Best detector for nugget hunting

[yedla]

I need your expert opinion. What is the best DIY detector for nugget hunting in desert and creek areas for a novice builder? I'm building Surf1.2 from silverdog.

[Davor]

I'm not a prospector, yet, but from what I've seen in videos of desert prospectors, they concentrate on narrow gaps for small flakes and nuggets in creeks, while they tend to cover large areas with powerful deep going machines in open areas seeking big ones. Surf will be a good choice for the latter, but not the shallow flakes.

[yedla]

I've a sluice to prospect small flakes. I'm interested in finding corn pod sized nuggets in river beds and desert areas. I'll test Surf once I'm done with assembly.

I see other DIY detectors like TGSL, IGSL, HH etc. Are they better than Surf for this purpose? I see lot of experts in this forum talking surf in the context of beach prospecting.

[Carl-NC]

Depends on your desert & creeks... if you are dealing with hot rocks then VLF like *GSL will drive you crazy. Many creeks in Oregon make a VLF sound like a machine gun as you sweep it. Could be that a non-GB PI will test your sanity, too, depending on the hot rocks.

[Astromic]

I believe your best bet should be on TGSL or IGSL, they tend to "see" gold better than PI, especially smaller nuggets that loose their feedback signal (generated magnetic field) more rapidly to be sent back to the common PI coil. Someone corrects me if i'm wrong, I am an "Iron" hunter after all (meteorites)

Mike