A
Anonymous
Guest
First let me say a big thanks to everyone that I've talked to on the phone and through email about different settings and tips. I hope everyone here had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. So thanks guys and gals...this post is for all of you at my own cost and I had a ball gathering all the info to do it. I know you all are probably sick of the whole Tejon and X5 bit but I wanted to finish something I started back in the summer and this post is going to be 110% cut and dried bonified FACT. Un-influenced by anyone or anything. So sit back and try to enjoy this, because a lot of work and time on my part was spent putting this all together for you.
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/x5tj.jpg" alt="" />
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1. INITIAL IMPRESSIONS: I bought a Tesoro Tejon of my own to see how it handled things here in Tennessee and on my home turf. I've been an X5 user for quite a while and while even it has its flaws I have found its use to be my primary useage for hunting. However, with all the talk about the Tejon and its many users I decided it was time to get one for myself and do my own hunting and testing. The detector came right before Christmas and for me that is really good because I got 2 weeks off from work and as it turned out I was able to log right at 30 hours in just detecting with both the Tejon and X5. What I noticed right out of the box on my Tejon (number 144584) is that Tesoro has went to work trying to fix some of the "cosmetic" problems that were on the first run of Tejons. What you are going to find now is a REALLY nice...fat and firm grip. And I think Tesoro even tried to address the "squeeky creek" noise because my particular detector goes together VERY tight. Actually I had trouble getting the lower rod to slide into the shaft and it is STILL very tight. BUT if the locking nuts are tightened this detector DOES NOT squeek. At all. I know there was a lotta talk about the battery doors...and I must say I think that should be addressed. I'm not worried at all about the batteries falling out...but I am worried about the plastic like hinge on the doors themselves. That is my only complaint about the machine as far as quality goes. Air testing and testing in my test garden proved one thing to me...I was right about my first "Shovel Full" post..this dawg can hunt. It air tests great but what is really nice is that atleast in my Tennessee top soil...it didn't seem to lose much at all in depth. Here is a shot of the Tejon's fatter grip and my "other" Christmas present to myself. Got the carry permit when I hit 21 because you just don't know what kinda psyco's you are going to run into out there on the roads and in the woods.
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/glock.jpg" alt="" />
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FIRST HUNT: The first site I took the Tejon to is a site I found to be a picket post. All I've ever found there is bullets...fired straight into the ground where it looked like the soldier(s) had emptied their rifle. I noticed the landowner had burned off some of the tall sage grass on top of the hill and I went up there for a few minutes to kill some time. Initially I had planned on hunting another site...the site pictured below...but the landowner wasn't at home and I ALWAYS check in with them before I go digging. So I was more the less just going to kill some time while I waited on the others to get home. Anyway I made my way to the hill and turned the Tejon on. I set the machine up and I always carry a square nail with me to set my discrimination at nail disc. On my particular Tejon...this is around the O and I in "foil". I set off hunting and after going about 20 yards I got a faint but repeatable signal. I dug a plug some 6" deep...checked the hole and the target was still in the hole but a little stronger signal now. I eventually dug a hole right at 11" deep and my target came out of the hole. I saw the green shank sticking out of my dirt pile. This was a surprise to me because I had only found bullets here up til this day. I looked down and saw the face of my button laying there..when I touched it, it began to crumble. But it was an Eagle cuff button...seen here in my display case. I sure was happy with that..and hunted a little more before deciding to leave. No more buttons but definatly a return trip was in order. I apologize for not having a picture of the hill...but I do have a pic of the button...here it is. It is the one in two pieces.
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/eagle.jpg" alt="" />
SITE II -- Well here is the picture of the site I initially wanted to hunt the day I found that button. Most of this camp is now covered by the road and a church parkinglot but I did get into a few bullets the first day I hunted it. This site is EXTREMELY full of iron pieces...nails and such.
