Minelab Vanquish 3 Days On The Beach In So. California

[abenson]

Just got back from 3 days in Oceanside, CA it was nice to get out of the cold here in Utah. Came back to 9 inches of snow this morning.

Didn't take a PI this time because I wanted to see how the Equinox 11" coil and Vanquish V12 coil compared to each other on the beach. Area I hunted was North and South of the pier. This beach can be awesome after a big storm. I've been there before when one day you can literally pick up targets off the hard pan because the sand has been totally stripped away and the next day 2 ft of sand has washed back in. Sand was pretty deep this time all 3 days, in areas at about a foot you would hit a rocky layer where the targets would settle. Tried hunting in the water with the Equinox a few times but it was just too rough and took way too long to recover good targets. So most of my time was spent between the towel line and waters edge. Nothing exciting found, a bunch of change, and ear gauge and 1 junk ring.

A few people have said that the Vanquish appears to be Equal to the Equinox in Beach 1 mode and I would have to agree. I ran the Equinox in Beach 1 sensitivity at about 21 and the Vanquish in Jewelry mode, iron bias low. sensitivity 1 notch below max and both machines were very quite. Switching off between the two I didn't really notice any difference in depth both machines recovered several nickels and quarters at the 12" mark and pennies and dime around the 9" mark. Most stuff I recovered was 6" or more in depth. Target ID on the Vanquish is rock solid on good targets, even the deeper Quarters and Nickels I dug gave a solid ID. ID's that were jumpy always turned out to be a corroded piece of aluminum or zinc penny. The only area the Vanquish struggled was in places where there were multiple targets and especially targets mixed in with iron. Because this beach is replenished from time to time with sand pumped from the harbor and other areas, there tends to be places where boat parts, fishing hooks and other junk congregates. I had several instances where I had to use the Equinox because there were just too many targets to separate out the good ones. One in particular I ran into with the Vanquish but had to switch to the Equinox turned out to be a small piece of aluminum, a stainless ear gauge, and a quarter mixed with iron trash in a small 1 foot by 1 foot area. The Vanquish was unable dial in on one target although I could tell there was more than just iron there due to the mix of positive numbers.

Overall I would have to say the Vanquish is the most capable beach detector I've seen in it's price range (unless you need waterproof). I felt quite confident I wasn't missing much when using the Vanquish unless I was in a junk filled area. Great detector for a beginner, child, to loan out or as a backup for your Equinox. One thing I did notice when changing between the 2, the Vanquish is a little nose heavy compared to the Equinox. If you're getting one for a small child to use I would suggest getting one with the smaller coil or switching it out to the smaller one on the 540.

[Steve Herschbach]

Great summary review abenson, thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts! 

Anyone looking for a value proposition in a saltwater beach detector that need not be submersible, I don't see how the answer can be anything but a Vanquish. 

[Chase Goldman]

Like the dose of reality regarding Vanquish and separation/recovery speed.  Great real world info.  Vanquish is very capable and a great value, but has limitations, as expected.

[Jeff McClendon]

Thanks for the great report. Your experiences are just like mine. The Vanquish really is a good performing entry level detector.  I would pick it over many of the detectors I've owned (most were not entry level BTW) especially for its rock solid numerical target IDs at depth on quality targets, simplicity and good ergonomics. I definitely would not pick it over an Equinox or XP for target separation in heavily trashed iron and aluminum areas where target masking could be a serious issue. The Vanquish will see multiple targets under the coil as one target with a large circumference and very jumpy numbers, even a coin spill. If iron is discriminated out and one of those multiple targets is same level or close by iron, it may skip the targets entirely. Otherwise, it punches way over its weight as a low cost, quick grab and go, store it in the car, loaner, beginner or secondary high mineralization area detector (even prospecting with the smaller coils) and as an excellent salt water beach detector.

Jeff