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Purchased a GPX- 4500 package and an additional 12" round NF Evolution coil from Chris at AZO and took it for it's maiden run today. It was toasty in Central AZ today but I just had to give the new set up a go for a few hours. Not a bad first run... scored three little nugs. Totally HOT set up. Dean

I'm posting this for anyone who may be on the fence like I was regarding a larger coil. Overall I’m very happy with the 17x13 NF Evo coil. First trip out with the new coil was last Saturday. Went to an area where a lot of gold was recovered thinking I would find something deep. Well that wasn’t the case. I did find this little dink about two inches deep. What am I getting at? I was amazed this large coil would still pick up little pieces and a decent depth. This coil ran quiet, did not false when bumped and was still small enough to maneuver around the brush which is why I didn't go any larger. I was using 5000, Fine Gold, Gain 15, Normal Audio, Stabilizer 9

Been reading a lot about the new Coiltek, Nugget Finder & now Detech coils of late. I haven't had much to do with any of these but have detected a small area immediately after 2 x GPX4500 with the Coiltek Elite 14" mono attached. Although not an exhaustive or scientific test the end result was I got 8 x subgram nuggets from the area with the SDC & the 4500's nothing. 2 of the subgrammers came from adjacent to their scrapings so they knew something was there but was still iffy enough to walk away from. I keep hearing or reading how these coils are transforming GPX's into SDC's or even GPZ's but this short "test", for want of a better word, put some doubts in my mind. I've got no doubt that there is improvement in the new coils in how they enhance the target information or audio response of the detector through better windings etc. but I'm not entirely convinced it's as substantial as some make out. My thoughts are it may be about 10% performance improvement (every bit does help regardless) & 90% of a placebo effect i.e. you buy a new coil excited by the possibilities of it's performance, you regain some enthusiasm & become more positive in approach even detecting more carefully + with more purpose - then when you find gold of course it's the new coil that done it right? Another thing that has me scratching my head is how excited people are about them finding very small gold. My smallest bit with a GPX5000, fine gold & standard 11" Minelab Commander mono coil was 0.03 of gram (I think about 0.46 of a grain) so they have always been capable of doing it even with an unfashionable coil (but still a good one). Like I said I'm not doubting that there are definite performance improvements, much like the introduction of litz wire, but I do believe a lot can also be attributed to a refreshed or reinvigorated enthusiasm too. New detectors could also have a very similar affect on us. What do the experts reckon?

Hi all, I've done up a video comparing some of the new coils. I'm an agent for Detech coils, but tried to be as unbiased as possible. Be interesting to hear your thoughts on the results.

I'm just wondering if anyone can tell me why Nugget Finder doesn't make any DD coils. Seems to me they are missing out on some sells. I was once a die hard Coiltek fan but after the Gold Stalker series they lost my business. I went to Nugget Finders after that and I have not looked back. I would love to have a large DD coil of the same quality. Any suggestions? Root

Seems like I am pretty well outfitted these days. There is just not much I need when it comes to metal detecting. But I did just decide to go ahead and spring for a 25" Nugget Finder round mono coil for my GPX 5000. One of my main coils for the last few years has been an 18" Nugget Finder mono that Jonathan Porter gave me when Chris Ralph and I were in Australia. It was a coil I borrowed early on and then used nearly the whole month I was in Australia. I liked the overall combination of ground coverage and large nugget depth, yet it surprised me with how small a nugget it could still detect. JP saw how much I liked the coil and was kind enough to let me take it back to the States with me. I actually owned an earlier four spoked white version of the 25" coil that I used at Moore Creek a few times. I ultimately decided the coil was more than I wanted to swing and it was too big to pack into a suitcase for air travel. I sold it and have not missed it much. I spend so much time in brushy terrain and steep terrain that I rarely am someplace such a coil would be practical. What you need is flat, open, deep ground with a possibility of large gold. It turns out there are some places like that I will be visiting this summer. I decided a larger coil would be a good idea but was still worried about going too big. I considered the 20" mono, but it just did not seem like a large enough difference compared to the 18" to be worth the money I would be spending. So I decided to go all the way and go for the 25" Nugget Finder Advantage. I did prove to my satisfaction at Moore Creek that this huge coil can pull up large gold others miss. We had a flattened tailing pile next to the cabin that produced so many nuggets it was called the "Honey Hole". After one week of it getting pounded by the visitors I went up and flagged several deep, weak targets and then I cheated. I went and got the backhoe and dug them up! A 25" coil should actually come with a backhoe. Three out of five targets were nice nuggets a weeks worth of people carefully hunting had missed. At over two pounds I will not use this coil a lot, but I will give it a good go in relatively flat, open ground that has been hunted already to the point of being dead of targets. One decent nugget will pay for the coil so that will be the goal this summer - to at least find a nugget that pays for the coil. But maybe, just maybe, it will find something really noteworthy. I will report back when and if that happens. The new Nugget Finder 25" Advantage is a three spoked gray coil. These silly things are going for $629 these days. A good chunk of that goes to get the coil from Australia to the US and then to the dealer. The shipping cost on these coils is horrendous; they do not weigh much (37 ounces) but they bulk out something fierce when put in a box. I have not actually purchased the coil yet so if somebody has a used one they want to part with let me know. Looks like I need to take a good picture of one of these to post later. Nearly every photo on the internet is actually a smaller coil billed as a 25" and the few that look like they are 25" coils are watermarked. Photo of my new coil added 4/20/14