BHID Impressions - thumbs down

[dahut]

I pulled a "GDMax" yesterday and left my scoop at home. Hal and I drove 45 minutes to the lake before the gaff was discovered. Guess I can now join the GDMax Big Boo-Boo club. Ah, well - moments of brilliance...

Anyyyyyway, yesterday good old Hal, my detecting partner, brought yet another detector model along. He is the King of Detector Trading and has gone through more units than I have fingers to count with in search of the perfect machine for him. This time he had traded his Tiger Shark for a Whites Beach Hunter ID. I use a Tiger Shark as my personal choice in a freshwater detector and was pleased the day he got one of his own. Naturally, I wondered at his sanity when I heard he had gotten rid of it. All I will say is that it wasn't a great trade. Okay, thats not all I can say...

I know there are plenty of you who like the BHID, so I'll go easy in deference to you, my friends. And it IS a White's, after all, so it can't be all bad. But at the end of the day, I found it to be less than worthy. Here are the ways it went astray.

1. It is heavy and ill balanced.
Heavy duty isn't an instant condemnation. Rugged is not a bad thing around the water. But, the way the thing hangs along with the weight it carries....well, it doesn't compare to the Tiger Shark on this score. Sorry.

2. The control box is too bouyant.
Once it submerges, it begins fighting you for control, trying to float up. Too much air is trapped inside. This might not matter if you never went in past your knees. If you do, however, it becomes something of a bother.

3. The control box is fixed under the cuff.
The only option is hip/chest mounting. Truly, this is not a biggie as I like chest mounting for a water detector, while I dislike hip mounting. But, I thought that while I was nit-picking, I'd toss this in.

4. The THRESHOLD kept drifting
It was always increasing in amplitude. Every few minutes it needed adjusting back down. I went through the GB exercise numerous times, at a lake beach I know has stable bottom conditions. What's up with that?

5. The pin-point was, well, not.
It was drifty and hard to nail precisely. The target signal was always moving around, hard to say for sure if it was here... or there. Keep in mind I use a Tiger Shark in fresh water, so Im spoiled.

6. The battery cover is suspect.
I didnt monkey with it, so let me say that upfront. But at first glance, it is a goofy affair consisting of a lid held in place by a clamped strap - held captive between two flimsy plastic pins. Others have had problems with it and I confess it didn't instill confidence in me. Again, I use a Tiger Shark, which suffers from no such worries.

7. THE BOUYANT COIL ISSUE
Yep, its true. If you've heard about it, rest assured - the coil floats when under water. It, too, is always fighting you, like the control box. It reminded me of some lumbering, slow-motion whale, trying to breach back to the surface. Use this thing for long and you can cash-out your gym membership.

To offset this annoying tendency to float, you have to do silly things like tie a sand-filled sock to the lower rod, or come up with some sort of weight to offset the bouyancy. Hal had his wrapped his coil rod with the required sand filled sock AND a generous wrapping of duct tape in an effort to keep things secure. In all honesty, it looked ridiculous.

To make matters worse, at one point I lifted the coil from the water when a nearby kid spotted the "sock and duct tape" rig - and, oh dear Mercy, began to howl with laughter. He was pointing at me and shouting something at his mom; all the while roaring in fun at my expense. She hollered back at him, something to the effect that he should behave himself and leave that guy alone. Luckily, I had headphones on and couldn't hear all that the little urchin had said.
I mean, if I was sensitive to what people thought about me, I wouldnt be water hunting in the first place, but that was just too much.
_________________________________________________
Now in all fairness, there were some things I liked about the BHID - A LOT

1. It has an audible THRESHOLD
I'm old school - thresholds should be audible, whining along in the background. The BHID has one in the DISC mode. Goodie!

2. It has Manual GB
This should be an option on nearly all detectors, especially in and around the water where conditions can vary so much.

3. It has iron null
The DISC has an iron null feature. Again, Im old school - iron should null out, or at least you should have the option of selectng this feature. With the BHID, unless it was a corroding engine block, most smallish iron nulled the threshold. I like it.

