Tesoro Sand Shark, it's the cats meow.

[DewGuru]

Everyone has their favorite detector brands. Everyone claims their brand is the best. Very few can differentiate why.

A metal detector is made with one purpose. Finding metal.

There is not a single form of discrimination, a single tone, a single id meter, which operates with precision flawlessly, with ANY brand.

A detector is only as good as the detectorist using it.

These are indisputable facts.

I've used most all brands. In most all conditions. In most all environments.

I remain a Tesoro user for the following reasons.

1. Warranty. NO other company offers (and honors) a lifetime warranty.
2. Ease of use. Turn on and go, right out of the box. Why have 100 features which are flawed to begin with?
3. Locates the goods like no other i've used.

There are bashers of every brand of every product, and is generally a direct result of jealousy.

I'll put up my Sand Shark and Silver uMax against any other machine on the market, at any time, in any condition.

Proof is in the pudding with my finds: Tesoro Sand Shark Fan Page

People ask me regularly, what is the key to my success. My answer is simple, and to the point:

"Machine go beep, dig hole".

He who digs the most trash, finds the most treasure.

Hunt on brethren!

 

[SpiritRelic]

Hang out and talk about the sand shark some.Can you work it in dry sand ok?Which coil?we don't have that many users to talk with.What mode do you like,vco or normal? :-D

 

[GunnarMN]

I agree dig it all,

 

[DewGuru]

Hang out and talk about the sand shark some.Can you work it in dry sand ok?Which coil?we don't have that many users to talk with.What mode do you like,vco or normal? :-D

I use the 8 and the 10" coils on the shark. I always operate in VCO mode. Yes, works fine in the dry sand. Keep in mind, much more trash in the sand vs the water, so result will be more digging until your familiar with the "depth" of the tone that's given. Pretty easy to differentiate iron (bobby pins) vs other targets. A "skippy" signal of sorts. Even that's not fool proof. I've dug skippy signals and it yielded gold. Like anything else, the more you use it, the better you'll become with it. Normal mode is like a standard detector tone, vs the VCO which is more of an oscillator type tone.

 

[tvr]

I like VCO mode too. It gets my attention more and it has been my preferred setting. I have played more with normal mode on more recent hunts. Finding that in normal mode, the beep over iron is more drawn out. It is more drawn out over all targets than the vco mode, but even more so over iron. I'm finding it easier to ID iron in normal mode. It may be enough to make me change my preferred set up.
tvr

 

[GroundScanner]

What kid of depth you getting in wet and dry sand?

 

[LittleJohn]

I'll put up my Sand Shark and Silver uMax against any other machine on the market, at any time, in any condition.

Oh...ok. I have two Tejons and a golden uMax. But I dont know that I would put them up against any other machine on the market in the format you stated. I admire the fact that you believe in your machines the way you do...but be realistic...

 

[DewGuru]

Oh...ok. I have two Tejons and a golden uMax. But I dont know that I would put them up against any other machine on the market in the format you stated. I admire the fact that you believe in your machines the way you do...but be realistic...

Howdy! I do feel I am being realistic. Which machine, in which condition, do you feel would be better, and why?

 

[LittleJohn]

The silver was my first detector. I found a lot a lot of stuff with it. I traded it for a Tejon...because I wanted more bells and whistles, and he wanted fewer. I have found tons of clad and jewelry with the Tejon as well as relics. Great machine...but even it doesnt compare to other machines I own.

If you are happy about the machines you are using and are confident in them thats awesome, thats what makes a succesful detector...just keep it real man. My next machine is a sand shark. I was going to get one back when they had the connector issue and after about a year I gave up. Now that they are back, I am getting me one and heading to the water. Happy hunting...

LittleJohn

 

[CWRelichunter]

......you said:

"He who digs the most trash, finds the most treasure."

That's the problem that some folks don't understand, and some never will. The point is: Not everyone who metal detects has the TIME to dig every last beep. They need to find a way to narrow down their time-laboring trash digging.

Therefore, the issue becomes this: How can you find the most keepers, in the limted time you have to detect, and accomplish this with the least amount of digging.

As a former Civil War relic hunter with no coin hunting, beep & dig had it's place. Now that I am a ONLY a coin hunter things have changed. Metal detecting on the beach without a meter--or SOMETHING to look at--can get pretty darn routine at times. Meters now add an enjoyment that I never knew existed back when I was a beep & dig relic hunter.

Remember this: It's not always how much you find, but how much you enjoy finding what you did find that counts.

Just the thoughts of a now well-rounded metal detectorist.

J in FL

 

[DewGuru]

The silver was my first detector. I found a lot a lot of stuff with it. I traded it for a Tejon...because I wanted more bells and whistles, and he wanted fewer. I have found tons of clad and jewelry with the Tejon as well as relics. Great machine...but even it doesnt compare to other machines I own.

If you are happy about the machines you are using and are confident in them thats awesome, thats what makes a succesful detector...just keep it real man. My next machine is a sand shark. I was going to get one back when they had the connector issue and after about a year I gave up. Now that they are back, I am getting me one and heading to the water. Happy hunting...

LittleJohn

You'll love the Shark when ya get it out in the water. I also enjoyed the swappable coils. I was a bit miffed when it came to the hard wire, as I feel it took away from one of the advantages that it had over the others. I keep two now, the 8 and the 10, and am considering going with a wide scan 18. Keeping it real. Again I ask, Which machine, in which condition, do you feel would be better, and why?

