Help me narrow the field - newbie

[KellycoChick]

Originally Posted by Capt.B

Anytime you hunt in the shallow water you should have a underwater detector. Whites and Fisher have underwater detectors in the price range that you stated. I would also suggest that you get a long handle scoop to dig all your goodies. A good scoop will cost between $100 -$200 also. Hope this helps you out a bit.

I don't think this could have been said any better. Looks like TQ's knowledge base of submersible machines is quite high! Most excellent! And welcome, btw!!

[JohnOC]

Wow, thanks for the warm welcome. Well, you've given me a few to go research so I better get started but I'm leaning towards a waterproof detector.

New question, if I do get a MD that is designed for underwater use so I can use it in wet sand and in the shallow surf how bad would it work if I use it on dry sand or search for nuggets when camping in the mountains? Would I be wasting my time?

john

[Steve in PR]

With a few exceptions, I think most underwater detectors are probably land detectors that are encased in a waterproof housing, so, they should work just as well on land as they do in water or on the beach.

For example, the Minelab Excalibur is a Minelab Sovereign but made waterproof.

[bdahunter]

Excal of course would be my first choice but if you want to stay in budget then it's going to but tough. Submersible and cheap just don't go together that well. If you're hunting freshwater I'd suggest a new Tesoro Tigershark, in and around your price range and a real performer in the fresh stuff, plus it's light enough to work well in the park. The Excal would be murder to swing for extended periods out of the water unless you had a balanced shaft or chest mounted the unit.
You can have a bunch of fun with an ACE 250 in the park and at the beach (into the water about 3 feet max) for only a couple of hundred bucks, pretty hard to go wrong there.

Good Hunting,

BDA