What is the best overall Saltwater waterproof unit able to be totally submersed?

[southfloridabeachhunter]

Hello Again,

You all have helped tremendously giving this Newbie advice on my first detector purchase.

I am brand new at this and have spent the past week researching everything about what kind of metal detector to buy. I have seen countless reviews, videos, manuals and etc. I have just purchased a condo right on the St. Pete Beach in Florida. I am basically retired at 48 and will be there mostly as a snow bird. I plan on metal detecting instead of golfing everyday. My wife and I will be doing this together. I plan on going no deeper than waist deep in the ocean. All I know is I want a waterproof metal detector with a warranty. Also I will be doing wet sand and dry white sand from Key West Atlantic Ocean and Miami to St. Pete Beach and Clearwater Gulf Beaches. I have heard that the Excalibur is the best, but I am afraid of getting one of their lemons, which they say can happen 2 out of 10. I also am not into modifying or changing things like shafts and etc. I have crossed out the AT Pro now because it seems no good in saltwater. I originally thought buy 2 machines the Garrett Sea Hunter for waist deep saltwater hunting and the AT Pro for the beach, because it has a display unit. Someone said bad idea.
I don't want the Excalibur or the CZ21. I would really like ONE overall saltwater submersion to saltwater wet and dry white sand detector. These are the one's I am considering now: Garrett Sea Hunter with 2 coils $729 (know I will be doing alot of digging, but I still go to the gym and bench over 300 pounds, so I may get a better workout digging deep holes.) Tesoro Sand Shark $577 with a lifetime warranty. White's Beach Hunter 300 for $1000 (I really like the 3 LED lights for Iron, Gold, Silver). My question is honestly what would you all recommend as the best machine for me? If I want to spend $1000 I can get either one White's Beach Hunter 300. Or I can get the Sea Hunter or Sand Shark and get an additional wet salt sand and dry sand detector with a control panel and have more features?
I appreciate any input. I know I am driving my wife crazy about all my research, but I don't want buyer remorse. Is White's Beach Hunter 300 all they say it is? Is the Whites Surf PI Dual field a good machine also, it is $900.

Thank You for any advice.




Thank You

 

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[Sandman]

Forgive me if I am dense, but are you related to Overkill, Overkill? He was a hoot by asking the same questions on many sections of Tnet and not taking the advice of anyone. But he was fun........

Try not to cut and paste the same post so many times to see how many responses you get. We are here to help.

 

[dewcon4414]

It not just the BIG holes you will be digging with a PI.... its EVERYTHING and on a wet/dry sand beach you are talking a lot of targets and the bad to good ratio is horrible the more people you have on the beach. Next just how much extra depth do you think you are going to get? How much beach do you think you are going to cover when you spend more time digging bobbie pens than gold? They are cheaper and deeper, but even the Gurus on here knows that a PI isnt always the better choice for an area. I hunted with a guy the other day that spent more time in one spot digging trash..... while i was dismissing it and covering beach. On a beach.... time really is money when there are 4 other guys with detectors on the beach. At the end of the day its not how full your pouch is.

Dew

 

[Aka Nameless]

Why do you say you do not want the Excal or CZ21?!

Those are the 2 best overall machines.

Like I said last time you posted this, you dont want to hunt with a PI in the dry sand, it will drive you crazy.

Get a PI if you want the deepest machines, can live with only hunting wet sand/water, and dont mind digging a lot of rusty iron.

Or get an Excal or CZ21 if you want to do dry sand also, and be able to skip digging iron.

You asked for bestoverall, Excal and CZ21 are the best overall.

You will not be happy with the AT pro at a saltwater beach, it can't compete with an excal/cz21.

In my opinion, your choices are excal or cz21 for a vlf machine... df pi or infinium for a PI machine. Those are the best of both sides... imo.

 

[Broken knee]

Forgive me if I am dense, but are you related to Overkill, Overkill? He was a hoot by asking the same questions on many sections of Tnet and not taking the advise of anyone. But he was fun........

Try not to cut and paste the same post so many times to see how many responses you get. We are here to help.

Sandman, I think your on to something the similarity is amazing! Could be twins? HH
BK

 

[Broken knee]

JMO, Excal ll All the way it's Idiot proof and waterproof to what more could you ask for? HH
Broken Knee

 

[NYwaterhunter]

Totally agree with all the other guys.
Stay away from the pulse ! I have personally spent 20 minutes digging a Bread Bag metal twist tie at 16 inches !
Excal the way to go.
Gary G.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Don't know why you ruled out one of the best water detectors.... You can go from dry sand to underwater with the Excal and never have to ground balance it, it will tell you every time if your target is iron or not, you will not be digging deep holes for tiny pieces of iron......

 

[tiggar]

I couldn't agree more about staying away from the PI's....been there, done that, & dug a million holes for trash to prove it.....
you try finding the small black straight pin that keeps sifting thru your scoop, and sounds like a Quarter going off......
a big waste of time...IMO

 

[DewGuru]

Your looking for a water machine, and then a seperate one for the dry sand? Grab a PI machine for the water. The AT Pro would be fine for the dry sand, if its just a metered machine your after. You could drag a PI machine through the dry sand, if your feeling sporty, but not recommended unless your proficient with the scoop.

Alot of misconceptions out there. Every machine will locate trash. Makes no difference which you get. The excal, which has a null feature on iron, will dig just as much aluminum, pop tops, pull tabs, and bottle caps as the next one. Most PI machines the tone is discernible on iron, as its skippy. Easy to pass on those if you like. I dig them all myself. Prefer it that way, and find the most that way.

Don't fall into the 'it cost more so it must be better' mantra. PT Barnum said it best -- 'A fool and his money are soon parted'.

