I would like your opinion which to use at a club hunt, the F5 or the F-70

[Rick(ND)]

The first hunt will be the dollar hunt which is going to have half dollars and silver dollars in it which most will be new one I understand it, but the second hunt is going to be silver dimes, quarters and half's and possible some silver dollars. Now I need opinions on which detector I should use for the hunt as I only used the F-70 once and not used the F-5 yet other than air test and seems like the 70 give the best responds over the F-5 so when you are swing fast to get what you can I feel the F-70 would be my best choice, but I could be wrong and why I am asking others opinions.

Rick

 

[Low-Boy/LCPM]

I would take the DD coil right now on the F70. It is going to be faster then the F5 and it is a larger coil. The F5 has not been fully tested yet and that is something I am working on but for now I would stick with the F70 and DD all the way.

 

[Streak!]

I've attended and participated in hundreds of comp hunts....and done pretty well for myself over the years. One thing I can positively tell you is fast isnt necessarily better. Let me clarify that.
If you go to a hunt...and watch the guys that are going like lightning across a field....and then Check their pouches at the end of the hunt.......you'll find the bulk of them didnt no nearly as good as you think they did. (dont that THEIR word for it....count em).
A better and MUCH more profitable approach is to develop a hunt strategy that combines speed with coverage and retrieval skills. I dont care HOW fast your going across a field.....if your swinging wildley and over swinging and missing targets.....you not going to do well. A MEASURED approach is better. Try to go as fast as you can (forward that is)....but slow enough to make sure you dont miss any you walk over. You might be suprised at how many targets guys just walk right over and dont hear at all...because their forward motion is WAY WAY too fast. what good is it to RUN to the far side of the field.......when there are targets UNDER you feet? If you watch the really good guys (and Gals) in hunts..........they methodically clean a section out first...and when the target retrevial level drops below a certain point....they will move on the another section. They also use economy of motion. In other words..... they use the smallest amount of movements possible to get any given target out of the ground. LOT of guys have a practice garden in their back yard. (We do) and practice their own style on a regular basis. Face it..........you can only get so much practice in at a hunt....and thats the WRONG time to practice!!
My better half Linda is arguably the best female comp hunter on the east coast (I'm not kidding...I really have to work to beat her)......and in fact will regularly beat 80% of the guys in a given hunt as well. She is just a natural at it.............and one of the reasons she is so good is her low key thorough approach to hunting. (she is lightning fast on retrevial too) Take your time.....be more thorough.....and concentrate on getting the targets you WALK over...instead if running wildly about fanning the ground. AND keep that coil on the ground!!!!!
Back to the F5 VS the F70 in a comp hunt. I havent used the F70 in a hunt yet.........but have seen to F5 in action just two weeks ago...and the F5 did VERY VERY well....as compared to a bunch of my friends using tried and true machines. The F5 requires a slower swing speed than the F70 to bet a better signal......and thats a GOOD thing.....as it FORCES you to slow down a bit......and thats the key. Linda used the F5 in one hunt...and another proven machine in another....that responds better than the F5 at speed. Her coins counts were very good....but the F5 count bested the other machine by a good 20%. Now......you have to also take into consideration that she has many many hours experience with the "other" brand...but this was her first hunt with the F5.
Everything else being equal..............I'd say you will do as good if not better with the F5.....IF you follow good swinging practice and stay within the limits ( or should I say the sweet zone) of the F5's sweep speed preferences. Use what you like and are comfortable with.......but the F5 seems to go a very good job of it.and I'm betting its a tad quieter than the F70 too....so you'll have less time wasted rechecking signals. Good luck!!!! Streak!

 

[Streak!]

the DD will get LOTS better surface coverage...so its probably a trade off. I'd opt for the coverage though....and bump up the sens for a harder hit. Some guys will pinpoint better with the concentric too.....so thats another cosideration.................... Streak!

 

[KurtB]

I used a F5 in a hunt and it did very well. Pinpoints very fast without having to push the button.

 

[Dan-Pa.]

He pretty much covered it all so take your pick..Years ago when I attended planted hunts the 1235X no longer made was king and all the top hunters used one..fast,easy to pinpoint and able to change freq's made it a top performer. Some of the experts knew how to make it attain less depth but cover more ground by tweaking it and handled the shallow targets well...For you younger guys and gals planted hunts can be a lot of fun on the field and of course lunchtime and hunt breaks make for some good conversation.
A few tips are the field is pretty well cleaned in 10-15 minutes so a calculated fast swing, quick retrieval and don't wate your time running all over the field as I have planted fields and they are seeded in quadrants so the targets are pretty much equal distribution of targets on the field itself...

 

[Rick(ND)]

I used the F-5 for the dollar hunt which is all new dollars and half dollars and this detector run so quiet I wondered if it was working. It did OK and was easy to swing the coil and had to ground balance a few time to make sure it was balanced. I even had the disc up up to zinc pennies and the gain maxed plus the threshold max too and still run so smooth. I wound up with 22 $1 coins and 12 of the 50 cent pieces.I also ran the 2 tones.

Now the second hunt was all silver with dimes quarters and halves and decided to use the F-70 as I seem to be able to hear the targets better on the test i did before the hunt. The F-70 I found I can use the 3 tones and can hear the high pitch better on the F-70 over the F-5 so I used the 3 tones on the F-70. Now I didn't run the sensitivity max on it and would get a few false signals that were one way, so it was not as smooth as the F-5. Over all it still was smooth ruinning with a few false signals and both seem to work good around other detectors in the hunt unless our coils were within 6 inches of one another then we would get a good signal. This hunt I got 25 silver dimes, 4 silver quarters and one silver half dollar.
If i would have to chose one over the others then the F-70 would be the one I would chose myself.

 

[ringfinder]

I have never used either of the detectors you are talking about, but I do own a Fisher 1235 and use it at every
club hunt that I attend. I know many other hunters, a lot better than me, that also use the Fisher 1235. If someone gets close
to you and their detector starts driving you nuts, you just change the frequency. It is a great little detector for
competition hunts. I also use this detector for finding property stakes. It is also a great detector for deep signals.

The only problem you might have is finding a Fisher 1235, because the people who have them, usually KEEP THEM.

Good Luck with what ever detector you use. I agree with Streak, take your time, hurry up and don't check each coin
when you find it. Put it in your pouch and keep hunting. I have had in the old days, when silver was a lot cheaper than
it is now and they buried lots and lots of coins, put one foot on one signal, one on another and the coil on another.

Those were the good old days. By the way, at any hunt, they usually only last around 10 minutes, TOPS.

I would suggest you practice. Put some coins in the ground, not very deep and try digging them up. Very fast I might add.
Don't sharpen your knife to much, you don't want to cut a finger off! Most coins at hunts are buried with a planter and they usually
aren't very deep. If you are in a hunt and get a signal, look for the slit where the coin was buried.

Good Luck,
HH, Ringfinder