Help - Picking a water detector

[mrsgolddigger]

Hey Water Hunters, Can you guys help me.. I am a newbe at this water hunting stuff and need a referral for a new waterproof detector.. There are so many to choose from I dont want to buy one and be sorry later..

Thanks.

 

[migolddigger]

Excalibur From (Mine lab) or the CZ-20 by Fisher. Those are my top two choices. It all depends on what type of hunting your doing I.E. Fresh Water, or Salt Water. If it's Salt water your hunting in, then your gonna dig most all of the Targets anyway because the salt water eats most iron. So a good Pulse inductive detector is not out of the question either. However they are expensive. Mr bill makes the best P.I. machine on the market. With one of those machine you cant go wrong. If you intend to hunt in fresh water, a good Id machine would be best. White's beach hunter ID, fisher CZ-20, or the Mine Lab Excalibur are the best I think. Just my 2 cents worth.

Tom



PS Add that with a "Sun Spot" scoop you cant go wrong.

 

[Farmercal]

Tom is right on in his reply. The CZ-20 is an excellent choice but you cannot get a new one and to repair a broken one can cost as much as a new machine. The PI units do go deep but have little to no discrimination and people have dug deep in the ocean to retrieve a bobby pin. If you are into a lot of digging, then that might fit the bill. I hunt in the ocean and the Excalibur 1000 was my choice and I am glad I chose it. It ignores iron and goes deep. I have only effectively used it one time so far but with the Florida shaft I bought it is an easy to use detector in the water. The beach hunter ID by Whites get a lot of good reviews by ocean hunters and well as fresh water users. Keep reading what people say in the beach and shallow forums and don't forget to check out the Excalibur/Sovereign forums. Good Luck. Also, don't get into too big of a hurry to make your decision.

 

[Bobbie]

Excal 1000 the best but can be heavy
DetectorPro Wader or Diver very good and lightweight, it is not a PI like most people think and all the controls are in the headphones which are lightweight and comfortable. Finds just as much as the Excal.
White's has a waterproof PI that is excellent too, but you dig everything.

 

[newtohunting]

I am new to my Excal 1000. had her for about 2 months now. Use it every weekend but the name of the game is simple. Whatever machine you plan on buying, you have to learn the machine NO MATTER WHAT. Everybody on this forum has been like a lifesaver as well as a great source of info. This forum really has a great bunch of hunters that give great advice. The best advice I received is to go out and swing the coil with wwhatever you buy. My friend Cubfan64 uses the CZ-20 and he kicks some serious tail with it. He can decipher the tones without trouble because he learned his machine. I am still learning and will for the next 5 years with the Excal. Go out and look at each machine. I think the excal is a light weight compared to most on this forum. Look at atleast 5 different units. The Tesoro Tiger shark is a rocking unit but mainly for fresh water. Read up on all info and take your time but one thing is for certain, you will not do anygood until you get out and learn your detector as I am finding out myself. When you learn your unit, the amounts of fun are awesome and then you become addicted. Do your homework, I had a Garret Sea Hunter pulse induction unit for 4 months but got tired of digging and digging bobby pins and pull tabs. I still get that with Excal but not as much at all and I have found gold with both. The more you hunt the more you learn and the truth of the matter is, the more you dig the more good loot you will find period. Hope this helps.

 

[Larry (IL)]

The only water machine that I have owned is the White's BH ID so I'm not much help here except to say that I have been very happy with it. I took it to Mexico to hunt the beaches and it rejected the iron well and found lots of foreign and US coins, even some jewelry, some at 10 inches on the dry sand. The only thing I don't like about it is the coil floats. Duhhhh White's............ This is a problem hunting in the surf but I hunt mostly on the beaches anyway.

 

[cubfan64]

That you are going to get a fairly wide variety of answers here because everyone has their opinions and their "favorite" detectors.

I second the suggestion that you not rush out there and get one - sit down and write down exactly what you are expecting a detector to do for you and what places you expect to do most of your hunting, then take 3-5 of the top choices you have and do a "pro and con" list (maybe use a numbering system or something).

You will quickly find out (if you haven't already) that there is no one machine out there that satisfies everyone for every situation, so there really is no "best" overall detector, just the "best" one FOR YOU!!

Here are some questions to ask yourself when evaluating them:

1. What kind of warranty and/or service does the mfg. provide?
2. Are they reputable?
3. Do you buy from a local dealer who would be there if you have questions, or do you buy it slightly cheaper online?
4. Do I want to find the deepest stuff?
5. Do I want something sensitive to gold?
6. Do I want to hunt in fresh or salt water?
7. Do I want to wade up to the neck or dive?
8. Do I want something relatively easy to use, or something with a longer learning curve, but possibly better in the long run?
9. Do I want to be able to change coils?
10. Do I want to be able to do some land hunting with it too?

There are tons more questions you could ask yourself, and the answer to each one will point to a different "ideal" detector.

Also - You'll hear it here on the forum and the more you detect, the more you absolutely will believe it.....

The detector is an important component of the treasure hunter, but first and foremost it's the person behind the detector and how much they learn to use and interpret their detector that will get you the most "treasure."

Think of it this way - I could go out today and buy myself a set of the most expensive golf clubs in the world, but will they immediately (or even after 4-5 rounds) improve my golf game??? Very likely the answer to that is no. Practice and getting a feel for your clubs and then more and more practice is what will let you get the most out of that expensive set! It's no different with detectors.

Finally - I'll add my $0.02 - these are some of the detectors I would put on your list of choices...

Minelab Excal 1000
Tesoro Tiger Shark
Fisher CZ20 (although I don't believe they are made anymore)
Whites Beachmaster ID

I would hazard a guess that 75%+ of the guys out there use one (or more) of those. Take some other suggestions here and add them to the list (a PI unit or two maybe), then do your due diligence of research, take your best guess considering what you want to do with it and then...

GET OUT THERE AND PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE....

 

[mrsgolddigger]

I want to thank everyone for all there suggestions. I borrowed a Ace 250 and Fell In Love with it.. I am buying me and my sister one on friday the guy is giving them to us for $400 for both.

We are gonna start with the Garrett Ace 250 and buy a water one later, next summer, too cold for in the water right now anyway..

Thanks again for all the advise.

 

[cubfan64]

From what I've heard about it, you have yourself a VERY capable land detector for the price (possibly the best value out there right now). Gives you time this fall yet and then next spring to decide if you enjoy detecting and want to invest close to double that or more for a water detector.

Good luck!

 

[Bobbie]

You will find plenty of loot with the Ace 250 and lots of practice! And it will give you time to think about what kind of water hunting you want to do, and which machine will be best for you.

 

[mrsgolddigger]

n/t

 

[gerber]

Good luck with the ACE units! I've heard good things about them. I just want to echo support for the Detectorpro machines. When you get ready to consider a slightly more expensive machine, do look into these. My son and I both use the Detectorpro Headhunter Wader and just love them. Very sensitive, very lightweight, very stable in wet and black sand. I've found all kinds of great stuff with my Wader and for the money, feel it is one of the best out there.

HH,

Dan