Tiger Shark vs Excal

Hag730 · Dec 26, 2012

Dam, finally got out yesterday.....first time in two months. Targets were few but I managed four earings (junk) and some clad. It was just good to get out.

I'm looking to buy another beach detector in about a month. I've been using a Sand Shark for about 8 months now and plan on keeping it, but I plan on doing some fresh water hunting this year also. I wont be diving with with it. Obviously there is the price difference and the warranty difference.......but I'm looking for some input from experienced users that have used both detectors possibly. Reading what I can find on the internet, the TS performs really well and has the sensitivity to small gold, but I've been really wanting to pull the trigger on the Excal. Just wondering what the drop off would be and should I spend the extra money?

Thanks for input. Learning curve is not an issue, I'm willing to put the time in.

I posted this on the head to head section.....but it doesnt look like that section gets much use.

lookindown · Dec 26, 2012

The Tiger Shark is a VLF...Sand Shark is a PI...you dont have to dig iron with the Tiger Shark.

Terry Soloman · Dec 26, 2012

Treasure_Hunter said:
Terry that is not true, it is not smack talk, the fact is you will not dig any tiny pieces of iron with the excal that you will dig with the Tiger, trash iron in fresh water lasts for decades....Tiger will find every lost nail or fish hook that has been lost the last 20-30 years in a lake..... If it is a lake with no trash iron go with the tiger, but good luck finding a lake with no trash iron.... I have never seen a hunter with a PI that did not have a pocket full of trash iron with them they found.....

The "TIGER" Shark is a VLF machine that can discriminate out the iron. It is a FRESHWATER machine. Are you confusing it with the pulse induction "SAND" Shark?

gee_mg · Dec 26, 2012

Income tax refund is right around the corner. Thinking about getting an Xcal 11 also. Which one is better? 8" or 10" coil? Getting tired of digging everything with my Dual field. Or should I just stick with my dual field?

hamiddetecting · Dec 27, 2012

On beach detecting, you need VLF and PI, i bought all metal detectors: China metal detectors, Garrett, white's, fisher, tesoro, scope, minelab,..... :laughing7:

These are the first metal detectors, i used in nineties ( i bought over 20

metal detectors), it's work one year and died :BangHead:

dewcon4414 · Dec 27, 2012

Terry we are so used to you talking all that :censored:

about the SS that we didnt see you advertising a new machine. Just curious Terry have you used an Xcal.... ever? Well i cant tell you about the TS.... i admit ive never used one, so i cant give advise on it. Maybe a GREAT machine. The Xcal..... is more expensive but its a sure money maker.... ive got some of the bling to prove my point. Terry is a good man.... hes just misguided :laughing7:

Dew

Sandman · Dec 27, 2012

Treasure Hunter, Terry was talking about the Tiger Shark, not the Sand Shark, the PI. Our beach cleaners that clean the counties swim areas mostly use Tiger Sharks, CZ-20/21's and 1280's because we are interested in removing fish hooks, harmful metal objects along with none metal trash. I get lots of applications for cleaners, but when they learn they also need to pick up chicken bones, paper cups, band-aids and what not, I don't hear from them anymore. A good reason to revalue my opinion of other Th'ers.

The nulling of the Excal on iron doesn't make it a good detector for our purposes at work, but I also use mine when I am out to enjoy myself at other beaches. When I want to find the small gold chains and earring backs and studs I grab the Tiger Shark.

Acquisitor · Dec 27, 2012

Terry Soloman said:
In FRESHWATER, the Tiger Shark is going to be just as efficacious as the Excalibur, for a lot less money. It is just as deep, and may be more sensitive to small gold than the Excal. As the others have said, do your homework!

I pulled 18k 5gr+ rings from as deep as my knee with excl in fresh water, when excl was at max sensitivity, I dont see one doing it with tigershark

Treasure_Hunter · Dec 27, 2012

Terry Soloman said:
The "TIGER" Shark is a VLF machine that can discriminate out the iron. It is a FRESHWATER machine. Are you confusing it with the pulse induction "SAND" Shark?

Terry, I stand wtih head hung, face red, I was indeed thinking of the Sand Shark, not the Tiger when I posted..... My apologies sir.........

Terry Soloman · Dec 27, 2012

Treasure_Hunter said:
Terry, I stand wtih head hung, face red, I was indeed thinking of the Sand Shark, not the Tiger when I posted..... My apologies sir.........

LOL! Welcome to MY world TH!! :occasion14:

Terry Soloman · Dec 27, 2012

dewcon4414 said:
Terry we are so used to you talking all that about the SS that we didnt see you advertising a new machine. Just curious Terry have you used an Xcal.... ever? Well i cant tell you about the TS.... i admit ive never used one, so i cant give advise on it. Maybe a GREAT machine. The Xcal..... is more expensive but its a sure money maker.... ive got some of the bling to prove my point. Terry is a good man.... hes just misguided

Dew

Sure, I used the Excalibur 1000 a few times back in 2002 at Lake Pleasant, Arizona (maybe 25-hours), and I have about 55-hours on the Excalibur II on Atlantic and Long Island Sound beaches. I have at least seven good detecting buddies that beg me to use their Excal's and try to convert me from my "misguided" PI ways in the wet sand and saltwater. Just isn't going to happen. A PI machine will keep you lean and mean, and put gold in your finds bag much more frequently.

