Metal Detecting Forum

Hello, new to the site, and fairly new to detecting. I am going to purchase a new detector, and my options are garrett at pro, garrett sea hunter mark ii, and the Tesoro sand shark. I live in Missouri, and am going to use it while boating on the Mississippi river on sand bars, beaches, etc. That being said, we also go down to florida for two weeks, and I would like to use it on the beaches there also. I don't scuba dive, but do snorkel, but it will mainly be used ON the beach, so maximum water depth is not an issue for me. I know the at pro will have limitiations on wet salt water sand, but would it be worth getting the sea hunter or sand shark, mainly for the benefit of the two week vacation? I know I cant have it all in one detector, but I only want to purchase one detector. Thank you for the opinions.

Of the three detectors you mention, the AT Pro is by far your best choice for an all around detector. If you relic or coin hunt in Missouri, the AT Pro excels at both types of detecting. While I am not experienced at any water detecting, I have watched numerous fresh water detecting videos of the AT and it usually works great in those scenarios. So far as salt water, it should to alright, but not like a multi frequency detector. The AT Pro is one of the best multi-purpose detectors on the market and it will not break the bank.

Thanks, The At pro is at the top of my list, but also I should throw in the mix the minilab equinox 600.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/2019 01:42PM by smalay.

I, too, would also throw the Equinox 600 into the mix. In fact, not having one, but do an A T Pro, I would go with the Nox as it does work great in salt water and wet sand and costs close tp the same as the A T Pro. Don't get me wrong, I really like the A T Pro, but not so much in a salt beech environment. HH jim tn

Rivers are full of trash and PI units, although useful, will not discriminate out rusty nails, bolts and washers...which may be in abundance in certain areas.

I agree that if buying new for water hunting, the Minelab Equinox, along with the Nokta/Makro units, are something to put at the top of the list as well.

Lighter weight and wireless, so you can use them land hunting for hours and hours. Being able to run at a higher frequency in the dry sand is a plus since that type of hunting can sniff out the smaller gold...along with all the aluminum foil and tabs as well. But that's the price we pay to find the gold in the dry sand and trashy areas.

Newly using the Anfibio Multi but beginning to realize perhaps was not the best choice. I liveaboard my boat on Vancouver Island pretty much year round voyaging the entire coast including islands. Today, first time using on the beach the AM could not settle down over regular looking sand interspersed with layers of black sand. Since most all of my detecting will be coastal coves, harbours and their beaches most all with black sands I am wondering what detector would be more suited. Reading Detector/Prospector forum I did see this written which seems to infer even PI machines may not work with black sands.

"I find the fine coatings of black sand to be the most difficult no matter if I use a multi frequency or a PI." (Detector Prospector)

Thank you in advance....

I'm living about 20 miles inside the Oregon border from Idaho. I mainly hunt rangeland and mountainous ghost towns and similar older-use places which puts me far from a salt water coastal environment, however, I used to live in Portland Oregon and made periodic trips to the very iron mineralized coast at Seaside and other locations. I haven't been able to get my Anfibio Multi to a coastal beach yet, and might not until summer arrives and I adventure westward, but I am sure it will handle it fine.

Which mode were you using? What was the GB setting number? How much Discrimination were you using? And which Frequency did you want to hunt in?

I remember hitting the beach about 10-15 years ago with White's Classic III SL and IDX Pro models that had Bill Crabtree's modifications to give me manual GB ability, and those models had a full-range (ED-180 or All Metal Accept capability) Discrimination adjustment. There were some local fellows who mostly used Fisher CZ's to work the beach and we did some comparisons which left them surprised. I set the detector at the minimum Disc. that would accept ALL metal targets, ferrous and non-ferrous. Then I adjusted the manual GB for the highest concentrations of black sands at the beach. Once the dryer sand with intense iron minerals had been taken care of, I moved to water's edge and found some holes that were filled with the lower-conductive wet salty water.

There I bobbed the search coil from about 6" down to an inch above the water in the Disc. mode and listened to the response from the conductive salt. While bobbing the coil I very slowly increased the Discrimination just to the point where I rejected the low-conductive salt response. The Ground was handled. The wet salt water and wetted sand was handled. I hunted away and, in many side-by-side comparisons on located targets, I have the better response.

I've used this technique with several different makes and models of VLF Discriminators with success. I have used other Nokta and Makro models on the beach without much of a problem so I figure the Anfibio Multi should be able to do okay as well.

Monte

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"Your EYES ... the only 100% accurate form of Discrimination!"
Stinkwater Wells Trading Post
Metal Detector Evaluations and Product Reviews monte@ahrps.org ... or ... monte@stinkwaterwells.com 503-481-8147Fisher: F-44, Nokta-Makro: FORS CoRe and FORS Relic, Tesoro: Bandido II µMAX and Silver Sabre µMAX, White's: XLT, XP: ORXKiller B's 'Hornet' and White's 'Pro Star'Note: Detectors are listed alphabetically by Brand. Models are chosen based on search site conditions.*** All working well today to make memories for tomorrow. ***

Not to insult anyone, but I would forget about the AT pro. I used to own one. They are heavy (built like a tank, actually). And they are not all that good for finding things. I found a lot of Bobby pins with mine.
There are better detectors on the market now.
I would suggest that you look at an Equinox or an MMK. Especially an MMK.

It you're finding bobby pins you don't have the disc. set high enough

The AT-Pro is an excellent detector and price is also good. Other than being a little on the heavy side the only problem is the salt water beaches. You have to ground balance very low on the wet sand to find targets and you lose considerable depth. In the salt water is even worse.

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Minelab Sovereign GT With an assortment of coils
Garrett Pro Pointer
Leche digging tool
Minelab Excalibur II
T-Rex 9.5 wet sand scoop