 

[DewGuru]

......you said:

"He who digs the most trash, finds the most treasure."

That's the problem that some folks don't understand, and some never will. The point is: Not everyone who metal detects has the TIME to dig every last beep. They need to find a way to narrow down their time-laboring trash digging.

Therefore, the issue becomes this: How can you find the most keepers, in the limted time you have to detect, and accomplish this with the least amount of digging.

As a former Civil War relic hunter with no coin hunting, beep & dig had it's place. Now that I am a ONLY a coin hunter things have changed. Metal detecting on the beach without a meter--or SOMETHING to look at--can get pretty darn routine at times. Meters now add an enjoyment that I never knew existed back when I was a beep & dig relic hunter.

Remember this: It's not always how much you find, but how much you enjoy finding what you did find that counts.

Just the thoughts of a now well-rounded metal detectorist.

J in FL

Some valid points. No doubt that additional assistance in target ID is beneficial to some, it's also detrimental, in the false positives, as well as the over discriminate causing you to pass right by that lucky charm. I like to cherry pick as well, and its entirely doable on say a PI machine, but even it can lead to the same detriments as those stated above. One can never get it all, unfortunately, as much as we would like to. It's definitely about the enjoyment. If your not having fun, without question its a mute effort.

 

[LittleJohn]

I won't get into a "this machine is better than that" battle here...nor was that my intent. I can tell you I have had 4 different machines, 2 of them being tesoros in a specific spot that I hunt and we couldnt pull much of anything of any value other than a few clad coins. Couple of reasons for that. The soil is highly mineralized and there is an extreme amount of trash in this place. I went there to try my new detector out, as it is a very hard place to hunt. I pulled $1.94 in clad within two short hours of hunting with this new machine.

The discrimination on this machine is incredible and allowed me to pull up coins that I walked right past several times before different machines. My one buddy even got mad at me and said "dont ever bring me to this pulltab dump again...plus the soil is horrible!!!!" his was with a high end machine...

My point here is this...the one I am currently using has made the hobby enjoyable again, in that I can go places a lot of folks cant, and still find the goodies. If I could hunt this park with my tesoros, I would because they are lighter and faster...but not so good in the trash...as the one I am using...in this specific situation...you bring your silver uMax...and show me how it's done...because I for one would like to watch and see how its done. Keep it fun...but keep it real.

LittleJohn

 

[LittleJohn]

And if GunnarMN doesn't stop posting videos about the new Outlaw, I'm going to have to get that machine in the lineup before I get my Sandshark...so....knock it off GunnarMN!!

LittleJohn

 

[DewGuru]

I won't get into a "this machine is better than that" battle here...nor was that my intent. I can tell you I have had 4 different machines, 2 of them being tesoros in a specific spot that I hunt and we couldnt pull much of anything of any value other than a few clad coins. Couple of reasons for that. The soil is highly mineralized and there is an extreme amount of trash in this place. I went there to try my new detector out, as it is a very hard place to hunt. I pulled $1.94 in clad within two short hours of hunting with this new machine.

The discrimination on this machine is incredible and allowed me to pull up coins that I walked right past several times before different machines. My one buddy even got mad at me and said "dont ever bring me to this pulltab dump again...plus the soil is horrible!!!!" his was with a high end machine...

My point here is this...the one I am currently using has made the hobby enjoyable again, in that I can go places a lot of folks cant, and still find the goodies. If I could hunt this park with my tesoros, I would because they are lighter and faster...but not so good in the trash...as the one I am using...in this specific situation...you bring your silver uMax...and show me how it's done...because I for one would like to watch and see how its done. Keep it fun...but keep it real.

LittleJohn

Not looking for a battle of the brands LJ -- Just a little insight as to why one would prefer theirs over another. Fact is, the best machine is the machine used at the time that miracle find is made.

I've got a park similar to the one you mention. It's eat up with tiny bits of foil due to a high volume of pyrotechnics used at the venues, and its part of their packaging. If you try to discriminate out the foil, you lose the gold, and at this park, the gold is there. So ya take the good with the bad. We've used 4 different machines at this park, and none have been able to successfully "weed" it all out. Don't know about showing you how it's done, but no doubt I can make a good showing with the uMax. What part of the world are ya in?

 

[LittleJohn]

South Central Pennsylvania here... the site I am hunting is a old time music festival grounds. Sits on top of a rocky hill with terrible soil....highly mineralized. People party over a weekend there every year and partake of adult libations....of which the tops and pulltabs usually end up in the ground. I have hunted this place hard with several very good machines and they have each struggled due to the high amount of trash. The machine I am currently using is able to tell me if there is a coin in the ground even if its sitting right next to a pulltab or bottlecap. I still dig my share of trash, as I am just learning this machine, but I can tell you that it's ability to identify the good from the bad...is what is needed at a site like this.

I dont hunt for gold rings and such quite so much due to my time constraints. I am looking more for older silver coins and silver jewelry. To dig every signal at this site would be unreasonable based on the amount of time I have, as well as the massive quantities of aluminum present. I think most folks are more content with what they ARE able to find at a site, versus what they miss...for whatever reason. I have used the Tesoro Golden uMax and the Tesoro Tejon at this site...as well as two other brands....nothing comes even close to producing the finds I am getting there now...it's all about what works...there is no perfect detector....the best one is right between your ears. Happy Hunting

LittleJohn