Best Saltwater Detector Available Right Now - Need Advice :detecting:

[ozarkian]

Headed to St. Lucia to one of the Sandals Resorts there for our 24th wedding anniversary in 3 weeks. We need a salt water machine for snorkeling and for beach hunting.
Already checked with the resort and bringing the detector to play with is not a problem. Have to turn in any relics we find of course but coins and rings are ours.
Rings is what we will be looking for and since we are at a restricted expensive resort we figure we have a pretty good chance at finding some very, very nice rings : ))))))
Don't plan on hunting 24/7 but we will be there for 5 days and plan on spending at least one day snorkeling and another day just cruising up and down the restricted private beach.

What I have found so far researching beach & water units is as follows.

CZ-20 Everyone seems to love theirs. Been trying to find one ( don't laugh ) and not having much luck.
The 1280-X has issues with salt water at times and is better in fresh water so I do not think this is an option...
The Infinium has both great and poor reviews. Seems you either love or hate this machine. Even a major Distributor in Florida ( cough ) does not recommend it over either the Excalibur or even the Beach Hunter ID. Steep learning curve here or what? How good is the Infinium?
The Excalibur 1000 is well liked but a little heavy and my wife will be using this more than I will probably. Heard a lot of good things about this one.
The Beach Hunter ID is only rated to 25 ft but looks easy to operate and is recommended by the ( cough ) dealer in Florida. Is it that good or are they overstocked??
Surf Master PI Pro with the buoyancy coil is a turn on and go. Another love or hate machine it seems.
The Sea Hunter Mk II with the 10 x 14 coil. Looks good for the money but how good is it?
Viper is supposed to be terrible - quality control issues out the a##
Cobra is ho-hum decent from what I have read.
Detector Pro's Headhunter Pulse unit w/10" coil

My preferences so far are in order as follows:
CZ 20 if I can find one for sale.
Excalibur 1000 probably what I will get but..
Infinium looks awesome but that love it or hate it makes me wonder...but I like the possibilities on land...
Sea hunter Mk II w/10 x 14 coil
Surf master PI Pro
Beach Hunter ID
Headhunter

We will be using this as a second machine on land - I currently own a R6 software version 2006 model T2 detector so learning curves on whatever we choose is not an issue. Punching through the lead and iron contamination where I live is.
I have been detecting off and on for over 25 yrs but, this is my first excursion into the water period. Some tips here would be appreciated as well.
Also, any advice regarding sand scoops? Any preferences on what type to get as well? I believe we will pack it with us.
My youngest brother works for what used to be Customs and said that so long as I declare everything I am taking there should not be any issues.

Wondering what they would say about taking a shovel?????
Anybody here gone to the Caribbean and done any hunting?
Want to get something bought this week to get it in hand - get an aluminum case built or purchased and get a few hrs with it to get used to it.
Please sound off and let me know what you think. I am more interested in depth and the ability to find rings than I am in ease of use. My wife might disagree but, I want something that can go really deep in highly mineralized soil as well.
I would like to know which one is the best overall and which one is the biggest bang for your bucks.
Looking on E-Bay for used units but thinking maybe buying new for the warranty may be a better idea.

Thanks in advance to everyone who takes the time to answer these questions. I will be posting whatever we find down there when we get back.

 

[planchkr]

I live in California where the soil has a lot of mineralization, heavy iron concentrations, my Excal 8000 has found gold rings
at 18 to 20 inches. My detecting is exclusively in fresh water lakes and rivers so I cannot speak to the salt water aspect of metal detecting.
If you buy an Excal you must read Clive James Clynick book "Advanced Methods for Finding Gold in the Water with the Minelab Excalibur",this book has completely changed how I use the Excal. Last year I purchased my Excal 8000 off of Ebay, $760.00 to my door step. I charged up the battery pod and away I went. When using Ebay you must read the customer comments regarding the seller, the comments will let you know if you can trust the seller.
Good Luck and go with the Excal.

Planchkr

 

[diggindirt]

The Infinium is an amazing detector but has a steep learning curve and is worth it! It would be better for someone with water detecting experience as it could frustrate a new hunter. I own an Infinium (still in its learning phase) and starting to pull some nice deep targets up with it. It's a super deep machine and also made for serious diving up to 200 ft and will punch deeper than any VLF machine out there. I have VLF and PI detectors and think they complement each other very well (each has advantages over the other). Any good detector can take a minimum of 40 to 100 hrs of actual use to become really proficient with it. Since you have a quick trip coming up and you want the best results with turn on and go performance, I would also agree with the dealer and say to go with the BHID (I own it and it's one of my favorite machines to use)! If you go with the BHID make sure to read the posts on the forums for additional tips and tricks. The other thing is VLFs have discrimination over PI detectors. The Infinium does have discrimination but not as good as a VLF. If you're going to do most of your hunting in deep water or diving depths I prefer to use the PI as little trash is out there and you'll want to dig everything anyway. BUT, if you plan on beach hunting and wet sand too, I would stick with the VLF machines (also ignore iron real good). One other thing, The Infinium is a really nice Relic and Gold hunting detector in hot soil but I wouldn't use in trashy areas or parks (it has its applications). The Infinium also has a many coils available for different situations (mono to DD) and some smaller SUPER SENSITIVE ones that can see small gold real easy. One other thing, I would recommend two detectors if you really want to water hunt and land hunt. A water machine is not as good as a land machine for coin shooting and things like that.


