11" Vs. 15" Coil Long Term Observations

[Bill (S. CA)]

I think it was roughly 5 years ago that Minelab introduced the 15" coil for the Equinox.  I'm curious if any of you folks have any long term observations on how you like/don't like the coil vs. the 11".

I'll share mine briefly.  I like the coil but as a beach hunter I have not realized any additional depth vs. the 11".  Yes, it covers more area, but I think that is all relative.  For me the biggest drawback is fatigue.  Even though it only weighs a little over a quarter pound more than the stock coil, there is a fatigue factor if you hunt for many hours. Generally I hunt 4 - 5 hours and I suffer with the big coil, especially if I'm not stopping to dig many targets.  With the 11" I'm tired but not gassed.

To be very honest, I am considering switching to my Legend full time for beach hunting.  I love my Equinox and know it really well, but the Legend with the new lightweight shaft, arm cuff and coil, is super light.  Plus it seems to do well at my beaches.  I can't say that it is better or worse than my Equinox but its performance to me is similar.  I'd compare signals to another Equinox but no one out here on the West Coast uses them anymore.  Everybody I hunt with uses a Deus II.

Let me know what you think.  If the majority says stay with the big coil and the Equinox I'll stop whining and do it.  But I will be soliciting donations for my chiropractor...

Bill in Los Angeles

[JCR]

Not to misdirect, but don’t forget that Nokta has the LG 35 , 13” coil for the Legend. It is excellent and not fatiguing.

[midalake]

7 hours ago, Bill (S. CA) said:

I think it was roughly 5 years ago that Minelab introduced the 15" coil for the Equinox.  I'm curious if any of you folks have any long term observations on how you like/don't like the coil vs. the 11".

Hi Bill

I have had the 15" for at least three seasons. I agree with you no extra depth and outstanding coverage. The 15" is very sensitive to small items and always surprises me.  

As for fatigue?  Most of my beach time is 3-4 hours. I do not notice too much more fatigue. Have to tried to counter-weight?  Many said it works wonders?  Me, I am not adding extra weight to my set-up. 

I think there are days for the 11" and others for the 15".  I only use that 15" about 20% of the time when large waves cause more wet sand to search.

As for which detector? I cannot stress enough to bring them both and bury a gold ring at 12-14 inches.  Get you wife, buddy, son, whoever it takes to get that testing done.  Good hunting!!! 

[Bill (S. CA)]

3 hours ago, midalake said:

Hi Bill

I have had the 15" for at least three seasons. I agree with you no extra depth and outstanding coverage. The 15" is very sensitive to small items and always surprises me.  

As for fatigue?  Most of my beach time is 3-4 hours. I do not notice too much more fatigue. Have to tried to counter-weight?  Many said it works wonders?  Me, I am not adding extra weight to my set-up. 

I think there are days for the 11" and others for the 15".  I only use that 15" about 20% of the time when large waves cause more wet sand to search.

As for which detector? I cannot stress enough to bring them both and bury a gold ring at 12-14 inches.  Get you wife, buddy, son, whoever it takes to get that testing done.  Good hunting!!! 

Hey Midalake.  I can always count on you for a reply my friend.  I am with you on weight.  More weight is more weight, you know?

I have tried multiple tests using your single beep/double beep method and despite my best efforts I just can't get my Equinox to beat a Deus II on my beaches.  Maybe it's the beaches, more than likely it's me, but I just can't beat it on deep coins or gold.  Mind you this is on wild testing only.  I have a buddy who was an 800 user for years, maybe the best guy with it on the beaches I've ever seen.  He finally caved and went with the Deus II and says it does go deeper.  He only used single tone all metal Beach 2 with his 800.  

Don't get me wrong, I still try it every time I take out my Equinox.  Maybe I'll bury a ring next time like you suggested and my buddy try to read it with his Deus II.  In the meantime, if you ever get a camera on your testing with those machines I'll bet it would go viral!

Take care.

Bill

[phrunt]

Perhaps it's my very mild soils, I do notice a depth difference with the 15x12" coil, it maintains awesome sensitivity to small targets yet it feels to have an extra inch or so of depth on coin size targets, I say feels as there is no really easy way to quantify.  Where I have done side by side by using one coil and swapping over the difference isn't vast, but does appear to exist.  

For me it's all about ground coverage, the more ground I can cover the better, it's still a tiny coil when I look over yonder at how big the field I'm about to detect is 😉

My questions always been more do coils like the Coiltek 15" round bring more depth and few people say it does, very few in fact, and this has kept me away from it, that and it's one heavy beast.  There comes a point where a VLF is tapped out for depth so putting on a hula hoop isn't going to give extra depth.

I think this is also why Minelab sticks to their large coils being elliptical to give that ground coverage benefit as they believe the benefit of a 15" round wouldn't be there, where as a 12" wide coil gives a little bit more depth over the 11" and gives better ground coverage.

Where I've noticed the jump the most is the CTX 3030's 11" coil vs the 17x13" coil, now there is an obvious depth increase.

[Sinclair]

I sold my 15"..

Pros:
- it is very sensitive to even small targets (I credit that to MF)
- it covers more ground
- it goes a little bit deeper

Cons:
- it is noticeably heavier, even with CF shaft
- you have to extend the shaft, otherwise it picks up your shoes. Extending the shaft makes the weight feel even worse
- you have to lower the recovery speed and walk a little bit slower
- it's harder to get the coil parallel on uneven ground
- unusable in the water due to drag

While I really liked the coil, the Cons outweighed the Pros. It felt like I've covered as much ground with the 11" in the same time, but with less fatigue. I detect a lot of dry sand, which is often uneven - doesn't make fun with the 15". It really works well on flat beaches (after a storm, or if you have tides).

[Bill (S. CA)]

5 hours ago, Sinclair said:

I sold my 15"..

Pros:
- it is very sensitive to even small targets (I credit that to MF)
- it covers more ground
- it goes a little bit deeper

Cons:
- it is noticeably heavier, even with CF shaft
- you have to extend the shaft, otherwise it picks up your shoes. Extending the shaft makes the weight feel even worse
- you have to lower the recovery speed and walk a little bit slower
- it's harder to get the coil parallel on uneven ground
- unusable in the water due to drag

While I really liked the coil, the Cons outweighed the Pros. It felt like I've covered as much ground with the 11" in the same time, but with less fatigue. I detect a lot of dry sand, which is often uneven - doesn't make fun with the 15". It really works well on flat beaches (after a storm, or if you have tides).

Good point about having to extend the shaft.  I had forgotten that I had done that because I have size 11.5 feet.  It was annoying as heck clipping the end of the coil with my toes when I was walking.    I also agree that despite its larger footprint, I feel like I cover just as much ground with the 11" and I'm not blown out when I'm done hunting with it like with the 15".

[midalake]

On 12/11/2023 at 9:10 AM, Bill (S. CA) said:

had forgotten that I had done that because I have size 11.5 feet. 

JUST 11.5 size feet..............LOL........🤣     

[Bill (S. CA)]

Here's what really hurts.  I'm 5' 6".  Yeah, proportionality was not a consideration when I came off of the assembly line.

[midalake]

28 minutes ago, Bill (S. CA) said:

Here's what really hurts.  I'm 5' 6".  Yeah, proportionality was not a consideration when I came off of the assembly line.

Where does that leave me with size 15???? 🤣   Now at 6'4" you know why I want a long detector rod 😎