Hands free metal detecting underwater-suggestions needed!!

makahaman

Full Member
Sep 22, 2006
249
55
Northshore, Hawaiian Islands
Hi everyone out there in shipwreck treasure hunting land! I wanted to know if anyone of you had any suggestions for helping to keep my hands free while hunting underwater? I need to see some set ups to help keep my hands free to move rocks ect underwater. Garrett used to make a hand held wand to use instead of the bulky diver rod and I want to see your guys ideas to make my movement underwater more freely. I guess I would be attaching the control housing to my belt but what about the long cable? Any suggestions would be much appreciated! Aloha ;D
 

wailinmacs

Jr. Member
Jun 19, 2007
75
1
Boca de Ratones
Detector(s) used
excalibur
i attached a 4 inch piece of float noodle to the upper shaft of my excal near the arm rest. this floats the md
vertical, i hold it down near the coil. the next step (i haven't tried this yet) would be to attach a short cord from the md to my waist. this would keep the md off the bottom while i fan the hole, i hope. i wish i had an extra hand to hold my position over the hole. ideal set up would be with a tank and weights. macs.
 

Ascholten

Sr. Member
Jul 28, 2007
310
2
Detector(s) used
Spectrum XLT
I can think of an appendage you could attach a search coil but id probably be suspended or banned for saying it ;)

Aaron
 

stevemc

Bronze Member
Feb 12, 2005
2,121
279
Sarasota, FL
Detector(s) used
Whites Surfmaster PI Pro and Whites Surfmaster PI, Minelab Excal NY blue sword. 2 White's Dual field pi, Garrett sea hunter pi II (but don't use it for obvious reasons) 5' x 3 1/2' coil underwater Pi
Primary Interest:
Shipwrecks
I just put the control box on a weight belt, and take the black plastic rod out of the tube that it was clamped onto. Then if it is too short, make an extension out of PVC. That is pretty much what divers do. If you leave it on the whole shaft, it is too long.
 

pistolpete

Jr. Member
Jan 23, 2006
49
4
Fort Erie,Ontario,Canada
Detector(s) used
1280,excal,pi pro,sea hunter 2,x terra 70
The scuba shafts sold by andersondetectorshafts.com are very short and are available,by request, with a tether attached to the end of the shaft that can be slid up on your forearm or attached to your bc. These shafts are great in fast current where you have to hold onto the bottom with one hand and fan with the other. Just slide your arm through the tether and when you fan, let go of the handle and the machine stays attached to your forearm...
 

mad4wrecks

Bronze Member
Dec 20, 2004
2,263
107
Detector(s) used
Aquapulse, DetectorPro Headhunter, Fisher F75
Primary Interest:
Shipwrecks
I need to see some set ups to help keep my hands free to move rocks ect underwater.


Fisrt off, it sounds like you are diving alone. Without getting into a debate about the perils or merits of diving alone, when you are working underwater, you should definitely have a dive buddy. One can swing the detector and the other can dig targets and do the grunt work.

But to answer your question as you asked it, I just set my detector down off to one side. ::) ::)

Tom G.
 

Dak

Full Member
May 26, 2013
175
45
Connecticut
Detector(s) used
Garrett Sea Hunter XL 500
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Diving with a buddy? Then two know what you found and where you found it. Pass here.
 

Jul 18, 2013
34
53
Tampa, FL
Detector(s) used
Aqua Pulse AQ1B
Primary Interest:
Shipwrecks
Aqua Scan makes a palm coil for the Aqua Pulse AQ1B detector, the palm coil is designed to fit inside your glove. It doesn't have quite the detection range of an 8" coil, but it works very well and would definitely help. I always hip mount the control box no matter what the conditions are, and I often just hold the coil with no shaft at all, then when you need your other hand just let go of the coil until you need it again. If you are familiar with Aqua Pulse detectors, they used the same mold as the bone phone, but wound a coil inside instead of a speaker.
 

SADS 669

Bronze Member
Jan 20, 2013
2,454
3,737
Long Island, Bahamas
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Sand Shark....Aqua pulse 1B....Equinox ll
Primary Interest:
Shipwrecks
Hi everyone out there in shipwreck treasure hunting land! I wanted to know if anyone of you had any suggestions for helping to keep my hands free while hunting underwater? I need to see some set ups to help keep my hands free to move rocks ect underwater. Garrett used to make a hand held wand to use instead of the bulky diver rod and I want to see your guys ideas to make my movement underwater more freely. I guess I would be attaching the control housing to my belt but what about the long cable? Any suggestions would be much appreciated! Aloha ;D

If you tucked the shaft under your armpit with a very small positive weighted float attached above the coil on the shaft then you would have to gently "down pressure" on the shaft while hunting and then if you found something the coil could be allowed to float up as you check the signal area while the forearm grip remains behind you back. And then you would need to apply a little pressure with your bicep against the shaft.

Or you could do what I used to do with crow bars and large monkey wrenches on modern wrecks with less than helpful items that needed to come loose. They would be attached to me but the same principle may work on MDing. It was humorous to see a diver with really heavy tools attached like a Christmas tree and they were all trying to get to the surface on their floats it was like dial a tool ( pun intended)dde0a
 

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