New Fors Relic user

[Silver Pirate]

Hello all... I have been detecting nearly 40 years. Started when I was 12-14 years old. I have had countless units over the years. About a year ago I started researching my next machine. I looked at what was in production at the time that had the features that I wanted. It ultimately came down to the Fors Core and Relic. After a month or two I decided on the Relic because of the extra search modes and that the Relic gave the depth in Inches. Then I got busy with work and I set everything on the back burner. Night after night I watched every single YouTube video I could find on the Relic (seems like about 400 videos HAaha). When it came time to pull the trigger and buy it, I called Stevie Ray at KellyCo. The only Relic they had was a Demo. Has it been replaced (or halted) because of the Anfibio?? So, it seems that all my research was flushed down the drain because of the Anfibio, and I also gave more serious thought to the Impact. I liked the Anfibio because of the multi-freq. The Impact is an awesome machine, and I like that the cable is inside the shaft as I tend to relic hunt in the woods and this would keep the cable from getting snagged on a tree limb. Then I remembered something that a former boss told me - it's the "80/20" rule... He said when you buy something, buy it because you will use 80% of the features, and will learn the 20% over time. With that in mind I decided against the Anfibio (at this time) because I have no intention of taking it underwater because I have other machines for that. The Impact may well be my next machine, but at this time it is way more than what I need. So I came full circle back to the Relic. I bought the Demo model from KellyCo (with 11x7 coil, and the 5"), at a humongous savings. It arrived 4 days ago. It is a work of art!!! I absolutely love it. If it was a demo model, it didnt even leave the building. It was flawless. I have been collecting some of the program settings I am seeing on this forum (posted by Monte) and I will be using it for the first time this week. I will report back with my thoughts on the machine and pics of my finds.

I am looking forward to talking more with you guys and becoming a part of the community. I live in Mississippi by the way.

 

[Druid]

Hi Silver,

I believe you will really like the Relic. It has been discontinued but that doesn't make it any less of a machine.
The Relic is a good all around unit with some real field performance it can do many types of hunting effectively and it is a fairly simple machine to get to know.
I recently bought an Impact but the capable FORS Relic ain't going anywhere. You might want to grab an elliptical concentric coil from the FORS Gold as well while still available, solid bottom good for stubble, etc.Look forward to your posts.
Cheers,
Drew.

 

[Silver Pirate]

Thanks Drew... Yes, I have that coil in my sights already. And yes, I fully understand about the field stubble. A few of my permissions are cotton fields. I can't understand why manufacturers dont make a solid coil cover that can go on webbed coils. I would buy one for every coil I have. Nothing more irritating that your swing getting interrupted by stubble.

 

[Druid]

Amen to that.
Those solid elliptical coils have a place, great for poking under brush and other obstructions.
Guess that is why so many gold prospecting machines have always come with them.

 

[dfmike]

Hi Silver,

I believe you will really like the Relic. It has been discontinued but that doesn't make it any less of a machine.
The Relic is a good all around unit with some real field performance it can do many types of hunting effectively and it is a fairly simple machine to get to know.
I recently bought an Impact but the capable FORS Relic ain't going anywhere. You might want to grab an elliptical concentric coil from the FORS Gold as well while still available, solid bottom good for stubble, etc.Look forward to your posts.
Cheers,
Drew.

Drew, do you mean the concentric from the FORS Gold Plus ? The FORS Gold was running at 15 kHz just like the CoRe. The Gold Plus is running at 19 kHz just like the Relic.

 

[Druid]

Yeah, that is the one Mike. The white FORS Gold + coil.
Thanks for pointing that out, my bad. Always a good idea to confirm with dealer that the unit and coil are compatible.
Test driving my new one tomorrow.
Cheers,
Drew.

 

[Monte]

You could have chosen the FORS CoRe which I can attest to be an excellent performer afield. I still have my original CoRe w/'OOR' DD mounted and a 2nd CoRe w/5X9½ DD open-frame coil mounted. One is a regular traveler in my vehicle and the 2nd is at-the-ready on my den wall detector display. I also now have my FORS Relic w/5" DD on the back seat as well, and the 2nd Relic with it's 5X9½ open-frame coil is on the wall in my den. I've outfitted myself with two other duplicate models I enjoy using to have on-hand to keep one of them in the rig and the 'back-up' in the den. Also in my den are my single-specimen devices that I select as desired for various multi-day detecting jaunts or other special needs.

