looking for feedback on the sand shark pi

[obxsabresfan]

I have been looking into a good wate machine, wondering how the sandshark rates vs sea hunter,surf pi, and the excalibur 2. I live in the Outer Banks of NC and all of my md will be on the beach and in the wet sand and saltwater. thx for your help

 

[Terry Soloman]

Just got the new hardwired Sand Shark with the 8" coil for use on the Long Island, New York beaches - and I LOVE it! Super stable, 22"-24" in depth, and super sensitive. At under $600 you cannot beat this machine or its quality and Ease of Use! - Terry

 

[qicpic]

Not to mention Tesoro's lifttime warranty and superb customer service.

 

[larryk56]

[size=medium]Wow! ......that is some serious digging!
[/size]

Did you get the Tesoro hard hat with it?
Are you using it on Salt water beaches only?

 

[tvr]

obxsabresfan,
Sandshark is a good detector. I got mine used and it has served me well. New price is good value and there are very good values to be found on used Sand Sharks if you look a little.

I use the 10.5 inch coil nearly all the time. That coil flips up with the moderate to strong water movement. It needs a coil brace. I don't like coil braces since I like to change the coil angle when moving from wet sand to water and back to wet sand as I change my sweep. 8 inch coil does not catch as much water; but I stay with the 10.5 inch coil and put up with the flipping.

Sand Shark handles the black sand of the Outer Banks well. It will find good targets at good depth, balances well (can swing it easily all day), is sturdy and has a great warranty / factory support.

I have not used the Garrett or White's PI's but do have a little time on a Headhunter Pulse and like it a lot. I have not gotten to the Outer Banks with it yet.

For a non-PI detector in the wet sand and water, when the sand gets black, I tend to like a CZ over an Excal. Factor into that opinion that I have a lot of time on a CZ and not a lot of time on an Excal and may be running a little too high with sensitivity on the Excal since I get a lot of nulls on black sand concentrations.

What ever way you go, best advice I have is to spend enough time with any detector you get to go through at least a couple sets of batteries. You need to listening to the detector, change settings over different sand conditions, and learn it's particular language. The more time you spend with any detector makes you better at detecting with that detector than you are likely to be with any other detector that is new and different to you.
Cheers,
tvr

 

[Terry Soloman]

[size=medium]Wow! ......that is some serious digging!
[/size]

Did you get the Tesoro hard hat with it?
Are you using it on Salt water beaches only?

Haven't gotten the hard hat .. yet! Yes, I use it for saltwater beaches, although I will be screwing around with it on my gold claims in Arizona this winter! - Terry

 

[Bostoncoil]

Hi,

Looking to get a PI detector for use on New England beaches and in shallow saltwater. Choices at present are a Sand Shark or an Excalibur II. It appears that the Tesoro is simpler, better supported and of course 1/2 price of the Minelab. What I don't know is the relative performance in terms of depth and sensitivity. Also not clear whether the Excalibur II does more useful discrimination when at a beach. Have been wading through posts trying to figure out.. Any recommendations on search coil, i.e. 8" or 10" ? Thanks for any comments.

 

[Terry Soloman]

I went with the 8" coil on my new hardwired Sand Shark. I am a newbie to the surf, but not detecting. I talked with Russ Henry at Tesoro about coil choice and went with the 8" for a couple of reasons. I will be using this machine in the surf more than on the beach, and the 8" coil gets very heavy when the surf is pushing in or pulling out - the 10" is just a bigger sail. I believe I get better sensitivity to smaller gold with the 8" that the 10" might walk over - might. Depth is not a problem. I'm already digging pull tabs at 20" so.. The machine is rock steady in black sand with no falsing in waves. Love It! OK, with that said, Minelab makes a super machine. I use the GPX4000 and GPX4500 for gold prospecting. To use a Minelab to its fullest potential takes about 100-hours of use. To use a Tesoro to the same level takes about 10-hours. At $580.00 you will NEVER get a better beach unit than the *' Sand Shark! - Terry

 

[tvr]

Bostoncoil,
The Excal is not normally classified as a PI detector. It will give you very good discrimination and once learned to set up right, you will not be digging iron and will be digging some deep targets

Sand Shark is a PI. There are some audible clues about some iron targets that can keep you from digging them, but it does not discriminate. You will dig iron with it. It is a very good salt water beach detector for the wet sand and water areas and in my experience is comparable to and maybe a little deeper than what I've experienced so far with an Excal. I have a lot more hunting time with a Sand Shark. My experience is that with more hunting time on a detector, you get deeper.
tvr

 

[DewGuru]

Hi,

Looking to get a PI detector for use on New England beaches and in shallow saltwater. Choices at present are a Sand Shark or an Excalibur II. It appears that the Tesoro is simpler, better supported and of course 1/2 price of the Minelab. What I don't know is the relative performance in terms of depth and sensitivity. Also not clear whether the Excalibur II does more useful discrimination when at a beach. Have been wading through posts trying to figure out.. Any recommendations on search coil, i.e. 8" or 10" ? Thanks for any comments.

I use a Shark exclusively for beaches. Todays ring makes #103 on the year for me. Pretty much says it all. Sensitivity: It will find anything and everything. As thin as a staple to as big as a Frisbee. I've found numerous gold chains, wafer thin - something that is almost impossible on any other machine. There is no discrimination. Some say that the double-blip is an iron tale tale -- and it is alot of the time -- however, 3 of the best diamond rings rang the same, as did the 14k diamond and sapphire bracelet I hit last week -- so when it beeps, dig the hole or you'll be missing out. As for depth, you'll dig as deep as you want, and then some. I've dug targets to 2 feet. I use the 8" coil on the primary machine, and am waiting now for the 10.5" to be sent back to me on the backup. (I own 2 sharks for less than the cost of 1 excal).

The excals claim to fame is its iron masking, allegedly. It does null on most iron objects, not all, and still yields as much trash as any other machine. I wasn't impressed with its discrimination functionality, its enormous weight, and or the pee-poor service that you get from minelab. There is a reason the warranty is only for 12 months. Obviously, I am not a fan of it, but alot of people are. Lots of good finds are made with it.

At the end of the day it really does not matter what machine you are using. If your coil is over it, you'll find it.