Stingray or Tiger Shark

[Indian Steve]

Howdy All, I am looking for a water detector and was leaning toward the Tiger Shark but have recently see a couple of deals on Stingrays. I will be hunting 99% fresh water with an occasional trip to New Jersey beaches. What do ya'll think. Thanks Steve

 

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[rainyday101]

To me the answer is simple, get the Tiger Shark. I own a Tiger and love it. My thought train is that if you are gonna be doing water detecting, you need something dependable and new with a warranty. That is why I purchased a brand new Tiger Shark. Now if you think you are gonna just do water detecting occasionally, get a used rig. If buying used I would still stick with a newer Tiger Shark. Water goodies are not as plentiful as they used to be in freshwater. There is a another detector company that has made a black water tight version of an Ace 350 and a lot of people have them and are now water hunting. I personally like a dedicated water detector, but that's just my preference.

One thing I can tell you is that on land, hunting in all metal with background threshold audio, this detector is DEEP! Doing this it can hit all the targets at 12" in my less than 2 year old test garden. Most machines struggle on the 6" targets in this fresh test garden.

I like the 10" coil. You get more coverage and better depth. Target separation in the water is a mute point- you're gonna use a sand scoop and scoop it all anyways. By the way, you better plan on purchasing a good quality stainless steel hand scoop. I use a T-Rex and can highly recommend it. An angled handle arrangement like the Stealth or T-Rex with a floating wood handle is my recommendation.

 

[edwincd]

I personally have a StingRay I purchase on ebay at a very reasonable price. I choose to try it out water hunting as cheap as possible with equipment I'd learn very quickly, to be sure I even like this type of hunting. I have to say I love the water hunting in summer. I'll try the dry sand out for a while and hit the water with the StingRay as soon as I'm getting hot. I have had a great experience with the StingRay. It works similarly to my other metal detectors and is a joy to use.

You really cannot go wrong with either model, they are both well made units. That being said if your budget affords it, shoot for the Tiger Shark, it'll be more current and have a warranty. If your not sure if you'll like water hunting go with a bargain used StingRay and see if it's for you. If not you can resell easily and go another route.

P.S Large mans White Gold ring found in 5 feet of water and came in between iron and foil, found with my StingRay and ring is worth more than I paid for the machine itself.

Best wishes what ever you decide, just grab one and get swingin.....

E

 

[Indian Steve]

Thanks for the advice guys. I have been water hunting with a Tesoro Lobo Super Traq. I have a long cord on the 10 x 12 coil and I take the box off of the shaft and put it in a floating inner tube type cooler and zip it shut. I have Auvio wireless headphones and pull the tube behind me with a short rope. A bit of a pain in the hiney but it works. I hunt in water up to neck deep and have found several rings and lots of clad. Just got a 925 mens wedding band 2 days ago. I prefer to relic hunt and have a Tejon for that but in this heat , it sure feel good to get in water. I've been trying to sell my Lobo on craigslist to help finance a water detector. My first choice was a Tiger Shark but I have found a good deal on a Stingray that just came back from a factory refurbish. Money is the only thing holding the deal back.

 

[rainyday101]

Money is the only thing holding the deal back.

This is true for most of us!