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/neat.jpg" alt="" />
I first found this place while hunting with the X5 and you'll see in the pic that I have the 5" coil on the machine with two poncho grommets on it. I wish I had more coils to play with on the Tejon but here goes some good stuff for ya'all. I spent alot of time over two days before I had the Tejon, hunting this site. I went back in there with the Tejon and I do confess...if the iron is shallow, the Tejon does seem to discriminate better. With the occasional pop and snap...the Tejon was quiet here except for when I got a few signals. One of those was a couple of the grommets in the display case pic and the buckle pictured here and some camp lead. For a heavily worked site I noticed two distinct differences between the X5 and Tejon. The first...the discrimination I mentioned earlier. And secondly...even with the stock coil I got good target seperation where as I was having to go with the 5" on the X5 to get that same seperation. What this combination allowed me to do was hunt in all that iron and still get repeatable signals on the brass targets. So I found out for certain the Tejon is hot on brass. How hot...well I give it the edge over the X5 for brass. No doubt about it. It idn't no drastic difference but it is enough to notice. ESPECIALLY smaller brass...thus also backed up by my first "shovel full" when Richard GA was digging percussion caps.
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/grommets.jpg" alt="" />
And..
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/buckle.jpg" alt="" />
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SITE III: I switched gears a bit for the 3rd site. I switched from relic hunting to freshwater beach hunting. This time of the year they have all of our TVA lakes down to winter pool and most of the lakes accessable to roads have beaches...and those beaches get hit hard by the locals as they let the water down. Well I have a mtn lake WAY up in the mtns that they do the same thing with. BUT not a lot of people go up there because all the summer time gates are closed and locked...so you gotta do some hiking to get back there. Well I done so...brought both machines with me. Here is a shot of the site from the beach:
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/ind3.jpg" alt="" />
What I done at this site was break the beach in half. I was the only person there and it idn't a big beach and I had all evening to hunt. So I took off with the X5 and opted to go with a 7" coil. I dug a few clad coins BUT here is where things get fun. The soil here is not dirt and its not sand. It is shoal. HIGHLY mineralized and actually its pretty much just iron rock, what it boils down to. EVERY...NOTE...EVERY detector I've EVER had here would false and go nuts. BOTH the X5 and Tejon were NOT the exception to that. It's just the way the ground is here. In addition to the ground being so high in iron content, the beach was also a farm before it was a beach. And there are plow parts and nails galore. It's a wonder the swimmers don't get technes from swimming there <img src="/metal/html/smile.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt="
"> Anyway after the time was up with the X5 I hopped to the other half with the Tejon and this is where I really had my only real problems with the Tejon. Notice back at the other site I mentioned the Tejon having wonderful discrimination on the shallower items. Well that don't seem to be the case with my unit on deeper items. I ran into a problem of getting a faint signal...and sometimes would even repeat at tab discrimination in Alt Disc but when I'd start to dig a few inches the detector would then start popping and breaking up the target in which case it was ALWAYS a piece of iron. In conjunction with the regular chatter from the dirt I went back to the X5 here. I think a smaller coil for the Tejon (maybe that 5 3/4 inch one coming later on) would have made a big difference here but the freshwater beach with mineralized shoal...was the only place I ran into that the X5 duked the Tejon by a long shot. I came away from there with about $3.00 total in clad...not what I expected to find but the water wasn't down as far as I'd of liked it to been. But also let me say that nobody ever claimed the Tejon to be a super coin and beach machine...it was made for relic hunting to be the primary useage. So it was a bit out of its comfort zone. Even still...who know what might have happened had I of had one of the Whites machines with AutoTrac, or a Fisher CoinStrike with auto ground balance...those may totally blow everything out of the water on the beaches. Enough about that though. Lets get back to facts and not speculation.
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SITE 4 -- I thought it was time to go back and hunt that picket post where I dug the button on the first Tejon hunt. Once again, no picture of that hill but I did hit two finds here that really gave me confidence in the Tejon's ability and strength. The soil here was like at my test garden...top soil mostly. Up near the crest of the hill I got a rather loud and definatly repeative signal. I started digging and at nearly 12 inches out popped a brass D ring...it is pictured in the pic way above showing the eagle button and grommets. That thing was way down there and didn't falter a bit. And a few yards from it I got a likewise signal and out came a melted minie ball. At this point I was about to dub the Tejon my primary machine for relic hunting. That's how convinced I was and how confident I was becoming with it.
