best salt water detector

[SandSkimmer]

Just wondering what everyone thought was the best salt water, sand and water metal detector ......

low end high end.... models...

thanks
jT

[EBCIII]

Well IMO high end would be the Minelab Excalibur. I hear so much about it from the salt water hunters. Now if you are just doing beach only the Sovereign gets very high marks on the beach.

I think for a good priced unit and salt water unit the Tiger Shark by Tesoro is a sweet unit. It will probably be my next unit. So I can try the water hunting, Beale.

[SandSkimmer]

thanks for the info Beale

jT

[Arkwater]

Needs to be a Pi unit. All the major Mfg.s make good beach machines! Be ready to drop at least $500 for a new machine. Give the sponsors a call, they can answer all your questions.

[liquid1]

I would ask bda he seems to be the guru on water hunting..

[bdahunter]

What do you want to hunt (wetsand, wading or diving) and where do you want to hunt it?
In my experience the best underwater metal detectors are the Excalibur, CZ21, Infinium and AquaSearch.
Wetsand is probably the Sovereign or the Beach Hunter ID.
A lot of this depends upon my first question.

Tell me more,

BDA

[SandSkimmer]

Originally Posted by bdahunter

What do you want to hunt (wetsand, wading or diving) and where do you want to hunt it?
In my experience the best underwater metal detectors are the Excalibur, CZ21, Infinium and AquaSearch.
Wetsand is probably the Sovereign or the Beach Hunter ID.
A lot of this depends upon my first question.

Tell me more,

BDA

most likely wet and dry sand, wading, not so much diving, eventhough im a diver.....getting to old to go to deep

jT

[bdahunter]

Originally Posted by SandSkimmer

most likely wet and dry sand, wading, not so much diving, eventhough im a diver.....getting to old to go to deep

jT

If you can dive, at some point the waters a little deeper than you can wade will call to you so you will need a submersible. Beach Hunter ID will only take you to 10' maximum depth which probably isn't going to cut it for you. This is too bad because it is a versatile machine and the only submersible with a visual display which a lot of dirt fishers are more comfortable with. Aquasearch is an Eric Foster custom PI machine but only good to 6' max so also out of the running.
Personally, I think you'll tire of the drysand quickly once you can get wet. The concentration of goodies is higher in the water so even some success in the wet sand will will have you abandoning the dry sand. Actually, you could use your MXT in the dry sand and I should think it would do very well there.
The reason I say this is that water machines are made for the water and the weight and balance of these machines is designed for this environment. Once you start swing a water machine in dry sand you will quickly realize that it's not the best idea unless you hip mount the controls and that brings up the whole issue of wire fatique, it's not a great idea.
So it's definitely a water detector but should it be a VLF or a PI?
Minelab's Excalibur has the underwater VLF market covered, so much so that the Excal is the weapon of choice for the majority of surf pirates today. This machine discriminates iron by nulling it out, a feature you will appreciate if you have a PI machine and look at what you've dug at the end of a hunt and half of it is beer caps, nails and bobbie pins; that's a lot of fruitless digging. The Excal is a truly tonal detector and all of the input comes in through the headphones and with a little experience you will be able to tell a penny from a quarter from a gold ring from a pull tab, easily. You will still dig the pull tabs because they do sound close enough to a gold ring that you won't want to take the chance of not digging but you won't be digging very much iron at all. To know this machine is to love it. The CZ21 by Fisher is another excellent VLF machine and built like a tank.
Garrett's Infinium has a small but loyal following and it is the closest to a discriminating PI machine you are going to find on the market today. It has a steeper learning curve than the Excal or the CZ21 but it is also a deep seeker who's true potential hasn't been fully realized yet. A mate of mine had one and it performed really well for him in the end but first he went through a couple of months of frustration trying to get through the learning curve. How that machine survived Jim's bad temper, I'll never know.
All of the above machines are going to set you back more than $1,000 and probably closer to $1,200 but if you're a good hunter with a decent area to hunt you'll pay for it within the first couple of months just with you finds.
One Eric Foster creation that I've overlooked is the Headhunter which is a bit different in that the controls are in the headphones. Those who have them like them but in my experience they won't compete with the big guns. I searched a small swimming hole (50' x 50') immediately after another detectorist spent 2 hours there swinging a head hunter. I pulled over a dozen targets out of the same area in less than an hour with my Excal, one of which was a 14k gold band that I saw him walk all over.
It could have been operator error or it could have been the detector, tough to call. This unit is a little less money at around $700.
Tesoro Sand Shark, not the Tiger Shark which is a freshwater machine despite the salt mode, is another more affordable alternative. I don't see much about this machine and I should if it was something special. I guess you get what you pay for, in this world.
If the Nemesis or Pulse Devil/Surf Devil ever get out of development it may be the new force to reckon with, it could happen, a truly discriminating, high-powered, underwater, PI detector. Too soon to tell.

Cheers,

BDA

Wow BD, nice rundown. That was the info I needed to start thinking in the direction of some serious salvage. It's time I put some of that commercial training to use. While I'm going to be a couple of months recovering from my MXT purchase I know down the road I'm going to be taking advantage of what I'm confident is largely virgin Northern Cal. sea bed. Do you recomend any reading in particular that might help bring me into the 21st. century? Hit and miss is a long and winding road.
I hope this isn't considered a thread hyjack. My appologies in advanced.
Flannigan

[jimmyjiver]

Hi, Excellent And Informative Post BDA... Thanks