ColonelDan

I very much like your solution! I'll give that a try tomorrow. It's obvious to me that yours will be better than mine in water for sure and would serve the same purpose all around. Good job!!! 👍

I love clever ideas like this Sure Grip that makes detecting life easier. This is what I did before I saw the Sure Grip. I cut a swimming noodle to a convenient thickness, cut a slit in it so I could simply slip it around the top of the handle. It buffers the control box from weighing on my hand and stays on with no problem. It's nice and comfy but easily removed when cleaning my EQX. The Sure Grip however would be better when submerged in water.

I personally haven’t experienced any expansion or undue drag in the water as you describe.

Yes, a sand scoop is essential and a finds pouch is a "very nice to have" item. I've yet to detect in Hawaii but here are some general thoughts regarding beach hunting: Before you go, do the update 2.0 and use the F2 Iron Bias feature and then test a few targets you're most likely to find so you're familiar with what your EQX is telling you regarding a variety of those targets--coins, gold and silver jewelry. When you get to the beach, select Beach 1 mode and do a noise cancel first then ground balance. You'll most likely run into some very unfriendly sand conditions so you'll have to "dial in" the EQX to run as stable as possible. The relationship between recovery speed, the F2 setting and sensitivity will be key. Start by using Beach 1 on the dry and damp sand and Beach 2 on the wet sand and surf. Observe where the most people are on the beach...towel line, walk line, activity centers and about knee deep in the surf at low tide. Look for cuts in the sand where the surf has eroded the beach, low areas and ripples. Hit those areas with your coil low, level and slow. Grid the area to cover the area as thoroughly as possible. When you hit a target, I suggest you spiral around it to see if you have a coin line or other valuable targets in that same area. Good targets like gold tend to sink to similar depths. If you hit lead sinkers, stay in that area...its a good sign that gold is lurking nearby. I'm sure others, especially those who have hunted Hawaii, will add their thoughts, The folks on this forum are very friendly and eagerly willing to help! Good luck

A hunting buddy of mine does that and with no apparent issues...thus far. However, since I hunt exclusively and frequently on beaches, I've seen sand wear down any surface with ease and fairly quickly so I've always avoided swinging a naked coil on the beach--just my personal preference. If it works for you, go for it. As I always say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" 😉

I've read a number of threads on the best way to cover and protect the coil and there's been a lot of good ideas for sure! I thought I'd add mine for those who primarily hunt sandy beaches like I do. Over the years, I've tried several ways to keep sand out since a build up between the coil and cover could and will result in a degree of false signals/chatter. What I finally determined was that sand is the "cleverest" of all elements with which I've had to contend. It can and does get into everything. No matter how well I thought I'd sealed the cover onto the coil, sand still managed to get in there...granted not much but my thinking is that if it's not supposed to be there, I want it outta there. And the one time I tried sealing the cover, it was he** to get the cover off! Conclusion; Sand will always get in but with most methods of sealing the cover, there's no way for it to get out! I decided to find a way to give those clever grains of sand a way out. I came up with this solution about 5 or 6 years ago and it's worked well for me on my Florida beaches. I simply drilled holes in the cover which allows the water to rinse out the sand while still protecting my coil from bumps and scrapes. After searching the dry and wet sand, a few swipes in the surf and the sand is rinsed away. When I get home and remove the cover, there is only a very few isolated grains between the coil and cover...not nearly enough to cause me any trouble whatsoever. Works for me but your mileage may vary and I'm always open to better ideas. Note: I drill the holes from the inside out so there are no ridges on the inside which would inhibit efficient draining. Just one method from my sandy foxhole.....

Great post Steve! Thanks.....

A question on another forum sparked my attention so I pulled out a few of mine to see how they rang up on the Equinox 800. The coins were laid separately on the ground so this was nothing more than an air test in Field 1. Coin Date VDI $0.50 1860 3 (California Gold fractional coin) $2.50 1925 15 $5.00 1881 18 $10.00 1888 21

Good job Chase! 👌🏻

I totally agree!

Even if you shrink the size of the beach to 300 ft wide by 1 mile long ( normal for Daytona, Cocoa and St Pete) you're still looking at 19,008,000 sq inches. Now let's say through effective beach reading skills you focus on the towel line, wet sand and shallow surf. And let's say that reduces your actual search area by 50%. You're still looking at 9,504,000 square inches compared to the 95 sq inches in your 11" coil and you're still searching for that elusive 1 sq inch target! 😝 Pretty daunting eh? 😁

In my signature, I wrote that our challenge is : Big Beach, Little Coil, Tiny Targets. Just as an amusing exercise, I thought I'd see what that looks like in terms of square inches. 1 square mile of beach = 4,014,490,000 square inches Standard 11 inch coil = 95 square inches a good target = 1 square inch...maybe Given that reality, I think it's amazing we find what we do! Of course you can reduce that beach area with careful beach reading skills but you get the point! Big Beach, Little Coil, Tiny Targets.😁

“Do you use these covers to protect from saltwater spray?” Yes, Protection from salt spray and sand.

Allow me to suggest one more caution about full covers that I learned the hard way. Last June, I took my EQX to the Florida Keys and it was HOT!!!. I had a protective cover over the control box and after a short while, my EQX started to malfunction. The display went crazy and the buttons didn't work properly. I removed the cover, allowed the EQX to cool down and everything returned to normal operation. At that time, I made a "wild guess" that the cover, which covered up the speaker/vent holes in the back, may be preventing the EQX from "breathing properly." Again, just a guess at that point. I cut out part of the cover exposing the holes to the air and have not had a problem since and I hunt on Florida beaches year round. If this cover you describe is a full silicon cover and your hunting in hot weather, you may, and I say may, experience the same malfunction. I'd be very cautious were I you but that's just the view from my foxhole...Good luck.

I hunt the dry sand in AM. I found disc works best in wet and surf. I use PP and have had no adverse effects in iron but again, that’s on the beach and we don’t have as much iron trash as on land. Our trash is mostly bottle caps, can slaw, pull tabs, and aluminum by far. Sometimes we have iron trash but it’s the above that gives us the most trouble.