REVIER
Well-known member
Ok guys, here's the dealio...
We are probably moving back to Alabama for awhile.
I don't plan on living there forever, but we will be there for a bit.
When I lived there before I got to know that devil soil very well, and it was that soil that limited the depth of every detector I have ever heard of being used, (VLF types), that actually turned me into a jewelery hunter.
In the worst of that stuff, even just the normal bad areas I usually hunted, my Compadre, F2, a friend's E Trac, all the Whites units the guys in the local club used were all pretty much on an even playing field with all getting about the same depth, and except for some rare occasions that depth was pitiful.
It was was nothing like I am able to get here in the 1000 times better soil in Kansas.
Silver can still be found but it ain't easy, and it takes some out of the box thinking when picking sites or a lot of door knocking to hunt private property to do it.
The old guys found plenty of silver and older coins in their day, but the level that is reachable by their older and even more modern machines has been drained pretty well especially in public areas.
Most that live there believe there is still a ton of great targets to find, it is just that they are at depths that most detectors can't see in that rotten red clay filled soil.
I always swore if I continued to live there and actually wanted to find a decent amount of older coins and relics I would think hard about getting a PI unit, and I never heard of any other hunter using one there for some reason...on land, anyway.
Digging in the hard cement like soil in the middle of the hot summer is another issue and I won't address that, but I will be picking and choosing my sites carefully and will take into account the times of the year, conditions of the soil and where I will be digging because I have read that digging on land with PI's could get...messy.
I also am thinking about this Tesoro because I love their products, the lifetime warranty is great, from what I have read already this thing does seem to get pretty deep on land in some difficult soil and I always wanted to get into the water and this thing will kill two birds with one stone.
Yea, I know they don't discriminate so digging mostly everything is usually on the menu.
Don't care, if I am able to reach depths that others can't and find some goodies all the extra work will be worth it to me.
I now hunt with an F70 and I do have some DD coils so my hope is it will actually get me a bit deeper than I was able to before with the other tools in my arsenal but I really have no idea how well this will actually work in that particularly bad soil.
I gotta believe a PI will get me to deeper levels that I need to reach with less effort, or I hope it might.
Because of the frustration I had hunting there I turned from worrying about finding silver and old coins and deeper relics into a jewelry hunter because that stuff is everywhere and usually shallow and reachable in the public parks I usually spent my time.
I still found a few older coins and relics from time to time but that was mostly just by accident, I still had a blast finding clad and jewelry but at the right sites under the right conditions I want a tool that could give me a shot at more.
Most other PI's are going to be out of the question, price wise.
The ATX, TDI, Minelabs and all the others are probably great but I have no intention of spending that kind of money on a new one or even used especially for the limited duty that I am planning on using it.
I actually might get into the water more than I think, hunting on 100 degree days is possible doing it that way, but land hunting is what I am asking about here.
A Sand Shark is probably going to be doable, not immediately but eventually.
I know Terry Soloman uses his on land, not sure if his soil compares to the Alabama stuff however.
I saw mud's thread on water hunting with this thing and I think that would be fun to get into also, plus I already have a Bill Babbs scoop that has never been wet, but hunting on land with this thing in very mineralized soil is something I have been researching but not finding much info about on the forums.
So what say ye Sand Shark owners with experience...is this plan crazy or could it actually work?
We are probably moving back to Alabama for awhile.
I don't plan on living there forever, but we will be there for a bit.
When I lived there before I got to know that devil soil very well, and it was that soil that limited the depth of every detector I have ever heard of being used, (VLF types), that actually turned me into a jewelery hunter.
In the worst of that stuff, even just the normal bad areas I usually hunted, my Compadre, F2, a friend's E Trac, all the Whites units the guys in the local club used were all pretty much on an even playing field with all getting about the same depth, and except for some rare occasions that depth was pitiful.
It was was nothing like I am able to get here in the 1000 times better soil in Kansas.
Silver can still be found but it ain't easy, and it takes some out of the box thinking when picking sites or a lot of door knocking to hunt private property to do it.
The old guys found plenty of silver and older coins in their day, but the level that is reachable by their older and even more modern machines has been drained pretty well especially in public areas.
Most that live there believe there is still a ton of great targets to find, it is just that they are at depths that most detectors can't see in that rotten red clay filled soil.
I always swore if I continued to live there and actually wanted to find a decent amount of older coins and relics I would think hard about getting a PI unit, and I never heard of any other hunter using one there for some reason...on land, anyway.
Digging in the hard cement like soil in the middle of the hot summer is another issue and I won't address that, but I will be picking and choosing my sites carefully and will take into account the times of the year, conditions of the soil and where I will be digging because I have read that digging on land with PI's could get...messy.
I also am thinking about this Tesoro because I love their products, the lifetime warranty is great, from what I have read already this thing does seem to get pretty deep on land in some difficult soil and I always wanted to get into the water and this thing will kill two birds with one stone.
Yea, I know they don't discriminate so digging mostly everything is usually on the menu.
Don't care, if I am able to reach depths that others can't and find some goodies all the extra work will be worth it to me.
I now hunt with an F70 and I do have some DD coils so my hope is it will actually get me a bit deeper than I was able to before with the other tools in my arsenal but I really have no idea how well this will actually work in that particularly bad soil.
I gotta believe a PI will get me to deeper levels that I need to reach with less effort, or I hope it might.
Because of the frustration I had hunting there I turned from worrying about finding silver and old coins and deeper relics into a jewelry hunter because that stuff is everywhere and usually shallow and reachable in the public parks I usually spent my time.
I still found a few older coins and relics from time to time but that was mostly just by accident, I still had a blast finding clad and jewelry but at the right sites under the right conditions I want a tool that could give me a shot at more.
Most other PI's are going to be out of the question, price wise.
The ATX, TDI, Minelabs and all the others are probably great but I have no intention of spending that kind of money on a new one or even used especially for the limited duty that I am planning on using it.
I actually might get into the water more than I think, hunting on 100 degree days is possible doing it that way, but land hunting is what I am asking about here.
A Sand Shark is probably going to be doable, not immediately but eventually.
I know Terry Soloman uses his on land, not sure if his soil compares to the Alabama stuff however.
I saw mud's thread on water hunting with this thing and I think that would be fun to get into also, plus I already have a Bill Babbs scoop that has never been wet, but hunting on land with this thing in very mineralized soil is something I have been researching but not finding much info about on the forums.
So what say ye Sand Shark owners with experience...is this plan crazy or could it actually work?