Sell me on that Excal.......

[KinTN]

Well, not really; I'm already planning on getting one but I just cant justify it right now. Money isn't an issue, but use is.

Here's my situation: I'm retired but my wife is still working part time. We go to the beach once, or maybe twice a year and never with the summer crowd. We go to moderately busy southern beaches and while I usually see a few other detectorists in a day, I've never seen one past ankle deep water. Now when my wife finally retires, we plan to do the 'live in the rv' thing for a while and that's when I figure on getting the Excal. Currently, theres no real place to use it around here as TVA does not allow any metal detecting on "their" water. (yes, I know that's a load, but please lets not turn this thread into that again). That's why I haven't gotten an Excalibur yet.

I am an experienced detectorist, going back to a White's Coinmaster in the late 80's (radio shack a decade before that, but I'll swear I never turned it on if pressed) and currently use a Safari. I realize that with every new machine there's a Learning Curve; eg, its 50hrs(+-10) with a Safari. Obviously, I am comfortable with Minelab products.
[size=large]So Question #1 : how much of a learning curve should I expect with an Excal?[/size]

fwiw, it took me about a year to pay for my Safari and all the accessories. I would guess that the Excal would pay for itself quicker than that, given the same # of hunt hours/week since the targets will be of an overall higher quality (not as much Junk in the ocean as in the Parks/Schools etc). As a sedimentary geologist, I can read a beach about as well as anyone and have plenty of 'book lernin' about how to metal detect a beach. I don't do this for the money, but I do enjoy the bragging that goes along with good finds. I am scuba certified, but plan on just snorkeling with the Excal. Knowing that only the good finds and successful hunters get posted on the Inturweb,
[size=large]Question #2: How long of a payback would you expect to see for me given my qualifications?[/size]


I know there's no firm answers here, but if you have an Excal, know someone who does, or just have a strong opinion, your thoughts are greatly appreciated. I'm toying with just going ahead and getting it now, but just cant justify it's use enough to get over the hump.

 

[mudpuppy]

Sounds like you got a good plan, now just execute! Cant help you with any of the technicals, but as for advice, I'm full of it!

If it were me, and I was in YOUR shoes...I'd get one NOW and start to learn it, get it all tricked out to my liking, get some tanks and gear...watch as many youtube vids as I could especially the ones of that guy who deep wades and snorkles in miami..as well as the guys who dive and hunt...You want the tanks are because you wont want to snorkle forever, and some of the recent posts like the "jump off site" one are really pay-off-able hunting styles...
As a sedimentary geologist, I would suspect you have a great leg up on the common man...I would think you'd want to dive those Carolina rivers like the Neuse for megalodon teeth as well...the moneys good...so pay off that detector as fast as possible with the many skills you have while your health is still strong......I'd take some short overnight or three day trips and leave the wife working..just to voidere the situation for your future plans...I'd be plotting and planning a furious route to the beaches, time it right after or during a big blow, hit it hard and early, really cover some ground..hole up in a cheap off season, drink beer, smoke, eat junk food, and hunt like a madman! Other than that, theres some of those "jump off sites" in your neck of the woods under the old bridges on the small streams that flow into the TVA basin where you should have no problem if you wanted to get in the local water..

I like your plan, its the same as mine, RVing around and doing whatever the day brings...If you really want to live on the edge, SELL the Safari! That would really light a fire underneath you to learn and pay off the Excal in a hurry.. What an exciting post! Go For It!
Mud

 

[Water wizard]

I like your plan, it sounds perfect!
The Excalibur is very easy to learn, I hunt on auto, so it's just a case of turn it on, set the threshold so there is a background hum and off you go. Wen you pass over iron the background noise stops, so you know there is a target, but it's not precious.
If you practice at home by covering up some different things you will get to recognise the different tones very quickly.
I have found most of my gold in the water, defiantly 85-90 percent of it.
On popular swimming beaches I tend to find on average 1 piece every 5 hours hunting.
You have lots of experience, and I would think you would o the same as me or better.
For land use a pinpointer can improve your recovery time dramatically, as will using a Scoop on land and certainly when wading.

Depending on the locations you can get to, wading in the water is often the most profitable, you can only find the things that people have lost, and they are normally in waist to shoulder depth or shallower.
I think your idea is awesome, you are going to be living the dream, good luck

 

[dewcon4414]

Simple is what makes the Xcal such a useable machine on the beach. Ive always said if you are water hunting get the best you can afford because it will pay for its self. I paid for mine in the first month. Basicly you are going to want to dig anything but a shallow bottle cap out there..... its that simple. Make sure you get a good scoop.

Now lets talk to the disadvantages that can cost you extra. You really need it on a straight shaft, it only has 1 year warranty so the price of the Xcal is about $400 over a CZ21. Mine went to the repair shop 3 times under warranty and now is on its 3rd time out of warranty. Ive replaced the coil, knobs, shaft, headphones, pots, switches, o rings and yes even the main pod. That all said.... id still buy another and did, but this time went used on a blue that had been in to ML for a check up. Ive had no problems with the blue at all. Ive also found enough gold to pay for it 7Xs over. So buy it with the understanding you will have to put some money on it down the line if used in salt water.

Dew

 

[GeorgeinSC]

Here is why you want an Excal. 9.2 grams of 14k Gold. Of course that was my Brother In Laws find. The stainless steel was the one I found.

