Critterhunter
New member
Woke up a few hours before daylight and thought since I wasn't groggy I might as well meet up with two friends for a water hunt where they had told me they'd be this morning. The spot they intended to hunt has been sanded in for a week or so, and since I water hunted with my water rig (my water rig is stock shaft which 10" Tornado that always stays on that and with GT chest mounted) there the other day and there weren't many signals due to it being sanded in heavily, and since they've seen only 1 or two dry sand hunters all summer (and zero water hunters by the way!), I figured I'd stick with my land rig (GT and meter using 12x10 coil on a lightweight shaft I built) and just hunt the dry sand this time.
Whelp, turns out the tractor guy was busy smoothing the sand and I didn't want to p*ss him off by scooping his freshly smoothed sand as he worked, so I decided to get in the water anyway. With my land rig with GT on shaft and the meter on the grip, I didn't want to risk getting much more than about knee deep. Even though the water was smooth as glass with no waves I figured if I pushed my luck the meter might take a dunk when I wasn't watching, so I didn't venture further out than about a food above my knees. I'm glad I hadn't decided to try the loaner 13" Ultimate on the beach today because I wouldn't have risked using it in the water. Some Excal guys do but the coil isn't rated waterproof, so especially since it's not my coil I wouldn't have took it in the water.
As I got ready to enter the water one of my friends came out and showed me a silver Washington quarter he had scooped. We had a cigarette and talked a little and the sun coming up with beautiful because it was lighting up a patch of clouds in a orange/reddish glow. That alone made my morning and I thought to myself that I'm glad I came regardless of what I find for the day.
This was the first (and probably only time) I've used the 12x10 in the water. I had used the 15x12 in the water before and it was way more drag/work than I prefer, causing me to swing a good bit slower than I prefer. Even if I kept it at a super slow pace the stress on my wrist was more than I cared for. So I was curious to see how much drag the 12x10 would be. Yep, for sure more drag than the 10" Tornado, I would guess because these SEF coils are squarish and not round. Some might not mind that bit of extra drag of the 12x10 but it's not for me, so for now on the Tornado which stays on my water rig anyway will for sure be the only coil I ever use in the water unless I pick up an S-12 some day to try that. The S-12 seems very popular among Excal water hunters, so I suspect due to it's round shape that even though it's a 12.5" (or is it 12.25"?) coil it's probably not much different than the 10" Tornado in the water maybe drag wise?
I've seen a few Excal guys on the net that were lucky enough to get their hands on the 13" Ultimate early on here in the US. Even though the coil isn't rated waterproof I guess so long as there is no breach in the coil casing and you've sealed under the coil nut/cap/& sleeve with rubber cement or something you should be safe. The Ultimate is a very thin coil height wise, so even though it's a 13" round coil it's drag might be less than you would think due to how thin it is. I did think I read somewhere that it tends to try to float a tiny bit though, which would be expected of a coil that probably isn't filled with epoxy (?) since it isn't rated waterproof.
Anyway, for me I got about 4 or 5 shotgun shells, 3 or 4 quarters, 2 or 3 zincs, a nickle, and about 3 dimes. Junk wise I also got 1 old style square tab, a few assorted bits of aluminum, and my last signal was about a 9" deep round tab that I was sure was going to be a gold ring due to how deep and smooth it sounded. Always surprises me that those round tabs keep popping up on the beach or in the water. You would think those had me long scooped by now years ago. That tells you there is still a ton of gold rings and silver coins out there that were lost years ago because being heavier they'll sink much further than a round tab. If that round tab was about 9" deep then imagine how deep old silver coins or rings probably are?
My other friend with the Excal, besides the 1 silver quarter, got his share of clads too and assorted junk. He did fine one thin chain that looks like it might be sterling. I swung over it and got a foil reading even with it balled up, so who knows? He's going to have it tested to see.
By the way, the signals were so scarce due to it being sanded in that I even hunted in pin point mode for a while. That was pretty cool. Whenever I got a signal I'd use my remote PP switch to flip back to discriminate and wiggle right over it to see if I could get any kind of response other than a null from iron out of it. I can see why some Excal guys prefer PP to hunt, because flipping to discriminate on a few of these I could only hear them if I was right on top of them with the center of the coil due to them being so deep, where as PP mode gave a more broad response that didn't require the coil to be as tightly over them usually.
