Sand Swinger
Greenie
I’ve been watching the Curse of Oak Island every week for the last 12 years, since Episode #1. Several years ago, maybe 5 or 6 or 7, I can’t remember for sure, lol, but Gary Drayton joined the team, which brought metal detecting to Oak Island and a popular TV program. I knew who he was as soon as I saw him, as I bought several of his beach hunting books 10 or 11 years ago when I bought my Sovereign Elite to hunt the beach.
If you’ve been watching the show, you know that every week he’s swinging a Minelab CTX 3030. It’s easy to tell the difference between the CTX 3030 and a Manticore, NOX, or X-Terra with a quick glance, as that huge, honking battery box under the CTX 3030’s arm cuffs is a dead giveaway. But I think it’s much harder to tell the difference with a quick glance between a Manticore, NOX or X-Terra when you only have a second or two to see the detector, and it’s usually in motion. They never seem to give a nice, still, clear shot, it’s always usually being swung so it’s a blur. You’ll see it long enough to know it’s a Minelab, but not long enough to see exactly which model it is, except of course for that CTX 3030 due to its large battery compartment.
So, 2 weeks ago, on S12E7, I was watching and there was a new detectorist on Oak Island, which was Gary Drayton’s daughter. Gary brought her to Oak Island to assist him and take some of the detecting load off his shoulders. At the beginning of the episode, I only saw quick, brief glimpses of her detector. I could tell it was a Minelab, but I wasn’t sure exactly which model. As she was being introduced to everyone, Gary’s daughter told Rick and some of the Oak Island crew that Gary taught her everything that she knows about detecting, so you know she was swinging a Minelab.
A bit further into the episode, I got a better glimpse of her detector and noticed that her grip, the front of her control box around the buttons, and the arms cuffs on the shaft were a lite tan/beige color, which is the exact same color as my X-Terra Elite. The X-Terra Pro’s color scheme is a greenish color, and all the NOX’s and Manticore are either a lighter or darker grayish color. The X-Terra Elite is the only model with that lite tan/beige color.
So, while I couldn’t see close enough to read “X-Terra Elite” on the control box, I could see the color of the control box, grip and arm cuffs, so I’ll go out on a limb and say that I think Gary’s daughter is swinging an X-Terra Elite on Oak Island. I know, it’s not really a big deal, but I just got an X-Terra Elite to keep my Sovereign company and seeing it finding old stuff on Oak Island was pretty cool.
It also gave me a great deal of confidence in the X-Terra Elite. The Curse of Oak Island is probably one of the biggest treasure expeditions that’s ever been conducted. There’s a LOT of $ tied up searching for the Oak Island treasure, so it’s definitely a high-level and uber professional operation. Accordingly, they’re not going to depend on a detectorist who swings a cheapie, low-depth detector. They’ll want the detectorist to use professional, excellent quality gear, that can detect deep targets, as the treasure they’re going after was buried hundreds of years ago. And they’ve already been finding coins & jewelry from the Medieval period and have even found Roman coins that are a couple thousand years old.
So, if the X-Terra Elite can find deep coins and targets and is acceptable for use on such a well-known and uber professional treasure hunt, I have a good feeling it’s going to be able to get me some deep targets in the wet & dry sand of the beaches I hunt, just like my Sovereign Elite. At the very least, it was a nice break from seeing the CTX 3030 that Gary’s been swinging every week since he’s been on the show.
If you’ve been watching the show, you know that every week he’s swinging a Minelab CTX 3030. It’s easy to tell the difference between the CTX 3030 and a Manticore, NOX, or X-Terra with a quick glance, as that huge, honking battery box under the CTX 3030’s arm cuffs is a dead giveaway. But I think it’s much harder to tell the difference with a quick glance between a Manticore, NOX or X-Terra when you only have a second or two to see the detector, and it’s usually in motion. They never seem to give a nice, still, clear shot, it’s always usually being swung so it’s a blur. You’ll see it long enough to know it’s a Minelab, but not long enough to see exactly which model it is, except of course for that CTX 3030 due to its large battery compartment.
So, 2 weeks ago, on S12E7, I was watching and there was a new detectorist on Oak Island, which was Gary Drayton’s daughter. Gary brought her to Oak Island to assist him and take some of the detecting load off his shoulders. At the beginning of the episode, I only saw quick, brief glimpses of her detector. I could tell it was a Minelab, but I wasn’t sure exactly which model. As she was being introduced to everyone, Gary’s daughter told Rick and some of the Oak Island crew that Gary taught her everything that she knows about detecting, so you know she was swinging a Minelab.
A bit further into the episode, I got a better glimpse of her detector and noticed that her grip, the front of her control box around the buttons, and the arms cuffs on the shaft were a lite tan/beige color, which is the exact same color as my X-Terra Elite. The X-Terra Pro’s color scheme is a greenish color, and all the NOX’s and Manticore are either a lighter or darker grayish color. The X-Terra Elite is the only model with that lite tan/beige color.
So, while I couldn’t see close enough to read “X-Terra Elite” on the control box, I could see the color of the control box, grip and arm cuffs, so I’ll go out on a limb and say that I think Gary’s daughter is swinging an X-Terra Elite on Oak Island. I know, it’s not really a big deal, but I just got an X-Terra Elite to keep my Sovereign company and seeing it finding old stuff on Oak Island was pretty cool.
It also gave me a great deal of confidence in the X-Terra Elite. The Curse of Oak Island is probably one of the biggest treasure expeditions that’s ever been conducted. There’s a LOT of $ tied up searching for the Oak Island treasure, so it’s definitely a high-level and uber professional operation. Accordingly, they’re not going to depend on a detectorist who swings a cheapie, low-depth detector. They’ll want the detectorist to use professional, excellent quality gear, that can detect deep targets, as the treasure they’re going after was buried hundreds of years ago. And they’ve already been finding coins & jewelry from the Medieval period and have even found Roman coins that are a couple thousand years old.
So, if the X-Terra Elite can find deep coins and targets and is acceptable for use on such a well-known and uber professional treasure hunt, I have a good feeling it’s going to be able to get me some deep targets in the wet & dry sand of the beaches I hunt, just like my Sovereign Elite. At the very least, it was a nice break from seeing the CTX 3030 that Gary’s been swinging every week since he’s been on the show.
