It Amazes Me...

[CladDog]

The beach hunting section is always one of the busiest on any forum, including here at Findmall.

And yet, when you line up the salt beach detectors each manfacturer offers for sale, the pickings are slim.

If you eliminate PI detectors, some manufacturers don't even offer a salt water machine.

I have never understood this.

There are huge numbers of beach hunters, and yet if they want a good VLF machine for salt water use, where do the majority of hunters turn?

Minelab Excalibur, CTX, and Fisher CZ-21.

Sure, there's a few others. but if you are a non-PI hunter, those seem to be your three best choices.

Why White's has not done serious redesign of their Beachhunter, whose sales lag far behind that of the Minelab's and the Fisher's, puzzles me.

Any why Garrett and Tesoro aren't even in the dual/mutli-frequency market really makes me wonder.

Instead of spending all their time simply re-packaging their land detector technology in a new box, why not do some serious work on a new beach detector?

Sure the CTX is a new entry, but it is a tad pricey (and yes, I know, a few good finds and it pays for itself).

Anyway, it just strikes me as odd.

If someone out there could make a lightweight VLF salt beach machine, they would have a serious money maker.

Just sayin'.

 

[tomcatpl]

i think that their sells are still good and until they feel a drop in sells that's when they will try to come up with something new

plus its hard to compete with the excalibur/cz reputation

 

[GeorgeinSC]

I just went thru researching the capabilities of the water proof machines on the market. Even though the manufacturer recommended some of them for water hunting I learned that they did not perform well in Salt Water. I wanted a machine that would work well in both fresh and salt water.

I have tried hunting in all metal on my local beaches and got tired from digging iron/steel trash. I gave up after my third trip off the beach to empty my trash bag. So I eliminated the PI machines as I wanted something that would discriminate.

Decision came down to the Fisher CZ-21 or the Milelab Excalibur II. Since I own the Sovereign GT I decided that it would be easier for me to learn the Xcal. So the Xcal is currently on its way to me. Only time will tell if I made the correct decision.

 

[dewcon4414]

Its a smaller market than you think. Like you said there are PIs, and multi freq machines that can do the wet and dry sand. Also you are talking SALT water hunting because fresh water there are other machines that can compete or even do better than the Xcal and CZ21. There are a LOT of the NON water proof multifrez machines that can be used to wade with if you have the guts. Water hunting is risky business for the companies.... any time you add Salt water and eliments like opening a box you are going to see damage. Even Garrett learned that with the AT Pro for fresh water.

Dew

 

[eek]

I don't understand why anyone hunting the beach would want to discriminte targets....its to easy to dig and you never know what you might find....I hunt with a Garrett Mark II pi machine and love
it....I dig a lot of bobby pins and pull tabs, but I find a lot of good stuff also.....the Mark II will discriminate, but not to be trusted...so i run it wide open and dig it all..also the pi machine will go deep
and also find extremely small targets...I guess it is just a matter of what you want...to the pi machines are the best for beach hunting....my 2 cents.

eek

 

[jeffc]

I agree, eek. You just never know what will be in the scoop. Part of the fun. Some days you are finding stuff and some days you are cleaning the beach. It's a win-win as far as I am concerned. Also, with the increasing popularity of the hobby, targets (trash and treasure) are fewer. While this can be viewed both good and bad, the PI is the way to fly, at least for me.

HH

 

[Waterman]

n/t