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SITE 5 -- Let me say here that I hunted several other sites and locations but came away with nothing on both machines. That just shows that you can't find it if its not there to find. But I did hit upon a new site just yesterday and returned there today. I'll use it as my last site and bring this Shovel Full II to a close. I apologize for such a blury shot of this site...camera must not focus that well going 40 MPH down the road <img src="/metal/html/smile.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=""> The site I'm hunting here, is the field and pines WAY off in the distance.
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/pines.jpg" alt="" />
I got permission to hunt it yesterday and the landowner told me about a stonewall the soldiers had built and she thought they must have had a battle there because they use to find minie balls back years ago. As Murphys Law is to relic hunters...the wall happens to be in that section of pines. Which here in Tennessee we had something called a southern pine beetle come through and it killed all our pines. This section of pines was no different and where the wall is...well here are two shots of what it looks like...in this pic you can see the lil rise there from the now fallen wall...and see some rocks there center of pic:
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/wall.jpg" alt="" />
And this pic...its hard to take a picture of yourself when your by yourself. I wanted to get a shot of me and the thick stuff but I didn't set my camera in the right position and it cut out most of me...but from the two pics you get the idea of what its like in there. And as Murphys Law is once again...it happened to be where I started finding bullets...the thickest parts.
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/tree.jpg" alt="" />
I hit this spot while hunting with the Tejon. I had been spending my hunting time down in the field because that's where the lady said they use to pick up the minies. I found a large horse shoe down there and started working my way back to try and find the wall. She told me it was "in the pines" so I found a rabbit trail and got in there. The ground there was QUIET...no junk what so ever. And I got a signal not far from the wall. Now I was expecting a loud BAM like I got on the lead and brass signals at the picket post hill. This signal wasn't even really one that I'd dig. It was broken up and popping. BUT since the ground was so trash free and I hadn't had a signal in quite a while. I decided to just see what it was. I dug around 3" and checked the hole and now the target was starting to give me a solid repeated signal. Around 8" total depth I had a fired 3 ringer. I put it in my pocket and checked the GB control on the machine and it was right on the money. My sensitivity was set just a hair past 10 and my disc...was set right at nail disc (from the square nail I carry with me). A few feet away I got a similar signal and started to dig it..and the same thing happened. So I got an ear for listening for any signal at all and began digging. I dug 6 fired 3 ringers that way and I was very concerned with why the detector was struggling to get 8" bullets...when before I was busting things in the 11-12 inch range. I fired off several emails and got a few replies.
I went back to that site today and brought both machines with me. I wanted to see how the X5 acted in this dirt. It was unlike any dirt I have encountered here in TN as of yet. It is brownish colored with lots of rocks and roots. I started off hunting with the X5 and 9" coil and received a faint signal near where I'd dug the bullets the day before. I lay the X5 down and fired the Tejon up and set it up like I was going to hunt with it. Ran the coil over the spot I had marked and the machine would give a half way pop from one direction and nothing from any other directions. I started digging and dug some more and finally after scooping all my dirt out of the hole I had a fired 3 ringer. I took a picture of this to show you how deep this thing was. I dig with a Gerber E-TOOL. I stuck the tool down into the hole and lay the minie ball on the tool. From the tip of my digger to the bottom of the locking nut on the Gerber...measures on my tape measure 11 3/4 inches. That's how deep this hole is. And also shows you an idea of what the dirt looks like here. You can see some of the rocks and all the roots and the color of
the dirt.
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/x5.jpg" alt="" />
The X5 BARELY got this thing...the Tejon would not. I know both machines are capable of bullets 12-14 inches in other soils but not in this stuff. I hope I never encounter it anywhere else! I hunted here all afternoon and pulled 11 fired 3 ringers out of the thicket all near the wall. Most were 6-10 inches deep...some the Tejon would beep on...some it would not. This dirt really brought both of these machines down to their knees. That's for sure.
Here are the bullets from the site...not even washed off. Bottom bullets are from yesterday and the top ones are from today.
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/bullets.jpg" alt="" />
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MY CONCLUSION: I know most of you have awaited this paragraph. You want to know which one I think is "better" and which one am I going to keep and which am I going to sell. Well sorry to disappoint you folks but here's the truth of it all.
