recommend talking to John-Edmonton.

I bet more qualified people will answer this also.

 

[phantomfinder]

I would go to your local dealer and look @ the excalibur & infinium to find out the different of each one. . one might feel better or have more for you . But it comes down too , WHAT you like , and how you feel after 8 hours of hunting . Good luck ...

 

[Sandman]

Going to a local dealer, even if you have to drive two hours is worth it for the piece of mind that you choose wisely. Normally I would suggest the Excal 1000 for it's better discrimination. If you are going to use it in fresh water the Excal would be the better choice because a bobby pin can last decades in fresh water.

For hunting saltwater beaches where the sand moves around alot, the Infinium LS may be the better choice because of the depth. I would get the larger coil too for the extra depth and more importantly more coverage per sweep. You only have so much time for hunting and if you don't get the coil over it, well you know what don't happen then.

The Infinium will respond to small pieces of Iron and it can't be really disc out like the Excal. But it does have a two tone signal that lets you know if it is like iron or something with more conductivity like coins and silver. The gold will ring with the High-Low tone signal.

Come on John, jump in here.

Good Luck,
Sandman

 

[erikk]

I have both . I use the Excal in most places & the LS where it is pretty clean (in deeper water)
If you get the Excal get the 10 inch coil although I don't know if the 800 & 1000 are still available new from Minelab. It is a big ocean out there and the more coverage the better

 

[buffhunter]

Astro nut - i have the Excalibur 1000 and will swear by it. i have had PI detectors in the past and hated digging all those sparkler wires after the fourth of July. Discriminating all the bobby pins, hair clips and sparkler wires after the 4th of July is well worth it.

What part of South Florida are you in?

 

[astro-nut]

Buffhunter
I am in the West Palm area next year I will be relocating to the port charlotte area . I am still trying to figure the best beach to hunt in this area a week ago i tried hunting in Lake worth beach and was followed around for about an hour by 2 wouldbe toughs I finally confronted them and had a little incident thank god I am a big guy (6'1"and weight 265 so I came out ahead but if they had a weapon I most likely gotten hurt.they ruined my first hunt. I went to the same beach today and saw the two guys hanging around and by the time the sheriff came the had moved on now my wife wants me to look for another beach today my hunt was ruined again so now back to researching another beach.

 

[buffhunter]

Astro - just sent you a PM. Sucks that you get harassed like that. I usually get kids asking me a million questions. dont mind them.....

 

[DaChief]

I hesitate to articulate for fear that I may deviate from the true course of rectitude.

But here goes.

Ask which type detector is used most by professional treasure salvagers. There must be a reason. It is the P.I.

I have answered this question many times and I answer it the same way every time. Now my patience is wearing thin and I will just say this.

If you are willing to spend 1,200 dollars because I tell you or someone else tells you that a detector is the best, you need to take up another hobby.

Do your homework. Write a list of what is important to you in a detector. Read everything you can find about the two you are asking about and you will find your answer. If you read enough, you will be able to see what is said about both by various users and reviewers. You will clearly see which one it is and it may well be the Excalibur or the Infinium. Only you can tell yourself which one is what you are looking for but you have to make that decision and do it on your own likes and dislikes.

I use an Infinium LS. Its not for everybody but in the world of handguns, neither is a .44 magnum if you know what I mean. I use a Minelab Sovereign, (same as and Exal on dry land), to hunt the wet sand and sandy beach. I do that just to keep my mind in the game. The Exal and Infinium are both great machines but you decide for yourself.

P.S. How many PM's did you get from dealers trying to sell you something after you put this message out?

 

[lowtones]

If your hunting mostly in the summer time then I would go with the Excalibur. The reason is there are more fresh droppings and depth is not as much a factor at least in my area. The 10 inch excal still goes pretty deep and you can cover more ground . I just listen for the lowtones when i am going for just the gold. Now when the beaches are bare and winter is here i am using the infinum for the depth. I to try and pick up what was missed during the summer and since its been laying there for a while it has gone deeper. With the infinium you will dig deep and you will dig a lot and you will not cover as much ground as you would with the Excalibur. The reason is you are digging more and deeper targets and this takes up time. If i had to buy only one i would go with the 10 inch Excalibur first. Also the Excalibur has an all metal mode(Pin Pointer) that will give you a little more depth.
Lowtones

 

[Saturna]

P.S. How many PM's did you get from dealers trying to sell you something after you put this message out?