4. Tone AND visual ID
Hooray, this is nice, nice, nice!. It is real a boon when hunting in the water to have these features - since you can't see doodly-squat for the most part. And surprise...the lights are bright enough to be seen clearly in bright sunlight.

5. The DISC set up
There is NONE! This was another bit of wisdom in the murk. Out there in the water, there isn't a great need to fiddle with a DISC knob... you are interested in knowing about everything beneath yor coil. On the BHID, switching to DISC enters a pre-programmed arrangement of 'conductivity blocking', based on:

Low range - iron... red light and low tone/nulling
Midrange - foil, nickles, tabs, gold... yellow light and midtone
High range - coins and silver... Green light and high tone.

This tone/lights/blocking arrangement is nice and leaves more time for digging, without a lot of wasted effort at ID'ing stuff. Thanks White's; I like that, too.
_________________________________________________
With all the good things going for it, I am baffled by Whites seeming disinterest in improving this model. If they only went to a printed, epoxy coil like everyone else, this sucker would go a long way down the right path.
Then include the chest mount rig when you buy one and we're getting somewhere, boys.

Admittedly, I haven't used it for an entire season, done extensive air testing nor any of the other things BHID afficionado's will say I should do. But, I've been detecting for 20 years and have tried beaucoup detectors. And thanks to Hal and his weekly trades, I get to try a lot more these days, too. What a great partner!
Since I am hardly a novice and have used, owned and currently employ some of the best gear around, I put some faith in my first impressions of equipment.

Hey, White's, I dont hate it - you're really on to something with the BHID. But, you're not there YET. Are you listening?

 

[gmanlight]

Redo Funny i read a post very close to yours except guy # 1
used a BHID and tried TS from guy # 2 did not like it
My pet peeve when some body starts with i heard or tried
for a few hours You have about 19 years MDing on me I have
BHID about 1 month no reviews yet i want to work it hard first
BHID may not work well in your soil or u need to put more time in
Even the excal which might be the best still likes to customize
new shaft,chest mount, bigger coil and practice

HAPPY HUNTING

 

[SusanMN]

I owned the BHID for all of one day before I returned it, so let me chime in:

I hated the fact there was no volume control - I found the volume absolutely ear shattering. This alone was enough to make me return it.
I hated the fact the the detector sounded on iron objects. I didn't want to have to listen to all the bad sounds because my lake is full of iron.
I also hated the battery box latches, which in my case, arrived with the flimsey pin loose on one side. Happens all the time KELLYCO said.
I also thought it wasn't very well balanced and the coil wanted to bob up in the water.

So, assembly, fighting with broken battery pack, a five minute spin at the lake and it was back in its box on its way back to Kellyco.

Then I bought the Tiger shark which was a major improvement.

 

[Moe (fl)]

Have had the BHID for 3 months and although I have to agree that I was having second thoughts first, now I really like this machine. It takes a while to learn and get used to its pluses and minuses. It is very accurate on coins and a bit less on gold and rings. I run mine in all metal mode and use the LED lights to decide to dig or not. It goes very deep. Have found dimes on wet sand at over 10" inches which is pretty impressive. It is very sensitive to small items (i.e. gold). The battery latch is okay. Mine also broke the first time but Whites sent me a replacement the next day free of charge. Have not had any more problems since with the latch. This detector is built to last (sturdy) and the latch is designed for up to 25 feet dives so it has to be tight (water proof). If I had to rate the BHID from 1-10, I would give it a 9.

Perhaps the Excal may be a bit better because of its iron mask but it also costs $500 more and weighs more. My 2 cents!

Happy Hunting!
Moe

 

[Sandman]

Very good post an accurate appraisal of the BHID. Lights are nice underwater where you have limited vis. but you can hardly dive with this thing unless you go less than 20 feet.

Your buddy made a mistake in trading away the Tiger Shark. Perhaps he just needed something different to play with for some excitement.

 

[dahut]

Your buddy made a mistake in trading away the Tiger Shark. Perhaps he just needed something different to play with for some excitement.

That's what I told him, too. But, you gotta know old Hal. He's very particular.

