Fisher F-Pulse Versus Garrett Carrot

[Steve Herschbach]

The hardest thing about the Fisher F-Pulse pinpointer was just getting one. Like everything else these days delays seem to be the norm. I just got back from a road trip however and was happy to find my new F-Pulse waiting for me. I suppose these days it is important to note I bought this myself from a regular dealer.

This is going to be the simplest review I have ever done. I like a pinpointer that is waterproof. Check. I like a pinpointer that can be operated with one hand. The F-Pulse has a large side button operated with my thumb. Check. I like a pinpointer that can operate silently in vibrate mode so as to not attract attention. Check. I like a pinpointer I can operate with my eyes closed. The F-Pulse turns on with a quick push of the button, and gives a short confirmation vibration. Hold the button a little longer, and it vibrates again to indicate it has turned off. Check.

All that means I can consider the F-Pulse because I don't even look at pinpointers that can't get through the initial checklist.

Bonus round - can run off AA batteries. Check. This is actually great because I now can finally eliminate 9 V batteries from my detecting world. Everything else I have is rechargeable or uses AA batteries.

At this point it is just a depth thing and sometimes that can be a toss-up. However the F-Pulse being a PI unit made it an unfair battle, and the F-Pulse blew my Garrett Carrot away easily. Like by a solid inch or more on a nickel or a gold ring buried in very mineralized soil. The vibration mode has a much better modulation from weak to full giving a better feel for target depth. The Carrot ramps up a little too quickly in that regard.

The F-Pulse feels good in my hand, and the screw in metal battery plug lends an extra aura of toughness compared to the all too common plastic screw cap. The LED I am sure is adequate because I almost never use them anyway.

I should mention that the Teknetics Tek-Point is the exact same unit except green in color. I went with the Fisher because red is more visible should I be looking for it, and I like the allusion to pulse induction in the F-Pulse name. The Tek-Point does offer another color option however for those that do not like red. Though this is not fire engine red so much as a dark red and looks better in real life than in pictures.

Really, there is nothing more to say other than as of now the Fisher F-Pulse is the best pinpointer for my purposes that I have ever used. For me the F-Pulse wins by a mile and the Garrett Carrot gets relegated to backup position. The backup for it gets sold. That's how it works around here!

Shout out to Carl Moreland at First Texas who if I am not wrong was the prime mover on this project. Home run Carl - congratulations to you and the rest of the team!

P.S. Some early specification lists and even the outside of the box say waterproof to ten feet but that was later reduced to six feet. Not an issue for me at all but just wanted to point that out in case people see conflicting information in that regard, like the early color flyer below.

[MontAmmie]

I got mine today.  It's still in the box for reasons which I promised not to mention.  

[Geotech]

Thanks Steve, 'preciate the kind words. Sorry it's only a pinpointer. More in the works.

[Steve Herschbach]

"Sorry it's only a pinpointer" - it's a GREAT pinpointer Carl! Can't wait to see what is next but wait I will. Luckily my patience while metal detecting carries over into waiting for metal detectors! 

[SteveJJ]

Does it detect pickers? How small and how far? Would it be useful in checking crevices? In streams? Does black sand trip its trigger so to speak? Very curious how it does on gold, especially in comparison to Minelab's 35 and Garrett Carrot. I like my carrot but if one of the others will signal small gold better, I'd buy it. I don't need a better pinpointer for coin shooting, but one that could signal small gold would be especially interesting and useful. Thanks!

[Steve Herschbach]

I don’t use a pinpointer to look for small gold though I pack one in my kit in case I run into a large nugget at depth. For small gold when detecting I prefer a plastic scoop to a pinpointer.

I don’t have a Minelab pinpointer to compare to but I will check the Carrot and F-Pulse today on some small nuggets and report back later.

For me it all comes down to a renewed interest in coin detecting in parks and in my mineralized ground the VLF pinpointers were all tapping out at about the same depth. That is why once I had the Carrott I was not much interested in other pinpointers based on VLF tech (yeah, I know, not really VLF but that’s what people understand). I could use better pinpointer punch in my ground however and it was the F-Pulse being PI based that really caught my eye. My old Uniprobe gave me the best depth of any pinpointer I had used up to now but in the end the Garrett physical design was handier. Now I get PI punch in a housing that is arguably better than the Garrett design, and which hopefully proves to be more reliable once any bugs get worked out.

[Cabin Fever]

Just received my Fisher F-Pulse today too..  Very Nice!  The build quality is top notch and it out guns the carrot like Steve said by a good margin. Just a really nice looking Pinpointer.. comes across as very rugged. Hoping to get out soon to give it a real test..

Bryan

[Steve Herschbach]

Quickie test F-Pulse will see small gold nuggets Carrot can’t see at all, and half gram type stuff up to four times better in air tests. I have a cup of sand over 50% magnetite by content and while it will pick the sand up as you approach from the air a quick tap of the button resets it. But no overload per se. I have other stuff to do and frankly I don’t need to do anymore to satisfy myself at least. I think the F-Pulse is the better choice for small gold.

[Cabin Fever]

The jury is still out for me on performance as used for coin hunting... After a couple hours I found myself missing my carrot.. To be fair I need to really give this pinpoiner a couple more hunts but the F - Pulse really slows me down for some reason..  It seems to need more directional precision to find coins once the hole is open.. Reminds me of the TRX.. Its hard to put into words but something about the carrot makes it much faster for me to locate coins once the hole is open.  The F pulse does have a depth advantage when using it to find your target before you dig your hole..

I let my friend try it out because he was thinking about getting one and he came to the same conclusion as I..

I will work with it some more to see if I can get better with it.. I really want this pointer to work for me.. It’s a very nicely built unit..

Bryan

[LipCa]

On ‎3‎/‎3‎/‎2018 at 12:08 PM, Steve Herschbach said:

half gram type stuff

Steve, did you mean grain?   My carrot picks up 3 grain pieces easily.  Less that a 1/4 gram.