Safari Evaluation

[shorty2]

I have owned my Safari for one year. Here is my opinion on it. First I had to send it back and the service was excellent. The first thing I found with my Safari was a 1907 Barber dime at 11"-depth excellent. Learned the tones in little time so learning time excellent. The things I do not like about the Safari is the processor time is so slow, if you hunt a new park or after concert etc, where you are just coin shooting (clad) it is way to slow. Example my Whites XLT will cover more ground and find more coins at about a three to one rate. Warranty is only for one year, my Tesoro u-max is lifetime and half the cost. I really believe that if I go as slow with either my tesoro or XLT it will go as deep as my Safari. Final-the Safari is a good detector but not a one thousand dollar detector. Shorty2

 

[Onus]

I agree with the too slow. Minelab claims to have a much faster processor in the Safari (equates to faster recovery time), but I find it hard to believe. Mine has to be hunted really slow, much slower than what I have been use to (Garrett. Tesoro, and BH ). And I also agree about the depth. The depth is excellent, probably deeper than any of the afore mentioned. I had a very difficult time learning all the many tones and still have some trouble with it after six months. Everyone who loves the Safari has told me just to stick with it and it will get easier, or maybe I'll learn to use it easier, but I am not all that thrilled thus far. I will have to say I have dug more deep junk than with any of the other detectors! But I am not giving up just yet. I have one more good hunt coming up and we'll see how it turns out. Onus

 

[jspeedy]

I dig more coins (clad and goodies) than I dig junk. Why? Listen and learn the tones. Go slow in junk areas. I know the sound of a IH and don't always trust the VID. Nothing I have found sounds like silver but silver.

 

[Paul (IL)]

If you really want to see how fast the processor can be just turn off the discriminator so it quits going quiet on junk and then you can hear how quickly it can jump from one target to the other. It seems to me that I can find coins right next to iron that I would otherwise not find. I hunt like this in so called hunted out areas and can usually find more good targets next to iron and other junk.
Just my experiences though.

 

[shorty2]

When I was refering to slow processor I didn't mean response time. I know the detector can find good stuff next to junk. I was refering to the speed at which you must swing the detector to cover an area. (My experence 4-5 seconds one way), my other detectors one or two. In area where I'm looking for deep treasure this is a good thing but when looking for newely lost clad this is far ro slow. One more thing-the Safari is very heavy a swingy thingy should be used with it. Shorty2. Another comment I have found certain types of wine bottle caps and rusty square nails that sounded and gave a 38 same as silver.

 

[jspeedy]

If you guys were to move from the Safari which direction would you go? My biggest problem with my Safari is that it's not balanced well. It takes it's toll on my back and wrist. I will eventually part with my Safari and have considered the E-Trac but I assume it is balanced the same. The Safari is the best machine I have used and I don't want to downgrade.

 

[Paul (IL)]

Over the years I have hunted with a lot of different detectors and after a little while they all seem to require a bionic arm to keep swinging them. Way back when they were really heavy it was not hard to find hip mount hardware to work on about anything but I don't see much of it available now days. I personally think my Safari is a little better on my arm that my explorer II was. I don't even know what the weight comparison is but it just seems a little better balanced. My 2 pennies.

 

[shorty2]

I know that a minelab user has a hard time leaving minelab, but if health reasons are a must then I would try a Tesoro. (I use a golden u-max). They are very light and a relief on my arm and shoulder after hours with my Safari. I have most of the coils for the u-max and change them in trashy-clean envorments. This is the biggest drawback from the Safari. Shorty2

 

[jspeedy]

Thanks Shorty2. How does the golden umax compare to the Safari in speed and seperation?

 

[psyvad]

If you want a detector that's easy to swing (light with great balance) with fast recovery speed and great depth, the F75 is the one. Since the F75 ltd. has just been released, you'll be able to pick up a used one in great condition for $500-$600, which is a fantastic deal. I paid for my used Safari with rings I found with the F75. I like the Safari, but when my arm starts feeling sore after swinging for awhile or I want to hunt fast, I use the F75.

