Pros & Cons - INFINIUM LS, Excalibur 1000,

[bsigmun]

Team,
I like to hunt it all and need a metal detector for land and beach/sea. I have read a lot about these detectors but can't decide. I plan on hitting parks, beaches, salt/fresh water.

If you had to choose, which one and why?


1) Garrett - INFINIUM LS
2) MineLab - Excalibur 1000
3) Garrett - Sea Hunter Mark II
4) Whites -Surf PI Pro

 

[willy]

It depends on the mineralization and what you mean by 'land' (parks, lawns, backwoods?). Basically, I see it coming down to the Infinium and Excal. 1000. The Infinium would kinda suck on lawns and such, but will beat the Excal. hands down re. sensitivity and depth in bad ground. I've had both and have done head-to-head comparisons with buried targets. In my ground the Excal. can't touch the Infinium. ..Willy.

 

[bdahunter]

The Infinium is a great PI machine, it goes deep, it has some discrimination ability and the coil is light to swing especially if hip mounted. If you like a machine with a steep learning curve, you'll like the Infinium.
The Excalibur has excellent discrimination ability, good depth, heavy unless hip-mounted (not recommended) and relatively easy learning curve by comparison.
A mate of mine swings the Infinium, I swing the Excalibur 1000, we both hunt the surf here in Bermuda. At the end of the hunt my buddy has a lot of ferrous targets and I typically have none. He hip mounts, I don't. If you hip mount an Excalibur you are headed for the repair shop as many posts on this forum confirm; the Infinium doesn't have enough data to confirm or deny that position.
Personally, I found the tones from the Infinium to be very annoying compared to the Excal but you may feel different.
Price is comparable, performance is comparable at least in the conditions here, low mineralization. Low mineralization penalizes the Infinium and assists the Excalibur so this may be a factor for you depending on your conditions.
Some relic hunters have experienced good results with the Excal but you will have to hip mount unless you want a huge right arm that is out of proportion to your left (ambedextrousness or left-handedness excluded).
I've considered buying a PI unit myself but I am waiting for something better, perhaps the Pulse Devil (I'm waiting on field trial results). Until a PI unit shows up on the market with real discrimination I'll stick with my Excal 1000 but remember that my hunting grounds are out in the water and I haven't hunted the land for a while now.

I Like to Go Where The Gold Is,

BDA