good point, Willie re: ocatves. I use them in this tuning, usually to accent a melodic line ... playing it once or twice, and then, after the line is 'introduced' playing as an ocatve line. It gives a nice accent.

This tuning is great for finger picking, too - by the way. In fact, I prefer to finger pick D tuning, when I'm playing guitar (as opposed to my highstrung Backpacker, that is).