Mine lab Explorers

I am biased, fully admit it.

The first explorers had there faults, they were the first so naturally it took time to discover them, ie: cracking housings. A lot of relic hunters still regard them as the best explorer. Very hard to find a used one in good shape.

The Se and Se pro are my favorites, they evolved techie wise, better boards and programming and were/are relatively simple, except for a new user who has to learn her sounds. In my humble opinion (everyone knows what opinions are) these two detectors hit deeper then any of the series. Still available in limited qualities new, with many on the used market. The original Se needs to be upgraded coil wise as the original 10"SE coil was not that good.

TO me the etrac is too busy, as it tries to hard to tell its operator what is going on beneath its coil, disc this, allow that, yet end up missing too much due to disc. Yes it has an updated board and programming, but to me its still to busy.

I am old school, to me the detector is a tool for the user to master, not a tool to master its user.
 

It seems that by that logic you'd prefer the Safari, same FBS technology, just less info to slow it down, no back light to draw down the battery faster, less disc programs than the SE or the Etrac, still a silver killer.
 

Massieville Mike said:
Which model Explorer is your favorite and why?
Click to expand...

My xs because it has found literally hundreds of silver coin in parks that the local dealer of another brand told me he and his buddies have hunted out. I never feel outgunned with my xs. Just picked up a ex11 for $275 and can't picture a better deal. That's to me a detector that is at or near as good as it gets for entry level pricing.
 

SE Pro was my favorite!
 

The SE Pro with Coiltek coils. Deeper and more stable than earlier models.
 

gunsil said:
It seems that by that logic you'd prefer the Safari, same FBS technology, just less info to slow it down, no back light to draw down the battery faster, less disc programs than the SE or the Etrac, still a silver killer.
Click to expand...

Well gunsil, I can't say as I have never used one, I have no problems with the se or pro, as unless I am tired or being lazy I run her wide open with no disc. With my settings I know she is hitting deep and the depth of my finds collaborate that fact.
 

It got up to a smokin' 50 degrees today, the ground is still frozen but I went out anyway. Got a "new to me" Nel Tornado for my Gamma. Grabbed it and went to local sled riding hill to look for recent drops, thinking I'd just hit surface/very shallow targets as the sun would probably have thawed out the first inch or so. Well so much for that tactic, I dug every good hit I got. Managed, with quite some effort I might add, to chisel out a little over three dollars in clad coins, a handful of pull tabs, some can slaw and other misc trash, and one old (teens I think) very crusted/toasted wheat cent. Spent three hours kicking my mini Sampson, and pushing/scraping/prying with my digging knife. As sore as my heel is from kicking the Sampson, it was a good time....blue skies, sunshine, fifty degrees, the day off, wife at work, nobody body bothering me. No silver, no gold, but awesome to just be out doing something I love to do. Better get back on thread here lol! I became obsessed with this hobby almost from the start. It's nearly all that I care to do in my free time, and on my mind nearly every moment I'm awake. I don't remember my dreams, but if I have them, I bet they have something to do with metal detecting. Anyway, before I bore you to sleep, I just want to thank you for your comments. I have been thinking of dabbling in the minelab world, you know try something new, "feed the monkey". I don't want to dump a grand on another detector, but would still like to try a minelab. That's why I started the thread. Been looking at explorers. A big THANK YOU ALL for your replies to this thread!!!
 

Mike, there are a lot of hunters in O hi O (sorry always love doing that, no insult meant) if you go to the main forum page at the bottom there is a state listing. Why don't you go in there and post that your interested in trying out an explorer model and ask if anyone is close by that you could meet up with to try theirs, or try a dealer close by they may have units that you can try out on their property (coin bed), or perhaps a local club, even if you have to travel a 50 miles or so.

Minelabs are not for everyone, I would hate for you to drop a grand+ on something, after reading mine, or anyone else's opinion and end up hating it.

PS. grats on your frozen finds, a bad day detecting is still better then the best day at work.
 

Massieville Mike said:
It got up to a smokin' 50 degrees today, the ground is still frozen but I went out anyway. Got a "new to me" Nel Tornado for my Gamma. Grabbed it and went to local sled riding hill to look for recent drops, thinking I'd just hit surface/very shallow targets as the sun would probably have thawed out the first inch or so. Well so much for that tactic, I dug every good hit I got. Managed, with quite some effort I might add, to chisel out a little over three dollars in clad coins, a handful of pull tabs, some can slaw and other misc trash, and one old (teens I think) very crusted/toasted wheat cent. Spent three hours kicking my mini Sampson, and pushing/scraping/prying with my digging knife. As sore as my heel is from kicking the Sampson, it was a good time....blue skies, sunshine, fifty degrees, the day off, wife at work, nobody body bothering me. No silver, no gold, but awesome to just be out doing something I love to do. Better get back on thread here lol! I became obsessed with this hobby almost from the start. It's nearly all that I care to do in my free time, and on my mind nearly every moment I'm awake. I don't remember my dreams, but if I have them, I bet they have something to do with metal detecting. Anyway, before I bore you to sleep, I just want to thank you for your comments. I have been thinking of dabbling in the minelab world, you know try something new, "feed the monkey". I don't want to dump a grand on another detector, but would still like to try a minelab. That's why I started the thread. Been looking at explorers. A big THANK YOU ALL for your replies to this thread!!!
Click to expand...
Maybe borrow/rent one for a while to see if it's something you want to purchase.
 

