South Florida Dry beach sand...

[JKPK1]

First off, I am buying another MD. It will be another Tesoro.

Currently, in our house we have a his and hers non hard wired pair of Sand Sharks. Also a hers Ace 250.

FWIW, the wife prefers the dry sand and Ace 250 mainly on account of less weight and effort to dig. Often she is hitting dry sand while I am getting a bath.

I have plans to pick up a dry sand MD for myself.

Initially I was considering an Outlaw, but not being lazy, I have been reading and searching here and other sites.

I have some possibilities and wonder if anyone has used these on South Florida beaches. A Tesoro Lobo ST (I guess the gray one based on their webpage), A Vaquero, or a TeJon. I am undecided, but lean towards the lighter machines so if she wants to use the Ace 250 or this new machine the weight won't be to bad. The Lobo weight seems about similar to the Sand Shark.

I have used my Sand Shark in the dry sand with her. We all know the problem is you dig it all.

Any opinions. This is not a shootout per say, no doubt they are all good.

BTW, I prefer to run the Sand Shark in a VCO mode if that matters.

PK

 

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[willie d]

I have used my Silver Umax in the dry sand with pretty good results. Combuned with the 3x18 coil you cover a whole bunch of sand with each sweep.

 

[JKPK1]

I phone call and discussion with Robert set helped. All great machines, great advice, narrowed it down. Now to decide.

PK

 

[Sandman]

I haven't used an Outlaw yet, but I like what I've seen. It is light weight and has zero motion all metal. Some guys like the ATPro, but not me and I have two of them. I like the older 1235 by Fisher and hip mount it. The Tejon is sweet but consider the Sov GT the king of beach hunting if you also get the 15 inch WOT coil. The Sov will handle the wet sand and dry with no falsing and be very deep.

 

[JKPK1]

I haven't used an Outlaw yet, but I like what I've seen. It is light weight and has zero motion all metal. Some guys like the ATPro, but not me and I have two of them. I like the older 1235 by Fisher and hip mount it. The Tejon is sweet but consider the Sov GT the king of beach hunting if you also get the 15 inch WOT coil. The Sov will handle the wet sand and dry with no falsing and be very deep.

Thanks for the reply. The Sov is no doubt a nice machine. The additional weight compared to the Tesoro is a factor in situations where the wife my use it. The increase in cost comes into the equation also. Again, no doubt very nice but not for me currently.

Honestly, my first thought was an Outlaw. After more research I opted towards the Vaquero, Lobo, and Tejon. Since my phone call yesterday with Tesoro, I have narrowed it down to a Vaquero or Tejon. I did some looking around about the Tejon last night. seems the largest internet complaints are no oem volume control. I assume the Vaquero will have a similar situation with regards to volume control also.

While on the phone with Tesoro, I asked about the 5.75 and reasons why they get good reviews with the Vaquero. Ultimately a good setup that optimizes tradeoffs when folks use them.

If possible, can you post your opinion of the battery "doors" on the Tejon. I noticed in the sales photo, they look like and all plastic design. I have even read where some folks use rubber bands to secure the doors shut. Any insight?

Thanks
PK

 

[JKPK1]

TeJon on order. Plan to run it stock initially. Rain Jacket also. Next looking into Killer B headset.

PK

 

[Sandman]

Your gonna love it!!!

 

[JKPK1]

Your gonna love it!!!

Picked it up last Saturday. Time was tight so a beach hunt was out. Needed to learn the machine so I walked to one of the local parks Sunday AM. It was early and still dark. Prior to heading to the park, I read the manual several times to understand the settings. Also, Joe at Riellys in Pompano, gave me the quick how to on setup with the unit on the display case when I picked it up. With knowledge in my head and detector in hand, I spent a bit of time working the dials. With it still dark, everything was done virtually by feel of the settings. Later when the sun came up, I could see how the settings compared to what I had seen and read. All in all, I would say I spent 10 minutes to make the machine work comfortably, and about 30 minutes just tinkering as I became more aware of each adjustment.

Most of my time was in a sand volleyball court. Found some coins, found a shark tooth with silver edge / mounting ring for a necklace, and a bunch of steel, also a trimming from a bronze rod. Later when I moved over to the swings and slides, found a funky wide ring and more coins.

While I'm confident in the machines ability to find stuff, I have conceded that I as the operator need to come to terms of how to best discriminate. FWIW, I hunted in all metal mode with VCO and what seems proper ground balance. I used the alternate disc to see how well I understood what the machine was telling me, then dug targets to see how right or wrong I was. Getting better but not perfect yet.

I will say that in the damp sand, with dry sand on top, I was happily surprised to see the depth I was digging to find small stuff. Somewhat SandShark like except out of the water, and with the ability to help ID what material is buried.

Joe at Riellys, did mention how set it up "hot" by moving the trigger during setup. I thought I remembered how to do this but will probably give him a call for a refresher or take a drive back to the shop. Any comments on this. I may have been doing the same except in "ALL METAL" on the switch panel.

Thanks
PK