Tesoro and TCD are detector manufacturers. They have given us two really AWESOME machines. But do you know what I've found about them? I like both machines equally well. I like things about the Tejon that I wish the X5 had and I like things about the X5 that I wish the Tejon had. So instead of trying to fight the two against one another I've realized through this testing that I am going to use both of them...use them together. Why? Because each one handles certain conditions better than the other. For example...the Tejon is super hot and sensitive to brass and I think that is very helpful and beneficiary to everyone that relic hunts. The Tejon is also very good at discriminating shallow iron. The X5 is a little hotter on lead and gold, and at the same time seems to have modes and settings to help give it an edge in extremely high mineralization. Both are really great top end machines and each have their own applications that they excel in. With both backed by lifetime warrenties...I don't think you can go wrong with either one. I'm keeping both of mine, no doubt about it. The difference between them on bullets in high mineralized soil is maybe a couple to 3 inches but at the same time...in good dirt you can get expect a whole lot more depth than the numbers of what I gave you here. I see no use in fighting and bickering about which of these two are the best because in my opinion both are keepers. When Tesoro comes out with the two coils for the Tejon that may make a world of difference with the Tejon. The smaller coil will no doubt be more helpful in high minerals...and maybe even the gold DD coils for the LST might give an edge in extreme mineralization. The big coil may make up that 2-3 inch diff on bullets and there ya go...what have ya. Both are keeper machines and each has its own application. Just like anything else...I mean I am a hunter. I have several calibers or rifles to handle different situations...I wouldn't deer hunt with a .22 LR and I wound't squirrel hunt with a .308.
You can break it down like this:
QUALITY - Tesoro has done things to improve on the Tejon but quality still goes to the X5. Although there are certainly no flaws in what I see, on the Tejon.
PERFORMANCE - No doubt about it. Both are performers. Its just each one has its one niche that it performs the best in. Here is how I'm going to break it down. Some will agree...some will not but it's just my opinion on the matter so here ya go.
X5 - Has its niche in loving nickels, lead, and gold. On the scale I think that puts it liking mid conductive items better. It also handles extreme mineralization better. Doesn't seem to do as good in SHALLOW iron as the Tejon but deeper iron it seems to hold its own. With only 2 accessory coils to choose from you are kind of limited but my favorite two coils for the X5 are the 7 and 5 inch for target seperation and discrimination. I think power for power...you get about the same perforamce DISCRIMINATION wise with the 7" coil on the X5 as you do with stock coil on the Tejon. Depth wise there is a difference but for those of you with 7" coils on your X5s you will get an idea for about how the stock Tejon coil handles shallow iron and such.
Tejon - Has is niche in loving brass, and what I found is that it also likes coins too...clad and silver. In clean ground it is a contender on deeper lead but I still have to give that niche to the X5. BUT...as I think the X5 handles extreme mineralization better...I think in good ground both machines are about equal and depending on whether you hunt primarily for relics or gold/jewelry ...should determine which machine to pick because each one is hotter on certain items.
BATTERIES -- Some like using one 9 volt. Some like the 8 AAs. Me personally...I like both but I favor the 8 AAs. I don't really think the 8AAs give you more power but I believe they do give you optimal power longer than the single 9 volt. With the 8 AAs you can keep the detector running longer and now days you can find the 16 pack for $4...which should give you 50-60 hours useage. Whereas I've only found 9 volt battery packs to come in two per packs for about the same price.
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DISCLAIMER: -- Okay now for all you folks that are going to bombard me with hate mail and such now, because I didn't say things you wanted me to, or favor this one over that one, and countless other things...I'll just tell you up front to don't bother wasting your time writing. I go back to something I said before..."use what you like and what gives you confidence and get out there and rescue some relics". AND HAVE FUN. I've talked to TR and some others that are vocal about the Tejon on the forums and I'll openly say this. I was wrong about him and misled by others in what they told me about him. I talked to him over an hour on the phone one day and he is very helpful and friendly. And the same goes for Troy Galloway too. I've talked with him on the phone and got to meet him for the first time at the relic show in Nashville. He has always been helpful and friendly to me as well. I realize there is some bad blood and history there between this forum and some of the other forums and between certain folks out there...but I ain't getting mixed up in it anymore. That's between them...and certainly not any of your or my business...I say we stick to metal detecting and be done with it.
