Beach Hunter ID 300 and black sand?

[Digger28]

Hi folks,

I'm vacationing this spring on a small island with a number of black sand beaches. As I don't currently own a salt water machine I'm trying to decide what to buy. I think I've narrowed it to the following VLFs - BHID 300, Fisher CZ21.

I'm leaning more toward the BHID only because I have owned great Whites land machines in years past and I like their quality. I will mainly be hunting the wet sand and wading up to chest deep.

I would be most appreciative of anyone's experience using the BHID 300 in a black sand environment. What sort of depth are you seeing on jewelry targets after adjusting for the black sand? Are you able to quiet the machine to a tolerable level in terms of false signals. Also, I'd be interested in feedback from anyone who has owned and used both units mentioned.

I'm looking to you experts in this since all my water hunting background has been in fresh water lakes with the Tiger Shark.

Thanks for your help!

-Rick

 

[bob n.]

digger28, i have the bhid 300 and a fisher cz20, whether you have noticed or not these two machines are very similar in frequencys and tones, i have found gold with both. i think they both handle the black sand well. the 300 does false more than the cz, it is for sure a little more erratic. the cz control box is the big differance, in the water it has never leaked, and the 300 has had problems with the main gasket, although whites says it is fine since they replaced the old black one with a new orange one. price wise they are about the same, so if i was to buy a new detector, i would pick the more stable cz 21, just my opinion. hh, bob n.

 

[Digger28]

Thanks Bob,

I appreciate the comparison and the details regarding the gasket on the 300. That's the first I've read about that particular issue, makes me wonder if it's been resolved by now. It has been suggested that the CZ21 8" is a little better in black sand than the CZ21 10", which coil are you running on your unit?

-Rick

 

[Tom_in_CA]

The BeachHunter ID is not recommended for mineralized beaches. While it handles wet salt ok, once you add in mineralization, it does not bode well. They don't even work that well here on CA beaches which are only moderately "cinnamon colored". The general rule of thumb is that the whiter colored the sand, the more mineral free it is. Tan to cinnamon color sand is moderately mineralized. Gunpowder or black-ish colored sand is highly mineralized.

 

[bob n.]

digger28, i have the 8" coil on my fisher cz and it works very well. there are about eight of us using cz's in the water and i think only one has the 10 1/2" coil. i'm not trying to promote fisher products, but even the coil on the 300 is buoyant, that machine could have been designed better. hh bob n.

 

[Parkit]

Acctually the old BHID isn't made any more, it's now the BeachHunter 300 and the floating coil has been replaced by their 12" "near neutral buoyency" coil. It's also about $300 more than the BHID was. A lot of people had sent their BHID's in to different vendors to have the 12" coil installed, the floating coil was always the one thing I hated about my BHID but I adapted. As to how either would work on black sand, I have no idea.

 

[Digger28]

Thanks everyone for the great advice.

I purchased a like new Excalibur 1000, I know at least I will be able to hunt 2 of the beaches possibly more and the unit will work great here in the lakes of Michigan. This seemed like the best choice for the money and I got a sweet deal on the machine. HH to all.

-Rick

 

[BEACH HUNTER]

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