I'm still on a learning curve with my se pro. The tough part for me has been muliple tones. My sov. gt is a quiet running machine in comparison. The reason I started with the sov gt is I use the excalibur in the water and the tones are the same when going to a land machine, and have no complaints on the preformance of the GT. It could be I need to learn more about adjusting sensitivity to quiet it down some. That aside, I like the se pro, and like all other machines, you have put in your time and learn what its telling you. Kevin
 

Hi Mike, Here's my input to your Question. I've been Metal Detecting for over 40+ Years with an inventory of 18 metal detectors. But that Does not make me an Expert only a Continuing Student of Learning and Networking. Some of the responses were True to that User and their opinions. My self I have Both the Explorer XS and Explorer 11. and Minellab E-Trac also. The First Question that should be asked is What Type of Hunting are you looking to do? Myself I have evolved into a Jewelry, Gold Ring Beach Surf Hunter with my Explorer 11 which is programmed to Andy Sabisch's Book Explorer XS & S Gold Program that will not Detect a Clad Coin or Silver Coin either! I've seen first hand a Man's success with this program with my estimated value of Just his Gold, Platinum, Diamond Rings ( one had 60 diamonds) was at least $ 100,000. But he Had NO Silver Rings! He said why Wast my time on silver at $ 40.00 per ounce. Something to think about huh? Good Luck in your choice and Stay Out of the Water!! Just Kidding. Budwiser
 

BUDWISER said:
Hi Mike, Here's my input to your Question. I've been Metal Detecting for over 40+ Years with an inventory of 18 metal detectors. But that Does not make me an Expert only a Continuing Student of Learning and Networking. Some of the responses were True to that User and their opinions. My self I have Both the Explorer XS and Explorer 11. and Minellab E-Trac also. The First Question that should be asked is What Type of Hunting are you looking to do? Myself I have evolved into a Jewelry, Gold Ring Beach Surf Hunter with my Explorer 11 which is programmed to Andy Sabisch's Book Explorer XS & S Gold Program that will not Detect a Clad Coin or Silver Coin either! I've seen first hand a Man's success with this program with my estimated value of Just his Gold, Platinum, Diamond Rings ( one had 60 diamonds) was at least $ 100,000. But he Had NO Silver Rings! He said why Wast my time on silver at $ 40.00 per ounce. Something to think about huh? Good Luck in your choice and Stay Out of the Water!! Just Kidding. Budwiser
Click to expand...

Are you able to share what settings you use for gold?
 

Budwiser, this is not an attack, just my own personnel evaluation on the program you are using (and yes this is also from 40+ years experience.)

Anytime you utilize a program you will miss/leave items for others to find, especially if you utilize a cherry picking program such as you describe. Cherry picking programs are great for those hunters who have limited time, and only want to locate the few limited very valuable drops. But, over time someone that finds, locates and digs every target will earn more.

I do not know which program you or the gentleman are using, but to discrim silver, you will never find any Spanish silver of any denomination, which could add a lot of value to your finds. Tiffany made silver items in jewelry, you just lost the chance of finding any of them. A gold program very easily discrims out Platinum, again very valuable. Also I might add there are some very expensive pieces of jewelry made in silver due to allergies to the lower grade gold.

Watches, you have disc them out, what about Rolex's or any of the other very valuable watches on the market that we as beach/water hunters do find.

There is an Ole timers saying that still bears truth, "He that digs the most, earns the most," and it is just as true in these days as it was 30-40 years ago.


Also, there are many hunters on this forum who (although they do not admit or brag about it) have found many times over that gentleman's amount.

I wish you the best of luck using that pattern or program.
 

TheSleeper said:
Budwiser, this is not an attack, just my own personnel evaluation on the program you are using (and yes this is also from 40+ years experience.)

Anytime you utilize a program you will miss/leave items for others to find, especially if you utilize a cherry picking program such as you describe. Cherry picking programs are great for those hunters who have limited time, and only want to locate the few limited very valuable drops. But, over time someone that finds, locates and digs every target will earn more.

I do not know which program you or the gentleman are using, but to discrim silver, you will never find any Spanish silver of any denomination, which could add a lot of value to your finds. Tiffany made silver items in jewelry, you just lost the chance of finding any of them. A gold program very easily discrims out Platinum, again very valuable. Also I might add there are some very expensive pieces of jewelry made in silver due to allergies to the lower grade gold.

Watches, you have disc them out, what about Rolex's or any of the other very valuable watches on the market that we as beach/water hunters do find.

There is an Ole timers saying that still bears truth, "He that digs the most, earns the most," and it is just as true in these days as it was 30-40 years ago.

Also, there are many hunters on this forum who (although they do not admit or brag about it) have found many times over that gentleman's amount.

I wish you the best of luck using that pattern or program.
Click to expand...

Ditto! Using any disc/notch/programs, increases your chances of missing the good stuff along with the bad. You can hunt how you prefer, but the most successful guys usually dig the most trash as well.
 

Sleeper,..I've never had the luck of finding a platinum ring yet. I'm a dig all, zero discrim at the beach. Does platinum ring up like silver?
 

Irish, from what I have been told/heard plat gets alloyed with different metals so it can jump around. I have found a few and not one registered the same, even the ones of similar size, but as a general rule of thumb around the nickel to a deep dime sound. One I swore was trash before digging, broken crackly sound, but it was deep and constant, turned out plat ladies with humongous stones, the heavy mounts required to hold the stones made it crackly.

Talked to a few other hunters and each has stated Plat is hard, one ring can read this and another can read 2-5 #s off. Its not as steady as gold or silver is, I guess due to the different alloy's used.

A lot of times I am hunting in the const, sound (single tone) so I go by the strength of the sound (even if its a faint one) and its readings, only to the point that they stay steady on 3 of the 4 angles. Sometimes I don't hesitate to dig on the first sound as I have lost deep faint signals trying to check from other angles.
 

Last edited:
You'll get some Irish, their not something you find everyday, very rare.
 

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