So on to the third guy using the Tesoro Tiger Shark (the VLF model, not the PI unit which I think is called the Sand Shark). I used to own a Tiger Shark and it was a well built water machine, but I didn't care for the lack of tone alerts or VDI, which made it a bear to use sometimes as iron isn't rejected as well as it is on the Minelabs even if you've got the discrimination set (you think) perfect to block out iron. They are very sensitive to fine gold though like thin chains, more so than the Minelabs of course, but a Minelab will knock even a super thin gold ring at amazing depths due to them being a complete loop. They look just as big to a Minelab and will hit just as hard as a silver coin at extreme depth. Way I look at it I'd rather the tiny foil fluff and such when water or land hunting either sound sick or be totally ignored, as that makes for a noisy hunt and can have you chasing tiny bits of junk a lot that sound good, so so long as my machine will hit hard on a super thin gold ring at depth I'm happy with that. Besides, most gold lost is probably rings anyway, so I'm willing to pass on the smaller stuff.
Anyway, he was the big winner for the day. We took another break and he held out a thick banned man's ring. I immediately thought "Titanium or stainless steel", until I held it in my hand and felt how heavy it was! After the morning hunt was over we weighed it and it's almost $800 in scrap weight through ARA! They only skim 2% of the current stock market price for gold or other precious metals, so many Findmall guys send their rings to them. My lucky friend graciously told us he was then taking us to a late breakfast since he had the find of the day. I jokingly said I'm ordering lobster since he did so well and the rest of us got skunked.
Tomorrow morning, I'll be meeting them back at the same place at sunrise. This time I'm chest mounting my GT on my water rig with the 10" Tornado. The water was flat as glass today so I could have gone even deeper than I normally risk with my water rig had I been using it. If the waves are just moderate I'll risk belly button deep. but with it glass like it was today I'll push it about halfway up my chest. I just hope the water is flat again tomorrow so I can hang with the big boys in deeper water.
Before putting my control box in the Minelab hip/chest mount bag, I stick it in a zip lock bag. I poke a hole in the bottom for the coil cable to go through and then tie rubber bands around the bag there to seal it. I also poke my headphone plug through the bag and sometimes seal that with rubber bands tied together too. Once I'm in the water and have sensitivity where I want it I then zip lock the bag and I feel pretty safe. Even if I fell in I bet I'd have several seconds to rescue the GT box out of the water before water could get in, and it might not even be able to.
By the way, my one friend tried to show me some hand signals to signify what kind of find we get without having to shout it out loud if somebody was nearby. I told him it was too early in the morning for that and that if I found something good I'd just give him the finger. They both got a good laugh out of that. My friends are the type who can take a joke like that, otherwise we probably wouldn't have become good friends.
Whelp, turns out the tractor guy was busy smoothing the sand and I didn't want to p*ss him off by scooping his freshly smoothed sand as he worked, so I decided to get in the water anyway. With my land rig with GT on shaft and the meter on the grip, I didn't want to risk getting much more than about knee deep. Even though the water was smooth as glass with no waves I figured if I pushed my luck the meter might take a dunk when I wasn't watching, so I didn't venture further out than about a food above my knees. I'm glad I hadn't decided to try the loaner 13" Ultimate on the beach today because I wouldn't have risked using it in the water. Some Excal guys do but the coil isn't rated waterproof, so especially since it's not my coil I wouldn't have took it in the water.
As I got ready to enter the water one of my friends came out and showed me a silver Washington quarter he had scooped. We had a cigarette and talked a little and the sun coming up with beautiful because it was lighting up a patch of clouds in a orange/reddish glow. That alone made my morning and I thought to myself that I'm glad I came regardless of what I find for the day.
This was the first (and probably only time) I've used the 12x10 in the water. I had used the 15x12 in the water before and it was way more drag/work than I prefer, causing me to swing a good bit slower than I prefer. Even if I kept it at a super slow pace the stress on my wrist was more than I cared for. So I was curious to see how much drag the 12x10 would be. Yep, for sure more drag than the 10" Tornado, I would guess because these SEF coils are squarish and not round. Some might not mind that bit of extra drag of the 12x10 but it's not for me, so for now on the Tornado which stays on my water rig anyway will for sure be the only coil I ever use in the water unless I pick up an S-12 some day to try that. The S-12 seems very popular among Excal water hunters, so I suspect due to it's round shape that even though it's a 12.5" (or is it 12.25"?) coil it's probably not much different than the 10" Tornado in the water maybe drag wise?