I hope this message has been informative for you and a joy to read. I've enjoyed the fun of hunting and rescuing a few relics. Although CERTAINLY not spectacular...no CS buttons or anything like that...if you hunted some of the sites I hunt you would have a new appreciation for the words "hunted hard" and relics "few and far between". Thanks for reading and I hope 2004 brings you all the best of luck in the field. See ya out there.
Daniel Tn
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/x5tj.jpg" alt="" />
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1. INITIAL IMPRESSIONS: I bought a Tesoro Tejon of my own to see how it handled things here in Tennessee and on my home turf. I've been an X5 user for quite a while and while even it has its flaws I have found its use to be my primary useage for hunting. However, with all the talk about the Tejon and its many users I decided it was time to get one for myself and do my own hunting and testing. The detector came right before Christmas and for me that is really good because I got 2 weeks off from work and as it turned out I was able to log right at 30 hours in just detecting with both the Tejon and X5. What I noticed right out of the box on my Tejon (number 144584) is that Tesoro has went to work trying to fix some of the "cosmetic" problems that were on the first run of Tejons. What you are going to find now is a REALLY nice...fat and firm grip. And I think Tesoro even tried to address the "squeeky creek" noise because my particular detector goes together VERY tight. Actually I had trouble getting the lower rod to slide into the shaft and it is STILL very tight. BUT if the locking nuts are tightened this detector DOES NOT squeek. At all. I know there was a lotta talk about the battery doors...and I must say I think that should be addressed. I'm not worried at all about the batteries falling out...but I am worried about the plastic like hinge on the doors themselves. That is my only complaint about the machine as far as quality goes. Air testing and testing in my test garden proved one thing to me...I was right about my first "Shovel Full" post..this dawg can hunt. It air tests great but what is really nice is that atleast in my Tennessee top soil...it didn't seem to lose much at all in depth. Here is a shot of the Tejon's fatter grip and my "other" Christmas present to myself. Got the carry permit when I hit 21 because you just don't know what kinda psyco's you are going to run into out there on the roads and in the woods.
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/glock.jpg" alt="" />
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FIRST HUNT: The first site I took the Tejon to is a site I found to be a picket post. All I've ever found there is bullets...fired straight into the ground where it looked like the soldier(s) had emptied their rifle. I noticed the landowner had burned off some of the tall sage grass on top of the hill and I went up there for a few minutes to kill some time. Initially I had planned on hunting another site...the site pictured below...but the landowner wasn't at home and I ALWAYS check in with them before I go digging. So I was more the less just going to kill some time while I waited on the others to get home. Anyway I made my way to the hill and turned the Tejon on. I set the machine up and I always carry a square nail with me to set my discrimination at nail disc. On my particular Tejon...this is around the O and I in "foil". I set off hunting and after going about 20 yards I got a faint but repeatable signal. I dug a plug some 6" deep...checked the hole and the target was still in the hole but a little stronger signal now. I eventually dug a hole right at 11" deep and my target came out of the hole. I saw the green shank sticking out of my dirt pile. This was a surprise to me because I had only found bullets here up til this day. I looked down and saw the face of my button laying there..when I touched it, it began to crumble. But it was an Eagle cuff button...seen here in my display case. I sure was happy with that..and hunted a little more before deciding to leave. No more buttons but definatly a return trip was in order. I apologize for not having a picture of the hill...but I do have a pic of the button...here it is. It is the one in two pieces.
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/eagle.jpg" alt="" />
SITE II -- Well here is the picture of the site I initially wanted to hunt the day I found that button. Most of this camp is now covered by the road and a church parkinglot but I did get into a few bullets the first day I hunted it. This site is EXTREMELY full of iron pieces...nails and such.
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/neat.jpg" alt="" />
I first found this place while hunting with the X5 and you'll see in the pic that I have the 5" coil on the machine with two poncho grommets on it. I wish I had more coils to play with on the Tejon but here goes some good stuff for ya'all. I spent alot of time over two days before I had the Tejon, hunting this site. I went back in there with the Tejon and I do confess...if the iron is shallow, the Tejon does seem to discriminate better. With the occasional pop and snap...the Tejon was quiet here except for when I got a few signals. One of those was a couple of the grommets in the display case pic and the buckle pictured here and some camp lead. For a heavily worked site I noticed two distinct differences between the X5 and Tejon. The first...the discrimination I mentioned earlier. And secondly...even with the stock coil I got good target seperation where as I was having to go with the 5" on the X5 to get that same seperation. What this combination allowed me to do was hunt in all that iron and still get repeatable signals on the brass targets. So I found out for certain the Tejon is hot on brass. How hot...well I give it the edge over the X5 for brass. No doubt about it. It idn't no drastic difference but it is enough to notice. ESPECIALLY smaller brass...thus also backed up by my first "shovel full" when Richard GA was digging percussion caps.
