[Mr. X]

I use a regular single barb (flopper) taihian. The Rob Allen spiele answers this question from their perspective, which is basically: everybody eventually comes back to the taihian.

Multi-tip spears seem designed for when you don't want much penetration: fish in front of rocks, flatties on the sea bed, or when you want to paralyze the fish to avoid tangles (around wrecks, rigs,...?) -- usually these would be close shots using shorter "cave" guns. A larger head would tend to slow the spear at distance & be more vulnerable to breakage (at least the ones that incorporate plastic in the head), which could be a problem around the aforementioned rocks - not sure if it affect accuracy(?). It was interesting to read Paddy's experiences. It would be good to hear more from those that use tridents & other tips (e.g. what about double barb tips?).