Things to consider:

a) Warranty.
b) Turn around time on service/repair.
c) Functions well out of box, or requires after market purchases for heavy use.
d) Machine selection based on targets - Are your beaches heavy hunted, if so, less in-water trash.
e) Scoop. Make sure you get a good, strong one. I've been through 2 this year, and hunt almost daily.
f) Boots. Hard sole. I like 5 mm mares boots myself.
g) Waders/Wet suit/Dry suit - water is cold, get something to keep you dry and warm.

Whatever you settle on: Patience, Positivity, and Persistence is key to your hunting and recoveries.

Get out and have some fun!

 

[stpauli914]

Listen to DewGuru. He is consistently one of the top producing hunters on this board. His finds far outnumber even the guys who write the books(you know who they are).

There are really 2 schools around here. The PI guys, and the Non PI guys(I'd say VLF guys, but the Minelabs are BBS which is another animal). You just have to determine which one you are.

No matter what machine you swing, if you put in your time and stay positive, you will make good finds. There is a saying that goes something along the lines of "10% of the guys make 90% of the good finds" That is true because they get out there and keep there heads down.

Buy a used Excal and a used Sand Shark. Try them both for a couple months. Sell the one you don't like or maybe keep them both. You could get a nice used Excal and a nice used SS for the price of a new Excal and you would have both. The majority of problems with any detector are operator caused. Take good care of your machine and it will take good care of you.

Nuff said.

 

[tarpon192]

Forgive me if I am dense, but are you related to Overkill, Overkill? He was a hoot by asking the same questions on many sections of Tnet and not taking the advice of anyone. But he was fun........

Try not to cut and paste the same post so many times to see how many responses you get. We are here to help.

IT MAY BE OVERKILL - YOU NEVER KNOW.

BUY AN AQUA PULSE - END OF STORY.

 

[tarpon192]

Forgive me if I am dense, but are you related to Overkill, Overkill? He was a hoot by asking the same questions on many sections of Tnet and not taking the advice of anyone. But he was fun........

Try not to cut and paste the same post so many times to see how many responses you get. We are here to help.

IT MAY BE OVERKILL. YOU NVER KNOW.

BUY AN AQUA PULSE.

 

[John (west central FL)]

Read the replies to your post of Dec. 11th and then go out and buy an Excalibur or a CZ-21. But I guess you have already completely ruled out the two most popular detectors for salt water. So here is my new advice for you. Go on eBay and buy one of those cheap Chinese made waterproof detectors. I hear they are great!

 

[Broken knee]

Hello Again,

You all have helped tremendously giving this Newbie advice on my first detector purchase.

I am brand new at this and have spent the past week researching everything about what kind of metal detector to buy. I have seen countless reviews, videos, manuals and etc. I have just purchased a condo right on the St. Pete Beach in Florida. I am basically retired at 48 and will be there mostly as a snow bird. I plan on metal detecting instead of golfing everyday. My wife and I will be doing this together. I plan on going no deeper than waist deep in the ocean. All I know is I want a waterproof metal detector with a warranty. Also I will be doing wet sand and dry white sand from Key West Atlantic Ocean and Miami to St. Pete Beach and Clearwater Gulf Beaches. I have heard that the Excalibur is the best, but I am afraid of getting one of their lemons, which they say can happen 2 out of 10. I also am not into modifying or changing things like shafts and etc. I have crossed out the AT Pro now because it seems no good in saltwater. I originally thought buy 2 machines the Garrett Sea Hunter for waist deep saltwater hunting and the AT Pro for the beach, because it has a display unit. Someone said bad idea.
I don't want the Excalibur or the CZ21. I would really like ONE overall saltwater submersion to saltwater wet and dry white sand detector. These are the one's I am considering now: Garrett Sea Hunter with 2 coils $729 (know I will be doing alot of digging, but I still go to the gym and bench over 300 pounds, so I may get a better workout digging deep holes.) Tesoro Sand Shark $577 with a lifetime warranty. White's Beach Hunter 300 for $1000 (I really like the 3 LED lights for Iron, Gold, Silver). My question is honestly what would you all recommend as the best machine for me? If I want to spend $1000 I can get either one White's Beach Hunter 300. Or I can get the Sea Hunter or Sand Shark and get an additional wet salt sand and dry sand detector with a control panel and have more features?
I appreciate any input. I know I am driving my wife crazy about all my research, but I don't want buyer remorse. Is White's Beach Hunter 300 all they say it is? Is the Whites Surf PI Dual field a good machine also, it is $900.

Thank You for any advice.




Thank You

May I ask where you got the information stating 2 out of 10 Excals are lemons? Who are they?
Broken Knee

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Ssshhhh, if he doesn't want an Excal, don't try to talk him into one, let him buy a PI...... The people who own the Excal will be happy he did...... The time it takes to recover those bobbypins he finds at 2.5 feet gives the Excal owners that much more time to cover that much more ground.......

I can cover a lot of ground with my Excals with their 15 inch coils while he is digging that hole, and I not digging any tiny pieces of iron.......

Beach hunting isn't like going to the gym, your right, you will get a lot more of a workout hunting in the water for 4-8 hours......

 

[Sandman]

I don't think he is interested in metal detection at all as he is another of them Overkill types. If I am wrong, I apologize.

 

[tiggar]

I'm with you Sandman, the most experienced 20 year+ TH'ers have given him their advise, and he is just not listening or comprehending the information.....how many times do you have to repeat yourself.....

tiggar

 

[Razr]

If you have a sand shark just go behind the others and still get your quota,lol..

 

[tiggar]

good reply John, I like that.....