 

[Moe (fl)]

Would like to add that when I selected the BHID for beach hunting was after a long process of comparing similar detectors. At the end I was between the Sov GT and the BHID. Several people suggested the Sov GT but after learning about some of the problems with that detector (i.e. knobs, loose stem) and because it is not waterproof, I decided on the Beach Hunter ID. The BHID specs clearly state that it goes up to 25 ft underwater so this should not be a surprise. I know people that own Sov GTs and use them for beach but have to waterproof the electronics which I find a big hassle. I wanted peace of mind in the harsh beach environment so I was looking for a waterproof detector. This is a huge advantage and also allows me to quickly wash off the salt/sand with the hose at home (low maintenance).

I mainly use the BHID along wet sand and surf. For this purpose the BHID works great! Of course it also works nicely on dry sand as most detectors do. Ground balancing was the hardest part to learn but after a couple of weeks you get the gist. Being a visual guy, the LED lights are a big help to identify the target (to dig or not to dig). So far I have never found a good target that showed as Red LED (iron). The Green LED is pretty accurate too. Yellow is a more broad range but this is where gold will be found so you have to dig.

Hope that this helps anyone evaluating the BHID. It is a great specialized detector.

HH!
Moe

 

[dahut]

Helpful comments from a devoted user. I appreciated a lot of things about the BHID, as I said, and really would like to get hold of one for awhile. Unfortunately, I am a seasonal fresh water lake hunter and cant justify more than one water detector.

The one thing that alerted me to the BHID was that it is dual-use, ie, it functions in both salt and fresh water. I do make it to the seashore on occasion and was hopeful on this account. At the waters edge and in the dry sand, I suspect it would do quite well. Once you hit the mine, though, that darned coil starts to surface and fights with you.
There is also reason to suspect the coil mount, once the waves begin to hit it. A moving, surfacing coil gets to be a real annoyance.

Who knows, I may end up with one one day, should the right deal come along. With a little inventive finesse, I just might make it go. For now, that aint gonna happen - Hal has gotten another HH Wader!

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I had a BHID, I liked it, BUT it has several problems, the biggest being IMO the battery door. If you are not very careful, and you get sand on the o-ring, or do not get it closed correctly it will leak. Water in battery compartment is not good. Mine leaked, it did not mess up the electronics, but it would go nuts and I had to send it in. Whites replaced the battery door and the bottom of the control unit.

The floating coil never bothered me, and I fixed the coil from flipping up in the surf, but I never really trusted the thing underwater again. I used it only for the wet sand and up to my waist in the water. It never leaked again, but I also traded it in.

I got an Excal and moved the BHID back to my back up, then I traded the BHID in on a new Sovereign GT and never had any regrets. I also recently picked up another Excal as a back up to the first one for water detecting. I bought both Excals used and the Sovereign is new, I traded in the BHID for it.

People talk about the Minelabs having control knob problems but they forget it was the early OLD units. I now have 2 Excals and a Sovereign GT and none of the 3 have any problems with knobs or anything else. All 3 are working properly and the only way I would sell any of the Excals is if someone offers me more then I paid for them. I am very happy with Sovereign GT with the WOT coil on it.

I am a happy beach hunter when it comes to my detectors........

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

But I am over due for some more gold...

 

[Moe (fl)]

I agree with most comments. The BHID has been good to me and that's why I stand by it. Also, Whites service is top notch!. With dual frequency (3 & 15),the BHID is a killer on wet sand which is where I use it. I have heard good things about the Sov GT. What attracted me to the Sov GT over the Excal was that the electronics are better. Anyway happy hunting all!

Moe

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

What attracted me to the Sov GT over the Excal was that the electronics are better. Anyway happy hunting all!

Moe

The electronics are basically the same, a land version of the Excal. Lighter and the tones are slightly different. To me they both sing a sweet tune when they are over gold....

 

[Sandman]

Correct Treasure_Hunter on the sweet gold sound. There is no other sound like it from an Excal or any other detector where the tones sound the same, "Beep," instead of. "Cha Ching!"