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

[Craig-PI]

[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]

One final note.. if you are going to hunt the dry sand along with the wet sand and water.. I would pick the new Beachhunter, if you are only going to hunt in the wet I would go with a PI a personal preference of course

I'm reading some very reports on the Beachhunter with its new coil... I spoke with a friend this morning and he said he is amazed by its depth.. the choice is yours There are also other brands out there that will work as well...

 

[BEACH HUNTER]

n/t

 

[TenedorDelDiablo]

[size=large]Beautiful! Just beautiful! Thanks a million for all the insightful advice and opinions folks!! Now to go for a loooooooong walk and make my final decision!! [/size]

 

[BEACH HUNTER]

n/t

 

[Craig-PI]

I left out the word "good" in post above and it wouldn't let me edit it

 

[Mirco]

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???

I am afraid that not living in NYS you won`t understand. In NYS chances to leave home with MD and not be arrested/ticketed/confiscated are very little due to all the unimaginable restrictions on MDing, on top of which in an unlikely case that one still finds ANYTHING he/she must bring EVERYTHING to police (except current 1,5,10 and 25 cent coins). All this is stated on NY Permit for MDing.

So, for a law obeying person not willing to communicate with police and judge and to take risk the best thing is to stay home, to pet lovingly a brand new sparkling MD , to read MDing forums and to dream about a time of vacation to go with MD to some remote place/country and to MD without fear of a punishment.

Exactly what I am doing most of the time.

If I find someone`s ring in the beach while swimming I am not required to bring it to police. If I find it with MD in my hand - I must do it. Same ring. Same me. Why the difference??!!

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

No, now you're just being Ridiculous.

As I hope you SHOULD know, all gold is going to signal on ANY given ID machine as appropriate for the size and mass of the gold in question. A fat-a$$ men's band for example will come in higher on the conductivity scale than will a thin lady'd gold band with a big fat diamond in it. But BOTH of them will come in with a nice LOW tone that will let the Excal user know that he/she has a very probable GOLD signal, as opposed to a penny or a fish hook. Either of which would sound the same to you.

Now, don't go getting personal on us here. If you are happy with the minimal information that you get from your machine, that's fine. I'm not. I want more. I want Excal. To each their own.

 

[therover]

Mike,

Do you ever hear the higher pitched ( yet very soft) sound of really deep targets that end up being lower conductive targets such as lead sinkers, gold rings, etc. ? I have, so in all fairness, sometimes the Excal does not give the lower pitched sound on gold items or lower conductive targets.

I have found that when I hunt with my Excal, I dig anything that makes the threshold change ( obviously other than a null),. I do agree that the sound of the bottle caps anywhere from the surface to about 6-7 inches make a distincitve sound like no other...that WWWWOWWWWW sound...long, drawn out, and very strong.

To me, beach hunting is fairly simple ( as long as I am not using my PI in the trashy sites !!) . Dig it all if it's repeatable and not iron, and dig the real deepies even if it is iron....sometimes that iron ID is a good target. There have been large hoop earrings that bounced between iron and non-iron ID that I dug.

JC

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

I have not actually seen that. I have seen from time to time that HIGHER conductive targets that are really deep will sound LOWER, but not the other way around.

And of course the old rule is still the best..."The most spoils go to he (or she) that digs it all."

 

[JohnA]

therover, that lead weights give a high pitched and soft sound, unlike silver and clad that is a little brassier. Most of the gold has given the classic full low tone. Doesn't make that much difference, unless I am digging with water coming over my head chasing a high pitched target and after 8 or 10 scoops it is still there or louder- probably a beer can or other trash and I leave it. Otherwise, like most everyone else I dig everything except for a definite bottle cap, and I still get my share of Heine's and Coronas. I got fooled the other day with what I was sure going to be aluminum foil and it ended up being a pair of Ray-Bans.

 

[BEACH HUNTER]

AS YOU SAID YOUR CHOICE IS THE EXCAL...I HAVE USED ONE.....DID NOT LIKE IT....I LOVE THE BEACH HUNTER ID..WHITES HAS DONE ME GOOD!! THEY HAVE GIVEN ME TONS OF "PERKS"...AND WHEN I ASKED THEM TO PUT THE SUPER 12 ON MY DETECTOR...THEY DID IT AND MADE EXTRA AJUSTMENTS FOR ME FREE OF CHARGE!!! I THINK THE NEW 300 IS NOW GONNA TAKE OFF!! THE DEPTH IS GREAT...AND FROM WHAT I HAVE SEEN DEEPER THAN THE EXCAL 800 OR 1000!!!

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

Wow...that's sucks, having those restrictions like that. I feel your pain, my friend.

 

[J_P]

I own a Surfmaster Pi Pro and an Excalibur. The PI Pro is definitely easier to learn (1 hour) compared to the Excalibur that takes some weeks to learn all the sounds and how to adjust it. The Excalibur would sit in the garage if there was not a lot of trash at the beaches where I hunt. The Excalibur is heavy enough to make my arm sore after 4 hours even modified with a straight shaft. But it discriminates trash the best, once you learn it. The PI Pro is very light so I can swing it all day, and you can adjust the 2 controls to hear very faint signals. But it is useless anywhere that has a lot of trash. It can tell you when you found large iron, but bottle caps usually sound similar to nickels and gold. Expect to dig 99% pull tabs. bobby pins, toys, foil and junk jewelry. The PI Pro might be good for places without much trash where you plan to dig everything, but I would reach for the Excalibur anywhere else.

Best wishes,
J_P

 

[bdahunter]

My Excal sends me the right signals on most bottle tops but the Heines and the Coronas are a real pest.
Mike, you have made this thread one of the best I've seen in a while (pull pin, lob grenade and dodge resulting carnage and shrapnel) I think the Excal is the Best beach machine overall but there are times when a PI can be the way to go (heavy sanding with little ferrous trash) so I'm ordering a Surf Pro PI DF as a back up unit. I'll give it a shot and see how it works out, update on my PI experiment will follow in a few months when I have sufficient data.

Cheers Mate,

BDA

 

[TenedorDelDiablo]

[size=large]I'm just wondering how easy the pinpointing is on the Excal. Anyone?[/size]

 

[Craig-PI]

My Excal sends me the right signals on most bottle tops but the Heines and the Coronas are a real pest.
Mike, you have made this thread one of the best I've seen in a while (pull pin, lob grenade and dodge resulting carnage and shrapnel) I think the Excal is the Best beach machine overall but there are times when a PI can be the way to go (heavy sanding with little ferrous trash) so I'm ordering a Surf Pro PI DF as a back up unit. I'll give it a shot and see how it works out, update on my PI experiment will follow in a few months when I have sufficient data.

Cheers Mate,

BDA

BDA.. once you find a deep ring the Excal can't even hear you might change your mind about what detector you use most