I need help choosing a detector for beach.

[tideman]

I have just moved to the beach. I am interested in purchasing a metal detector for beach use. I will be using it in wet sand and shallow surf (less than 2ft in depth). I may use it some in dry sand but at least 80% of usage will be wet sand and shallow salt water.
I have looked at so many manufacturer ads I have lost count. I hear both good and bad about PI detectors. In reviews I have read and in a couple of people I have talked to the Minelab brand name keeps coming up as a good choice.
I need something that has at least a waterproof coil and can operate in wet sand and shallow salt water. The cost must be under $1000 USD. Not trying to be cheap but due to health problems money is a factor and I can't afford to make a costly mistake.
Please give me some feedback about what works for you. Thanks

 

[Gulf Hunter]

A lot of us use the Excaliber for wet sand and shallow surf. It will cost you just over $1000. Then you will also need a VERY sturdy long handled surf scoop (stainless preferably-you'll bend or fracture aluminum). $100-$150 range. BEACH HUNTER uses a White's Beach Hunter ID with great success also and it works well in the area that you are talking about hunting. Both of these units have ferrous discrimination ability, which if I could only have 1 detector is necessary. The coil is a little bouyant on this unit from what I understand, so it may be a little difficult to keep it down unless yer a big guy. If you will be in the water at all, then I would recommend that you spend the money for a submersible unit, because if not the 1st wave that laps over the control housing will ruin the unit. Good luck in you're decision. GH

 

[tideman]

Thanks for the information! It is better to get from a detector user than a sales brochure.
Tideman

 

[normdiver]

Tideman, If you look back into the threads you will gather all types of information on detectors, also look at the photos of the guys on the beach and in the water and you will see which detectors most of us use. If a guy or gal is swinging it , it is a good bet its a good one.

 

[lucar]

Hello,

I use a Surfmaster PI pro. I suggest you start with a discriminating machine like the excalibur.
Boubts?
This is what I dig with a PI every time I hit a new area...
[attachment 28894 P6010031.JPG]
[attachment 28895 P6010032.JPG]

and the more you're in shallow water the more trash you find.

Cheeeeeerrrssss

 

[bdahunter]

With the permission of the pirate king I'd just like to say -----[attachment 28897 excaliberlmedsmall.jpg]

This is one fun hobby!

BDA

 

[tideman]

A picture IS worth a thousand words! Thanks...that picture tells me to give a lot of thought before buying a PI machine. But on the other hand you are not digging all that trash for nothing. What are you finding with the PI that the other machines are not? And..why do you use a PI as opposed to one that discriminates. The answer to the first question may also answer the second one.
Thanks to all who have responded with input!
Tideman

 

[JoeSWFLA]

the minelabs are great on wet salt beachs. If you have the money the
excal is a good choice. If you are just hunting the wet sand and beach
then a sovereign with the BBS or Tornado coil will do nicely.Only
thing is you need to keep the water off it. You can get one for $300-
$400 and hip mount it,first putting it in a zip lock bag, and sealing
the wires with tape at the bag.It's light this way and you can hunt
for long periods without fatigue.But if you think you may want to
get wet, a fully submersible detector is nice-just pricey-at first
and if needing service.I have a sovereign for the beach and a CZ20
for the underwater stuff.Depends on where you hunt and how much
you want to spend.Good luck and Happy Hunting. Joe

 

[Craig-PI]

Hi Tide

I am a PI user who does not hunt the dry/wet sand and honestly I don't want to.. I am strictly a water hunter waist to chest deep water only.. If you detect in these depths the main trash you will find will be lead weights, I rarely find pulltabs and bottle caps. Also where you detect is important,I hunt deep water troughs where the bottom make up is shells and sand and its here where I find most of my gold and old coins. If I was to detect wet/dry sand I would use my land machines. Choice is yours to make Our coils have to go over the target for us to recover them Successful water hunting for me is reading the beach and finding the troughs, I never meander around..

 

[Ron Lord]

I use a CZ-20 for land and water,fresh or salt water in FLA. .
fisher has a life time warrity. Last year I found over 180 gram of gold in just 6 weeks ,36 Gold Rings in 10 days .I have used all kind of metal detectors and for your money I think Fisher has them all beat.

Ron Lord S.W. FLA
junklord3139@comcast.net

 

[tideman]

I like the Excaliber and a few others. You mentioned the Whites Beach Hunter ID...how accurate are the iron, gold, coin lights on this machine?

Tideman

 

[RandyNorthridgeca]

Best beach machine out there for the money would be the Sovereign. You can pick up a new one $700.00 and you'll see some good deals for used ones. Throw in a hip mount bag for $31.95, a quality long handled stainless steel handscoop between $150 & $180, and if you're willing to go $102.00 over your budget of $1000.00 you can get Sunrays 12.5" coil. You can get everything above for $1102.00 plus shipping for the scoop and coil.

With the above equipment you'll kick butt or at least hold your own at the beach once you learn your machine. The tone ID is great, you can tell if the target is deep, you can hip mount or chest mount it, and if you splurge for the Sunray 12.5" coil you'll get great added coverage (which you need at the beach)with no extra weight add.

I used a sovereign for two years at the beach and either hip or chest mounted it and I had no problens going into the surf up to knee deep.

