What is the best underwater detector to find gold and silver coins and rings?

[OBXmetalDet]

My Nokta PulseDive Underwater Metal Detector failed on me after going into the water (and not even using it). When I came back on land, although I could turn it on, I couldn't detect metal. Maybe some water got into it.

I'm looking for something that is handheld so about 15" long.

I would be diving right off the shore/beach in relatively shallow, but it would be good to have the ability to go much deeper in case I ever decide to boat dive.

Can anybody recommend anything?

 

[Mike(NC)]

i had friends with 1280s - good in freshwater ...not good in salt though

Thats true to a degree. Its OK in salt surf but has no ground balance so it can be a bit noisy but sounds off on targets loud and clear when you go over them. It still goes deep and noise free on the ocean sand however, dry or wet.

 

[Mike(NC)]

i chest mount mine most of the time

View attachment 2211960

Thats a nice set up on chest mount Casper. Never thought of that and can see it would be much more comfortable than when on your waist.

 

[CASPER-2]

Thats a nice set up on chest mount Casper. Never thought of that and can see it would be much more comfortable than when on your waist.

with CZ21s (i own 3 - one is a converted CZ20)
I hunt in all metal = 0... and notch to 1 to check ID
but i dig it all - if possible
my motto - at least one of them - if you dig it all...hopefully you get it all
I got into hobby in 1974 - but i say 1975 cause thats when i got my first machine
My first machines were all "all metal" machines - so i was always used to digging everything
for years until I got my Whites XLT...then i got my first true underwater machine
Whites PI Pro - which has no discrimination
I'll tell you something about the Whites PI - If you have or had one - I hope you did not
use the suggested settings on it - you will lose depth - i have no idea whose idea
the setting were - awful!
I got max depth just clicking it on and then tuner to a constant low hum and dug every
slight fluctuation in the hum - I found tons of old gold and silver at many spots
hammered by other that they thought were cleaned out - A group of CT. guys bought
PIs a few yrs after hunting with me and used my method and went back to some
of their fav spots and killed it

 

[Mike(NC)]

with CZ21s (i own 3 - one is a converted CZ20)
I hunt in all metal = 0... and notch to 1 to check ID
but i dig it all - if possible
my motto - at least one of them - if you dig it all...hopefully you get it all
I got into hobby in 1974 - but i say 1975 cause thats when i got my first machine
My first machines were all "all metal" machines - so i was always used to digging everything
for years until I got my Whites XLT...then i got my first true underwater machine
Whites PI Pro - which has no discrimination
I'll tell you something about the Whites PI - If you have or had one - I hope you did not
use the suggested settings on it - you will lose depth - i have no idea whose idea
the setting were - awful!
I got max depth just clicking it on and then tuner to a constant low hum and dug every
slight fluctuation in the hum - I found tons of old gold and silver at many spots
hammered by other that they thought were cleaned out - A group of CT. guys bought
PIs a few yrs after hunting with me and used my method and went back to some
of their fav spots and killed it

We started in the same time period. I guess me around 1976 with a Whites Coinmaster. After that a Tesoro Royal Sabre. My buddy swung Pi Pro in the water and he did excellent. I do remember seeing your name on the forums a few decades ago....lol Good seeing familiar names again Casper.

 

[CASPER-2]

We started in the same time period. I guess me around 1976 with a Whites Coinmaster. After that a Tesoro Royal Sabre. My buddy swung Pi Pro in the water and he did excellent. I do remember seeing your name on the forums a few decades ago....lol Good seeing familiar names again Casper.

I used to post here a ton and on Treasure Depot which is gone and a few others
I wrote for Treasure Depot magazine for 5 yrs over 30 articles (most you can find here

DON DEFORRE'

Explore DON DEFORRE'’s 170 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

and I was in Fishers catalog/mag for 2 yrs

 

[CASPER-2]

I used to post here a ton and on Treasure Depot which is gone and a few others
I wrote for Treasure Depot magazine for 5 yrs over 30 articles (most you can find here

DON DEFORRE'

Explore DON DEFORRE'’s 170 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

and I was in Fishers catalog/mag for 2 yrs
View attachment 2212003

Some people think that these pics are from a life time - some think its a years worth
Its actually from 2 hunt trips - handful of gold and handful of silver are from 4 day hunt in Fla. waters
me under water and diagonal pic of gold rings are from trip to Dom. Rep.
Ive had major health issues over the last 5 yrs and they have preventing me from detecting
Im hoping to get out again eventually this yr

 

[Mike(NC)]

I used to post here a ton and on Treasure Depot which is gone and a few others
I wrote for Treasure Depot magazine for 5 yrs over 30 articles (most you can find here

DON DEFORRE'

Explore DON DEFORRE'’s 170 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

and I was in Fishers catalog/mag for 2 yrs
View attachment 2212003

Yes thats where I remember you from as I spent quite a bit of time on the Treasure Depot and Troys Shadow forum. I had about twenty articles accepted in Western & Eastern magazine. Ed Fedory wrote a few articles about my finds as well in his Relic Hunter monthly articles in Western & Eastern as well. Another good man we lost a few years ago. Nice work on your articles Casper.

 

[OBXmetalDet]

My hip mount came with the Excal package.

Cool. That's a big investment. I might have to go with a handheld one.

 

[OBN]

Yes thats where I remember you from as I spent quite a bit of time on the Treasure Depot

Sure miss the depot, It was my driving force that kept me going out several times a week. Many great memories!

 

[Mike(NC)]

Sure miss the depot, It was my driving force that kept me going out several times a week. Many great memories!

