There Is Black Sand And Then There Is " Black Sand "

[LowTide]

In light of the recent release of the Minelab Equinox, and expected release of competitive products I've noticed various posts across the Internet of tests/reviews/comparisons of detectors on fresh and saltwater beaches with "Black Sand".  But there is only a 50/50 chance that the beach "Black Sand" you are looking at is iron bearing "Black Sand".  The other possibility is that it is plant matter that has decayed and been ground into fine powder by wind and wave action.  Those in areas where Bog Iron is produced or those Southern Red Clays have to deal with sands that are iron bearing but not necessarily Black in color.  Some of the hottest sands I've ever seen were Purple in color.  To know whether the "Black Sand" is the bad kind(iron bearing) you need to test it, a simple magnet can help or a detector with a ground type meter.   Unless a tester/reviewer has verified the black beach sand as iron bearing I would be skeptical of the results.

[Treasure_Adventure]

This is so true, there is often a black sand layer of decaying crap not far down, often it stinks but has little effect on detectors.

I detected on what I now know to be volcanic rock and it really killed the equinox’s depth to the point where it was practically useless. The Pulse Induction detectors I used also took a hit to their depth but still useable.

there are so many variables out there that there isn’t really much conclusive evidence about any detectors abilities to be honest, everyone says how “DEEP” their machine is but as Steve says, it’s all relative

[Rick K - First Member]

The video of the Manta PI being tested in France shows it being tested with 2 fat bags of black volcanic Basalt sand - one from Lanzarote in the Canary Islands and one from Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean.  Like PI’s typically do, it sees right through the bags and hits the gold ring underneath. The 2 multifrequency VLF IB detectors tested on the sand are totally blocked by it. 

Ihttps://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=G8sdp4RG73g

[Treasure_Adventure]

1 hour ago, Rick Kempf said:

The video of the Manta PI being tested in France shows it being tested with 2 fat bags of black volcanic Basalt sand - one from Lanzarote in the Canary Islands and one from Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean.  Like PI’s typically do, it sees right through the bags and hits the gold ring underneath. The 2 multifrequency VLF IB detectors tested on the sand are totally blocked by it. 

Ihttps://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=G8sdp4RG73g

Amazing, that “Manta” PI sure looks interesting, hope Fisher make a solid waterproof case for it whilst keeping it lightweight.