Buy or not to Buy....that is the question

As all the hype suggests, the Excal is fantastic water machine. Its ability to discriminate is effective and if you don't mind an ear bleedingly high threshold, you can get crazy depth in P/P mode. Its not bad for a machine that retails at $1,500 ($1,200 from many dealers). But, is it worth the investment?

You really have only three other choices for submerged salt water hunting.

2nd choice is a Fisher CZ. At about the same cost as an excal, you get a more rugged detector that also has an automatic ground balance. In auto mode with equal size coils, it is my opinion there is no difference in depth. (Noteably the Excals P/P mode gains 50% or more depth)

3rd choice is a Whites BHID. This unit retails for around $800. It is still a dual frequency machine but has a manual ground balance instead of the auto. In most locations it balances easily and you have no issues...unless you have dense black sand. The BHID is known to have a "floating" coil that requires some effort to keep it down...let go and you can watch the whole detector float in the water. lol.

Finally, PI's.... In addition to several other high machines, I have excals for the one or two times a year we go snorkeling. The downside is I'm always concerned with the seals and ensuring the battery will last the whole time, limited time, I have to hunt. In Florida, I found the areas I water hunt have very little trash so I ended up selling one of the excals and sticking with my trusty ole' Sea hunter PI. The PI uses AA-batteries which I can get from any corner store. It also only has one seal to worry about....but its over engineered and would take deliberate intent to make it fail. With the Sea Hunter or similar units like the lifetime warranteed Tesoro Sand Shark, you'll spend $600-700 for a new machine (retail).

Chief Q said:

Hello all,

BLUF: I am looking at buying a EXCAL II.

I currently own a CTX 3030. I used it water hunting in Rimini, Italy 3 separate times. On the third time, somehow water got into the battery housing and luckily i was able to dry it out in time and no harm no foul.......atleast to my knowledge. I contacted Minelab when the machine wouldnt turn on but eventually after drying completely, the CTX 3030 is operational. So needless to say, I will never take my CTX 3030 back into the "ocean" due to the waves ( i believe that is what caused the water to seep into the battery).

Sooooooo......that being said, I am a dedicated land hunter. I have only hunted water three times prior to my current deployment but I do intend to hunt water again but not very often.

Question: Is it worth buying an EXCAL II for the limited times I hunt water, or should I just stay away from water with waves?

side note.....I can always just drop the money back into an XP Deus since my last one was stolen Or I just buy silver and gold coins and call it a win.

Any input is appreciated.

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Thats a great write up there Dave! Hunting High K Mediterranian/EU gold, on old water like that?...a guy would want the very best possible rig/gear for the job...Some places it just makes perfect sense to go top shelf, and this is one of those instances...

Thanks David! So just for a clarification.....the Sea Hunter may be my best route to go correct? So much information and just tryin to digest it. Thank you for all the information though

Chief Q said:

Thanks David! So just for a clarification.....the Sea Hunter may be my best route to go correct? So much information and just tryin to digest it. Thank you for all the information though

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Well it is the most economical, durable and practical route. The only downside to a pi is they do not discriminate....you have to dig every signal. So if you are in a trashy area where the surf isnt strong enough to wash away the light stuff, then it isnt the ideal machine. But in most cases, the only thing you find in the water is heavier targets. For example: coins, fishing sinkers, rings, pull tabs and some bottle caps. The thing is most of those targets mimmick modern gold jewelery because gold is not pure, it is usually an alloy. Therefore even with the excal, you are still digging all of those. The main advantage of the excal is you can discriminate out iron targets.



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What is your goal--silver and gold, or the search for silver and gold?

If you just want silver and gold, then save your money and just buy silver and gold. If you want to spend time searching for silver and gold, with no guarantee you will get enough to be worth the investment, then buy a water detector.

Crackerjack said:

What is your goal--silver and gold, or the search for silver and gold?

If you just want silver and gold, then save your money and just buy silver and gold. If you want to spend time searching for silver and gold, with no guarantee you will get enough to be worth the investment, then buy a water detector.

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Thanks! I am always going to go detecting.....my goal is to pay back the water detector...land detecting my goal is to find old coins primarily... and i am always going to buy gold and silver lol........so i guess the seahunter will do...now will do the research on that machine on costs

I agree with DaviDs, if you don't have tremendous amounts of nails and other iron, then a PI is what I would recommend. I have found the tiny backs of earrings with my surfmaster PI. But using it in fresh water, which I have done, will wear you out fast.