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/grommets.jpg" alt="" />
And..
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/buckle.jpg" alt="" />
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SITE III: I switched gears a bit for the 3rd site. I switched from relic hunting to freshwater beach hunting. This time of the year they have all of our TVA lakes down to winter pool and most of the lakes accessable to roads have beaches...and those beaches get hit hard by the locals as they let the water down. Well I have a mtn lake WAY up in the mtns that they do the same thing with. BUT not a lot of people go up there because all the summer time gates are closed and locked...so you gotta do some hiking to get back there. Well I done so...brought both machines with me. Here is a shot of the site from the beach:
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/ind3.jpg" alt="" />
What I done at this site was break the beach in half. I was the only person there and it idn't a big beach and I had all evening to hunt. So I took off with the X5 and opted to go with a 7" coil. I dug a few clad coins BUT here is where things get fun. The soil here is not dirt and its not sand. It is shoal. HIGHLY mineralized and actually its pretty much just iron rock, what it boils down to. EVERY...NOTE...EVERY detector I've EVER had here would false and go nuts. BOTH the X5 and Tejon were NOT the exception to that. It's just the way the ground is here. In addition to the ground being so high in iron content, the beach was also a farm before it was a beach. And there are plow parts and nails galore. It's a wonder the swimmers don't get technes from swimming there <img src="/metal/html/smile.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt="
"> Anyway after the time was up with the X5 I hopped to the other half with the Tejon and this is where I really had my only real problems with the Tejon. Notice back at the other site I mentioned the Tejon having wonderful discrimination on the shallower items. Well that don't seem to be the case with my unit on deeper items. I ran into a problem of getting a faint signal...and sometimes would even repeat at tab discrimination in Alt Disc but when I'd start to dig a few inches the detector would then start popping and breaking up the target in which case it was ALWAYS a piece of iron. In conjunction with the regular chatter from the dirt I went back to the X5 here. I think a smaller coil for the Tejon (maybe that 5 3/4 inch one coming later on) would have made a big difference here but the freshwater beach with mineralized shoal...was the only place I ran into that the X5 duked the Tejon by a long shot. I came away from there with about $3.00 total in clad...not what I expected to find but the water wasn't down as far as I'd of liked it to been. But also let me say that nobody ever claimed the Tejon to be a super coin and beach machine...it was made for relic hunting to be the primary useage. So it was a bit out of its comfort zone. Even still...who know what might have happened had I of had one of the Whites machines with AutoTrac, or a Fisher CoinStrike with auto ground balance...those may totally blow everything out of the water on the beaches. Enough about that though. Lets get back to facts and not speculation.-------
SITE 4 -- I thought it was time to go back and hunt that picket post where I dug the button on the first Tejon hunt. Once again, no picture of that hill but I did hit two finds here that really gave me confidence in the Tejon's ability and strength. The soil here was like at my test garden...top soil mostly. Up near the crest of the hill I got a rather loud and definatly repeative signal. I started digging and at nearly 12 inches out popped a brass D ring...it is pictured in the pic way above showing the eagle button and grommets. That thing was way down there and didn't falter a bit. And a few yards from it I got a likewise signal and out came a melted minie ball. At this point I was about to dub the Tejon my primary machine for relic hunting. That's how convinced I was and how confident I was becoming with it.
