Need A New Pi For Beach Detecting

[Tony]

I will always have a beach PI.......probably found me more beach gold than my VLF machines. Not having a pulse machine is like playing a round of golf and thinking you don't need a putter to get a good score !

Just imagine if Minelab brought out an underwater/beach pulse machine.........I'd be first in line. This line of detectors is not a niche market but for some reason the detector companies think so. Mind you, it doesn't help that White's and Tesoro are out of the game.

Give me a time machine.....I'd grab a Barracuda, Aquastar, Sand Shark and a Surfmaster or two.

My profile avatar is there for a reason.......it still smashes the bigger gold deep into the black sand muck. My poor old Excalibur falses at ground level at a sensitivity of 3 in this ground.

I have never regretted selling any detector.....except my Sea Hunter MK2.

[midalake]

1 hour ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Why do VLF guys have to drop in on every PI thread to declare it’s not what they would use? Don’t. Nobody is telling you that you should. You obviously have never been in a place where your VLF gets 50% depth and calls anything past that as ferrous. If SMF was so great every gold prospector would be swinging one but fact is they are lackluster second cousins for performance compared to a good PI. The OP was asking for advice on a PI, not about anyone’s opinion on whether a PI is worth using or not.

A little bit of devil's advocate?  The OP sounds very experienced [maybe] Regardless, it is EASY to get set in a certain way. I have been guilty of that in the past. 

I debated a lot about my direction after GT Sovereign use. Even with my limiting Black Sand that requires me to run less sensitivity on both the D2 and Equinox [at times] . I would NEVER give up my MF machines!!! EVER. 

I learned from years of running the sovereign and digging EVERYTHING, I was wasting my TIME. 

Now focused on my 3–4-hour hunting sessions and being able to do my WHOLE length of beach daily puts more GOLD in my pouch than digging everything and doing 1/2 the beach in a day. 

I can confidently say this after 5 years of MF use compared to 25 years of Sovereign use. 

Of course, if you are young, healthy and think you need to dig it all.........Have at it!!! 

[Hard Prospector]

Been gold prospecting for over 20 years and have done quite well nugget shooting.  The biggest nuggets I have detected have been in established gold districts, tramp trash infested sites where "tones" and "ID numbers" implied don't waste your time digging this target only to reveal a multi ounce specimen. Dig it all is my program and yes I pull out a lot of junk but the pay offs have been worth the effort.

I apply this same technique to beach detecting and have done quite well

[pjrough]

As Skully mentioned, the White's TDI BH was a great option for jewlery hunting, except for the coil, which was big, floaty, and not swappable.

A couple of years ago, we, a group of PI enthusiasts, inspired the Ukrainian manufacturer Seaghost to design the bulletproof housing with the option to swap coils.

One machine was modified and delivered (it is up for sale in Spain).

But the plans were interrupted due to the Russian invasion. My own TDI was not finished, and it was left in the city of Mariupol.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CZt6JAEKEKB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=N2ViNmM2MDRjNw==

 

 

 

 

[Skull diver]

7 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Why do VLF guys have to drop in on every PI thread to declare it’s not what they would use? Don’t. Nobody is telling you that you should. You obviously have never been in a place where your VLF gets 50% depth and calls anything past that as ferrous. If SMF was so great every gold prospector would be swinging one but fact is they are lackluster second cousins for performance compared to a good PI. The OP was asking for advice on a PI, not about anyone’s opinion on whether a PI is worth using or not.

I agree with your thoughts Steve, in fact in another previous response I was pointing out that the S.H. is still honestly priced and remains one of the few options for us divers.
I always keep my Tdi BH in the artillery room and unfortunately due to infiltration at the control box I will have to make further modifications.
If we were to say unfiltered the real difference besides the impact of mineralization, hunting with a P.I. certainly lengthens scan times on targets less palatable than 'gold, but there is no question that they are to be avoided in favor of any vlf.
I for one tamed the D2 just a few months ago, because just like all the other instruments, it sounded like a show in salt water....

[TampaBayBrad]

8 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Why do VLF guys have to drop in on every PI thread to declare it’s not what they would use? Don’t. Nobody is telling you that you should. You obviously have never been in a place where your VLF gets 50% depth and calls anything past that as ferrous. If SMF was so great every gold prospector would be swinging one but fact is they are lackluster second cousins for performance compared to a good PI. The OP was asking for advice on a PI, not about anyone’s opinion on whether a PI is worth using or not.

Geeze.....sorry for entering the conversation.

The OP asked "I need a new PI specifically for beach detecting wet salty sand, in tidal areas mainly looking for jewelry. "

That's my department. Nothing about gold prospecting in mineralized soil. Sorry for adding my 2 cents on his topic of a PI at the beach looking for jewelry.

[Bill (S. CA)]

14 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Why do VLF guys have to drop in on every PI thread to declare it’s not what they would use? Don’t. Nobody is telling you that you should. You obviously have never been in a place where your VLF gets 50% depth and calls anything past that as ferrous. If SMF was so great every gold prospector would be swinging one but fact is they are lackluster second cousins for performance compared to a good PI. The OP was asking for advice on a PI, not about anyone’s opinion on whether a PI is worth using or not.

Steve's point is a very valid one. I like to think of my PI as a situational machine.  Yeah, most of the time I use a multi on the beach.  But there are times where the multi struggles (heavy black sand for instance) and then I go to the PI and it shines.  Here's an example for you.  When I was field testing the Axiom for Western and Eastern Treasures, I took it to Zuma Beach on the S. CA coast.  There were a bunch of us out there, easily a half dozen other guys. Everyone but me was swinging a Deus II or Equinox.  They were all struggling with their detectors due to the heavy black sand.  All I did with the Axiom was basically turn it on.  Right in the middle of an area they had all gridded I pulled out a honking very old silver ring. 

If you don't use a PI, so be it.  But don't judge what you don't understand, okay? 

[bklein]

I just tested detection depth on a gold ring in the wet at probably 15” with my new xxxxxxx. Yes it turned to a ferrous target - but a loud one that I’d dig. My AQ probably would hit it, my modified White’s machines maybe. If you hunt in the surf though (here in so CA) you wouldn’t want to risk the AQ in the surf as they are pretty fragile.  You don’t need or want extreme depth as you can’t dig a hole deep enough in time to get the target. So I’d advise not spending big bucks. Your Sand Shark has about the smallest profile of the detectors Steve listed.  Might still be the best for you and worth fixing.

[Joe Beechnut OBN]

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

I like to think of my PI as a situational machine

That sums up my use of my (AQ) PI, knowing what I'm walking into...

[kac]

I like the SH and especially the 10x14 for beach combing. I had slapped a part whites, ml, garrett shaft together and put the control box under the arm cuff balancing it perfectly. Downside its still close to 6 lbs and if your have a bad shoulder this will limit your time hunting. There is the hip mount that works but any movement on coil wire can cause it to false a little.

Most sandy beaches or where there is black sand, hands down its far better than vlfs but there are areas I hunt that have so much iron trash that it would be impossible to dig everything. Sounds like a valor attempt at greatness but a daunting task that would leave you with a trash barrel of crap and only cover a small area.

I'm not a die hard beach hunter and prefer vlf's when possible.