Question about Detector Pro Pirate detector.

[rons1947]

Has anyone ever used the Detector Pro Pirate in the surf at a salt water beach.I would appreciate hearing of your experiences,as I am considering buying one for this purpose.Thanks,Ron

 

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[Sandman]

I have not personally used this detector. I can tell you that as a plain VLF that it will be unstable in the saltwater wet sand. It would be fair in the dry or in fresh water. The Pirate won't get as deep either because of the smaller coil It runs only about $300.00 or less, a lot cheaper than the major brands. You generally get what you pay for. It's only advantage is it's light weight.

Read my signature at the bottom of this post.

 

[Keppy]

Go to metal detecting under ...other brands..then Detector pro head hunterdiver ...check it out a lot of ..bad reviews................................==Jim==

 

[guzz1]

You would be better off saving up for use sovereign.. I just found one On ebay and there's 2 up for auction right now . I just sold a xs for 345.00 in great condition. I upgraded to the GT that's the only reason I sold it . You can't Beat the Minelabs .. Guzz1

 

[Keppy]

...Guzzi...Is right about the Minelab Sovereign...I use it you can't beat it.............Ask Sandman or Badger......they will tell you the same thing....................................==Jim==

 

[Highwater]

Rons,
The pirate hasn't been perfected for saltwater. If you are going to go for it, then really go for it. Get a good machine. They will pay for themselves. If you start with something not up to speed you will easily become discouraged and park your unit in the closet. That will knock you out of a great hobby that you would probably succeed at given the right equipment to work with. Highwater

 

[DaChief]

I agree with everyone above. You need to make sure you get something that you will not regret. I have never used the Pirate but reading reviews from those who have, it doesn't seem to be the logical choice.

I would watch EBAY and Craig's list for a good buy on a quality unit. If you are patient, you can catch a really good deal on either of those. I paid 725 with free shipping for my Garrett Infinium which was in like new condition. It came with two coils and two sets of headphones and other accessories. The package new would have been near 1,500. Half price ain't bad. It was a great investment and I have found some great stuff in the surf with it. I believe I could resale it now and still make a profit off of it but I was patient and only bid what I was willing to pay.

My Sovereign Elite was a Craig's list find. I traded a guy a used set of Golf Clubs for it!!!

Stay with name brands, either Garrett, Whites, Minelab or Tesoro and even then, make sure you read the reviews and get the machine that best fits your hunting style and location.

I use the Garrett for hunting in the water and a Minelab for the beach. Lots of fun with both and good results from both also.

Good Luck!

Jim

 

[Cabochris]

I travel for shallow water treasure hunting vacations and am always looking for a better machine. I use pulse and vlf detectors. My vlf detector of choice is currently Excalibur, and recently purchased an 800 and 1000 Excalibur IIs. The 1000 is still on back order, but I have received the 800.

While I have tried most water machines, I never gave DetectorPro a fair shot. I had purchased several Divers and Waders, only to give them as gifts. I feel the Head Hunter concept is beautiful! Their VLF machines are K.I.S.S. detectors. Some call them "Toys" and I fell in and out of that trap! No they are not the deepest detectors. Neither is the Excalibur. Nor are they the most durable. Just do not drop them.

Here is a little story. On a group Caribbean treasure hunting vacation I had brought along a new Garrett Infinium pulse with 14 inch mono coil. A woman in our group was using her HH Diver. The rest Excaliburs. In chest deep shallow water I put the Infinium to work, and discovered just how deep an Infinium goes! It took some 15 to 20 minutes just to recover 1 pull tab! I was digging holes to China! The mono coil wanted to float and the machine was so noisy, it nearly drove me crazy, with no volume control. But the Infinium was the deepest detector I have ever used, and does have it's place! This was our second visit to this beach and after about 2 hours, it was time to leave for a more promising beach. None in our group found gold there, as we had cleaned-up this beach the day before with Excaliburs. What was interesting and impressed me was, that the woman using the HH Diver, found 3 times as many gold-range target/recoveries in the same time as I had with the Infinium! While I was digging deep holes, she was covering more ground and scooping potential gold targets!

I recently purchased a used HH Wader 8 inch and put it up against my Excalibur II 800, in the yard. At MAX sensitivity, they both detected a small thin gold ring at 7 inches or so in the dirt, with solid beep. With further testing the Excalibur II hit better on tiny gold targets. But most surprising was that the HH Wader hit better on chains than the Excalibur II!

I was so impressed with the Wader, that yesterday I ordered 2 new HH Divers and will take them on my next Caribbean vacation. And I use Excaliburs, CZ20s...

I found the Wader to be a "Fast" machine. One that can cover ground more quickly for fresh drops. For the deep stuff, I would use a pulse detector. But I am going to give the Diver some serious use. If it performs well for me, there just might be 2 Excalibur IIs for sale. I say do not write-off DetectorPro until you try one in the field, and give it a fair shot. It gets up to 50 hours on 2 9V batteries, is lightweight, has good discrimination, packs easy in your suitcase, has a tough spider coil that does not need a coil cover... Just know that some deep targets only give a whisper. Learn to listen for those, and you too might learn to like HH!

 

[BEACH-HUNTER]

My buddy got a "PIRATE" for X-MAS as a back up+fresh water wading...loves it!

here on the north shore of MASS..it ran good in the.. wet SALT SAND!!! It's not the deepest detector but workable!!! it just got him 5 gold rings and a 33.5 gram 14k bracelet!! all were found in a washed out area in the wet sand..on a beach north of Boston!! he goes by "BOSTON BOB" He posted the finds on another forum...here's a photo of the stuff..this detector will get plenty of use!! his EXPLORER II has spent almost as much time broken as it has worked in the almost 2 years he had it!! multiple coil issues ect!!