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SITE 5 -- Let me say here that I hunted several other sites and locations but came away with nothing on both machines. That just shows that you can't find it if its not there to find. But I did hit upon a new site just yesterday and returned there today. I'll use it as my last site and bring this Shovel Full II to a close. I apologize for such a blury shot of this site...camera must not focus that well going 40 MPH down the road <img src="/metal/html/smile.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt="
"> The site I'm hunting here, is the field and pines WAY off in the distance.<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/pines.jpg" alt="" />
I got permission to hunt it yesterday and the landowner told me about a stonewall the soldiers had built and she thought they must have had a battle there because they use to find minie balls back years ago. As Murphys Law is to relic hunters...the wall happens to be in that section of pines. Which here in Tennessee we had something called a southern pine beetle come through and it killed all our pines. This section of pines was no different and where the wall is...well here are two shots of what it looks like...in this pic you can see the lil rise there from the now fallen wall...and see some rocks there center of pic:
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/wall.jpg" alt="" />
And this pic...its hard to take a picture of yourself when your by yourself. I wanted to get a shot of me and the thick stuff but I didn't set my camera in the right position and it cut out most of me...but from the two pics you get the idea of what its like in there. And as Murphys Law is once again...it happened to be where I started finding bullets...the thickest parts.
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/tree.jpg" alt="" />
I hit this spot while hunting with the Tejon. I had been spending my hunting time down in the field because that's where the lady said they use to pick up the minies. I found a large horse shoe down there and started working my way back to try and find the wall. She told me it was "in the pines" so I found a rabbit trail and got in there. The ground there was QUIET...no junk what so ever. And I got a signal not far from the wall. Now I was expecting a loud BAM like I got on the lead and brass signals at the picket post hill. This signal wasn't even really one that I'd dig. It was broken up and popping. BUT since the ground was so trash free and I hadn't had a signal in quite a while. I decided to just see what it was. I dug around 3" and checked the hole and now the target was starting to give me a solid repeated signal. Around 8" total depth I had a fired 3 ringer. I put it in my pocket and checked the GB control on the machine and it was right on the money. My sensitivity was set just a hair past 10 and my disc...was set right at nail disc (from the square nail I carry with me). A few feet away I got a similar signal and started to dig it..and the same thing happened. So I got an ear for listening for any signal at all and began digging. I dug 6 fired 3 ringers that way and I was very concerned with why the detector was struggling to get 8" bullets...when before I was busting things in the 11-12 inch range. I fired off several emails and got a few replies.
I went back to that site today and brought both machines with me. I wanted to see how the X5 acted in this dirt. It was unlike any dirt I have encountered here in TN as of yet. It is brownish colored with lots of rocks and roots. I started off hunting with the X5 and 9" coil and received a faint signal near where I'd dug the bullets the day before. I lay the X5 down and fired the Tejon up and set it up like I was going to hunt with it. Ran the coil over the spot I had marked and the machine would give a half way pop from one direction and nothing from any other directions. I started digging and dug some more and finally after scooping all my dirt out of the hole I had a fired 3 ringer. I took a picture of this to show you how deep this thing was. I dig with a Gerber E-TOOL. I stuck the tool down into the hole and lay the minie ball on the tool. From the tip of my digger to the bottom of the locking nut on the Gerber...measures on my tape measure 11 3/4 inches. That's how deep this hole is. And also shows you an idea of what the dirt looks like here. You can see some of the rocks and all the roots and the color of
the dirt.
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/x5.jpg" alt="" />
The X5 BARELY got this thing...the Tejon would not. I know both machines are capable of bullets 12-14 inches in other soils but not in this stuff. I hope I never encounter it anywhere else! I hunted here all afternoon and pulled 11 fired 3 ringers out of the thicket all near the wall. Most were 6-10 inches deep...some the Tejon would beep on...some it would not. This dirt really brought both of these machines down to their knees. That's for sure.
Here are the bullets from the site...not even washed off. Bottom bullets are from yesterday and the top ones are from today.
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/t/e/teag1914/bullets.jpg" alt="" />
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MY CONCLUSION: I know most of you have awaited this paragraph. You want to know which one I think is "better" and which one am I going to keep and which am I going to sell. Well sorry to disappoint you folks but here's the truth of it all.
