The GTI 2500 at the beach.
I recently took my GTI 2500 metal detector to the beach on the north coast of Durban to give it a go while on holiday and this is what i found.
Heavy beast!
On start off I had to watch my luggage at the GTI 2500 is very heady and with 3 coils in the mix it took up half my 20KG weight allowance. Speaking of the weight if is very difficult to walk long stretches on the beach with this giant hulk. Your arm will fall off even if you are fit. I have a mixed review for its performance.
Search Coil fail.
I tried out my new double d non imaging coil I got for it as it was recommended for mineralisation, better target separation and good at the beach. I found this coil which set me back a grand or so to be a complete dud. It had the same separation as my large ring coil and performed no better on the beach than the concentric coil. Coupled with the fact that the double d cant be used with imaging for target size make it a massive disappointment for me.
I then switched to my large concentric coil on the dry sand which performed very well although I must say when I took my little Ace 250 to Singapore and Australia it performed just as well. So no real benefit over the good old ace 250 on the dry sand although having the target size did help eliminate unnecessary digging for cans and large trash. This was pretty much the only plus for the GTI 2500 on the trip.
In the wet sand.
Garrett promote the GTI as being “recommended” for surf hunting (wet sand) but just like the ace it went berserk in the wet and was not useful. I tried both deep seeking pulse induction and normal mode. I would not recommend it for wet surf. Although I never tried turning the sensitivity way down.
I found about 30 or so modern coins, plenty of sinkers and a nice 1930’s ticky in the Tidal Pool at salt rock. Tidal pools seem like a good bet if you have a machine that can handle the wet. Storms and shifting sands will not wash away treasures in tidal pools.
I may be a bit biased due to the fact that the North Coast of KZN beach are very steep and shifting sands cover treasures in tons of earth. For a fair assessment id have to try it on some more promising beaches.
but overall I was not happy and would have been just as successful with the Ace 250 on my trip to Durban.
A pic of the finds from the 3 days hunting. Not a ring to be seen:
