What to buy?Very hard time to make up my mind between the Excal or the Sov.I live in Wakefield,Quebec,Canada so at home I will be hunting all freshwater beaches and lakes,tot lots,parks,sports fields etc.I presently use an exterra70 and do enjoy wading up to my waist.Last year at one campsite beach,in two weekends I found 8 rings,2 were gold.Im 66 and dont have a very good back or knees so I will have to be careful with the weight of the new detector.I usually go to Myrtle Beach for a few months in March and April every year.I find the Exterra workable in the wet,salt sand,but not the best.I have had good luck with it in the dry sand and parks[about 10 rings,4 gold with diamonds]in the past 3 years.I read on the forum that there seems to be more problems with the Excal over the Sov.,loose knobs,seals etc.I dont want to have to send it in for repairs every 3 or 4 years.Shipping each way is 90 dollars plus the repairs.Any advice from forum members would be appreciated.Any way to keep the weight down,coil size for small gold,8 or 10 inch?Thanks every-one H.H.Maybe ill see you in March.
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EXCAL or SOVEREIGN?
- Thread starter papajohn
- Start date
It really comes down to the amount of water hunting you do. If you only go into your knees the Sovereign can do that. You could box it as shown in a recent post to go deeper. Both can be chest mounted to take the weight off your arm. The Excalibur is a wonderful beach detector. For the water it is the king of the hill VLF. You can also hunt in the rain with it. Only you can make the decision. It really comes down to your ailments that you mention. If you want to get in the ocean and deeper in the lakes to water detect you need the Excal. If your going into your knees the Sovereign will be just great. You already have the land detector.
Buried Crap NJ
New member
I think there are very good points above. Its really your choice. Both units have there bad points. The GT is a better machine than the Excalibur but you can't get it wet. The moist salt air will do it no good either,and most units last no more than 5 years of hunting the beach 3 times a week. You can build a water proof box for about 60 bucks. The other point is either one will pay for its self in a few months if you hunt only a couple of times a week. I hunt 3 to 4 times a week at 3 to 4 hrs a day, I work full time so I can't hunt full time. My first Excal payed for its self in 6 months. The GT payed for itself in 3 weeks. The second Excal payed for its self in 3 months. I do this for fun what comes out of the sand is just pure enjoyment. I used payed for as the value of the items found. Most gold gets giving to my wife unless she doesn't like it. Rare!The rest goes in a jar waiting to be sold some day? The gold earrings get sold for scrap unless I find the pair! The 8 to 15 dollars a hunt in clad gets banked for new equipment. Banked means turned into greenbacks and place in shoe box under the bed!!!! Pick one and save for the next one! steve
Big Boys Hobbies
Well-known member
They work allot the same. Mainly depends on if you want to get into water or not. Both great machines!
I will have a Sov in a few days that I can make you a great deal on one. Holler if I can help. Bart
I will have a Sov in a few days that I can make you a great deal on one. Holler if I can help. Bart
Neil
Well-known member
papajohn said:
That Xterra you have has a pretty good beach mode on it, it will balance to the wet sand at the ocean. You might look into getting the cable to it lengthened so you could wade in a little deeper by removing the control head and hanging it around your neck, that will get you up to your waist or a litte more. Also the DD coils for the Xterra help it alot at the beach.
Sov or Excal, your gonna double the weight of your Xterra or darn close, both detectors are substantially heavier.
Minelab would surely have helped themselves if they made those cables longer on the Xterra so you could chest mount the very light control box on them.
Another thing not mentioned is the inferior audio quality on the Excalibur. The stock waterproof headphones on the Excal are not very comfortable, nor is the sound quality anywhere near what can be obtained with a decent pair of headphones on the GT. Also the Excals are known for having issues and have only a 1 year warranty from Minelab as opposed to 3 on the GT.
Ok! I am currently trying to learn an Explorer II at the beach. I've only found clad, one gold band and junk. Is it worth it for me to keep on trying to learn the Explorer or bite the bullet and get the Excalibur now and cut my losses? Thank you for any input!An Excalibur will get you in the water. If there is a lot of competition on your beach then you do need to get in the water. The number of targets will fall way off, but the ratio of good targets goes up. Not quite sure where you live, but this time of year getting in the water maynot be practical. The Excal will not help you find better targets in the sand over your Explorer. Get to know your detector and your beach.
Gary Drayton
New member
Considering the depth you like to search in the water and the weight/balancing issue I think you would be much better off with a Sovereign GT. I have many ways of using the Sovereign effectively on the beach and shallow water in my new book. You also have the added advantage of being able to change search coils and headphones with the Sovereign GT.
HH Gary
HH Gary