Fresh water detector.....which one???

[Tired Rooster]

Interested in maybe getting a fresh water detector. The Tesoro Tiger Shark and the Fisher 1280 X are the two that are currently in budget. Only have ever used or owned land machines. I am fully aware of the Tesoro warranty. But I would be interested in any opinions on these two detectors. Their merits and their weaknesses. Any one that has or does use either machine??? Thank you.......TR

 

[larbear]

I have used a Fisher 1280X for 27 years. For 25 of those years, it was the only detector i owned, I still use it for freshwater wading. No experience with it in salt water. Excellent battery life, built like a tank, use it in the rain no worries, hip mount it or buy a chest harness for it if you don't like the weight. Overall good detector, might not be as sensitive to small gold compared to other machines. The good stuff from my last 6 wading hunts, 2 indian head pennies, 1 v nickel, 3 buff nickels, 1918 merc dime, no date SLQ, 1 small gold ring, 1 old pocket watch, 1 vintage lighter, 3 old local tokens. Had to dig a lot of trash for those. I usually run it at 3 discrim, if I go much lower than that, I hear practically everything, which may or may not be bad depending on your patience and style of hunting. GLHH

 

[mudpuppy]

This may help if you get the 1280...I also threaded a wide dive weight belt through the slots and wore this on my hip...it was comfortable and worked like a champ..I doubt anybody can swing the 1280 or the CZ21 with that box on the shaft for very long, unless they are diving...it is built like a tank, like Larbear said,..since you mentioned wading, you have to make (or buy) a waist or chest mount for the box.....'course the pics show a CZ20, but its the same idea.
Thats a plastic trolling motor battery box,...If I ever get another CZ21, I will do this again...right now my fresh water rig is an AtPro, in fact thats all I use it for, I supposed you already took a look at that one and discounted it from your group preference for some reason?...would like to know why?
Mud.

 

[GeorgeinSC]

I would give serious consideration to the Garrett At Pro. Only because of the outstanding customer service I received from them when my Pro Pointer failed.

 

[mudpuppy]

Yeah, me too Geo... If I was him, and wanted a fresh water heater...one will find the AtPro to be VERY hard to beat...and not only because of their customer service, which is exemplary, but the dang thing will NOT miss gold, if thats what a fellow seeks...besides, its a comfortable unit right out of the box a fellow can swing all day, and right in his price range, even with the waterproof headphones, not shillin', just sayin', I've got one myself, and cannot argue with its capabilities at all in the fresh....
Mud

 

[Ron Lord]

The Tesoro Tiger Shark go's deeper than the 1280 and the CZ-20 and has a life time Warranty . The A T PRO go's deeper like the Tiger shark ,but doesn't work good around Black sand. Just remember Customer service can't find Gold . I have own all 4 of these detectors and I use a Tiger shark and a sand shark for hunting Gold Rings.

 

[Tired Rooster]

Thanks very much for the information. I'm no closer to deciding between the two now than I was before.....LOL. I just can't make my mind up quite yet. I will continue to read up and study what I can in the mean time. Just when I think I want the 1280..........the Tiger Shark starts pulling on me.... The reason I don't consider the AT Pro is due to quality issues. I know it's a very popular machine but in my opinion it's quality control/build is rather poor. I think that's one reason why you hear as much about Garrett's excellent customer service as you do their machine itself.......

 

[Overvoltage]

I don't own an AT Pro, I have a CTX 3030, but my detecting partner does have an AT Pro. All I can say is I haven't found anything with my CTX 3030 yet that the AT Pro could not find. Don't get me wrong, I love my CTX, but don't count out the AT Pro. I am very impressed with his. He gets great performance and I have not seen any quality build issues with it. Seems very solid to me.

 

[Hank68]

Tiger shark is hard to beat , it has the depth and language of its own , I used it at gulf shores in the salt mode with no problem!

 

[Nauti]

It's a very hard decision for you,all the machines mentioned here will do a decent job.....it's a lot of money to spend only to find you have made the wrong choice.Not been able to decide is a good thing,it will give you time to do some more research, I would keep reading as much info as you can on the machines you are interested in and then decide.
You can see by the answers you have so far that people are having great success with all the machines mentioned so it may boil down to the weight,how they operate etc in the end.
Good luck with your choice.

 

[Tired Rooster]

Neil...you are right. I WILL purchase a water detector......but not before I mull it over for a little while. Heck!!! It's been freezing here anyway! The input from others is always helpful. I enjoy hearing what others use and like. Once again thank you guys. Any one wants to chime in, please do.............TR

 

[tarajudy]

I use fisher/ AT PRO / and Minelab. All I hunt is fresh water beaches/ some school yards. Take it from me all these detectors work great. Salt water beaches their ok wet sand/ dry sand no problem. I like the fisher 1280 the best no reason

 

[Fishers Ghost]

Remember that the 1280 is Fixed ground balance while the Tiger Shark has manual ground balance. The Tiger Shark will handle a wider range of ground mineral conditions than the 1280..

 

[glasartisan]

Why is everyone forgetting about the Detector Pro Head Hunter? I use one for beach hunting and of lately relic hunting at old water sites. It runs at around a 3 frequency and has uncanny sensitivity for low conductivity targets; gold, nickles, brass. I run the model with the 10 inch coil. You get great customer service with Gary over there. Remember the headphones can get wet but are not submersible. It has excellent depth on high conductor targets and very good sensitivity to small targets. I used to run a Tesoro Sting ray and also the newer tiger shark model. I believe for my fresh water conditions, the Head Hunter beats them both. Good luck in your decision, Steve