I've seen a few Excal guys on the net that were lucky enough to get their hands on the 13" Ultimate early on here in the US. Even though the coil isn't rated waterproof I guess so long as there is no breach in the coil casing and you've sealed under the coil nut/cap/& sleeve with rubber cement or something you should be safe. The Ultimate is a very thin coil height wise, so even though it's a 13" round coil it's drag might be less than you would think due to how thin it is. I did think I read somewhere that it tends to try to float a tiny bit though, which would be expected of a coil that probably isn't filled with epoxy (?) since it isn't rated waterproof.
Anyway, for me I got about 4 or 5 shotgun shells, 3 or 4 quarters, 2 or 3 zincs, a nickle, and about 3 dimes. Junk wise I also got 1 old style square tab, a few assorted bits of aluminum, and my last signal was about a 9" deep round tab that I was sure was going to be a gold ring due to how deep and smooth it sounded. Always surprises me that those round tabs keep popping up on the beach or in the water. You would think those had me long scooped by now years ago. That tells you there is still a ton of gold rings and silver coins out there that were lost years ago because being heavier they'll sink much further than a round tab. If that round tab was about 9" deep then imagine how deep old silver coins or rings probably are?
My other friend with the Excal, besides the 1 silver quarter, got his share of clads too and assorted junk. He did fine one thin chain that looks like it might be sterling. I swung over it and got a foil reading even with it balled up, so who knows? He's going to have it tested to see.
By the way, the signals were so scarce due to it being sanded in that I even hunted in pin point mode for a while. That was pretty cool. Whenever I got a signal I'd use my remote PP switch to flip back to discriminate and wiggle right over it to see if I could get any kind of response other than a null from iron out of it. I can see why some Excal guys prefer PP to hunt, because flipping to discriminate on a few of these I could only hear them if I was right on top of them with the center of the coil due to them being so deep, where as PP mode gave a more broad response that didn't require the coil to be as tightly over them usually.
So on to the third guy using the Tesoro Tiger Shark (the VLF model, not the PI unit which I think is called the Sand Shark). I used to own a Tiger Shark and it was a well built water machine, but I didn't care for the lack of tone alerts or VDI, which made it a bear to use sometimes as iron isn't rejected as well as it is on the Minelabs even if you've got the discrimination set (you think) perfect to block out iron. They are very sensitive to fine gold though like thin chains, more so than the Minelabs of course, but a Minelab will knock even a super thin gold ring at amazing depths due to them being a complete loop. They look just as big to a Minelab and will hit just as hard as a silver coin at extreme depth. Way I look at it I'd rather the tiny foil fluff and such when water or land hunting either sound sick or be totally ignored, as that makes for a noisy hunt and can have you chasing tiny bits of junk a lot that sound good, so so long as my machine will hit hard on a super thin gold ring at depth I'm happy with that. Besides, most gold lost is probably rings anyway, so I'm willing to pass on the smaller stuff.
Anyway, he was the big winner for the day. We took another break and he held out a thick banned man's ring. I immediately thought "Titanium or stainless steel", until I held it in my hand and felt how heavy it was! After the morning hunt was over we weighed it and it's almost $800 in scrap weight through ARA! They only skim 2% of the current stock market price for gold or other precious metals, so many Findmall guys send their rings to them. My lucky friend graciously told us he was then taking us to a late breakfast since he had the find of the day. I jokingly said I'm ordering lobster since he did so well and the rest of us got skunked.
Tomorrow morning, I'll be meeting them back at the same place at sunrise. This time I'm chest mounting my GT on my water rig with the 10" Tornado. The water was flat as glass today so I could have gone even deeper than I normally risk with my water rig had I been using it. If the waves are just moderate I'll risk belly button deep. but with it glass like it was today I'll push it about halfway up my chest. I just hope the water is flat again tomorrow so I can hang with the big boys in deeper water.
Before putting my control box in the Minelab hip/chest mount bag, I stick it in a zip lock bag. I poke a hole in the bottom for the coil cable to go through and then tie rubber bands around the bag there to seal it. I also poke my headphone plug through the bag and sometimes seal that with rubber bands tied together too. Once I'm in the water and have sensitivity where I want it I then zip lock the bag and I feel pretty safe. Even if I fell in I bet I'd have several seconds to rescue the GT box out of the water before water could get in, and it might not even be able to.
By the way, my one friend tried to show me some hand signals to signify what kind of find we get without having to shout it out loud if somebody was nearby. I told him it was too early in the morning for that and that if I found something good I'd just give him the finger.
They both got a good laugh out of that. My friends are the type who can take a joke like that, otherwise we probably wouldn't have become good friends. 