OBN · Dec 27, 2012

Income tax refund is right around the corner. Thinking about getting an Xcal 11 also. Which one is better? 8" or 10" coil? Getting tired of digging everything with my Dual field. Or should I just stick with my dual field?

I like both the eight & ten....But the 10 would be the better for calmer waters, wet sand, the eight is my choice for ruff water, and night hunts in the water.

Never used the Tiger Shark, but the excalibur would be the more versatile of the two. One thing I can say, man never changes...Years ago I was never happy until I got my first harley after seversl other makes, 35 years later.....I have learned...... I don't play around trying out others until I have bought the best, then I work my way back thur to see if any can compare. As Sandman would say.....

(C) Sandman, 2005. All Rights Reserved.
"TIME IS THE ONLY THING YOU NEVER GET BACK, WHY WASTE IT SWINGING A DETECTOR THAT ISN'T UP TO THE TASK."

bigscoop · Dec 27, 2012

gee_mg said:
Income tax refund is right around the corner. Thinking about getting an Xcal 11 also. Which one is better? 8" or 10" coil? Getting tired of digging everything with my Dual field. Or should I just stick with my dual field?

Depends largely on terrain. If you're going to be hunting in and around a lot of coral, rock, etc, get the 8". If you're looking at mostly flatter conditions get the 10". The smaller coil is also better in really trashy areas and it's easier to swing and to control in stiff currents. First thing you will want to do is to get the control housing relocated, either with a long/straight shaft or somewhere on your body, like your chest with a harness. As soon as the warranty runs out you'll want to upgrade the headphones, will increase your ability to hear faint responses by quite a bit.

HARRASS · Dec 27, 2012

I have both and the TS is my back up. I get frustrated with the learning curve. I don't know but I have always had problems with the ground balance. You never have this problem with the Excal. And I have numerous stud earrings with nothing more than a seck of gold and some bling on it. Before I had the TS I had AT pro. I loved it until it filled up with water. I especially liked the numbers. I'm not sure if they fixed that problem. The Excal in fresh water has paid for itself many times over. Go with the Excal... from the frozen north, Gary

Native Floridian · Dec 27, 2012

Whadayaknow, another Tesoro bash thread. I don't own a tesoro water machine so i can't officially weigh in, but i do own two tesoro dirt machines. They get about as much respect from the dirt guys as Tesoro's water machines get here. But, the fact is, they are fantastic machines. They find as well as and at the same level as other machines hunting the same areas. They are light weight and unlike the Excal come ready to use out of the box without having to pop an extra $100 plus for a correctly balanced shaft! Throw in the lifetime guarantee on a U.S. made product, combined with reasonable price, and it's hard to argue with their value.

As for the comment about Harley's being the best, funny!!! ON Ironbutt and Long Distance motorcycling forums, Harleys get about as much respect as the Tiger Shark is getting here. Don't get me wrong, I've made a lot of money as an owner of the stock HOG, so I'm all for everyone buying a Harley. And, over the past decade their quality has come up. But as someone who has put over a half million miles on motorcycles, Harley doesn't get the highest quality/ best vote from me, or most of my fellow IBA members. Still, they are the loudest!!!

To the point to buy what you want first rather than settling, good advice! However, I wouldn't put Tesoro's machines in the "Settled for" category.

Hag730 · Dec 27, 2012

Acquisitor said:
these detectors are very different, excl goes way deeper while tiger shark is much more sensitive, you should combine them

I kind of like this response......now I just need to get the wife to sign off on me buying both of them.

Thanks for all the responses.

Acquisitor · Dec 28, 2012

Hag730 said:
I kind of like this response......now I just need to get the wife to sign off on me buying both of them.

Thanks for all the responses.

exlc is a killer in fresh water for deep rings, it does go WAY deeper than tigershark when exl is set at max sensititivy (yes at 10!) and when you search rather slow and dig every threshold variation, however it has problems finding chains, bracelents and earrings which are not near the surface, while tigershark can do it. When you have a new beach I recommend cleaning it with tigershark first, and when they are no longer new signals you switch to excl for the deep/heaviest rings. Searching with excl with sens at 10 requires patience, but the results are definitely worth it, remember to dig every threshold variantion, even if you think its foil or something esle, dig it up!

another advantage of excl is for example when you have little time and need to find targets which are not too deep, put sensitivity at 7-8 and get all the stuff at 7-8", the same thing with tigershark would make you dig more irrelevant targets such as hairpins and other crap.

they are very different detectors and should be combined, any "professional" hunter must have at least two very different detectors for backup and for different beaches.

gaboynfla · Jan 30, 2013

I can't belive your bashing Harley's.Anybody into motorcycles knows how Harley's are and their history.I've been riding Harley-Davidsons almost 25 years,and I have never heard a Harley rider say,and I quote {Yeah,but it does'nt matter what you ride,we all love the same thing}.HEHE.I know You know what I'm talking about!

Fitzwilk · Jan 30, 2013

Crikey! I was expecting to hear how you fended off a tiger shark with your Excaliber II.

bigscoop · Jan 30, 2013

I have no problem finding chains with my Excal, "with the smaller coil" (800), and at surprising depths. Some of these chains are very small and they come from a saltwater environment as well. An Excal with an 8" coil isn't the same machine as an Excal with the 10" and the Excal with the 10" coil isn't the same machine as the Excal with a larger aftermarket coil, like the WOT. The more saltwater matrix you invite into the search field the more difficult it becomes to isolate items such as chains. The small coil at max, or near max settings can certainly isolate them. :icon_thumleft: