Best Single Freq VLF Machine For Wet Beaches??

[LipCa]

The Gold Bug 2  will work until you get to the wet sand... then forget it.

I just break out my trusty Minelab Sovereign (17 frequencies)

[Tom Slick]

I've used many Single frequency detectors on the saltwater beaches in So. Cal. Of those, I have narrowed down my two favorite detectors that perform excellent in the dry sand and still have the ability to perform better than the rest of the Single Frequency detectors to the Makro Racer and Racer 2.  I've used most of the VLF White's detectors like the V3i, DFX, MXT, M6, Classic III, Mod'ed IDX Pro, Spectrum, XLT, Eagle II SL 90.5, 6000 Di Pro etc. (Yes, the DFX & V3i are multi freq.). I've used the Garrett AT Pro, and Tesoro Tiger Shark, Eldorado, Outlaw, Golden, Bandido, all The Silvers, etc., Teknetics 8000 & 8500 Omega, a few Compasses in their day and quite a few others. For me, the Makro Racer and Racer 2 have been the most quiet, stable, and achieved the most depth in the wet sand. Most of the time when I hit the beach, I already know if I'll be hunting the wet sand (Sovereign), or the Dry (Racer), but sometimes when hunting the dry I venture down into the wet to see if it's producing. It's nice to have a detector that allows you to do both. If the wet is producing, I'll sometimes switch to the Sovereign to get those targets that are out of reach to the single frequency machine. 

[sjmpainter]

The F19 will work until you get to the wet sand.... then forget it.

I just break out my trusty Minelab Excalibur (17 frequencies)

[Steve Herschbach]

There have been very many reports that the Nokta and Makro machines handle wet salt sand extremely well even though they are single frequency machines. I can only surmise they are very efficient at blocking out the salt signals, but this will of course come at a cost in small gold sensitivity. The trick would be insuring that when higher up out of the wet salt that the lost sensitivity is regained by making sure the machine is retuned to once again detect targets that fall in the salt range.

[PhaseTech]

Tom Slick, spot on and exactly what I do, except I'm still swinging a Fors CoRe. That may get replaced by the Racer 2, but my CoRe speaks to me for now. If I know I'm going to be working low tide, and I'm prepared with my beach scoop etc then I'll grab my Sovereign.

I took my son to the beach today, and took the CoRe along with the sand castle building implements. Put it in COG mode, did a ground grab, but let it beep a few times and away you go. Your Sensitivity setting depends on a few factors: do you sweep your coil on the sand, or do you hover it above the sand, how fast you sweep etc. On the Dry sand, go DI2 and crank the Sens right up and you get some pretty serious depth, or you can even use the All-metal GEN mode and gain a couple of inches.