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should I buy E-trac or Safari?

G

goldseeker4000

New member
I own a Minelab GPX4000 for gold nuggethunting and a X-terra 705 for nugget hunting and coin hunting. I want to get another detector for my main coin detector. I am looking at either an E-trac or a Safari. Please no suggestions on Whites or Garretts or Fishers. I am only a Minelab user. I need both positive and neg input on both machines. Ease of use, depth, ease of hunting in iron ladden ground., sensitivity, ect. It would be more possible to afford the Safari than the E-trac. By the way, I have been hunting for coins since 1980 and I am very knowlegable with detecting but I am going to ask a stupid question regarding coins. What is clad? I have never used this term ever. Are some coins clad and others not? What determines what is clad?
 
Clad coins are the newer coins. Silver coins are 1964 and older. I have a Safari and it is a very good machine but the E-Trac has a lot more options to identify targets and I have never heard any complaints from the people that use them. Get what you like your decision is the most important you already know about Minelab tones so I'm sure you will not be dissappointed with either machine. Good luck. HH :minelab:
 
Well my to hunting buddieshave e tracs I use the safari and man is it a coin finder. There is no diffrence in depth and the safari is cheaper and very easy to use. I would recomend the safari you really do not need the extras with the e trac.I have found many nice coins that put my buddie to shame but that is just my opinion.You can't lose with a minelab good luck.
 
I was thinking of getting 705 for backup and gold detecting. I here it is great coin machine.I would like to hear your opinion on its hunting capabilities since you have one.
 
I own both and both are great detectors. Bought the Safari first to replace my old whites. Bought E-trac because after buying Safari discovered it had no back light for night hunting & I like to hunt of evenings. E-trac has more bells & whistles. Depth is same for both. Love them both. Can't go wrong with either unless you hunt nights or low light then your going to need E-trac .
 
The 705 is a very good machine. I have found tiny tiny oieces of gold, can't really call them nuggets at this size. One is around one grain in weight I am including pics. I just hunted an old town in the valley I live in and never knew it was there. The town is called Holt. It had been hunted very heavy by the owners son who has a high end detector and he cherry piced most all the coins out of there and left the iron trash. Well towards the end of our hunt I got a signal and I dug it up and it was a 1905 V nickel. It was bent! Damn! Looks like it had been shot with a 22 cal. bullet years ago. bullet hit on edge of coin. I wonder if I should put it in a vise or press and reflaten the coin? I don't know. It is the oldest coin I have ever found and my first V nickel since 1980. If you want a detector for a back up coin detector and one that is awsome at finding gold nuggets the 705 is the one you want. I never go anywhere without it. It stays in my suburban all the time because it is so versital.
 
Clad coins refers to the fact that after 1964 most US coins were produced using a process wherin a copper or cupra nickel blank was fitted with two sides to the coin. This blank material was created using a process of controlled explosion that melds the two metal faces to the center blank. This clad blank material is then die cut and die stamped to form our modern coins. Some other nations also use this method but most employ simple uniform alloyed materials and the cut and die process.

Clad coins are less expensive to produce and have little actual intrinsic value other than the indicated ciculation worth and numismatic value. Older coins that are made from better metals (ie silver, gold, platinum, brass, bronze, and copper ) are obviously better targets of finds than the clad coins. Most clad coins can be quickly cleaned a reciculated at face value. Technicaly one is supposed to be able to return a damaged clad coin for another but havn't actually tried that yet.

The coinage of today seems to deteriarate rapidly in acidic soils and salt waters. Gold does not corrode if above a certain Karat weight (gold to allow mix ratio). Silver corrodes but slowly. Copper as well.

So all that bad clad can be placed in a box and sent to me for proper disposal....

:wave:
 
Straighten the nickle using hammer and two pieces of hard wood, wood won't scratch.
 
I have no complaints about my Safari, If I had the extra $500. I would've probably got an E-trac just because it has more features and discriminates a little better. The Safari is finding me better stuff to fund for an upgrade to the E-trac. I also got the Safari to do more beach hunting, which it does very well. The FBS makes a difference.
 
The Safari has proven to be a better coin shooter than the XT-70 which was what I upgraded from. I didn't gain as much extra depth as expected, but it definitely hits on coins harder than the XT-70. Suspect that the Etrac would work better in heavy trash areas than the Safari does, as mine struggles in it unless I go very slowly. Like with "ual10" would have probably bought an Etrac if my funds had allowed it, but am satisfied with the Safari as I'm certainly making better quality coin finds with it. Two areas where the XT-70 is better is around underground electric cables and it also hits on small amounts of gold better. Was surprised to see the Safari wouldn't hit on my small vial of gold flakes, while the XT-70 with the 10.5" DD MF coil would and the 6" DD HF coil really does.
 
Mtnmn,

My Safari, using the stock 11" DD Coil @ #20 sensitivity, hits on .04 oz.( about 6 grain) at 1"-1 1/2".
The 4.5" x 7" Coil goes up to 2" at #20 sensitivity.
 
Hi all, just a note on the backlight issue with the Safari, it is possible to get a backlight by using a non contact magnet below the arm cup. Check out the video on you tube showing how its done.
As for the Safari Vs Etrac..... enjoying using my Safari but if funds were not an issue I would have the E because of the extra programming it allows and to reduce the number of annoying tones.
 
reltolbert: Have no doubt the Safari will hit on small amounts of gold, it just that I had my Safari's sensitivity set on 18 and almost certainly had a smaller sample of gold than what you were using. As a result my Safari wouldn't hit on the gold sample where as the XT-70 would even in the coin & treasure mode and with sens. set at a little less than max. Do know the Safari is a lot hotter on coins than the XT-70 as today I took $3.07, two wheats and a large silver type brooch out of a park that in 4 previous trips with the XT-70 found one medallion, $1.33, $1.39, $1.31 and $2.10 on the very first trip. Quite a difference to say the least and have only had the Safari about a month...
 
Mtnmn;

The Safari does a great job in finding coins and deeply too. It's also great for finding rings, small pieces of jewelry.
You probably know that the Garrett Pro-Pointer, using the coin trick, will detect very small flakes of Gold
plus it's great at finding coins with it's variable tone.
You'll have fun with your new Safari at finding valuable items. Good Luck!

Regis
 
The 705 is a really good machine. If you are looking for one for back up coin and gold detecting I would highly reccomend it. It is more enjoyable to hunt with than my GPX4000.
 
Thanks everyone for your input. this summer after I hit a very sweet area for nuggets with my 705 and gpx4000 i will sell the gold and buy an E-trac, which will be my main coin detector. Also gotta buy a camper trailer. I better find lots of gold.
 
I'm in a quandry, have a CZ3D. Good detector,but to heavy, knobs falling off,ground balance and sesitivity controls are always moving. Hip mounting, and the coil wire is always getting snagged.Whats easier to use and all around better T2 or the Safari.
 
Have never had a T-2, but when I wanted up-grade from the XT-70, for my amount of funds it came down to choosing between the T-2 and the Safari. The deciding factor came down to their review ratings. The T-2 had 39 reviewers give it an average score of 4.40, while 21 reviewers gave the Safari an average score of 4.91. That was just too great of a difference for me to ignore and it has payed off as the Safari has been all I that had hoped for both in depth and the quantity and quality of my finds. The T-2 is a 1/2 lb. lighter and is much easier on batteries, but I don't see how it could ever hit harder on deep coins and silver than what the Safari does.
 
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