Breaking up is hard to do

Posted a few weeks back about "moving up" to the etrac from my beloved Explorer 2 w/10x12 SEF combo, mainly due to ergonomics and hoping my ailing wrist would appreciate the ergonomics of the etrac (mainly handle angle/less coil heavy). I Took a while off to hunt, even scored a personal best buck, rested and did some therapy on the wrist.

After 2 weeks I felt much better Saturday morning so I decided to take the exploder out instead of the Vx3 I've been using. Kind of a last fling with an old friend...The machine reminded me just what she's cable of. Went to a school that dates to WW I but had activity prior. Ive bombed this place and done well. No silver saturday but dug 3 wheats between 9-11" that I actually expected to find due to tone/cursor (measured and dug slowly while pinpointing w/trx), a 1868 2 cent peice (oddly at 4"). Most notable find was a very faint mid tone that hung around the indian head/bottlecap range on the cursor w/the depth meter pegged. Good Lord as my witness I dug a flattened RC cap at a measured 15".

Switched to another site I've been picking at with the Vx3 6x10". This place is super trashy, small iron everywhere on the surface and below. Ive hit this patch hard also, nothing crazy but 4 more wheats and some clad in half an hour...I had honestly forgotten just how good a coil that 10x12" SEF is in trash, edpecially for its size.

Bottom line I would have to sell the Exp. to help fund an etrac. I can't help but have this sinking feeling I would be making a mistake. Have you ever had a feeling to NOT sell a machine? This was my first and only FBS, it has its quirks for sure but an the Etrac by many accounts is better in some regards. I intend to keep the Vx3 as its my guest/jewelry detector.

deadlift,
Sounds like you've got a really good Explorer 2, and you and it work well together. I'd try to find a way to 'test drive' an Etrac while holding onto your current detector.

Something you may want to consider (and not often talked about) is the fact that high-gain electronic gear often has a wide variability of performance.
Not everyone's Explorer 2 will be as deep as yours. Not every Etrac is a deep silver magnet. Not every CZ-3d picks up a dime at 13.5".

I can't speak for the wrist issue, but I suspect that if you sell your Explorer and aren't happy with your Etrac, you may find it hard to replicate your current performance.
Ask anyone here, and most can share regrets about a detector(s) they wish they hadn't sold...but few will have the same regrets about keeping a good one.

HH,
mike



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2014 11:22PM by Mike in CO.

Yup, try and hold onto that machine till after you use the Etrac. If you don't click with the Etrac, your still golden................

DeepTech Vista X with 3 search coils.
Works for me

Thanks guys. Gotta old high school buddy who runs the etrac. Haven't seen him in a while but we talk on facebook some, may have to give him a holler.

I agree with the guys above, many disliked the E after a long time using an Explorer. Play it safe.

My understanding is those that start with an E-trac do better than those that jump from an Explorer to E-trac.
Keep the Explorer and try an E-trac and sell the one that is not your favorite sounds like good advice to me..
Have a couple of friends that liked the Explorer better than the E-trac and left the Explorer go to buy an E-trac which caused aggravation at best...