Water hunters, tell us about your choice of detector.

Born2Dtect · Apr 4, 2007

All you water detector owners, tell us about your detector, weaknesses and advantages. I am thinking about getting one but cannot afford too much. I would like to find some jewelry in the surf this summer.

Ed D.

seas1to2 · Apr 4, 2007

I always dig every thing in the water so a pI PRO works for me an I have the goodies for my work

Sandman · Apr 4, 2007

The PI's are cheaper than a Minelab Excal, but I can no longer dig all them deep holes for junk. Excal costs $1095.00 and pays for itself very fast without the sore back. I use the Tiger Shark also.

Treasure_Hunter · Apr 4, 2007

I am still a newbie, well except for the birthdate on my drivers license. I use my Excal for the Florida beaches here. I am planning on getting a back up for my Excal before summer hits, it will be another Excal if that says anything.

The only disadvantage I see in the Excal is it was kinda heavy to use when I hunted the city parks, that is why I bought the Whites 6000 Pro XL.

Ocaliman · Apr 4, 2007

Excal for me. I do own a Whites Beachhunter ID, which is a good machine to let a friend use if you are getting them started in the hobby. The Excal seems to be the best machine for the buck.

Glenn-RI · Apr 5, 2007

Hi Ed,

I use the White's PI Pro. If there's somethings there, the PI Pro will find it. That can be good and bad. I can't believe how many bobbie pins and bottle caps I've dug up. I dig at least 10 of each each trip to the beach. Last week I even found a staple at the beach with it. It picks up everything and deep. Last summer I found a small sewing needle on the beach a foot deep. I stuck it under the plastic handle of my scoop and it fell out somewhere. The next week I found it again. I find myself digging a lot of trash and wasting a lot of time. If I had a machine that I could discriminate out the bobbie pins and bottle caps I could find more good targets. The PI Pro is a good machine. But if you can afford it I would go with the Excal if possible which I believe will discriminate.

Glenn

rjnail · Apr 5, 2007

For me a water proof sovereign gt in a ikelite casing.

Treasure_Hunter · Apr 5, 2007

Isn't the Excal pretty much a sovereign gt that is waterproof? If I remember correctly, memory not what it use to be, but they were pretty much using the same electronics.

Sandman · Apr 5, 2007

The Sovereign GT and Excal are the same inside except the GT has a switch that you can turn off the Iron Mask. The only improvement I could see Minelab making to the Excal is being able to buy it with the waterproof connector where we could change coils easy.

At least we can run the discrimination on Zero and still not find nails, bobby pins, needles, etc. This saves a lot of digging time where we can keep swinging for that special tone that gold rings make.

GaBeaSwpr · Apr 6, 2007

Excalibur1000, her stock shaft sorta sucks and she's weighty, (so I bought a straight shaft) and I wish the headset was less prone to producing so d@%*&d much wind noise.
Otherwise she is poifect!
Jim

Treasure_Hunter · Apr 6, 2007

It works a lot better with the straight shaft, and I waist mount mine as well, with the bungie cord I can hunt for hours with it

kevino1960 · Apr 6, 2007

I love my Tiger Shark, $629 w/ tax. It goes deep enough for me, I find bobby pins, rusted metal, coins and jewelry. Doesn't do too bad on land either, I found a 39 merc in the back yard with it.

erikk · Apr 6, 2007

Excal all the way. 800 for diving 1000 for wading

dahut · Jun 21, 2007

Were I looking for dedicated surf detector tomorro, it would be:

1. Minelab Excal
2. Whites Beach Hunter ID
3. Fisher CZ20
4. Garrett Sea Hunter MkII

Why's?

Excal is THE proven detector these days, with the BHID in 2nd place. I, for one, like some DISC and these two offer it. I dont mind passing over iron crap...and I dont suffer from "gold chain-itis". Give me a bit of DISC, man!

Being a Pre-Bounty Hunter Fisher devotee, I know the CZ20 is a great detector once you get to use it a while, and it doesnt have the reputed learning curve of the Excal. I would only get one now, though, if it was dirt cheap (pun intended), since Fisher has become Bounty Hunter Jr., etc., etc.

The Garrett Sea Hunter is a PI unit, but I like Garrett detectors and they can be had for easy money often enough. Rugged as a tank, they do the job, although the DISC features they claim to offer dont really pan out too well.

I live 150 miles from the SC shore, and so I have a Tesoro Tiger Shark.

spez401 · Jun 22, 2007

Excalibur... hands down, the best beach and water machine I've used. My first was a 1000, the one i have now is an 800, but I purchased, and wired in a 15" WOT coil, with the waterproof connectors. Now it is still the best water machine and it has a 15" footprint.

My biggest complaint on the excal is the shaft and physical setup of the machine... you'd think that minelab would realize that pretty much EVERYONE changes the shaft and they'd start doing it at the factory.

steve

bugsybrown · Jun 22, 2007

what is a WOT coil?

spez401 · Jun 22, 2007

The WOT is the "Wonderful Orange Thingy". It is an aftermarket coil (made by coilteck i think) that is made for specific detectors... White's, minelabs, etc. There are several models, but most are large (mine is 15") and usually match the settings for your detector. The bigger coild and its design go a bit deeper, and cover a lot more ground

They plug right into your detector (if it has a swappable coil), and if not are relatively easy to install if you have some minor soldering skills.

steve