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Detecting For Gold Jewelry In Dry Beach Sand: Which Detector?
- Thread starter Hotwire
- Start date
dewcon4414
Well-known member
I had to laugh when you said ONLY gold..... since it ranges from foil to a penny. Anything you disc out, especially with a little depth could be gold. I dig everything or at least kick it except iron and a shallow bottle cap. Most of the higher end machines will pick up your recent drops to about .3 grams. Higher freq is better on gold. What price range of detector are you wanting? How physically fit are you..... weight and balance veries. Do you want a TID machine? Lot of varitables.
Dew
Dew
Jim Robertson
Well-known member
Hotwire
I have a couple that I turn to when in the dry sand. The Shadow X5 and the Shadow X2. I also like the TDI Pro. But you will be digging everything with the TDI. They are all very hot machines. Hope this helps.
I have a couple that I turn to when in the dry sand. The Shadow X5 and the Shadow X2. I also like the TDI Pro. But you will be digging everything with the TDI. They are all very hot machines. Hope this helps.
As the others are saying, lots-of-variables. Examples: How willing are you to dig iron? (nails, paper-clips, bobbie-pins, etc...) ? Or for that matter, how riddled is your particular beach, to begin with, with such things? If your beach allows beach bonfires, you might be a SAD GUY indeed being out there with a machine that can't knock out iron. Because when people have beach bonfires, they bring wood (broken up pallets, for instance), which introduces nails to the beach. But assuming you don't care, or have infinate patience, then various beach pulse machines will afford great depth, ease-of-use, and ability at dainty chains, earing studs, etc.... But the downside is, you can't pass iron.
So as was suggested, the Sov. with a Wot coil will go deadly deep, and able to pass iron. However, you will not get dainty chains or earing studs. But another plus for the Sov, is you can effortlessly go to the wet too, if you wanted (although I know that wasn't a part of your question).
Another machine that is often over-looked for dry sand beach hunting, is the Fisher 1266. That's a rather dated machine now, and it had a whole host of draw-backs in its day. But one thing it DID excell in, was dry sand hunting. If you put the 10" coil on there, you can get a quarter down to nearly 1.5 ft ! And while it *does* have disc, yet .... truth be told, the disc. wained after the first 6" or so. Still though, an improvement over the pulses in that regard. And yes, it can get smaller teensy items (albeit not as good as a pulse, yet better than powerhouse machines like Sov, exp's, CZ, etc....). It can not go into the wet salt (will become very eratic). Another plus about the 1266, is that since it's dated, you can pick them up real cheap off ebay now and then.
So as was suggested, the Sov. with a Wot coil will go deadly deep, and able to pass iron. However, you will not get dainty chains or earing studs. But another plus for the Sov, is you can effortlessly go to the wet too, if you wanted (although I know that wasn't a part of your question).
Another machine that is often over-looked for dry sand beach hunting, is the Fisher 1266. That's a rather dated machine now, and it had a whole host of draw-backs in its day. But one thing it DID excell in, was dry sand hunting. If you put the 10" coil on there, you can get a quarter down to nearly 1.5 ft ! And while it *does* have disc, yet .... truth be told, the disc. wained after the first 6" or so. Still though, an improvement over the pulses in that regard. And yes, it can get smaller teensy items (albeit not as good as a pulse, yet better than powerhouse machines like Sov, exp's, CZ, etc....). It can not go into the wet salt (will become very eratic). Another plus about the 1266, is that since it's dated, you can pick them up real cheap off ebay now and then.
Working off your stated desire, 'only gold in Dry beach sand' Its a noble and possibly profitable strategy...I agree with what everybody said but would add this...
YOU GOTTA BE FAST! like freakin' lightening fast...
Which means you gotta be in shape and travel light to cover as much 'profitable' real estate in the shortest time possible...small bucket light scoop w/a 36-40" handle, super fast recovery rig with the largest coil you can comfortably swing that hits foil and nickle tones hard, and audibly identifies them from all others...extended shaft on your rig, a special crouch and swing pattern that lets you cover at least a 12' swath with nearly a 270 degree arc...also, you have to hunt in the dead hours when nobody is around..so to employ this 'dry sand, gold only' strategy to maximum success is night work, and bare foot work too...
I run an F70 with a 11"dd coil and DP tones for this awful yearly effort, I put a longer lower shaft on the rig, and go barefoot..and I swing that puppy like its a sling blade! No little 4' path, evaluating each and every signal, you have to crouch and rock your upper body side to side, you have to swing that scoop at all targets like its an axe for a super fast scoop method...dont think about the signal, just scoop and move! Remember, max good real estate in the shortest time, = gold for drysanders..its a race, not a relaxing experience, you will be exhausted..