Good luck,

HH Randy

 

[lucar]

Hello,

despite the trash problem I'm still with the PI choice because I believe PIs go deeper then VLF (generally speaking) and , most importantly for a good reason:

look carefully at the following picture of one of my loots
[attachment 28942 P5300023.JPG]
what you see are some euro coins mixed with lira coins (the old italian coin before euro introduction) and one gold ring.
There are some lira coins that are made of iron and also euro cents are made of iron. Almost all of my competition use Excaliburs(e.g. discriminator) cutting out iron. Excaliburs are VLF machines meaning that they measure the magnetic field bending/absorbtion by the target. It is not unfrequent to find multiple targets in the same hole (if you are luky enought you can even find what is called a "glory hole" , full of targets) and with a VLF machine like the excalibur if the average iron content of the target group is high, than the machine will be fooled in believing it is only one iron target.
This is expecially the case of a gold ring near lira coins or euro cents or an iron nail: it will be "masked out" !
This is the main reason why I dig everything and stay with a PI BUT I avoid hunting the very shallow water where the lightest targets are (caps, pulltabs, nails etc.). That area needs a discriminator or you'll go mad diggin trash.
One point in favor of the excalibur is that it should be more sensitive to silver and gold chains than a PI unit, expecially with the 8 inch coil.
So if you're going to hunt in the areas you mentioned I strongly suggest you get and excal with 8 inch coil for better target separation. If you are willing to go in deeper waters since the good/bad target ratio there is good I suggest a PI machine.
Remember that , as a general roule, lighter targets dance in shallow waters.
Here si one of my best PI finds..it was deep and coin masked!
[attachment 28943 P5290032.JPG]

Cheers

 

[tideman]

Thanks for the reply and the pictures. Am I correct in this statement...the difference between the Surfmaster and the Beach Hunter ID is that the latter discriminates? Is the Beach Hunter ID comparable to the Excaliber or are we talking apples and oranges due to PI and VLF?
When you are talking about avoiding shallow water what depth do you hunt in? I am assuming that in salt water you hunt at or near low tide.
Thanks to you all the others who have responded with good information.

Tideman

 

[lucar]

Hello,

I never tried a Beach Hunter ID so I can't help on that.
Anyway, Beach Hunter ID is comparable to the Excalibur in that they are both multifrequency vlfs. The drawdown with the Beach Hunter is that , I'm told, the head is buoyant , so you'll not be able to to go past the swash line while the excal is a fully submersible machine.

The Surfmaster PI PRO is a PI machine . There are two models so you have to be careful when you make the order. One has a buoyant light head (black color) the other one has a heavy neutrally buoyant head (yellow color). Mine has the yellow one and I can use it also on land but it is heavy if used outside water and you have to get used to it.

As for your second question, usually I stay at least 9 feet far from swash line (but that depends also on local conditions), from knee deep water to shoulders deep water, the latter if the area is a productive one, and, if it is, I also check tide tables for the best hunting conditions.

Remember also the the machine is just 1/3 of the equation; . Also study and determination are key factors in successful beach hunting.

HH!

 

[lucar]

That is EXACTLY my point of view !!

Cheers

 

[Craig-PI]

[quote tideman]Thanks for the reply and the pictures. Am I correct in this statement...the difference between the Surfmaster and the Beach Hunter ID is that the latter discriminates? Is the Beach Hunter ID comparable to the Excaliber or are we talking apples and oranges due to PI and VLF?
When you are talking about avoiding shallow water what depth do you hunt in? I am assuming that in salt water you hunt at or near low tide.
Thanks to you all the others who have responded with good information.

Tideman[/quote]

Hi Tide... You're correct in your assumption between the Beach Hunter and PI. I have no clue if the Excal and BH are comparable although they both can discriminate trash out where as the PI can't. But if you learn the PI and listen to the tone you can tell the difference between Iron. The closer you detect to the shore the more likely the trash simple as that. A PI user shuns the wet sand and shallow water, like I said in my post I hunt deep water, I prefer it for me its where I find the old and deep gold.

Best hunting times 2 hours before low and 2 hours on the incoming tide and hunt the minus tides...

 

[BEACH HUNTER]

n/t

 

[J_P]

I had the same question 6 months ago, so I bought a White's Surfmaster PI Pro, and a Minelabs Excalibur. After several months of beach hunting, I find myself using the White's the most. The excalibur is technically a better machine, but it is heavy and awkward compared to the Whites, and it costs a lot more.

I should say I ordered the un-weighted coil on the white's which makes it lighter to swing, and I usually tie a small rock on the coil when I am hunting submerged. I found the White's is able to search following along a chain link fence or wrought iron fence as long as theoil is moved parallel to the fence without varying the distance from the fence. The excalibur cannot do that, and it cannot see as deep as the White's. The advantage to the excalibur is it can discriminate better. And I use it in trashy areas where I expect there might be good targets hidden in the trash.

The white's PI Pro discriminates to a degree. I can tell when it is a soda can or iron trash, but I always dig bottle caps, lead weights and pull tabs because they sound the same as jewelry.

My choice is the White's Surfmaster PI Pro from kellyco at about $700 delivered. This leaves u a few hundred to buy a scoop and other hinting gear.

Also, if you are not going to hunt in water deeper than 2 feet, you could use almost any brand detector as long as you make arrangements so the electronics don't get wet.

 

[tideman]

Thanks for the info. I understand that you are the go to guy for information on the Beach Hunter ID.
I have some balance problems that are the result of a work related illness. That considered..It would be best for me to get a water proof machine or one spill in the surf could destroy the control box.
If you would, please give me the low down on the Beach Hunter ID.
What are your likes and dislikes etc. Also what is your take on the Surfmaster?
Right now three detectors that I am considering are well within my budget. Those being Garrett Sea Hunter Mark II, Whites Surfmaster and Whites Beach Hunter ID. Another one I am considering is the Minelab Excaliber but it is at the top of my range not to mention getting a long handle sand scoop and other needed items.
Thanks
Tideman