A good waterproof/saltwater detector?

You are not going to get a dedicated water machine for under $500 unless its used...

Your choices are Minelab Excalibur, CZ21 or Whites Beach Hunter... Do not buy a single frequency machine for saltwater.

I agree. Salt water machines are special breed and come with a price to match. You can get yourself an older Sovereign and build a waterproof case for it. That will probably be in your budget. There are threads on various metal detecting forums on how to build the box.

Search "sovzilla" on this forum and you will find a great picture based tutorial on how to waterproof a Minelab Sovereign and Explorer/Etrac. I went the route of an explorer and have been very happy. Total cost was less than $400.

Got a great deal on a used Tesoro Sand Shark on eBay and very happy with it. But be careful. There are a lot of counterfeit Chinese detectors sold as "Sand Shark" and the logos are similar. If it doesn't say Tesoro, keep looking

if the $500 range your only option is the sand shark. i would keep your other machine for land use and only use the SS on salt beaches/water.

Thanks guys for the replies. Feel free to keep em coming - I'll take all the advice I can get! I looked into the Excalibur II since it's VLF and can disc, (even though its out of my budget) and wouldn't mind having another dry land machine to compare my current one to, but wondering how much trash winds up getting dug with a PI machine? I assume you can learn the tones eventually and know what not to dig but I figure that would take a LOT of practice.

glen said:

Thanks guys for the replies. Feel free to keep em coming - I'll take all the advice I can get! I looked into the Excalibur II since it's VLF and can disc, (even though its out of my budget) and wouldn't mind having another dry land machine to compare my current one to, but wondering how much trash winds up getting dug with a PI machine? I assume you can learn the tones eventually and know what not to dig but I figure that would take a LOT of practice.

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When you first start off with a PI, a bunch! Took me about 75 hours to get the hang of it...

glen said:

Thanks guys for the replies. Feel free to keep em coming - I'll take all the advice I can get! I looked into the Excalibur II since it's VLF and can disc, (even though its out of my budget) and wouldn't mind having another dry land machine to compare my current one to, but wondering how much trash winds up getting dug with a PI machine? I assume you can learn the tones eventually and know what not to dig but I figure that would take a LOT of practice.

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Water hunting is OK in most places with the pi.....but on the he wet sand, well some of us just have to do it to see why using a pi isn't the best choice. For me, I bought one and loved the ease of use, but moving to Fl was an eye opener. With the pi, my avg hunt was $0.26 per hour and easily 5-8 Lbs of trash. I spent all my time digging the stuff th local guys skipped over with their mf-vlf machines. Now that I switched to a mf-vlf, my trash is usually less than 1 lb.

Regardless, the pi machines work great in the salt....just avoid the heavy traffic areas.

Glen, sent you a PM

Wow! Yeah I think I'm definitely leaning toward a mf-VLF. Now if I could just find a list of all the detectors on the market and then narrow it down to these, add waterproof - then I could maybe decide on one

I don't REALLY need waterproof but I WILL be in the water. I know the coils are waterproof but I'm always paranoid even using my F2 in 2 feet of water that I will drop it or get it splashed, etc.

And my budget may increase too. I'll know tomorrow.

glen said:

Wow! Yeah I think I'm definitely leaning toward a mf-VLF. Now if I could just find a list of all the detectors on the market and then narrow it down to these, add waterproof - then I could maybe decide on one

I don't REALLY need waterproof but I WILL be in the water. I know the coils are waterproof but I'm always paranoid even using my F2 in 2 feet of water that I will drop it or get it splashed, etc.

And my budget may increase too. I'll know tomorrow.

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Anyone feel free to correct me if I am wrong but I believe your choices for (new) MF-VLF are....

