Safari vs X-Terra 70(5)

[David]

I went back 5 pages on this Safari/Quattro Forum and did not find a head to head comparison thread between these 2 metal detectors. So I will post one here.

I have the X-Terra 70, some people have the 705. I would like to hear from someone who either owns both, used both, or even just heard about the Safari vs X-Terra 70 or 705. No matter how very brief the info you provide is. Thank you.

 

[Mtnmn]

I too would like to know how well the two detectors compare to each other because of considering going from an X-T 70 with 3 coils to a Safari, but if there's not that much to be gained, then what would be the use?

 

[jspeedy]

I have owned both and put many hours on the machines.
The safari is a FBS machine where as the x-70 is a single frequency (unless you change the coils).
The safari will go a few inches deeper with out changing coils.
I found the safari separated better.
The Safari comes with a pro coil.
The x-70 is lighter.
The x-70 uses less batteries and gets more life on those batteries.
The x-705 has a back light and the Safari does not.
The x-70 has prospecting mode.
The Safari can take a probe (X-1).
I found much more with the safari than the x-70
I own an E-Trac now

I hope this helped

 

[David]

Thanks jspeedy, what I have read and not found out first hand is:
S---stands for Safari X---stands for X-Terra 70(5)

=>The S is a slower sweep machine(like all FBS and BBS units). The X in Coin & Treasure Mode can cover much more ground in a day.
=>The S(like all FBS and BBS units) is much deeper 'wet' saltwater sand.
=>The X finds small gold(up to about 3/16" surface area--about 1 gram) much better than the S. I contacted Minelab, and that is why BBS and FBS machines are not recommended for gold prospecting as they are not as good at finding very small sub-gram nuggets as single frequency(being 18.75--20 kHz) machines are better at this. But for gold nuggets bigger than about 1 gram the BBS and FBS machines will work well.
=>The S(like all FBS and BBS units) has trouble with very small, very fine gold link chains. For normal sized bigger gold link chains the S does good on them.
=>The S(like all FBS and BBS units) has about the same depth as the X in black dirt and sod, but the S goes a little bit deeper in moderate mineralized soils and rocks, but the the goldfield heavy iron mineralization in Prospecting Mode the X does better than the S.
=>The S(like all FBS and BBS units) works a bit better in iron trash.
=>The S(like all FBS and BBS units) has a bit stronger discrimination than the X.

Most of these come down to FBS and BBS vs X-Terra 70(5).

(Very basically, as most all of you already know, the fixed-shaft Safari(FBS) has a TID screen, the hip-mountable Sovereign GT(BBS) does not. The E-Trac has a 2 number conductive--ferrous system, the Safari only has 1 number.)

Also this is what someone wrote about the X-Terra 70:

DEPTH
This detector goes as deep as the expensive models (Explorer Quattro Sovereign) in dry beach sand, all soils, but does not go nearly as deep in damp beach sand because of the salt effect. Especially when set in prospecting mode, it will easily pick up very fine jewelry and tiny nuggets that the others (Explorer Quattro Sovereign) won't even beep on. On the goldfield, it will detect deeper than any of the above, especially on small nuggets.

DISCRIMINATION
Is adequate for 99% of users. Only the Explorer series will discriminate better but the Xterra 70 is much simpler to use.
It has 3 discrimination modes or patterns that can be used factory pre-set or customized by the user to set their needs.

HANDLING
All the Xterra series may look light, small and unimpressive compared to their big Minelab brothers but thats what makes them a featherweight that any little lady or kid could swing for hours on end.



Hope this helps a bit, I have an X-Terra 70 and I have never operated a Safari, does anyone have anything else to add to this, no matter how brief ? Thanks!

