Salt Water Wading And Wet Sand Using The D2

[Lance]

I have owned the D2 for 3 weeks now and to get used to how the D2 performs, I have focused on hunting the wet sand.    I have also used it wading in the surf and tidal pools on the beaches in and around Cape Town.  I have also managed a short dive of about an hour with the D2. I normally  spend 80 % in the water and 20% on  wet sand.

Wet sand.

I am really enjoying the D2 on the wet sand and it makes me want to spend more time on the wet. I can run the “Beach Sensitive” program all the way down to the water line without any hassles.  It is really quiet on the wet sand with sensitivity at 95+ and reactivity at 1. In the tests I did, I managed to replicate Calabash’s 16 inch nickel test and had very similar results.  

In the tests I did there is very little depth difference between the “Beach” and “Beach Sensitive” programs.  When using the “Dive” program on the same Nickel test, I lost about 4 inches in depth.  When comparing my CTX and Equinox on the same tests, the D2 out performs both the CTX and Equinox.  Although I love Minelab, I will have to give it to the D2 on low conductors in wet sand.  I also really like the option of being able to store so many custom programs, as this comes in handy when wanting to double check a signal.

Wading, waist to chest deep in surf and Tidal pools.

I have been using the D2 at a family beach which I hunt often, as this beach has moderate waves, 3 – 6 feet. I found that in the water, using the Dive Program the D2 is very quiet and stable. I tried “Beach Sensitive” but it was not useable in the water as it was too unstable. I did manage to run the D2 in the “Beach” Program in these conditions, but I only used it for a short time as the  “Beach” Program wasn’t easy to work with. I think that with a bit of practice you would be able to use the “Beach” Program in the in these conditions.

There was a bit of a back wash and D2’s shaft would pick up a shudder as the water pulled back, but as I went deeper into the water, this became less of a problem. I swapped detectors with a friend and used his Equinox on an original standard shaft and there was no shudder or flexing of the shaft in the same condition. 

 As great as the Bone Conduction headphones are for diving, for wading I would prefer a good set of over the ear Piezo’s”. I am sure someone will be selling Carbon shafts and Piezo headphones for the D2 soon and this will definitely add value to the D2’s performance in surf.

The last 2 weekends I spent time with the D2 in a tidal pool comparing different settings in the water, without the added interference of waves. I placed a number of low conductor coins at different depths 8,10 and 12 inches.  Again the D2 was very quiet in the “Dive” program, even at 98 sensitivity, but as with my tests on the wet sand, you lose about 4 inches in the “Dive” Program.  

I played around with the “Beach” Program again to test it in calmer water. I tried lots of variations of the sensitivity, reactivity, salt sense etc.  It’s hard to explain in words, but the “Beach” program doesn’t false  but the does have some fluttering sounds and a lot of back ground noise. You can hear the waves as the water depth changes, similar to a PI.  I found that a targets signal does come threw the background noise, but you have to be paying attention to hear the target and coil control becomes very important.  Using the “Beach” program gave me a little more depth compared to the ‘Dive” Program in water, but when I compared the D2 to the CTX on the same target, the CTX outperformed the D2  and the CTX  was more stable. In my opinion, the CTX has about 2 inches over the D2 in my water tests.  I am hoping that with some more time spent with the D2, I will be able to squeeze a bit more out of it in the water. But at this stage I would say I prefer the CTX in the water. I am looking forward to hearing what the other water hunters come up with once they have tested the D2 in salt.

I am sure some people will get better results and others will get worse results, but these are my results and thought s on the D2 in the conditions I tested it in and I thought I would share them with those who haven't been able to get a D2 yet.

[NCtoad]

Nice review, thanks!