I hope this helps and to wish you a VERY HAPPY 24TH!!!!!!!!!

 

[Daniel A.]

I have both the excal 800 and 1000 as well as a sandshark. The excal 800 is the one I like best because its a little easier pinpointing than the 1000.
The learning curve is not bad good resale demand never hurts. Dan

 

[Mike2]

Okay, any comments on which is the better for both salt water and fresh water Infinium or Excal?

Mike

 

[captRobert]

Well heres my advice , Excal 800 or 1000.Theres a reason its the number one selling water machine out there. Unless you try one you will never know what your missing....I paid for mine in two months and found a lot of gold /silver

 

[Bobbie]

I love my Excal..........but I put a 12 inch coil on it......Covers more area and gets deeper targets. Surprizingly enough it is much easier to pinpoint with the larger coil (SunRay) than the stock coils. The only drawback is that it is a little harder to swing when you are out in chest deep water.......but that is my opinion and taking into account that I am female and do not have upper arm build or strength that a man has. I have my Excal on a straight shaft which is better balanced and weight distribution than the stock shaft which is ment primarily for diving.

 

[The Bulgarian]

"My Excal 8000 has found gold rings at 18 to 20 inches."
Ha Ha Ha Nice story.

 

[diggindirt]

n/t

 

[Gulf Hunter]

I can only realistically comment on what I have used, so here goes. I have used the Mark II and owned 3 of them. Used them exclusively my 1st 2 seasons of water hunting. The unit is excellent, but I could wear through the coil bottom, in less than a month. There is no coil cover available and I am probably harder on coils, than most. I order Excal coil covers 3 at a time and change them out after shredding them. The 10X14" was absolutely unruley in the surf (poor coil control, from flop) and I wore through the epoxy in 2 months.

If you could only have one water detector, I would say the most versatile would have to be the Excal. I own 2. I use the 1000 and my wife uses the 800. The 800 is lighter and easier for her to handle. She does well with the unit and likes it better than her Mark II, because ferrous iron, is no longer a target of concern. You can cover much greater expanses of sand and water using the Excal, because your only targets will be non-ferrous, for the most part. There are a few exceptions, such as bottle-caps (a combination of alloy and ferrous materials). The Excal does not like a fast swing and needs to be swept slowly, to keep from overrunning targets(easily done in the water anyway, as it's more difficult to sweep fast out there). The book by cjc, as mentioned by planchkr, is a great read and will help you to overcome the learning curve on the Excal. It is not real complicated, as long as you understand what you are hearing and set it up the right way. Being in the field is very important and putting your time in.

I still own a PI though, the Goldquest Aquasearch and it is more sensitive and deeper seeking, than the Mark II or Excal. I also have yet to wear out a coil bottom on the unit. Very expensive though at $1550 and of course, no discrimination. If you could only have one detector, a PI is not the best choice, in my opinion, although there are hunters, who are very successful with theirs. Have heard a mixed report on the Headhunter PI, it sounds decent enough, but there again, no discrimination. PIs work great in the deeper water, where it is cleaner, but in a trashy surf area or wet sand, tough! A certain amount of discrimination is obtainable, through your own auditory abilities to do so on these units.

I have heard the Infinium has a very steep learning curve and have seen great finds using this unit and it could be on the menu for a future PI. Not a good idea for 1st and only water machine, in my opinion.

1280X, is out for salt water, very noisy and poor depth. CZ20 is discontinued. I had located a new one a couple of months ago, purchased it, full retail and found out a week later Fisher was introducing the CZ21. I sent the unit back for a refund and have a CZ21 ordered from my local dealer. I have heard from many successful hunters, who use the CZ20, with great results and am looking forward to learning this new unit.

PI PRO, would be a great choice and could be on the menu for a future PI, have never used one, but seen great results using this one. The BHID, seems like a good unit, but I don't like the coil floating around in the water. Coil control is very important, especially when you can't see it. I sweep my coil across the bottom, to ensure that my coil control is good, it works!

A used water detector is a bad idea in my opinion. You just really don't know how well the unit has been taken care of. Yes, they are cheaper, but if you really hunt, you WILL USE the warranty. I have broken every brand, bar none, so far. Sometimes it was my fault, sometimes not. Most of the time, my warranty covered it. Saved me a TON in out of pocket expenses.

The cheap junk you mentioned, don't even bother with it, you would be wasting your money. The contenders in salt water/wet salt sand are, #1 Excal, #2 CZ21 (hopefully and could move into #1, but that's a TALLLLLL order) #3 BHID for VLF/Multifrequency units. There are many PIs available, but I would not go there, if you are only going to have one unit.