 

[morelic55]

OK David, I have the Safari, only had it for about a month now so the jury is still out on it as a RELIC machine. From my perspective, it's gonna have to prove to me it is the same in performance as the 705. So far, I think it could be a killer coin machine. In ALL METAL the Safari has pretty good recovery, not quite as fast as the Xterra, but close. On the Safari, the more discrimination you use, the more nulling of the threshold you get, thus a little more time recovering from a ferrous or trash target. Put your 705 in pattern one and run it, you hear the iron blanking, or nulling the threshold as you sweep over the ground. If you run either detector i all metal, you will hear all targets, the Safari will low tone on the Iron just like the 705. If you run the 705 in 99 tone, all metal, it is kinda what the Safari sounds like. I find myself taking both machines to hunt with, but still use the 705 for 90% of the time, at least at well known relic sites. I also am having to get use to the Pro Coil, as I find it harder to pin point with than the 10.5 DD 705 coil. I am completely confortable with the 705, maybe I should take the batteries out of it, hang it up on the wall for awhile and really concentrate on the Safari

 

[David]

1) I mostly want to know about the Safari's TID screen, the numbers themselves, and also accuracy of those numbers. Is the Safari's TID screen more surgical than the X-Terra 70(5)'s ? (Accuracy of the Safari's TID screen compared to the X-Terra 70(5)'s TID, and also compared to the E-Trac's 2 number system.)

2) Both the X-Terra 70(5) and Safari handle small iron well. But the X-terra 70 does 'not' handle larger iron peices well and shows them as good targets. How is the Safari working larger pieces of iron, does it show them as good targets ?

morelic55, thanks for that good rundown! Sorry I did not read your post unit after I posted this. Then I had to 'Edit' then return to write this. Yes it sounds like the Safari is a different animal than the X-Terra 70(5), it takes a different way of thinking and a different approach. Later on, after you use it more I would like to hear more from you on a comparison. But it does help on what you have said so far.

 

[Sky1]

I have the Safari and my friend has the Xterra 70. Is there anything I could maybe video and show you?

Suppose we could go over the same target with both machines and compare maybe?

 

[morelic55]

Sky, that would be a excellent idea!!! Say maybe a hunt in the wild and then dig the target. I would be interested in sone relic shots.....MO

I have the Safari and my friend has the Xterra 70. Is there anything I could maybe video and show you?

Suppose we could go over the same target with both machines and compare maybe?

 

[Sky1]

ok, give me a week or so. We got some bad weather hear that is putting a hamper on our weekly detecting.

 

[morelic55]

Sounds great, we'll be waiting!!!!!!

ok, give me a week or so. We got some bad weather hear that is putting a hamper on our weekly detecting.

 

[Sky1]

Well, I went detecting with my buddies yesterday and Bob had his Xterra 70 and I had my Safari AND my camcorder.
But we were kinda rushed for time and he didn't want to do any video comparisons between the two.

He did let me give it a try and can tell you that I was very impressed. It was stable, light but solid feel.
I can also tell you that we hunted two spots, one that was quite trashy and one that was very sparse.

Bob is way more experienced in detecting and he whipped my tail at the trashy lot, his concentric coil is much easier to isolate targets than I was with my 11" DD but none of his finds were anything deep. I probably would have been better using my Titan 2000 with its 8" coil on this lot. With a Big coil on a Safari in a trashy spot I had a hard time and was rather bummed that he was able to pick out a few coins on a spot that I was just at. He said I had my sensitivity too high so I wound it back for the remainder of the hunt at that location and started picking up some stuff.

Ok so I lost in round one but then we went to another spot that was much less trashy and I then I wound up the sensitivity back to 18 and started swinging that big DD.
I started picking up great targets deep down. Found a Civil War Bullet, an old Thimble, a token and some other relics while they were digging shallow clad. I think I caught up to them. ;-)

Started digging a deep hole for something, he came by with his X-terra and was not able to detect it. I then swung my Safari over the hole and it rang again.

Was way too deep to dig though, so I ended up filling the hole and we then packed it up to go home.

I didn't get that much use on his X-terra but I can tell you that the display is LARGER than it looks in the picture or that I imagined. The head is about the same size as my Safari but his detector is MUCH much lighter and a very easy swing. We were just digging in dirt, nothing super mineralized or very deep. Most finds were under 7" deep. I think the X-terra is a great detector, but I the Safari is definately deeper and a slower swing.

I like the X-terra and Love my Safari especially at the beach in the wet sand so I don't have any remorse over buying the Safari but I think I would be just as happy with the X-terra.