E-trac compared to the Excalibur in the wet sand?

[majesus]

Since this is the E-trac forum, I know the answers will tend to be biased on the E-trac.
However, I'm curious to know how the E-trac performs compared to the Excalibur II in the salty wet sand?

I'm looking for its performance in the flat areas that are exposed to low tides, tide pools and maybe 1 to 6" deep surf.

Which machine handles mineralized sand better?

I know the E-trac is not water poof, but I am leaning towards it because I want to use this detector for coin-shooting as well. I am not planning on going deeper than 6" with it. I know the Excalibur is an amazing waterproof machine for beaches. However, I am thinking on the buying an E-trac because I live right next to the city beach so I want to use it hunting treasure at low tides as well as hitting the parks, ball fields, and other land areas.


Cheers,
Majesus

 

[terrywl]

I have both. The Excal is a ring finding machine. So is the ET! I use both at the beach. IF you are sure you can avoid spray, tripping, sneaker waves, sharks and killer whales, and other acts of God then go with the ET, but when it gets wet...well you know. that's why I have both. Plus wading chest deep in the summer gets you out to where there is far less competition. On a related note I found a 14K 7.8 gram chain with a pendant on it this year. The ET can not pick up the chain by itself. The excal can....sort of. Terry in San Diego

 

[101numlock]

The Etrac is awesome in the sand! Found some get deep coins well over a foot deep. The excalibur is better as far as rings and gold go. I would go with the Etrac for just coin shooting at the beach but detecting over water with a $1500 non waterproof detector would make me very nervous !!!

 

[UtahRich]

I would go with the Etrac for just coin shooting at the beach but detecting in water with a $1500 non-waterproof detector would make me very nervous !!!

I will never know - Won't take the E-trac down into the loose sand waves - Foolish. I have an Excalibur for that territory that doesn't mind getting wet

JMHO

Rich -

 

[Rick(SoCal)]

I love my Etrac on the beach. I have both and as others have said, if there is a chance to get it wet.....Then the Excal is the way to go. We recently had the Kings Tide accompanied by a Neg 1.2 tide here in So Cal. I took my Etrac to the beach and performed OUTSTANDING in the wet sand (well the entire beach was wet because of the Kings Tide) and the Etrac didnt skip a beat. Unfortunately didnt find any gold but a lot of coins with some being 10"-12" including a bathroom token down about 12".

Cant go wrong either way

HH..........Rick

 

[majesus]

Thanks for the info and also the water warnings...
I should of mentioned I live in a bay, 90% of the time, there is not much waves. Just very calm tidal action. What I have in my area is nice flat sand exposed during low tide. My Xterra-70 falses a lot in both the salty sand and the mineral content. To compensate, I use a higher frequency coil reduce the sensitivity. I get bad depth.

I agree, I would love to get both the Excalibur and E-trac, but I got pick one. I am looking to upgrade my machine and I want to use it in the parks and on the beach. In particular I will use it on the tidal flats, I was curious how the E-trac handles this type of sand compared to the Excalibur.
Again I realize the waterproof issues and appreciate the warnings.

Thanks for the info.
Majesus

 

[etracmick]

More depth with the Etrac, although you may lose some of the chain type jewelry because the Etrac has difficulty with them. Both are killers in their perspective environments. The Etrac can be used at waters edge and on land as you know. Also if you use the Etrac in water DO NOT tip up the coil above horizontal. The water will go up to the electronics. Good luck.

 

[ZOFCHAK]

You may want to consider the Sovereign as well. With a meter it's a capable machine for the parks, and chest mounted in a waterproof box it's identical in performance to the Excal.

 

[Tony in FL]

You may want to consider the Sovereign as well. With a meter it's a capable machine for the parks, and chest mounted in a waterproof box it's identical in performance to the Excal.

Unfortunately with the latest Sovereign price increase, by the time you add in a hip mount bag, headphones (assume Koss UR-30 for comparison), and meter, you are up to about $1300 (at Kellyco). Thus you may as well purchase an Excal or E-trac. I wonder if Minelab is pricing the Sovereign at a price point where it will essentially scare away most potential customers, thus giving them an excuse to bring this model to end of life, which would be a shame.

 

[UtahRich]

Unfortunately with the latest Sovereign price increase, by the time you add in a hip mount bag, headphones (assume Koss UR-30 for comparison), and meter, you are up to about $1300 (at Kellyco). Thus you may as well purchase an Excal or E-trac. I wonder if Minelab is pricing the Sovereign at a price point where it will essentially scare away most potential customers, thus giving them an excuse to bring this model to end of life, which would be a shame.

Your pricing is right on. And don't forget that the rechargeable batteries that are included with both the Excalibur and E-trac are an additional expense of nearly $100 on the Sovereign.

We saw the end of the Musketeer last year and I assumed that the Sovereign was going to follow suit when Minelab dropped the price of the Explorer SE Pro a few months ago. But the Sovereign seems to have a very large beach hunter following and is one of the few minelab detectors that can be hip mounted and slipped into a semi-waterproof container. But if Minelab was going to discontinue the Sovereign, it would make sense to drop the price to clear dealer and warehouse inventory as much as possible. Perhaps they used a little reverse psychology and tried for the same result by announcing a significant price increase to create a rush to get one at the old price. ??

I think we'll know what Minelab is up to in the next few months. To me, both the Sovereign and the Excalibur are pretty old, still very competitive, but old. Perhaps we'll see an all new beach/water hunter here in the next little while. Interest in PI detectors from other manufacturers is pretty high and it seems that the advanced water hunters are gravitating to the PI detectors for more of their salt water needs. (Just my perception as I've watched from the outside looking in) Will Minelab cross pollenate some of their gold detector technology with a water detector?

I think the next few months are going to be very interesting.


Rich -

 

[bcoop]

I own them both and I can honestly say they are both great machines for the beach, however the waterproof issue stands in the way of the E-Trac. If your going to be an avid beach hunter and want to hunt the water edge or wade into the water get the Excalibur. If your going to coin shoot as you stated then I would purchase the E-Trac and I would not hesitate to beach hunt with it either, you just have to stay away from the water and not make the 1500 dollar mistake.

I have dug coins on multiple occasions on the beach with both machines well over 12 inches with the Pro Coil. I only get to beach hunt one week a year while on vacation. The first year with the E-Trac I found 14 rings, including Gold, Silver and Junk. The first year I used the Excalibur II most of the time and found 10 rings for the week.

Good luck on your decision and good luck with your detecting.

BCOOP