LOOKING FOR THE BEST SALT WATER MACHINE

[TORRERO]

I am looking for the best salt water machine that fits this description.

1. It should be small and compact easily broken down to fit a carry on bag. (or can be made to do so)
2. LightWeight
3. Great sensitivity to small gold in the wet salt water sand without a lot of feedback.
4. Reasonably priced in $600 - $800 range...
5. Not an underwater machine that is weighed coil and permanent headphones.

I would like people here who hunt on Salt water beaches to describe your machine.
"brand / name / make model.

Describe how well or not your machine does in the wet salt sand
describe some of the Gold you have found there, size whether rings or chains, or earrings or bracelets.
and maybe how good was the signal when you dug it...
(signal was great / good / weak / faint ...)
I appreciate all responses thanks

 

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[Treasure_Hunter]

I am looking for the best salt water machine that fits this description.

1. It should be small and compact easily broken down to fit a carry on bag. (or can be made to do so)
2. LightWeight
3. Great sensitivity to small gold in the wet salt water sand without a lot of feedback.
4. Reasonably priced in $600 - $800 range...
5. Not an underwater machine that is weighed coil and permanent headphones.

I would like people here who hunt on Salt water beaches to describe your machine.
"brand / name / make model.

Describe how well or not your machine does in the wet salt sand
describe some of the Gold you have found there, size whether rings or chains, or earrings or bracelets.
and maybe how good was the signal when you dug it...
(signal was great / good / weak / faint ...)
I appreciate all responses thanks

Need answers to some questions before able to give a good answer.
Are you going into the water, or just hunting the wet sand? It makes a difference.
How light weight do you mean? What is light weight to me or others, may feel heavy to you...How many pounds are you wanting?
How much tiny pieces of iron are you wanting to dig?
You say $600-$800, is that used or new?

My personal opinion I would tell you if you are not going into the water at all, and you don't want to be digging holes to china for tiny pieces of iron then my personal opinion is a Minelab Sovereign GT is very hard to beat for a beach machine for salt water beaches.

Minelabs "null" on iron (momentary loss of threshold telling you it's iron) and yet they will still tell you if gold is there beside a piece of iron. Sweep one direction you get "null" meaning iron, turn 180 degrees and sweep again you will get a "null" and then a quick signal for the gold ring. I have ran a test with a piece of iron iron wire through a gold ring and my Sovereign still sees the gold ring after nulling on the iron.

You can change the coils and headsets on Sovereign GTs, youcan take them apart and put them in a carry on if use the standard 10 inch coil. I highly recommend you make a straight shaft for it and you can make it so it collapses in to 3 pieces if you wish. I own 2 Sovereign GTs, one customized to be waterproof for use in the surf, and the other for just hunting wet sand....Both have custom shafts.....

As far as what I have found, lets just say my wife's has choices of more then 4 nice diamond rings to put on her hands I have found, along with lots of gold rings, diamond earrings as well.

Chains for VLF machines are hard to find unless they have either a large charm of some type on them, a large clasp or chain is in a tight ball. VLF machines see the gold as individual tiny pieces of gold not a single piece. A PI will have no problem finding gold chains, but they also have no problem finding bobby pins, fish hooks, nails, and any tiny piece of iron, (smaller then a BB) buried more then 2 foot deep. I do not dig any tiny pieces of iron with my Minelabs. I have dug no gold chains, and it doesn't bother me. Most gold chains are thin links are hollow most times and with no weight to them. I prefer hunting gold and platinum rings. Sovereign GT will have no problem seeing a gold chain with charm, but will not see a gold chain or bracelet with no charm or some other metal on it.

I have dug gold rings over 14 inches with both my Excals and my Sovereign GTs..........

Good luck with your search.....

 

[TORRERO]

Good info, thanks.
I really prefer to hunt in the wet sand outside of the water, but might go waist deep if
I feel its to my benifit.

Weight...
As light as possible as I walk long distances

I would prefer one that can get those gold chains, although I have never used a PI I heard years ago they were not sensative to chains or small gold... maybe they are different now ?

I have a Stingray that did real good and in the wet sand it would pick up chains, bracelets, earrings and no
I did not get 15 inches on gold rings but an 18k gold chain with 10 grams is several hundred dollars...
scrap value...
why would I not want them ? after paying nearly $1000 for a machine ?
The stingray was good but it is weighted and has permanant headphones...

Something that looks like a tesoro U-Max would be nice with everything I described

 

[DaChief]

Here is my two cents worth.

Treasure hunter is right about the Minelab Land Machines. You can change out headphones, etc. and if you belt mount your control box, which is easy to do with the Minelab land units, you can hunt all day with little stress to your arms.

The other option is the PI machine also belt mounted. Mine is the Garrett Infinium and belt mounting is easy. It not only comes with the ability change headphones but also with the ability to change out multiple coils too. It has at least 5 available search coils that are also interchangeable on the spot just like a regular land machine.


Taking into account your statement that you would seldom get into the water and would mainly hunt wet sand, I would suggest that you go with the Minelab Sovereign. You can't beat the Sovereign for the type of hunting you are describing you will do most and I can tell you from experience, the stock coils on the Sovereign are tuned in specifically to the machine for optimal results. I took my Sovereign Elite to a school playground that I use to test out machines and that I had hunted to death and with the stock coil, I was finding very small charms, etc., at amazing depths. Not 15 inches but respectable depths. I also have the 7 inch coil which seemes to produce better results than the stock 10 inch on smaller items which would probably be killer on a chain.

I swear by the PI in the water. That is because there is less trash in the water and even in the wet sand but as you can see, I have a Sovereign Elite and I use it out of the water. I don't specifically look for chains. I find one every now and then when there is a medallion or large clasp attached. I prefer to hunt beaches with a larger coil so I give up the chains in return.

You would be getting a great machine if you get a Sovereign and you wouldn't regret it I am sure. The Garrett Tesoro and Whites PI machines are good too but for your requirements stated, I would go with either the Sovereign GT or the Sovereign Elite. You can find good used machines if you look for them and if you don't want a used one, the new GT's may be within your reach although they were pricey last time I looked and if you go used, you can usually pick up some nice extras for the cost of a base new machine.

Good luck.

DaChief

 

[homer007]

IVE USED THE PI AND PI PRO.. ITS TRUE ABOUT THE PI NOT PICKING UP ON SMALL GOLD. I READ ABOUT THE PI PRO WITH GAIN CONTROL . I TRIED BOTH PI AND PI PRO. THE PI PRO SOUND OF ON THE SMALL GOLD WITH GAIN ALL THE WAY UP INTIL ITS A TAD UN STABLE.. THE TIGER SHARK ALSO HITS GOOD ON SMALL GOLD TO. TIGER SHARK NOT A PI BUT DOES THE JOB.. HOPE THIS HELPS

 

[sandsifter]

Treasure Hunter is dead on about the Minelab sov gt. If you want to go deeper in the water, the excal is a sov gt water proofed, but you don't have the option to changh coils or head phones

 

[Silver Surfer]

I guess I just dont get the Pulse induction thing... My MXT switched into the "salt" mode enables me to completely submerge the head and I dont get the mineral problems that seem to be why people buy PI machines, right?
If I switch it out of salt mode, I cant even get near the salt water due to the interference, but in salt mode, it works great. The only problem I had was my arms getting really tired trying to hold the coil underwater, and then swinging it against the resistance of the water made my arms got tired very quickly...
Too bad it isnt waterproof, it really is a great machine for the beach...