BOTTOM LINE: WHICH IS BETTER? SURF PI, BEACH HUNTER OR EXCALIBUR?

[TenedorDelDiablo]

[size=large]Ok folks....this one's for all the marbles!! Here's the final question(s) before I make my decision!

Between the Surf PI, Beach Hunter or Excalibur II, which of the the three is the absolute best for beach (dry/wet sand) and water (surf, shallow and deep diving):

The qualities I'm looking for are:

Learning curve

Ease of use

Ease/success rate of target detection

Depth

Durability

Discrimination

Reliability

Pinpointing ease

Ok...your turn to impart your years of wisdom to a relative newbie. This one is the one where I'll decide which I'll buy this week.

Thanks a million guys

T[/size]

 

[Craig-PI]

A detector is only as good as the user.. that being said I have owned all 3 of them and the only one I still have is the PI... but its my personal preference and the Beachhunter and Excal are fine machines..

 

[Bobbie]

They are all fine machines.

 

[Bling]

the PI is a little deeper..but i don't like to dig all the bobby pins and junk metal. so i like the Excal better because it will null on iron and still get the Gold! the most rings iv ever found in one day was 9 and it was with a PI..but that was back in the day when there was little trash . today there is so much junk metal in the water i don't have the energy to dig all those holes.

 

[BEACH HUNTER]

If you were hunting wet sand surf.....the BEACH HUNTER ID 300!!!

 

[speedbiu]

Whites surf pro,I agree the others are good but this one is the easiest to use and after a few times out you can identify targets but the sound of the tone.
HH

 

[TenedorDelDiablo]

[size=large]I agree with Craig as well.....but sometimes it does matter what machine one uses, no? I mean, the way I see it, I can be a stellar racer driving a Prius, and always get crushed by a novice driving a Corvette.

Nonetheless this is all interesting...interesting stuff indeed!!

So far what I've gathered is:

• Beach Hunter is a good, all-around machine for dry/wetsand & surf, and is easy to use

• Surf PI is easy to use, superior at depth AND shallows, but no disrimination so I can look forward to digging like a animal

• Excalibur is best for trash rejection and treasure announcement albeit a little pricey, but good for all environs (dry, wet, shallows, deep)

Hmm....all three look like they're winners!! Darn.....looks like I still have some thinking to do!![/size]

 

[Craig-PI]

Bling.. When I had my Excal yes it did null out iron very well but I was digging just as much trash with the Excal as I was the PI and I knew I wasn't getting the depth with the Excal I was getting with my PI.. Up here and Bobbie can agree or disagree but most of our trash is bits of aluminum... we don't have the heavy concentrations of iron like say New Jersey or bits of wire like VB where Max and many others hunt.. when I go over iron with my PI I know it right away and don't dig it same goes with bobbiepins I'll get a double blip like a nail or sparkler wire and I won't dig them.. I felt depth is more important to me than discrimination on the beaches I hunt here.. Up here our beach season is short for swimmers.. this isn't VB or Florida that gets huge throngs of people.. our water temps average in the high 60's low 70's at the height of summer.. what I am getting at is we don't have the depositors they have down south but we do have alot of beach hunters and I want to have an advantage over them, I want depth and I'm willing to dig more trash if I can get deeper than the next guy...

 

[labeachbum]

On a salt water beach with black sand the PI pro is KING...... Beach's with no black sand or fresh water lakes then the Excal or BHID would be my 1st choice. The Rule has been around for years DIG ALL TARGETS at the beach if your serous about finding Jewelry.

 

[rehless]

Labeachbum said it. If in doubt, dig it. I use the PI Pro from White most of the time and I just bought the Dual Field. And I hunt fresh water. Unless it is an obvious bad target, I dig it. And I go after the deep signals in the old beach parks. Detectors used:
Whites Surf PI
Whites Pi Pro
Tesoro Sand Shark
Fisher Impulse
Whites Dual Field ( Haven't used yet, waiting for Fall when the swimmers leave the water)

 

[Stacey in West Palm Beach]

... I don't like to dig TWO FEET for a bobbie pin or a nail. I know, I know! SURE you'll miss some gold if you don't dig it all, but I got frustrated with all the digging when on TRASHY beaches and moved up to an Excal I - then I got an Excal II. I like those better than the SurfMaster PI Pro because you can eliminate iron (and other metals if you want, but I only discriminate out iron).

NOW, if you are DIVING or in water that isn't trashy, I think the SurfMaster would be excellent.... as long as you have a BIG SCOOP to dig deep enough.

SurfMaster PI Pro is a turn on and go machine. Very easy and no learning curve. (From me, that's saying a lot!) I never really noticed any tonal changes, but then again I didn't use mine that often because I got frustrated with all the deep iron. Actually, I was mostly only doing dry and wet sand hunting before I got the Excal...

HH!

Stacey

 

[R-n-R Magnolia SpringsAla]

n/t

 

[Craig-PI]

Stacey... any PI is a horrible choice for dry sand.. I'd rather stick needles in my eyes than use my PI in the dry stuff

I only use it in wet sand I know is free for the most part of iron and in the water...I use my DFX for dry sand..

 

[Mirco]

I love my PI PRO!! I have it already four months and tomorrow I am going to use it for the first time!

Great machine! I am so excited! When I have funds I will buy Excal II too!!

Thank you for the warning not to use PI PRO on dry sand. Soon I will travel and for dry sand will take with me MXT. Otherwise I wanted to take only PI PRO !!!!

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

I'm sorry, but please tell us how you can LOVE a machine that you have never used??? Have you been sleeping with it, or what???

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

I'm with you, Stace...I want the WIDE range of tones that you get with the Excal. Once a detectorist is "tuned in" to the tones of the Excal, there is no substitute.

 

[The Bulgarian]

I'm sorry, but please tell us how you can LOVE a machine that you have never used??? Have you been sleeping with it, or what???

 

[BEACH HUNTER]

n/t

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

It's very simple...when I have gold under my coil, I KNOW it!

I like to be able to tell if I'm fighting the surf and busting am a$$ to not lose a target if what I am killing myself to get is a gold ring or a penny. I can say with high certainty when I have a penny. The Excal makes a very distinct tone on a bottlecap. I don't dig them. I like the extra info and often the excitement that comes with using a machine with a very good variable tone system.

 

[grahamp]

I love my PI PRO!! I have it already four months and tomorrow I am going to use it for the first time!

Great machine!

Judging from the general concensus, i assume the pi pro is a very good machine, thats why its on my shortlist for trips abroad, but it takes months to fully apreciate a detectors merits and that can ONLY be learned in the field (or water in this case). I have had many metal detectors that perform great indoors but not so good when tested on a particular hunting ground.