If you could only use 1 Coil


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After over a year of spending alot of time behind the GPX5000 I have found I use the stock 11" round mono most of the time. I really like the weight, depth,stability and sound of the coil.

I have a CoilTek 18x12.5 too but everything sounds the same to me..... big, little, shallow, deep targets all seem to give off the same kind of sweet tone. It can get noisey too with EMI.

The CoilTek Joey is a great coil but of course lacks on the depth.

The Minelab Commander 15x12 mono is great but heavy.

So I'm thinking about getting a new Blitz or Nugget Finder 14" and wondering....If you could only choose one coil what would it be?

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Im using the 9x14 mono coiltek goldstalker. It my mainstay that I use 99% of the time.

I can usually tell when im on gold or ferrous metal by the sound. Also getting better at telling the size of the nug before I dig it up. So, to my untrained ears (detecting 1 yr) it does make different tones and sounds as to what target your on.

I also use the 6" mono goldstalker for getting in small areas and for final clean up on an area after Ive scraped off the overburden.

Ive used the big eliptical mono that came with the 5000 but have to figure out how to put wheels on it....heavy!...and im weak!!

Tom H.

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I use my 15X12 commander coil 90% of the time. I have come accustomed to the sounds. I have a certain setting with it, where it makes an almost broken erratic sound, which almost always is an indicator of small placer pickers to be classified and panned at home.

Dave

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I use the Commander 11" Mono most of the time, sweet GB,low touch sens and has pulled some big gold at pick handle depths too,

but when i need extra coverage i switch up to

my tried and trusty Coiltek 17x10 Mini UFO Spider coil, again very sweet on the 5k and great sens to the flyshit also.

Pete

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I would use my 14 elip. Advantage.

There are lots of very good coils out there

(most of them are mentioned above),

I am a big fan of the Advantage coils

but the 11 inch stock Minelab coil is the biggest sleeper coil of all of them,

mostly overlooked by everyone in their rush to grab the latest aftermarket

flavor of the month (I include myself in that rush btw),

but that stock coil is a killer.

fwiw

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Hey AZOverland,

Some good responses so far to your question about only using one coil. Over the last 3-4 years I have sworn by the Coiltek 14-inch Elliptical Mono. I'm now swinging the "Blitz" version, which I like even better than the original Goldstalker Mono. This coil is lightweight, gets great sensitivity to small gold, easy to pinpoint with and still gets good depth.

I personally believe when I'm out prospecting with this coil I'm getting 95% of the gold I swing over. The other 5% will be gold too small or just too deep.

Just my thoughts,

Rob Allison

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I'm with you grub, i was just thinking all these guys, and no platypus! I love mine in the gold country because when i backpack in, one coil is just lighter. I hate leaving my joey behind though, so whats 10 oz!! I think most of you guys are in the desert obviously, but the plat can go anywhere. If i were in the desert the 14in goldstalker would be my choice.

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On both my ol' Baboo 2100 and my new Baboo 4500, the NF original 14" E Mono fiberglass is the best coil going for me ... Found well over a pound of dinks to whoppers with it, shallow and deep ... I've gone through 2 of these coils and well into my third and still cranking out the nuggets ... If I had to use only one coil, this would be it ... My second fav is the NF 17 E Mono and third is the CT Wallabee 17 Mono ... Found bunches o' gold with these three ... Cheers, Unc

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Well I think I would be more confused now than when the question was first asked. A lot of different size coils and all are good choices. A lot depends on the terrian where one is detecting. I can never make up my mind on which one I like the most thats why I have eight coils. I guess I would have to say that the two I use the most are the 9x14 and the 11x17 nugget finder elliptical mono's. I like the ellipticals because I can pinpoint with them using the tip and they have a little more ground coverage than a round coil.

Good luck.

Wes.

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Here in Virginia I prefer the Coiltek 14X9 unless I am in a very trashy site which requires the use of the stock 11" DD or the small Joey coil. I also use the larger mono when I suspect deep nuggets but I find most days the EMI noise prevents me from using the big ones except very early in the morning.

