St Bernard
New member
Interested in a Safari. What if any are the PROS & CONS of this detector?? I would like to have an E-Trac but out of my price range. Feedback appreciated Thanks
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SAFARI PROS & CONS ???
- Thread starter St Bernard
- Start date
Wheat Cent
New member
Go ahead and get yourself a safari, i was in the same boat as you and found a pretty much used once safari with all the warranty for $520 with rechargeable battery and covers.It will find silver just as good as a Etrac or CTX, it just needs to be swung a little slower to really find the deep silver targets.
i love mine
i love mine
Personally, I wouldn't go eTrac. FINE detector, but go either lowest $ FBS or top FBS imo. (and that's what I did)
Safari is the best silver hound I have ever used. Period. I miss that flutey tone on my CTX (which still finds the silver just as well).
Safari = slower response, so slower swing as Wheat Cent said.
Safari not as programmable (discrimination wise) as its more expensive brother FBSs.
Safari = No grid screen. Now before everybody's cousin starts lying that "I don't look at a screen, I go solely by sounds", I agree that you need to hunt primarily by sounds. BUT in my hunt area (planet Earth) it isn't always clear precise tones like they have in Unicorn Land and a FBS screen helps A LOT in deciphering those borderline/iffy signals. Depriving your brain of information to prove your manhood is not just silly, its stupid. Information = Power.
Safari = not waterproof. Carry a plastic bag in case you get caught out in the rain.
CTX has Target Trace which imo is worth the extra price over an eTrac. But that's me. Sooooo much info in that feature.
Since I learned the CTX, my knowledge of what my Safari was trying to tell me has exploded. Target Trace is a gold mine of info.
My advice, based on your price range, is get the Safari and get it soonest. I don't know your experience level, but after over a decade away from the hobby, it took me about 50 hours on my Safari for something to click in my brain where I started to understand my machine. Yes, its a turn on and go machine pretty much, but to master it will take some work. And that's probably pretty true with any metal detector.
Safari is the best silver hound I have ever used. Period. I miss that flutey tone on my CTX (which still finds the silver just as well).
Safari = slower response, so slower swing as Wheat Cent said.
Safari not as programmable (discrimination wise) as its more expensive brother FBSs.
Safari = No grid screen. Now before everybody's cousin starts lying that "I don't look at a screen, I go solely by sounds", I agree that you need to hunt primarily by sounds. BUT in my hunt area (planet Earth) it isn't always clear precise tones like they have in Unicorn Land and a FBS screen helps A LOT in deciphering those borderline/iffy signals. Depriving your brain of information to prove your manhood is not just silly, its stupid. Information = Power.
Safari = not waterproof. Carry a plastic bag in case you get caught out in the rain.
CTX has Target Trace which imo is worth the extra price over an eTrac. But that's me. Sooooo much info in that feature.
Since I learned the CTX, my knowledge of what my Safari was trying to tell me has exploded. Target Trace is a gold mine of info.
My advice, based on your price range, is get the Safari and get it soonest. I don't know your experience level, but after over a decade away from the hobby, it took me about 50 hours on my Safari for something to click in my brain where I started to understand my machine. Yes, its a turn on and go machine pretty much, but to master it will take some work. And that's probably pretty true with any metal detector.
Hope I don't catch any slack over this,but I have a etrac now.I had a safari,sold it because of the weight but just missed fbs performance....No safaris were available used,so I went with a used etrac.Truth is,I liked my safari more.i think the horsepower is the same in both machines,and the safari is easier to setup,it's hard to set it up wrong.My only wish is that the safari had a backlight,I nighthunt a lot...cons of a safari,not so much of any.
Wheat Cent
New member
petew said:
i agree on the backlight
but yeah cant go wrong, its a deep accurate detector, and i have never looked back or even at any other machine since getting mine. Its just a breeze to useI agree with you KinTn I hit a yard this week that the sounds were all over. A high pitch mixed in with a low pitch or then no sound at all. I looked at the screen and the numbers were all over the place but good numbers. Picked up a Silver quarter at 9 to 10 inches. So I proceeded to dig a number of times like this. Most all were good targets at deeper depths.
Can the Safari discriminate beer bottle caps(rusty and new) right out? I know the Etrac will block them out but I saw a Safari Youtube video and the beer cap was a high tone coming in at 33-34. That's close to penny and silver dime territory isn't it? Can it handle beer bottle caps as well as the Etrac?
Wheat Cent
New member
cashmole said:
no, and no other machine can. The etrac cant block them out because you would lose a large list of potential targets by doing so. On the safari, Zincs are 32-33,34-37 copper,38 dimes or silver,39 silver, 40 usually iron or trash. Those are where items are hitting for me in soil with a decent amount of mineralization.
Wheat Cent said:
Since using my Safari I'm finding that rusty beer caps are coming in as a 14-15 and I can block them out. I have dug very few and only for curiosity's sake to learn all the numbers. But if I notch 14-15 out I don't dig any..very happy about this when I'm silver hunting.
Wheat Cent
New member
cashmole said:
What are nickels coming in at for you? Ive really only found them by luck safari doesnt seem to be as strong a nickel machine as something like a CZ-3D.
Champ Ferguson
New member
I wouldn't block out 14,15. I've seen too many nickels come in at 14. What I do with my Safari it to leave 11-15 open and then just not dig any 15s unless they are REALLLY tantalizing.
And if the etrac can block out all metal bottle screw caps yet leave coins open, it can do something my CTX cant do.
And if the etrac can block out all metal bottle screw caps yet leave coins open, it can do something my CTX cant do.
Simpsonslammer
Active member
Personally I would never notch out 14-15. I've found a lot of war nickels in this range, and some gold too. Most of my older nickels come in at 13
Goldstrike
Well-known member
Yep, I also wouldn't notch out 14-15. This 14K ring that I detected a year ago last January came in at 15 so you may be missing gold rings if you notch out those numbers!
We don't have many war nickels here in Toronto. I have found one last year. Bottle caps were coming in at 14-15 and in most places that I'm hunting older silver coins I don't want to hear the caps. Yeah I will be missing gold but I will go back later once I have found all the silver and open up my disc and dig for gold.
Champ Ferguson said:
I very rarely dug any beer bottle caps with my Etrac and same with my Safari and I can still hear a penny or a silver coin. I'm hunting silver coins mainly so I only have 30-39 open on the disc. So far after 3 weeks or so of hunting I'm at 24 silver coins with the oldest this year being a 1918.
Champ Ferguson
New member
Sod, do you even have targets below that depth? Heavy clay and especially rocks can retard and even stop the sinking of dropped objects.