Fisher Beach & Water Detectors

[Flyguy]

Hi Guys... a newbie here to the forum. I'm looking at buying one of the Fisher beach and water detectors - the CZ-21 or the 1280X. Can anybody give me some experience or insight they may have on which of these jobs to buy? I'll be hunting on the Florida Gulf coast if it makes any difference.
Thanks, Flyguy

 

[PULL-TAB COLLECTOR]

i would suggest a minelab excalibur as it is a great machine almost anywhere . if it were a few years ago i would have said go for the cz20 or excal but now things have changed in my opinion . as first texas has bought out fisher and discontinued the cz 20 which was a excellent machine. and they eliminated the lifetime warranty on the new fishers . also did i mention they own bounty hunter which you can buy at walmart. i have heard that the cz 21 is cosmetically the same as the cz 20 but it is what is inside that counts and i have heard and do not doubt that the internal components have been cheapened up because the cz 20 was to expensive form a manufacturing standpoint. and the new warranty structure tells me that they are not as confident as the original manufacturer, i had a cz 20 when fisher was bought out and i sold it soon after finding out who bought them out and that they planned on discontinuing it . i figured that if it needed service who would be repairing it ? the people that designed and developed it or someone who works for bounty hunter? and would they replace the parts with inferior "cheaper" parts ? i just didn't like the idea of being a guinea pig for new owners seeking to cheapen up the product to make more profit. at my expense. its too bad because i used the cz and the excal together and switched back and forth . now i just own 2 excals one 1000 and one excal 2 . but i have no complaints about the excals . i dont mean to bash fisher but i just dont have the confidence i once had in them . but i could be wrong.

 

[Flyguy]

Thanks... lots of info there I didn't know anything about.. you're a big help and I apprciate it!
flyguy

 

[mblemmy]

The fishers are great machines. i had the 1280X aquanaut for years. however as with most single frequency VLF's they can get a bit unstable at some saltwater beaches especiallly over wet sand and in the saltwater. i got a minelab excal1000 about 6 yrs ago. super stable in all conditions. so if you are hunting mostly salt i would suggest the excal. i havnt been up on the newer models. perhaps others who post here can suggest other models that are stable in salt water with high mineralazation. i believe it is due to minelabs multifrequency tech. that makes it such a stable unit. my fisher would work in saltwater but i had to reduce the sinsitivity quite a bit to get rid of the chatter and false signals. also with the minelab excal. it didnt seem like much depth was lost in highly mineralized sand as with other detectors i have owned. but again..... i am a bit behind the times and there may has been tech. advances with whites and fishers, etc. that have the same ability. hope this helps a bit....

HAPPY HUNTING !!

mikeB

 

[Gulf Hunter]

CZ21-8 would be my choice, amongst those you mentioned.