Very active forum. Don"t really know how it fell apart. Lots of drama and some infighting or squabbling, but in that day it was all welcome and high entertainment. Larry, Pete and their buddies did have some exceptional relic finds.

 

[CapnGeorge]

My Nokta PulseDive Underwater Metal Detector failed on me after going into the water (and not even using it). When I came back on land, although I could turn it on, I couldn't detect metal. Maybe some water got into it.

I'm looking for something that is handheld so about 15" long.

I would be diving right off the shore/beach in relatively shallow, but it would be good to have the ability to go much deeper in case I ever decide to boat dive.

Can anybody recommend anything?

The Whites Surfmaster (if you can get hold of one) will take some beating, excellent depth with discrimination, have found over 400 jewellery items over the years, mostly rings

 

[CASPER-2]

Yes thats where I remember you from as I spent quite a bit of time on the Treasure Depot and Troys Shadow forum. I had about twenty articles accepted in Western & Eastern magazine. Ed Fedory wrote a few articles about my finds as well in his Relic Hunter monthly articles in Western & Eastern as well. Another good man we lost a few years ago. Nice work on your articles Casper.

I was a huge fan of Ed's ...until the incident ...if you dont know - I wont tell

 

[Mike(NC)]

I was a huge fan of Ed's ...until the incident ...if you dont know - I wont tell

I know all about it and the entire 100% story on both sides. I was not at that DIV but Troy called me early that morning as it was still unfolding. I was and still am a good friend with John Kendrick. I also heard that side completely. Lots of not thought about things that needed to be taken into account. I was the ONLY one to voice loud and clear all sides on the DIV forum. Ed, Charlie & Troy needed someone who was not afraid to air both sides out. I'm your huckleberry for that. Like you said, if the stofy is not known by someone there is no need for it to be known. All of them were and still are admired by me. Oh yeah, Amy Maruso was also caught up in the drana. Another great person and ilunfortunately is also not among us any longer.

 

[Digger Louie]

But the Excalibur is over 15" right? I'm looking for something shorter that is easier to swing underwater. Plus the Excalibur can only go down to 10 feet.

They come with a short dive shaft.

 

[OBN]

I know all about it and the entire 100% story on both sides. I was not at that DIV but Troy called me early that morning as it was still unfolding. I was and still am a good friend with John Kendrick. I also heard that side completely. Lots of not thought about things that needed to be taken into account. I was the ONLY one to voice loud and clear all sides on the DIV forum. Ed, Charlie & Troy needed someone who was not afraid to air both sides out. I'm your huckleberry for that. Like you said, if the stofy is not known by someone there is no need for it to be known. All of them were and still are admired by me. Oh yeah, Amy Maruso was also caught up in the drana. Another great person and ilunfortunately is also not among us any longer.

Not only that side but a few smaller squabblings over on the Surf and Sand side. I got caught up in one, I always like sand bagging on the gold rings I posted for I did have a 2/3 locals watching and looking for me when I posted multiple gold ring hunts,,.... so I when I would find a Hot spot which was giving up the gold I would hold until I got it some what cleaned out.. then post. Which I was not doing to spite anyone on the depot but to protect where I was hunting. Well that did not go well with one of the top Ring Daddy hunters but we did work it out.

Over all it was fun and I was able to save most of my 400 post to PDF files. I do wish larry would have just locked up the forum and kept it up.. But its gone now.... with many Great memories.

 

[Mike(NC)]

Not only that side but a few smaller squabblings over on the Surf and Sand side. I got caught up in one, I always like sand bagging on the gold rings I posted for I did have a 2/3 locals watching and looking for me when I posted multiple gold ring hunts,,.... so I when I would find a Hot spot which was giving up the gold I would hold until I got it some what cleaned out.. then post. Which I was not doing to spite anyone on the depot but to protect where I was hunting. Well that did not go well with one of the top Ring Daddy hunters but we did work it out.

Over all it was fun and I was able to save most of my 400 post to PDF files. I do wish larry would have just locked up the forum and kept it up.. But its gone now.... with many Great memories.

Yes OBN, the forums were a multifunctional place. Show your finds, share your experience and be able to air out disagreement in boistorous ways. Some squabbles would last for several days and it was high entertainment. Usually an eventual fix would happen but not always. The doom of the depot is another long struggle with deep animosity between a few people. I hated to see it go but it was predictable when you knew most of what was going on behind the curtain.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Sure miss the depot, It was my driving force that kept me going out several times a week. Many great memories!

OBN, it's good to see you are still out and about sir. I was also member on Treasure Depot until it shut down.

 

[ropesfish]

All that I know for sure about underwater detectors is what we use on the 1715 Fleet in shallow salt water and what the guys working on the Atocha use and that is AquaPulse. All of the significant finds in the last 20 years on the Fleet were made with AquaPulse AQ1b.
Your mileage may vary.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

We use to do the repairs on the AQ1B in Kellyco repair center....

 

[Paul Revere’s Ghost]

I have used the Fisher CZ21-10 in 50' of saltwater with a hip-mount and just the lower coil stem (about 15"). Worked great and found a lot of jewelry that day. It was an area where yachts dock off Martha's Vineyard.​

I used to be the spray painter at McDougalls in Falmouth Harbor. On the side I’d clean boat bottoms in the water. It was so funny once you get going EVERYONE is calling you over. “I dropped this and I dropped that.” There’s a lot of stuff in Davey Jones’ locker. I still use the Whites I used belt mounted 25 years ago.