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Seems like the 14" mono ellipticals get the most votes. Does anyone have time behind the CoilTek Blitz and the Nugget Finder with Litz wire? Plus the Nugget Finder says its "Water resistant" up to 2 feet so you can still hunt that wet grass and shallow streams if you're brave...???

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So far my favorite size choice is the NFA 17E & 24E for an all around coil, but I cannot wait to see if a CT GS 18E Blitz comes out is what I would like to have. I do not want to get in to trouble here but from the reports I have heard I think that new 14E Blitz coil is slightly better than the same size NFA coil. The Commander 15E is good to but too heavy. I honestly cannot see why JP likes a round 18" as a general all around everyday use gridding coil.? Because instead it is a specialty coil for bigger nuggets at depth and the round 18" has less depth on nuggets under about 2 grams which are the most common nugget sizes, and nuggets bigger than this that it excells at are much too rare to be specifically looking for them. So to get the maximum depth on nuggets under about 2 grams coupled along with good ground coverage then the Elliptical coils I mentioned above are best along with the NFA 14E and CT GS 14E Blitz. The 11", 12", and 14" rounds are also good but I prefer ellipticals for more coverage and better pinpointing.

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I run the blitz 14x9 goldstalker 95% of the time. This coil is super sensitive, has good depth, lightweight and easy to pinpoint with, Especially on the gpx series. I've ran a lot of coils over the years, from small to big elliptical to round DD to mono. This is my favorite coil!!

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I think you are missing the point - no one coil does everything. That's the whole reason why we have multiple coils of different sizes and designs. I've had plenty of situations where I got everything that could be found with one coil and then came back with another coil - larger or smaller or whatever and found more gold the first coil couldn't see. It's OK to have a favorite coil, its OK to use one coil most of the time, but if you only use one coil, you are leaving gold in the ground, no matter what the favorite coil you are using is.

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beer Beeper...Oz is the land of big nuggets, I am certain JP knows what he is doing and has the nuggets to prove it...besides an 18 coil will find some mighty small bits to buy the gas or tip off another patch...

I like my 11 inch commander but I am getting found of my 17 inch e-coiltek...taking the coil cover off and using the hip stick has eliminated the weight issue...

fred

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I honestly cannot see why JP likes a round 18" as a general all around everyday use gridding coil.? Because instead it is a specialty coil for bigger nuggets at depth and the round 18" has less depth on nuggets under about 2 grams which are the most common nugget sizes, and nuggets bigger than this that it excels at are much too rare to be specifically looking for them.

I was with him for 5 weeks last summer and he used everything from an 8x6 to the 18 round and all of the coil sizes in between. I think probably the coil he used the most in the locations where we were was the 17E. He chose his coil not just as an automatic thing like oh, I always use this size of coil - he chose his coil based on the ground we were at. At a spot that had been pounded but had some deeper ground at one end he used an 18 inch and came up with a half ounce+ nugget. Other places with shallow tiny gold he was using smaller coils like the 8x6. To have just one coil and automatically use that pretty much all the time is a mistake - its a way to be sure you leave gold behind and that you dont get the best performance out of your detector. The same goes for choosing one setting on your detector and just automatically always using that setting. Fine gold is a very powerful and useful setting but there are plenty of places where other settings would be better.

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I think you are missing the point - no one coil does everything.

OK but let's say you are hiking into the hills a few miles, are you going to take multiple coils? If not what coil do you take to hunt a new area that may or may not have gold?

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OK but let's say you are hiking into the hills a few miles, are you going to take multiple coils?

Find gold first.Then come back with other coils. I would bring my 8 inch mono to begin. I also carry a Gold Bug II so I have the bases covered.

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I often do carry a back up coil with me in the backpack unless the car is only a couple hundred yards away. Then the extra stuff is in the car.

If you are going to explore an area, choose a coil that fits what you are doing. Scanning bedrock for small shallow gold, get a small coil. Going for a hike across a large area looking for patches, get a larger coil.

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