Excaliber II or sovereign elite for beach?

[treasuresalvor]

Hello everyone, I would some advise on which detector you would recommend I use for detecting East coast Florida beaches? I'm from Iowa and will be going down to the Fort Pierce area mid February for a little treasure hunting. I was going to take both detectors with me but then thought maybe I'd just take the Sovereign because I wont be in the water this trip and to lighten my load on the plane, now I'm having second thoughts. Is there any advantage from one of these to the other besides the excal being waterproof? Both machines have the 10 in. coils and I have decided that Im not going to get a bigger one for the Elite yet so Im assuming performance wise they should be real close to one another. Or should I take them both and have one as a backup? I'm just getting confused and kind of overwhelmed trying to make sure I have everything I need ( which I dont), and really dont even know what im getting myself into. If anyone has any advise for me on what I should take or any accessories I should get I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

 

[themartaman]

I use my elite when in florida.

 

[bcoop]

I can't give you any advice on which machine to take with you since I only own the E-Trac. I am going to purchase an Excalibur II 1000 this year before vacation so I can at least get into the edge of the water without worring about zapping my E-Trac. You can find good targets all over the beach but last year it seemed like the gold and heavy rings were close the water edge at low tide for me. Here are a few things I try to have with me.

1. Water shoes or Dive boots if your getting in the water.
2. A head lamp for night hunting w/extra batteries
3. Long handle beach scoop. I prefer 48"
4. Tide chart. We hunt both low tides and try to get there 1 to 2 hours before low tide.
5. Don't forget your chargers to charge your machine.
6. I always wear a glove on my scoop hand for digging. Saves on the blisters.
7. Finds pouch to store your goodies. I use the Minelab pouch and put the good stuff in the zip up pocket and the coins and junk in the open pouch.

I'm sure some of these guys on here can give you some great advice on items to take, I'm a vacation beach hunter and definately not a Pro.

Good luck and hope you find some good stuff.

BCOOP, Missouri

 

[treasuresalvor]

Thank you for the help, I've got some stuff ready to go but need to get a 2 piece travel rod for at least one of the machines. I was thinking of getting one for the excalibur and then maybe take the Elite and hipmount it but use the excal shaft? I dont know if this would work or not but would save $ and room.

 

[kered]

The excalibur will do both, in and out of water, the elite won't, i'd take the excalibur just in case the necesity arrises to get in the water or even shallow cuts. if you drop the elite its dead and will ruin you holiday

 

[JOHNMARKHAM]

imo the excalibur 2 does a great job in or out of the water..
i found this a few weeks ago at the beach in the serf line about 16 inches

 

[Dig]

WTG John!

 

[GENE EDWARDS]

Excal II is the best deal, it does both in and out of water, if it rains the elite has to stay dry the Excal II loves it. The elite's metal parts will rust over a short period of time, and the sand gets in the switches and locks them up. And it doesn't matter what kind of hip bag you use the fog, dew, and moisture will still get on ,and in your elete.The Excal just needs to be washed off good and it's happy.
But it's still your call, good luck what ever you decide, Gene, Gene, the detecting machine

 

[treasuresalvor]

Gene I think your right, I have decided to just take the Excalibur. I dont see the need to take 2 machines and I dont want to damage my Sovereign. I'm actually more comfortable using the excal and like dad said if something does break, Kellyco isnt too far away.