In addition I have an Accessory Coil Tote to keep any extra search coils mounted on spare lower rods and ready to switch to should they be needed. Most of the time I am Relic Hunting very iron challenged sites, nails, rusty tin and more, and the smaller coils serve me quite well in the debris and work in and around brush and building rubble, also. The Relic provides ample useful adjustment features and lacks a lot of excess 'fluff' to tinker with. I own 13 detectors. That's 9 different models and 4 of those have duplicates that I keep at-the-ready in my vehicle to have on-hand and available should I chance upon a site and opportunity to get some detecting in.

As I stated, most, like about 95%, of my detecting happens when I am working very littered sites so smaller-size coils rule. In modestly littered sites that are a bit more open, I prefer a mid-sized search coil, such as the 5X9½ DD open-frame coils on keep on my #2 CoRe and #2 Relic. Very seldom do I mount and use a standard 7X11 DD which stays at-the-ready in my tote.

Even though he 5X9½ DD is an open-frame design, I haven't had much of an issue with snagging in brushy and dense weed environments. The larger and more open coils can be more of an issue. If you are interested in a solid-body search coil for the Relic, my strong suggestion is to find the 5½X10 Concentric. When I got the prototype that was renamed Relic for production, I had both the 5½X10 DD and Concentric coils and gave them equal time afield. No doubt about it, the Concentric coil was my preferred choice.

Back to the 'snagging' issue. If you're just an urban Coin Hunter it's very seldom to be an issue, but if you use the standard coil for hunting in woods or other brushy environments, you could consider a solid coil cover for the 7X11 DD. I have a brand new solid coil cover in my Accessory Coil Tote that I will never use because I seldom us a 7X11 unless it is in a grassy park or sports field so I don't need it.

I have several detectors that are a little lighter weight than my CoRe and Relic devices, but these are still some of the best balanced detectors I have ever used. If you've been enjoying the sport for almost 40 years then there's a chance you might have used some of those earlier faster-motion type detectors. I know several people who got started back in the early '80s to early '90s and they used those types and developed a bad habit. That was trying to cover as much ground as possible using broad side-to-side sweeps and that meant extending the rod so the search coil was way out there. That causes poor search coil presentation and poor overlapping coverage, not to mention more fatigue.

Savvy detectorists, and I'm sure you've developed this technique, learned that it is better to have more coil control, use shorter-length side-to-side sweeps, and keep the search coil closer on a shorter rod extension. Generally a search coil should be worked about 8"-12" or so in front of your leading toe and maintain a coil-to-ground height of ±2" with a standard coil and maybe ±1" with a smaller coil. My 2 CoRe and 2 Relic units have the lower rod adjusted to the shortest length when using the 5" DD or the 5X9½ mid-size DD coils, and I used to stand 6' but age and back issues have me just a bit shorter and slumped. If I were healthier like in my younger days of detecting I might use either the shortest or next-to-shortest rod length setting.

It's 3:30 AM and I have my four ready-to-go detectors in my rig, to include my CoRe and Relic, and I'll be heading out when it's daylight for some ghost town hunting where I'll appreciate the Relic's Iron Audio Volume with the dense debris areas and superb performance. Now, all I need to do is find a worthy target and get the coil over it.

Best of success to you with the Relic.

Monte

 

[Silver Pirate]

Thanks Monte.... Yes, if you have a solid cover for the 11x7 that you don't need, I will gladly buy it from you. I'd say that 80% of my hunting is in the woods just outside of Civil War battles areas trying to pick up bullets that missed their intended targets, or some of their camping grounds. I cant tell you how many times I wind up in the bush.

You are right about the shorter shafts. I have friends that like the longer shafts because they say that it gives them more travel and can sweep a larger area. I keep my coil about were you said, about a foot past my toe. Sometimes I feel as though I am going to step on the back of my coil, hahaha.

Another bad habit I see people doing is trying to cover too much ground quickly. Walking way too fast so that they have gaps in their sweeps as much as a foot. That's crazy. You might miss some great finds simply because you are in too much of a hurry to discover great finds. Know what I'm saying? I tend to walk slow, almost one foot in front of the other like heel-to-toe. You don't have to cover your entire permission in one day, unless of course they only gave you a one day permission. Enjoy the day, take in some fresh air, and slow down!!

 

[u2robert]

The Relic and 5" coil for me is unbeatable love it.

 

[Silver Pirate]

The Relic and 5" coil for me is unbeatable love it.

I agree. I went out with it yesterday and was very impressed!!