 

[comcat]

hiya,,i dont know how the safari measures up in separation speed to the tesoro,but in terms of separation speed in relation to my sov. g t its lightning fast,,,still fooled by large or deep iron,but you can hold a large nail in your hand along with a small gold hammered coin or silver coin and the machine will sound off,drop the coin and the machine will stay quiet,,,the gt however cant do that, and if your unlucky enough to come across a target in that environment,then your gonna lose it,but its an AWESOME machine in its own right and works everywhere very well,and its takes a lot to beat what it can find in all environments and at great depth, inclluding salt wet and black type sands,,but again you got to go slow over nail infested ground(which is its worst environment) with the iron mask on,,i believe most other minelabs have used the g,t, as a benchmark and if there are improvements ,,they will be small,but just buy a tesoro or another make of your choice to use on the naily areas, as its better and less expensive than selling your favourite machine to buy the upgrade and finding it aint that much better than the last one,plus you dont have a spare machine anymore??,,,HORSES FOR COURSES,,,best-o-luck lads,,rgds

 

[shorty2]

Agree the Safari is the best machhine I have used in seperation speed (I call it recovery speed). In weight swing the Tesoro is liighter and easier to use for long periods of time. I find that I have to fo to a smaller coil to get between the nails I even go to a 4" hockey puck. I find a the end of the day my elbow and shoulder are less stressed. I would say I have to work a little longer but find as much with a tesoro as my safari. The u-max is strickly a tone machine no numbers, once you get use to them the machineworks great. Like I said the recovery time isn't as fast as the Safari you will have to change coils. On just clad coins you can go very fast you don't need the slow swing you need on the Safari. Service on both machines has been great. Safari only has one year warranty Tesoro lifetime. If you can keep both machines.Shorty2

 

[Onus]

Just reading back over some "old" posts. I guess am not understanding the difference between separation speed and recovery speed. When I say slow, I mean that the coil is often already past the target before it sounds off. That is what makes me have to slow way down when hunting with my Safari. The second instance I am refering to is as an example, you are moving the coil at a moderate speed and you hit a weaker one direction silver tone, say that registers a 38. But before you can stop your swing you hit another hard silver tone but it registers 37 which on my machine is usually a penny. Well, then you swing back hoping to get the moderate 38 silver tone to sound off both ways, but the machine is now stuck on the solid 37 tone. It may take several seconds to locate the moderate 38 silver tone again because all you can register is the 37. But if you stick with it you can usually find the 38 tone again but it takes time for the machine to reset and pick it up again. Sometimes I find the moderate 38 tone and sometimes I don't. If I do , it is usually a deep dime, but often I just cannot find it again. It's as if the 37 penny tone has blocked it out. Am I making sense? Speak to me. Onus

 

[Sky1]

My Safari came with a three year warranty. I purchased it just a few weeks ago.

Don't know about parks but I met another hobbyist at the beach the other week who just got his back from Whites service department and wanted to compare my brand new Safari to his Whites. The Safari clearly had more depth, he was not able to detect any of the deep targets I pinpointed for him.

Also I haven't noticed any masking problems, are sure you are not talking about a Quattro?

 

[Onus]

Guess I wasn't making sense? Onus

 

[morelic55]

With the few times I have been out with the Safari, if you can tolerate all metal mode, it has great recovery speed and less nulling............MO

 

[Sky1]

Are you talking about a copper plated zinc penny Onus? Cause those are sometimes 37 sometimes 38, must be right on the threshold. If you put the detector in low trash density mode the VDI will be much more stable but new pennies do alternate on me as well. I also have noticed that on coins that sandwich various alloys the tone wavers a bit as well.

Although I am just a newbie, I would not try to block out 37s. These numbers can vary a bit as the soil changes, the depth of the target, and what other materials are adjacent to them. I run pretty much factory presets and discriminate by how it sounds to my ear. I then look at the display after I have already made the determination that I am going to dig the target anyway.