Tesoro and TCD are detector manufacturers. They have given us two really AWESOME machines. But do you know what I've found about them? I like both machines equally well. I like things about the Tejon that I wish the X5 had and I like things about the X5 that I wish the Tejon had. So instead of trying to fight the two against one another I've realized through this testing that I am going to use both of them...use them together. Why? Because each one handles certain conditions better than the other. For example...the Tejon is super hot and sensitive to brass and I think that is very helpful and beneficiary to everyone that relic hunts. The Tejon is also very good at discriminating shallow iron. The X5 is a little hotter on lead and gold, and at the same time seems to have modes and settings to help give it an edge in extremely high mineralization. Both are really great top end machines and each have their own applications that they excel in. With both backed by lifetime warrenties...I don't think you can go wrong with either one. I'm keeping both of mine, no doubt about it. The difference between them on bullets in high mineralized soil is maybe a couple to 3 inches but at the same time...in good dirt you can get expect a whole lot more depth than the numbers of what I gave you here. I see no use in fighting and bickering about which of these two are the best because in my opinion both are keepers. When Tesoro comes out with the two coils for the Tejon that may make a world of difference with the Tejon. The smaller coil will no doubt be more helpful in high minerals...and maybe even the gold DD coils for the LST might give an edge in extreme mineralization. The big coil may make up that 2-3 inch diff on bullets and there ya go...what have ya. Both are keeper machines and each has its own application. Just like anything else...I mean I am a hunter. I have several calibers or rifles to handle different situations...I wouldn't deer hunt with a .22 LR and I wound't squirrel hunt with a .308.
You can break it down like this:
QUALITY - Tesoro has done things to improve on the Tejon but quality still goes to the X5. Although there are certainly no flaws in what I see, on the Tejon.
PERFORMANCE - No doubt about it. Both are performers. Its just each one has its one niche that it performs the best in. Here is how I'm going to break it down. Some will agree...some will not but it's just my opinion on the matter so here ya go.
X5 - Has its niche in loving nickels, lead, and gold. On the scale I think that puts it liking mid conductive items better. It also handles extreme mineralization better. Doesn't seem to do as good in SHALLOW iron as the Tejon but deeper iron it seems to hold its own. With only 2 accessory coils to choose from you are kind of limited but my favorite two coils for the X5 are the 7 and 5 inch for target seperation and discrimination. I think power for power...you get about the same perforamce DISCRIMINATION wise with the 7" coil on the X5 as you do with stock coil on the Tejon. Depth wise there is a difference but for those of you with 7" coils on your X5s you will get an idea for about how the stock Tejon coil handles shallow iron and such.
Tejon - Has is niche in loving brass, and what I found is that it also likes coins too...clad and silver. In clean ground it is a contender on deeper lead but I still have to give that niche to the X5. BUT...as I think the X5 handles extreme mineralization better...I think in good ground both machines are about equal and depending on whether you hunt primarily for relics or gold/jewelry ...should determine which machine to pick because each one is hotter on certain items.
BATTERIES -- Some like using one 9 volt. Some like the 8 AAs. Me personally...I like both but I favor the 8 AAs. I don't really think the 8AAs give you more power but I believe they do give you optimal power longer than the single 9 volt. With the 8 AAs you can keep the detector running longer and now days you can find the 16 pack for $4...which should give you 50-60 hours useage. Whereas I've only found 9 volt battery packs to come in two per packs for about the same price.
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DISCLAIMER: -- Okay now for all you folks that are going to bombard me with hate mail and such now, because I didn't say things you wanted me to, or favor this one over that one, and countless other things...I'll just tell you up front to don't bother wasting your time writing. I go back to something I said before..."use what you like and what gives you confidence and get out there and rescue some relics". AND HAVE FUN. I've talked to TR and some others that are vocal about the Tejon on the forums and I'll openly say this. I was wrong about him and misled by others in what they told me about him. I talked to him over an hour on the phone one day and he is very helpful and friendly. And the same goes for Troy Galloway too. I've talked with him on the phone and got to meet him for the first time at the relic show in Nashville. He has always been helpful and friendly to me as well. I realize there is some bad blood and history there between this forum and some of the other forums and between certain folks out there...but I ain't getting mixed up in it anymore. That's between them...and certainly not any of your or my business...I say we stick to metal detecting and be done with it.
I hope this message has been informative for you and a joy to read. I've enjoyed the fun of hunting and rescuing a few relics. Although CERTAINLY not spectacular...no CS buttons or anything like that...if you hunted some of the sites I hunt you would have a new appreciation for the words "hunted hard" and relics "few and far between". Thanks for reading and I hope 2004 brings you all the best of luck in the field. See ya out there.
Daniel Tn