 

[KinTN]

some takeaways from all the great advice and thoughts from above:


- I don't intend to scuba, just snorkel. but i'm not ruling it out. I think that's definitely workable for the right person.
- ah yes, megalodon. as a kid I spent many winter vacations in Venice, Fla pickup up shark teeth. my best is a 8" meg, but with only about 50% intact enamel.
- rivers sound like a lot of research/work. did I mention that i'm lazy too? I also am not fond of the "Swims with Gators" thing.
- go solo hunting in the camper and make the wife jealous enough to go ahead and quit that dang job. yeah, now we're talking. I LIKE this idea. alas, we have a dog that I have to take care of (she is too big for the wife to handle) and I cant leave her (the dog) alone in the camper. but I might use this one as a bluff....!
- remember that TVA claims ALL water, including all creeks that feed into their lakes and rivers. don't get me started. so practicing now (including any scuba with a MD) is out of the question. all I could do is use the Excal as a dryland detector. which I will do to learn the machine, of course.
- sell the Safari!?!?!?!????? Blasphemy!!!!!!

-I just HOPE to do as good as you guys. You speak of a percentage of your gold finds, but when I speak of mine, they are all low karat or filled/plated and CZs at best!
- I think I have the land thing down- well, at least I am satisfied with my hunt results. I agree that on the dry, a pinpointer is a Must (Garrett #1, Minelab #2 imo)
- just got a new, better scoop (Stealth) and cant wait to try it out!
- excellent point about hunting where stuff gets dropped. its gotta be easier to figure out where it was dropped than to figure out where the waves, storms, and longshore drift have pushed it to over the last X years. i'll want to start my water learning in the drop areas, I think.
- 1 piece for 5hrs hunting. Thank You for that data point. That is Very helpful. And something to aspire to.

- Dig It All, Yessir! I do that on the dry beach already. Buy the best you can afford, Yessir! Moneywise I could get a CTX, but really don't see that its a better water option than an Excal, + I consider the dry stuff covered with my Safari. I tend to hunt with my ears now anyway and just use a screen to confirm what I think the target is. And as you said, on the beach, Dig It All.
- straight shaft? Is that to make it easier to swing in water, ie less friction? I know if I ever did scuba with it, i'd want the short shaft.
- 1yr warranty: yeah, that is a concern that I wouldn't get to use it much. ideally, i'd like to give it a good workout the first year that I have it instead of just a couple of weeks during vacation. that is a big reason i'm still on the fence. tho I kinda believe that with modern electronics if it doesnt break right away, its probably good for a long time, given proper care.
- dewcon4414, how many hours would you estimate it took you recover that 7x figure?

-yeah, all those gold pics you guys keep posting are Killin' me!

Again, THANKS for all your input. I going to write up an offer sheet for several of the larger dealers that I have developed confidence in over the years. BTW, if you all have recommendations for dealers, I'd love to hear them. If it is a problem (mods.....?), you can PM them to me. And btw, I've looked here at Finds for list of forum sponsors but was unable to locate it. Can anyone direct me to such a list?
scratch that last, I found it : http://www.findmall.com/read.php?43,1702883

 

[dewcon4414]

A lot has to do with your hunting location..... i live near Venice FL and hunt most days. That 7X figure id say is about a year and a half and thats melted gold. Its hard to figure those rings you find with stones. Ive gotten one PT appraised around $7000 and others of less value in that time frame as well. Down here its location, timing, and sometimes just dumb luck. BUT to make that all come together you need a good machine. The Xcal is a great machine and simple to use. I was a dirt digger for many years..... you have to change your thinking. You really do have to at least kick even the foil targets to see what they are.... ive found a lot of small gold especially with stones that are in that foil range.

Dew

 

[ML]

Just make sure that you GO SLOW while swinging. It will find gold if it is under your coil.

 

[KinTN]

Thanks again to all. I've pulled the trigger and FedEx is saying my Excal II will be here Thursday.
I'm like a little kid waiting on Xmas..........

 

[Water wizard]

Hope the excalibur has arrived, let us know how you get on

 

[KinTN]

WW, it works fine and I am desperately trying to wear it out in an attempt to learn its secrets. Took it to a private pond just to make sure alls watertight (it is) for an hour and pulled in a costume earring and some older pulltabs and such. Still trying to decide if I like hunting in Disc or PP most of the time. Probably PP in cleaner areas and Disc in trashy ones. Also learned that I don't like scooping a hard or even muddy bottom- bring on the sandy beaches!

I'm trying to get the basics down before our beach trip next month where most of my learning will happen (I hope). On the beach, I intend to dig it all, which should help me learn the machine. The suggestion above to watch tons of Excal vids is a good one; its helping. Now I just have to tune my ears to my new machine. I do miss the depth estimate that my Safari has, but I know that one day I will be able to estimate just as well by Excal target response.



side note: I find it curious that 90%+ of the guys in the beach hunting vids don't use their scoop to sift out the target. They sweep until they know the target is in the scoop then dump it out and kick it, then sweep then kick and repeat until they see the target. They will even walk out of the swash zone to a higher area so they can kick it around without interference from the water. I've always let the water remove the sand from my scoop and retrieve my target from there. Seems like less work and time my way, but who knows? These guys are doing better than me so maybe I should convert.