MF-VLF detectors sorted by Manufacturer:
Bounty Hunter: NONE
Garrett: NONE
Teknetics: NONE
Tesoro: NONE
Fisher: CZ21, CZ3d
Minelab: Sovereign, Excallibur, Explorer, Safari, Etrac, CTX3030
Whites: Beach Hunter, DFX, Spectra


MF-VLF detectors sorted by # of Frequencies to compensate for salt/minerals:
28 - ML CTX
28 - ML Etrac
28 - ML Safari
28 - ML Explorer
17 - ML Excallibur
17 - ML Sovereign
3 -- Whites Spectra
2 -- Whites Beach hunter
2 -- Whites DFX
2 -- Fisher CZ21
2 -- Fisher CZ3d

MF-VLF detectors that are Factory Waterproof
ML CTX
ML Excallibur
Fisher CZ21
Whites BH
***FYI -- nearly any detector can be waterproofed. Search this forum for the keyword "sovzilla" if you want to get some info on such a DIY project.***

Note: the Sovereign was discontinued. Occasionally you can find a new one in shops....but pretty scarce.

You forgot at least 1...

What about the E-Trac?

robby4570 said:

What about the E-Trac?

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Shoot! How the heck did I forget that? I'll update!!!!

glen said:

Thanks guys for the replies. Feel free to keep em coming - I'll take all the advice I can get! I looked into the Excalibur II since it's VLF and can disc, (even though its out of my budget) and wouldn't mind having another dry land machine to compare my current one to, but wondering how much trash winds up getting dug with a PI machine? I assume you can learn the tones eventually and know what not to dig but I figure that would take a LOT of practice.

Click to expand...

Save up your money and don't go with a PI machine... especially for the wet sand because you will be cleaning the beach for others... its great in the water again as long as its relatively clean out there... one can do some discriminating by ear but its not foolproof... wire, sparkler sticks, nails can have a broken tone but so can a gold ring with an open back... big iron or aluminum can tops will sound huge close to the surface even if they aren't... you are better off with a dual or multi-frequency machine.

DnD said:

Anyone feel free to correct me if I am wrong but I believe your choices for (new) MF-VLF are....

MF-VLF detectors sorted by Manufacturer:
Bounty Hunter: NONE
Garrett: NONE
Teknetics: NONE
Tesoro: NONE
Fisher: CZ21, CZ3d
Minelab: Sovereign, Excallibur, Explorer, Safari, Etrac, CTX3030
Whites: Beach Hunter, DFX, Spectra


MF-VLF detectors sorted by # of Frequencies to compensate for salt/minerals:
28 - ML CTX
28 - ML Etrac
28 - ML Safari
28 - ML Explorer
17 - ML Excallibur
17 - ML Sovereign
3 -- Whites Spectra
2 -- Whites Beach hunter
2 -- Whites DFX
2 -- Fisher CZ21
2 -- Fisher CZ3d

MF-VLF detectors that are Factory Waterproof
ML CTX
ML Excallibur
Fisher CZ21
Whites BH
***FYI -- nearly any detector can be waterproofed. Search this forum for the keyword "sovzilla" if you want to get some info on such a DIY project.***

Note: the Sovereign was discontinued. Occasionally you can find a new one in shops....but pretty scarce.

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OMGosh I didn't expect all that! You guys are great! Actually I've been looking into the CZ21. Every review I've read on it have been positive. It's ironic you posted the # of frequencies used. One of the things I'm curious about is the difference between a detector that uses 2 frequencies and one that uses many more. If anyone has experiences with the CZ21 in water or out, salt or fresh I would love to hear it. Btw I did consider the waterproofing mod but am a little leery of it. Not of my craftsmanship but of one of the seals failing and I wind up with an expensive paperweight.

Cfmct said:

Save up your money and don't go with a PI machine... especially for the wet sand because you will be cleaning the beach for others... its great in the water again as long as its relatively clean out there... one can do some discriminating by ear but its not foolproof... wire, sparkler sticks, nails can have a broken tone but so can a gold ring with an open back... big iron or aluminum can tops will sound huge close to the surface even if they aren't... you are better off with a dual or multi-frequency machine.

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Agreed! On surf it is worth it to get the right detector! Even if you have to wait!

Who did I talk to?

I spoke with someone from here via text message a while back, probably September. He was trying to find me a good deal on a Fisher CZ21. Bad news is I broke my phone and can't find the message. Good news is I think I can afford one now. If you're here call or text (304) 673-5908.

