Excal II

[SurfPro]

Greetings,

I'm interested in purchasing an Excal II for my wife as a gift. We currently have a couple of Sov GT's and Dual Fields. Any info or suggestions as to learning curve, accessories etc... would be greatly appreciated. ie...I'm told that the Anderson Shaft if a good upgrade. A little worried about the durability of the Excal, based on what I've read on this and other forums. The Sov GT's and the Dual Fields have had no problems to speak of so far. We solely hunt on the beach, dry, damp and in the water.

Thanks,
SP

 

[John(Tx)]

I've had my Excal II 1000 for 8 months and just water hunt. Have never had any problems with mine and purrs like a kitten on the Texas Gulf Coast beaches. I have also heard that the Excals made in Ireland are better built than the ones made in Malaysia but don't know if that is really true, According to the the box mine came in , it was made in Ireland. HH

 

[Terra1959]

Hi Sp

Some one may correct me here as I am an Excal newcomer but as far as I understand it....
If you and your wife run Sovereigns there will be little learning curve as the Excal is basically a waterproof Sovereign.
I use a chest harness (Pluggers from Ebay) which is comfortable and takes 85% of the weight off and therefore helps the arm fatigue when pushing a coil underwater.
He also makes a waist mount for the ladies (the two bumps may get in the way of a chest harness?).
I dont have a straight shaft just the standard one but find it easy to swing underwater with this set-up. A friend has an straight shaft on his Excal. and he really likes it.

For in the water a good long handled scoop is very much needed and maybe wetsuit booties or similar to protect the feet and help grip when pushing in the scoop with your foot.
It aint as easy as the pro's make it look and sometimes I have multiple tries digging with the scoop to snare the coin etc. so a scoop as large a capacity as you can comfortably handle would be what I would say to go for.

happy beach huntin

T59