Looks Like M8's And M15's Are Starting To Appear

[TampaBayBrad]

There are four M15's in stock at Fort Bedford Metal Detectors. Mine arrived yesterday. Will give a report when the weather gets a little better to hit the beach. I may even freeze my butt off to give it a try in the 62 degree water! (no wetsuit)

[Ringtail]

I got my M15 at Fort Bedford Metal Detectors. Thanks for the heads up TampaBayBrad!

Ringtail 

[Redneck]

Brad, If you are looking for a inexpensive suit,  check out xterra wetsuits. They are used by the triathelon swimmers.  Reasonably priced and very warm. Excellent quality. You get just a tiny bit of water in the suit thru the leg and arm seals, but no water flow thru the rubber surface its self. Around $200 -250. They come a bit snug so order a larger size. Good Luck.

[TampaBayBrad]

13 hours ago, Redneck said:

Brad, If you are looking for a inexpensive suit,  check out xterra wetsuits. They are used by the triathelon swimmers.  Reasonably priced and very warm. Excellent quality. You get just a tiny bit of water in the suit thru the leg and arm seals, but no water flow thru the rubber surface its self. Around $200 -250. They come a bit snug so order a larger size. Good Luck.

Thanks, I'll check it out. Not sure I'm ready to commit to the bother of suiting up just yet. Our cold water season is really only a couple months long and there's no depositors going in the water during that time anyway. I may get the urge....

[Redneck]

Nice long warm season. Up here in the midwest, a wetsuit is needed 10 months out of the year😝

[okara gold]

14 hours ago, TampaBayBrad said:

Thanks, I'll check it out. Not sure I'm ready to commit to the bother of suiting up just yet. Our cold water season is really only a couple months long and there's no depositors going in the water during that time anyway. I may get the urge....

Hey Brad. Maybe this will give you the urge to get wet. 😀 I was in the water a few days ago after the gulf calmed down enough for me to check out a trough that formed running parallel to shore. 
Hunted 3 hours… 2 gold rings. The thin tarnished ring is 10k and had been there a long time. The other is 14k. You’re right about no one getting in the water now so I’m watching the passing cold fronts causing big waves and hopefully sand movement in the water. This time it paid off. I broke the thin 10k when cleaning it.

I'm wearing a 3mm full wetsuit but sometimes that isn’t enough for me to stay warm on windy, cloudy days. I’m looking for a heavier one now. 

[longbow62]

I got an email saying the M8 was in stock. By the the time saw the email it was the next day and the M8 had sold out. I went ahead and back-ordered it. I may be waiting awhile, but no big deal.

[TampaBayBrad]

8 hours ago, okara gold said:

Hey Brad. Maybe this will give you the urge to get wet. 😀

Gee.....Thanks a lot Okara! You got me. 😄 Now I'm for sure going at least one day this week. Gotta check out my new coil and test the water maybe. Today is for watching NFL football and my Bucs winning the NFC South!

That 14k sure looks purdy. It's so sweet to see that gleaming clean gold stand out among the shells in your scoop! Yea man! Good job....

[TampaBayBrad]

I christened my new M15 yesterday morning with a 5 hour hunt at the wrong beach. They had just done a dune restoration project there to replace dunes lost to Hurricane Idalia. Along comes a no-name storm about 2 weeks ago that cut into some of the brand new dunes and deposited the new sand all over the beach. Yay! I wasn't going to leave without giving it a good try as I had already paid my $15 for parking 5 hours.

Arrived at 6 a.m., put my headlamp on and started swinging. Almost zero targets at this very busy parking lot section of beach. After 2 hours of swinging with just 4 coins to show for it, I decided it's cold, but not too cold to try the coil in the water. In I went at 8 a.m. to waist deep with the waves hitting me at chest height occasionally. Shiver, brrrr!

Here's the thing. It's a LITTLE tougher to swing in the water than the 11", but not enough to deter me from leaving it on for some more use. I didn't find a darn thing in an hour and a half in the water except junk targets, (again, wrong beach) but I was happy that the coil IS possible to use for an extended period of time in the water without totally wearing out my arm and shoulders. The coverage advantage is very nice. The swing is a tad slower than the 11", but not much.

Performance wise, I didn't dig many coins to really test it well. I did dig a crusty zinc penny at least 12" down running 23 sensitivity in the dry sand. I dug a matchbox car at about 15". Pinpointing was easy, no different than the 11". I don't use the pinpoint function of the detector, I just cross the target using the center of the coil as a reference point. Anyway, more time with the coil is needed for me to have an opinion on it's depth compared to the 11". I sure like the quicker coverage though!

I'm happy with it. Glad I bought it. Now if that water would just warm up....

[UT Dave]

On 12/28/2023 at 3:14 AM, TampaBayBrad said:

There are four M15's in stock at Fort Bedford Metal Detectors. 

I was pleasantly surprised to find they still had one in stock this morning.  Supposed to be here early next week.  Now, if only the M8, the one I really want, would show up as "in stock", anywhere.  I'm not going to pre-order anything.

- Dave