New here & new to the sport. A few ??'s

[nOObIE]

Hello,

I have recently purchased my 1st Hawaiian sling. I have been surfing and fishing most of my 33 years and am looking forward to a trip to Barbados where I hope to log some time above and underwater.

I was reading an article that states it is a bad practice to hit the reef with the shaft; environmentally that makes sense, what I dont understand is if there is no leash on the shaft and a shot results in a miss - well then how do you avoid hitting the reef?

Also, my next purchase will be new fins and mask; do the large sports distributor offer good combo packages or should I go to a SCUBA shop where I can only assume the prices will be higher.

Thanks...........

[BennyB]

Moved to Beginner Hunting.

Cheers,
Ben

[alexrom1207]

You avoid hitting the reef (or rocks) by knowing how far your spear will travel, in the case of a hawaiian sling that shouldn't be too far, and by not shooting at fish where (if you miss) your spear will hit the reef. So wait for the fish to swim out so you have a clearer shot. I use a gun and spear up North. So hitting reefs is not really a concern of mine. However, hitting a rock could result in a bent shaft which would just ruin my day. I may not take some shots I may have gotten but at the end of the day I still catch some fish and bring my gun back in working order.

[Whopperhead]

As far as buying fins and a Mask- make sure they are "freediving fins" as Scuba fins are short and too flexible. Depending how much time you have before your trip- I'd order them from a on-line dealer "aquasub". For a mask- it would be nice to hold them up to your face and see which is the most comfortable. But if you plan on doing any deeper dives sometime in your life- you might as well get a "low Volume" mask.