one metal detector for all your hunting needs?
What search coils do you plan to use?
What types of sites, other than "open land and plowed fields" do you intend to search?
What are you looking for, big hunks of artifacts or smaller stuff like coins, buttons, bullets, etc.?
While I primarily am interested in older coins, old trade tokens, silver and gold jewelry, and neat smaller artifacts, I also dig up a lot of stuff because that's part of the excitement of the sport. I, too, have to address the issues of a really bad back and neck, shoulders and left leg and foot to do anything. Hunting with a cane since '93 has kind of helped be a reminder for me to use more efficient hunting techniques, which are things I knew/know, but are easy to slip away from with a bad habit when hunting.
My detector arsenal is comprised of quite a few detectors that I just happen to like for various reasons. From time-to-time I make little change-ups or replacements, simply because I like detecting and enjoy some of the features or field performance of certain makes and models. One of my all-time favorite detectors was the 5900 Di Pro SL. Great performance, but ... I don't care to deal with C cell batteries, and I can't handle the weight and balance of that model and sold the one I had last year.
I like the 'slim line' White's housing models, like the Classics, the XL Pro, the XLT, the MXT series, etc., but there are times when a physical strain and/or pain has me reach for a lighter-weight/different balanced detector, such as my Bandido II µMAX and MX5. Matter of fact, while my #1 all purpose detector is my MXT All-Pro, the MX5 is the model I grab most often when I get to a site to hunt it or to just check it out. Sometimes it's the Bandido II µMAX I grab, especially if iron littered.
It's good to have more than one detector just to complement each other and also to give us a little change-of-pace in our hunting style or the weight and balance for comfort. Are you going to keep your current detector and add another, or part with it and have only one? Do you own more than one detector now? Maybe owning two that provide a little difference in performance could make for a better detector battery for you?
Happy_Hour said:
Santa is coming early for me this year and I can get what ever detector I want.
It sure is great when "Santa comes early" and just this past weekend I decided I wanted to add another XLT back into my personal arsenal. It's that holiday season so I talked about it out loud and then looked at Rikki to get her 'OK' and it was a go! My payment went out yesterday and so did the XLT so I'll get to dip into Santa's bag early for myself this year. Of course the look in Rikki's eyes as she laid back in her recliner let me know it was time to budget a little early money on her.
Heading out shopping this morning for sausage and onions for the dressing I make; some extra .22. LR ammo for a rabbit hunt that's coming up; check on an early alkaline AA battery sale; and, oh yes, a little poaching in Santa's bag for Rikki. Humm, what to do. Wait 'til Christmas or have her looking and feeling great for Thanksgiving? Thanksgiving, of course with friends and family around. Doesn't need clothes as she hasn't been slimming, so it's time to get her hair done, and her nails, and take her out to dinner after shopping! Great idea! Hey, Rikki! Let's go, Petco is waiting and then we'll go get some grub and I'll share, as usual.
I sure hope you didn't have to go through all that to get an early shopping 'OK'. Females. Sometimes in the past Santa never came early.
Happy_Hour said:
I have been a 5900 Black Box user for many years and the weight is taking a toll on both arms.
That's one of the reasons I decided to part with my first 5900 Di Pro SL back in '94. I had three other detectors at the time, but using it just plain hurt after a while and I trimmed up a little on the weight and balance when I traded it in on a brand new XLT. Get a model that is a little lighter and better balanced, but also work it at a slower sweep speed and pace to also help cut down on discomfort while improving site coverage and results.
Happy_Hour said:
The bulk of my hunting would be open land and plowed fields where a person can put the coil down and start walking with a moderate sweep speed.
I like to use a slow-to-moderate sweep speed, depending upon the site conditions, the density of metal targets, and tailored to get the best results on the targets I am searching for. I do not like to walk at a moderate or fast pace because that will usually cause a person to use a faster sweep speed, and that alone is fatiguing. For the best site coverage and to reduce the risk of missing a good target or a partially masked target, I prefer a slower, methodical sweep speed and coil coverage, and I advance at a more casual pace, and that means slow.
Happy_Hour said:
I have never tried the XL Pro, XLT nor the MXT...Of the three, which one would be the way to go...( I Have No Use For Bell Tones, Just low Discrimination, Beep And Dig)
As for Tone ID, I usually do not use it. There are times, however, when I do use the Tone ID on the XLT for certain urban Coin Hunting places, but overall I like a good single-tone audio. The real exception to that is when I use my #1 all-purpose MXT All-Pro [size=small](or even my MX5)[/size] when I search with a 2-Tone Audio [size=small](the Relic mode on the MXT All-Pro)[/size] which lets me hear ALL metal targets, but they generally respond with a lower bass-like tone if ferrous, and a pleasant high-tone audio if non-ferrous.
The XL Pro and XLT are of the 4-filter design similar to your 5900 Di Pro SL and that means they are a moderate-to-fast sweep design and do not provide a slow-sweep/quick-response performance for brushier and trashier conditions or confined places. The MXT and MXT Pro / MXT All-Pro are 3-filter detectors are can be swept comfortably at a moderate sweep rate, but DO provide the slow-sweep/quick-response performance as well.
Your 5900 Di Pro has manual Ground Balance and that lets you be more in control of the GB setting, or make necessary changes quickly, if conditions vary. The XL Pro and XLT have an automated Ground Balance that works, but it doesn't work quickly and at times might take several attempts to get it close to proper, or let the detector Auto-Trac until they establish a proper GB for a given location. The MXT's have a very quick automated GB and it will usually be 'spot-on' in about 2 to 5 quick pumps of the coil from 6" down to ½". The MXT Pro and MXT All-Pro [size=small](the same detector electronically)[/size] also have a Ground Grab touchpad to let the operator make a very quick update should ground conditions change significantly.
The MXT All-Pro, if you purchase a new model detector and not a discontinued unit like you have, will let you have more operator control of the GB like your 5900 than will the XL Pro or XLT. I can only think of one reason to consider the XLT or XL Pro and that is they share the same search coils as your 5900 Di Pro SL. That said, I believe you could keep the 5900 since you know it and like it, but move on up to a current model that provides more versatility and in-the-field performance with an MXT All-Pro.
You can get it with a 950 Concentric coil, or the round 10" D2 Double-D coil, and if you're hunting open fields and after larger stuff, you could get a 12" Concentric coil for occasional use, so as not to fatigue you more. It also depends upon your shopping budget this time of year and you might want to look for a pristine condition MXT All-Pro that is very gently used and save a little $$$. They don't show up often but from time-to-time they do. I picked one up from a guy who's
wife (now X-wife) wasn't interested and he didn't need two of them but could use some cash.
Monte