Does that actually tend to happen ?




Jay

 

[erikk]

Buffhunter
I am in the West Palm area next year I will be relocating to the port charlotte area . I am still trying to figure the best beach to hunt in this area a week ago i tried hunting in Lake worth beach and was followed around for about an hour by 2 wouldbe toughs I finally confronted them and had a little incident thank god I am a big guy (6'1"and weight 265 so I came out ahead but if they had a weapon I most likely gotten hurt.they ruined my first hunt. I went to the same beach today and saw the two guys hanging around and by the time the sheriff came the had moved on now my wife wants me to look for another beach today my hunt was ruined again so now back to researching another beach.

CWP .45 Problem Solved

 

[John-Edmonton]

Here's a little blurb about the Infinium in case you haven't researched it this far...

"The Infinium does have some discrimination characteristics. It's not like an accumulative type or notch found on VLF type detectors. In fact, the Infinium is entirely different then any other type of detector. What the Infinium can do as far as discrimination is concerned, is give a tone HIGH-LOW for iron, aluminum and gold. It also gives off a LOW-HIGH signal for silver, copper and again iron. So iron and other junk is always the wild card in both types of signals, as it is a Pulse Induction type of detector. However, the Infinium also comes with an iron check, which again helps with getting a better probability of what type (iron or not?) target it is. Now the Infinium has a bit of a learning curve, and if you are new to metal detecting and lack basic theory on how the machines operate, don't buy one. It will be a lesson in frustration for you.

Now having said that, other little techniques are on your learning curve to be discovered. For instance, the smoothness/roughness of the tone gives a hint as to whether it is an iron rusted target or not. The "Sustain" length of time that the Infinium gives after reading a target gives you a hint as to its size. The Infinium gives a double bleep on bobby pins and wire. So......if you only want to dig gold, only dig the HIGH-LOW signals. That removes a lot of signals that you can leave in the ground. Also, use the iron check, which even cuts out more targets. If you want to dig mostly coins, including old deep silver, dig only the LOW-HIGH signals. Again....use the iron check.

Is the Infinium the holy grail of detectors? No it isn't. It's a PI and loves iron, like all PI's. Iron can not be discriminated out like a VLF detector. But it goes DEEP! It must be ground balanced and a proper frequency must be picked for maximum performance. I have pulled rings out at over 14 inches with a nice strong signal. It is one of (if not the) deepest machines available. It was designed to get gold in some of the highest mineralized soils in the world. It works in all salt water/beach environments and is water proof too.

Is it a good coin shooter? Perhaps, but only in areas where there are few targets. It's not practical for park environments, as it picks up all metals, even those that your VLF will miss. I have had some success using it in the woods, digging only the LOW-HIGH signals. It should also perform well at relic hunting too.

Where it worked best for me was in hunted out beaches where most of the targets had been removed. The best beach hunters dig ALL targets. The Infinium isn't for everyone, and is not a do it all detector. But if you give it the time it deserves to learn it properly, and use it in its proper environment, it is a killer. I have my best gold ring year ever in 15 years using this machine."
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Now, the Infinium and Excalibur demand 2 different types of hunting techniques:

Using the Excalibur allows you to NOT dig certain targets because it has a accumulative type of discrimination. So, you can pick and choose to what degree you may want to dig good probable targets.

The Infinium has limited discrimination, so you tend to dig more targets.

Some water hunters dig all targets, and manage to get those tiny rings and other "surprises" that a lot of other hunters miss. So, they end up digging more junk too.

Some hunters like to cherry pick and only dig the "better" sounding targets, digging less targets in a day.

So, it depends on your style of hunting. I know a good ground-balanced Infinium will easily find a gold ring at 12 inches using the 8 inch mono coil. I also know that the Infinium can hunt areas where the mineralization and/or high salt content with ease, whereas the Excalibur finds those areas challenging. It also depends where you are doing most of your hunting hunting also.

You are getting some good information from all the replies. Good luck with whatever machine you get.