Good mercy whats the favorite water detector:shrug:

[C.J.M.]

Been up and down trying to find a good decent beach detector ,but cannot find enough feedback on any of the water detectors to invest in one (used).It would have to be a salt water detector for sure,but do not want to pay arm and a leg for oneJust a simple simon kind of detector that has had a good reputation on both fresh & salt water for a starter.Brand is no problem but reliability is a must getting to old to start chasing problems.What I keep hearing mostly one detector works great on fresh water but not on salt water,and vise versaI live close to the gulf of mexico ,lots of beach areas.Appreicate some help guys for this old-timer--james

 

[akbell]

Take a look at the Headhunter Wader, Been using mine for 4 yrs now. Great nit light weight as the electronics are built into the head phones.
Great salt water unit. I am on the Gulf coast of Fl.

 

[surfman]

If you are going to be mostly salt water beach hunting, in the water, then I would look for a good used Excalibur. They do come up from time to time. For the salt beaches you really need multi-frequency, single freq. detectors just cant handle the salt. The Excal is a very tough unit and the things that can fail are easily fixed. I actually have three right now. I also have a CTX and an ATpro. The Excal's the only one to hit the beach. The Excal will also work in fresh water beaches. If you only plan on dry sand hunting then you can get away with single freq but here on the East Coast the depth is less. Good luck with whatever you get. And remember to get a good strong scoop.

 

[dewcon4414]

For the price dont undersell the CZ20 either. Cant really say there is a water machine you wont have issues with if you hunt a lot. Most of us who have the KNOWN issues with a machine use the heck out of um. I have Xcals.......modified ones, so you can put a good amount in one. If you are looking at an Xcal i highly recommend the Blue ones..... very reliable and smoother.

 

[8720roger]

I own three detectors and my favorite is the at pro from garret you ca go from dry sand to wet to water once you get to know your detector and it won't rape your pocket book.good luck in finding your perfect machine.

 

[joe69]

depends if your looking for a vf or a pi machine . both have + and _ .pulse no id so got to learn sounds and dig all , vf alittle user friendly but depends on water type could drive you nuts with noise

 

[WaterWalker]

There is NO one detector that can "do it all". I have 11 detectors and some dozen accessory coils.
PIs, single, dual and BBS frequency detectors. Each one combined with a coil is chosen for any given area / environmental conditions / anticipated target.

The closest go anywhere detector go anywhere detector I would have to say is the Excaibur with the 10 inch coil. If you plan on dirt digging then the 8 inch coil might have a slight advantage especially in a trashy area. The Excalibur has the advantages of its iron mask, multi-frequency BBS which allows salt and fresh water detecting, volume control, sensitivity control, "all metal" mode, auto ground balance. rechargeable battery pack, hip mountable are all pros, Cons: headphones and coils are not user interchangeable.

All detectors are electronic devices that see a lot of harsh use...in the water, wood, their cables pulled and stretched, their controls either pushed or turned, battery doors opened and closed, O-rings pinched, cleaned, and grease. With all this going on every detector is subject to the need for repair. I personally hold Garrett is high esteem in the realm of customer service. Now that Kellyco has taken on the repair of Minelab, I understand they are also great in handling repairs / modification of Excaliburs.

There are many posts with subject matter on specific detector and some comparisons. Use the SEARCH feature on the forum and you will probably find what you area looking for. Your local dealer would also be a great source of information.

Good luck in choosing your detector. You are on the edge of a great hobby. Enjoy every swing.

 

[Nauti]

If you want to take saltwater beach detecting seriously then you can rule out single frequency detectors straight away.There are a couple of single frequency detectors that will do a decent job such at the at pro and whites m6,but for the deeper targets you will need either dual or multi frequency as mentioned above.
Also,a fully waterproof machine is the most sensible option as saltwater does'nt mix well with electronics.
With these points in mind,there are a number of options available from minelab,fisher and whites,all are good machines so I would suggest you read as much info as possible on all the relevant models and see which one you think best suits your needs.
All the best.