Hmmm, so it's a game of the Axiom has to be better than anything else, or not worth a fair minded look? Last minute revisions? Like every model made by other detector brands that I have worked with? But you don't get told about? What about revisions after the fact? Do they count?
So if it's all about being the best, what is the best? The GPZ 7000? The GPX 6000? If so, why does Minelab waste time making the GPX 5000 or SDC 2300? Or are they "the best?" Any room for nuance and less than black and white thinking? Different needs, different budgets?
Am I only supposed to have worked with Minelab on the 7000 and 6000, which some seem to like? Or be open to anything and everything? Yeah, I do like the Axiom a lot, it's a very good detector. Am I interested in the Fisher? You bet. Just like was interested in the Axiom. And whatever Nokta is up to. I think the GPZ is four times too much money, the 6000 and Axiom 2-3 times too much money, and will not be happy until I see a good performing PI that weighs about four pounds and sells for about $2000 U.S. That's the challenge I put out in 2017 (google "Under 4 Pound, Under $2000 Gbpi Challenge") and I'll work with anyone possible to see that day come. So far I'm only halfway there. I could care less about any of these companies, and have only done what I have done all these years to help get us all better detectors at better prices. I've lost the price war for 20 years, but that tide is finally turning, and the future looks bright indeed.
I don't normally post here, but since people were trying to read my mind and motivations, there you have it. Some will like the Axiom, some will take a piss on it knowing nothing about it. Whatever. I have great faith in detectorists in general, and it seems to me many like their GP 3500 to this day, and have the gold to show for it. Give me a prospector with good research skills, the ability to find good ground, and a willingness to work hard, and I'll bet I could put any one of a half dozen detectors in his hands, and he would do well. I do not subscribe to the idea that it is the machine making the prospector; I believe the prospector makes the machine. The Axiom is just another option, just another possible choice for some. That's all. It's a better product than it might have been if I had not been involved, and that's enough for me.
I wish all my Aussie friends and brothers a wonderful holiday season, and a prosperous New Year - may your pockets end up lined with gold nuggets in 2023!