Dry sand gold hunting on popular beaches is a RACE against everybody else that swings coil...they will all be piling in there at sun-up, so you gotta get there before they do and clean it out and be gone....this varies from beach to beach...but you know what I'm saying? A fresh dry sand gold drop on a popular beach on the towel line wont be there in 48hrs....generally not in 24...so its a dedicated daily routine that can get very disappointing unless you have a plan, a pattern, and commitment that beats everybody else..the more you do it, the better you get at reading the travel patterns of areas you need to hunt, as well as the beach and what the junk is telling you..so you can 'smoke jump' likely hotspots and not just swing all willy nilly...as the sun comes up. look for stroller and cooler tracks..dry sanding is a subset skill within this sport, its some bloody tough work though, working 5 miles of sand before sun-up everyday, slinging coil...so the gear is not as important as the overall mindset strategy...even a very inexpensive rig and scoop can pay off for a drysander...but as I said, it and you have gotta be FAST! So all that gear has to be light and comfortable, or you will flat wear yourself out..
Mud
YOU GOTTA BE FAST! like freakin' lightening fast...
Which means you gotta be in shape and travel light to cover as much 'profitable' real estate in the shortest time possible...small bucket light scoop w/a 36-40" handle, super fast recovery rig with the largest coil you can comfortably swing that hits foil and nickle tones hard, and audibly identifies them from all others...extended shaft on your rig, a special crouch and swing pattern that lets you cover at least a 12' swath with nearly a 270 degree arc...also, you have to hunt in the dead hours when nobody is around..so to employ this 'dry sand, gold only' strategy to maximum success is night work, and bare foot work too...
I run an F70 with a 11"dd coil and DP tones for this awful yearly effort, I put a longer lower shaft on the rig, and go barefoot..and I swing that puppy like its a sling blade! No little 4' path, evaluating each and every signal, you have to crouch and rock your upper body side to side, you have to swing that scoop at all targets like its an axe for a super fast scoop method...dont think about the signal, just scoop and move! Remember, max good real estate in the shortest time, = gold for drysanders..its a race, not a relaxing experience, you will be exhausted..
Dry sand gold hunting on popular beaches is a RACE against everybody else that swings coil...they will all be piling in there at sun-up, so you gotta get there before they do and clean it out and be gone....this varies from beach to beach...but you know what I'm saying? A fresh dry sand gold drop on a popular beach on the towel line wont be there in 48hrs....generally not in 24...so its a dedicated daily routine that can get very disappointing unless you have a plan, a pattern, and commitment that beats everybody else..the more you do it, the better you get at reading the travel patterns of areas you need to hunt, as well as the beach and what the junk is telling you..so you can 'smoke jump' likely hotspots and not just swing all willy nilly...as the sun comes up. look for stroller and cooler tracks..dry sanding is a subset skill within this sport, its some bloody tough work though, working 5 miles of sand before sun-up everyday, slinging coil...so the gear is not as important as the overall mindset strategy...even a very inexpensive rig and scoop can pay off for a drysander...but as I said, it and you have gotta be FAST! So all that gear has to be light and comfortable, or you will flat wear yourself out..
Mud
Spungehead
New member
I'm primarily a Minelab man, but in the situation you describe, I use a lighter scoop and belt mount my Tesoro Stingray II (any of the ED-180 discriminator Tesoro machines should do the same)....a light setup (just like mudpuppy described)....it will also sniff out SMALL gold and chains, not just the rings. With experience, you'll be able to avoid a large percentage of the iron, but not all the other non-ferrous small bits of stuff. "Only gold" is one tough request that you're very unlikely to find an answer for.
HH
HH
For the conditions you describe I use my White's MX5 with a Detech Ultimate 13" coil.
I use the Detector Pro swing buddy for swinging wide arcs. ( I bought this for my XS Sov with WOT coil) but I love the thing so I use it on other detectors now.
The MX5 is a very fast response machine, 8 tones, accurate ID and quick pin point.
Found a 24 inch 14kt chain (19.2 grms) at about 4 inches. It gave a constant ID of 16 where a nickel is a 20 and a pull tab is a 22 in dry sand and a 24 in wet sand.
Excellent distinction.
ROBOCOP
I use the Detector Pro swing buddy for swinging wide arcs. ( I bought this for my XS Sov with WOT coil) but I love the thing so I use it on other detectors now.
The MX5 is a very fast response machine, 8 tones, accurate ID and quick pin point.
Found a 24 inch 14kt chain (19.2 grms) at about 4 inches. It gave a constant ID of 16 where a nickel is a 20 and a pull tab is a 22 in dry sand and a 24 in wet sand.
Excellent distinction.
ROBOCOP