Tesoro Sand Shark Metal Detector With 10.5" Coil

glen said:

Hey folks I haven't been on here for a while until recently when I decided to purchase a saltwater waterproof machine. The problem is: I have no idea what to get.

I purchased a Fisher F2 a while back at the advice of someone on here and it was a good choice. Easy to use, quick recovery between tones etc. I use it on dry land and in fresh water as deep as to the bottom of the box (3 feet or so).

Now I am looking for something waterproof to go a little deeper (chin deep or so) that would work in both salt and fresh water. Or at least in saltwater and in wet salty sand. I could still use my F2 on land if need be.

Problem is I can't devote days to just learning to use it so I need something fairly simple. Something good for finding rings and jewelry at least.

I would much rather get advice here than from dealers who will tell me theirs is the best no matter what they sell.

And budget - staying under $500 would be preferable!

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions.

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Glen,
In my opinion, the ease of operating and the salty beaches. I would recommend the Tesoro Sand Shark Metal Detector With 10.5" Coil
check out the description on my web page and what the Pulse induction can do for your treasure hunting. A little bit over your budget but finding a few rings should compensate the cost.

The famous Ron Lord from South Florida stated to me that PI is the way to go in salt water and he is an expert

glen said:

Hey folks I haven't been on here for a while until recently when I decided to purchase a saltwater waterproof machine. The problem is: I have no idea what to get.

I purchased a Fisher F2 a while back at the advice of someone on here and it was a good choice. Easy to use, quick recovery between tones etc. I use it on dry land and in fresh water as deep as to the bottom of the box (3 feet or so).


Now I am looking for something waterproof to go a little deeper (chin deep or so) that would work in both salt and fresh water. Or at least in saltwater and in wet salty sand. I could still use my F2 on land if need be.


Problem is I can't devote days to just learning to use it so I need something fairly simple. Something good for finding rings and jewelry at least.



I would much rather get advice here than from dealers who will tell me theirs is the best no matter what they sell.

And budget - staying under $500 would be preferable!

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions.

Click to expand...

I'm going to be ridiculed for this..but here goes.

A PI is going to drive you bonkers digging out iron and unless you want to approach the 1k price mark for a good waterproof multi or fbs a PI is generally your best choice.

(insert long story here) I was out detecting a older homesite on a rainy day so I grabbed my at gold with waterproof headphones. On my way home I swung by the beach to check for cuts in the sand as I like to do after big storms.

No cuts from the waves but what I did find was a huge runoff from a cliff that was pouring freshwater out to the ocean and cut all the way to the bedrock in a narrow appr. 3-5' channel.

Ive ran many detectors on the local beaches and the ones that do it best are multi frequ, fbs or PI's. The black sand is highly mineralized with chunks of magnetite and iron everywhere.

I inwardly cringed because all I had with me was my at gold. My at pro did marginally well at best with low sens on the wet sand here.

With nothing to lose I gave it a try and ended up being very surprised...That little at gold GB'd easily and I ran nearly full sens. Before I tired out I pulled out countless coins both old and new...the bedrock was littered with them. Best coin was a 64 .50cnt piece, several silver dimes, Wheaties and lots and lots of clad.

I thought about it a lot on the way home. The at pro is marketed as being able to balance to salt.. well, it does, barely. The at gold is marketed as not being able to balance in that environment which is very weird if you think about it as it is designed to be used in harsher environments (gold fields).

My personal thought? Garrett didn't realize how well it would do in salt water and if people did realize it why would they buy a MUCH more expensive ATX which was released not too long after the at gold when you could buy a cheaper machine that fared almost as well.

Just my conjecture..I have never used a ATX but I have used a lot of different detectors and I was so sure that the AT gold would not perform in that environment just based alone on what I had read, watched and was later regurgitated by others when passing along advice.

Hopefully this may give you an option and possibly some food for though. What you read is only as good as the person posting it. And I am not a sponsor or salesperson of any kind.

You can pick up a used at gold for close to your budget or maybe new from one of the forum sponsors.
GL,
Dave