I do not own a traveling scoop, so I won't be much help there. Good luck!

 

[Gulf Hunter]

n/t

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

...his EXCAL EIGHT THOUSAND, not the 800...the 8000 is the NEW one. I hear it DOES go down to 20 inches.

 

[diggindirt]

What have you heard about the 8000 (depth) in bad salt water? What are the new design/circuit changes from the 800 to 8000? I just did beach comparisons with a Sov GT (great machine) and other PIs but it wasn't even close to the PI depth in salt. I'm not trying to start any battles here but any 20" depth claims IMHO would need to be done in a controlled situation (buried objects with a tape measure and note pad). It's just way too easy to guesstimate by looking down a dug hole with water in it. Since we talk about performance and machine specifications (alot of people read these posts) I just want more details and facts with those types of claims. Thanks

 

[bdahunter]

I have pulled gold bands up from the two foot range on several occasions, using the Excal 1000. It didn't seem possible to my mind that I could be finding rings at that depth and I came to believe the the really deep ones were probably at the 12" level but I had dug past them and they had slipped out of the side of the hole and down to the bottom where I finally recovered them. That's what I thought until I was going after a deep ring in a quiet bay which had about 18 to 24 inches of coral sand over top of a muddy mangrove bottom. I picked up a faint signal that had a clarity in the center of the tone that just makes you want to get digging. At about the 12" level the tone was getting nice and strong so I kept digging, by the time I was down about 18 inches I had a problem with the sides of the hole collapsing. At 24 inches I dug into the mangrove bay mud which was like a sand clay, brown and gray, I hauled up the scoop heavy with mud and started scraping away at the mud plug that filled my scoop. In the middle of the plug was a nice fat gold band and as I pulled it out the impression of the ring was clearly visible in the clay.
I used the handle of my scoop to measure the difference between the edge of the hole and the bottom of the hole and it came out to 26 inches +/- when I taped out the measurement on my scoop handle when I got home. Now allowing for sand build up around the edge of the hole of say 2" and 2" more for the ring being in the center of the plug that gives 22" depth for the ring. (26" - 2"- 2" = 22") This was not in a laboratory but in the field and even if you allow an extra inch either way that is incredible detecting depth for a VLF machine.
Please note that mineralization is virtually zero in the coral sands of Bermuda and the salinity of the water is slightly higher than the average salinity of the worlds oceans, so this could be a factor. By anecdotal evidence the Excal 1000 can hit targets that are 22 inches deep. Larger targets like pop cans will have you digging your way to China if you are not careful, I pulled one of thos up from close to 3 feet deep.

So don't laugh too hard at the claims of deep sensing by an Excal, it depends a lot upon the conditions, the individual machine and of course the operator.

Cheers,

BDA

 

[diggindirt]

[quote bdahunter]Please note that mineralization is virtually zero in the coral sands of Bermuda and the salinity of the water is slightly higher than the average salinity of the worlds oceans, so this could be a factor.

bdahunter, very good report! In the Tri-State area (East Coast) in my experience the VLF machines can't compete with Pulse systems for raw depth. I do use both types depending on the conditions as we have very high mineralization and salinity to deal with. The difference in my area is you can hit very deep signals (loud) all the time with a PI running pretty smooth because their not affected by the things that bother VLFs. Thanks for the detailed report on the detector!!!

Thanks

 

[Philo_NY]

I almost sent you an offer for my CZ-20.... But, get one, they are the best.... You won't be sorry.

Philo

 

[ozarkian]

I want to thank everyone for their advice and kind words - I really do. This Forum and its members are just incredible.
Purchased a supposedly brand new, never used in the box Excalibur 800 for 810.00 last night from E-Bay and used Pay Pal so I can return it if need be.
Since my wife will probably be using this a little more than me I decided to go with the lighter unit for her.
I will be looking at another pulse unit this winter so we will both have one as we plan to start traveling more now that the kids are almost out of the house. Going to look hard at the CZ-21 when it debuts that is for sure.
To the Excal users I would appreciate a few tips on initial settings and what to listen for. Cannot really set up a test bed for salt water beaches or wading/snorkeling in the surf here in Missouri darnit. Keep the tips coming !

Looking forward to posting our finds from the trip ( Hopefully )

Again, thank you everyone.

Bob

 

[Daniel A.]

I bought Clive James Clynick's book Advanced Methods its about the Excalibur well worth the money. Dan

 

[planchkr]

Hey Guys, why are you so confused. Are you honestly going to say that you no nothing about the Excalibur 8000. Am I the only one in the metal detecting world with a 8000? Gulf Hunter you must have your order in for one and Mike (Virginia Beach)why do you assume I made a mistake?
Don't you guys know that California is on the cutting edge of everything?

On the otherhand, maybe I shoud proof read my responses before I send them, but if I do then you wouldn't have a good laugh.

Enjoy the day, and yes I am just having a little fun at my expense.

Planchkr

 

[mattockman]

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