My 2 cents on the HF110

[strangelove]

For months I’ve read only praise about the new omer guns, specially the HF and its fancy shaped barrel, so I’ve purchased one size 110HF to use on my trip to Brazil, (at the time I almost went Marwan crazy and bought the triple 90/100/110 but money was short after all the whole family was flying from AK to Brazil). The target that I had in mind was small to medium size jacks and blue fish, these types of fish often is present in large schools so I would be shooting the gun a lot. The HF would not be a shelf gun like my guns in Alaska, since here I only dive for 12 days, since the season is so short, so the guns here seldom get used.

My first impression of the HF still in Alaska, was that the gun was very well made, very nice handle, the reel looked very strong and reliable since it is high quality plastic, I would not have to worry about corrosion problems like I had with the three omer pelagic reels (the aluminum ones). Still in Alaska the only real issue I notice was the barrel made of bare aluminum, that combined with the stainless shaft would make for a very loud shot. But that was the only issue overall the gun looked great and also felt great.

Well it as time for the wet test, down in Brazil the spear fishing day starts at 6:00 am and ends at 8:00 pm or later if we decide to fish at night, very long days with a lots of shooting, one the first day the gun felt great, the shot was really strong (at the first shot I begin to double wrap using the line on the reel), the gun also felt very accurate, I can’t remember if I’ve missed any shots or not (if I did it was definitely my fault), but I’ve certainly made most of the shots, so I’ve landed plenty of small pelagic fish, jacks and pompanos and small barracudas, the gun felt really light and easy to move around, in fact the 110 felt as good as my sporasub 100 as far a mobility goes. The nice metal bridge together with wire loop under muzzle keep the gun tangle free and made reloading really fast. But my first impression was true, the shot of the HF is really loud, so if you plan to fish for shook or any fish that requires a quite shot, you may want to get the carbon model instead of the Aluminum (I don’t own the carbon model yet). I keep hearing my friend winning about my shot spooking his fish (too bad for him ; ) .

On the second dive day, came the first medium size fish, I was going to a rock to look for groupers when passing a place where the waves were breaking, I’ve spotted a couple of nice size pompanos I’ve nailed the largest one good size 25 lb pompano, the fish gave me a nice ride the new match 50 reel worked great, it let go of the line without any tangling or locking problems, but I can’t say the same for the little metal wire that holds the line, when the fish took off that was yank off the muzzle, but overall the gun was good. But after that it was a little more tricky to rig the shooting line and I had a couple of tangling incidents, but nothing major, but it did take longer to rig the gun after shooing, (since the gun has the range I was double wrapping).

The next few days were without any major issues, but on the sixth day I’ve landed a nice 20 lb amber jack, after dropping the fish in the boat I’ve notice the nice metal bridge was missing. After losing the bridge rigging the shooting line with two wraps was very difficult, I had to pay a lot of attention where I was placing the shooting line, and the order of things on the muzzle (meaning line) , sometimes when reloading with a lot of fish swimming around you it was easy to overlook, I am used to my teak-sea, that tree trunk has a very long line release and muzzle line holder (very much like the Wong and Yokooji for that matter) , so those are none issues, I never had any tangling problems, but with the HF without the bridge , wire loop under the muzzle and the small line holders the diver needs to be very aware else your shot will tangle (at least that was the case with me), that can take a toe on reloading speed. For my next season I am going to try to install the muzzle line holder of the master America that will make things really easy for double wrapping.

Besides the muzzle issue, the only additional problems I’ve notice were, the black line that came with the reel decay really fast (I notice parts where the line was weak and had to trim them out). Also the line release fail to let go of the line on two or three instances during my whole season, very minimal to the usage most likely I did something wrong. Perhaps the reason the Wong, teak-sea and others do not have a spring on that mechanism (but that has never happen with any of my other guns). . I would prefer a wood gun style line release, straight and with an angle, the one on the Cayman is metal with curves but the holding line position is 90 degrees, often when reloading the line escapes the holder.

Overall I like the gun, it is a very accurate, but the next one would be the Cayman carbon model (and I plan to do so), since my preference is for quite shots, after getting the gun, I will remove the bridge (it is too bad since that was great idea) also I will install a different line holder on muzzle. If I was using this gun to fish in Alaska, none of these issues would matter, since the dives days are short and the amount of shooting is low.

So here it is my 2cents on the Cayman HF110.

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[Marwan]

Great Review strangelove..looks like that thing took quite some abuse in the trip did you consider the cayman HF2 coming out soon...i dont like the current muzzle of the Carbon or HF models, the new HF will have the same muzzle as the XXV gold, i havent heard anything bad about it from the XXV users...
ill wait a bit for some fresh reviews after it comes out then maybe upgrade my excalibur carbon 100....
13 guns eh..youre almost as bad as me bro

[strangelove]

Marwan

The muzzle on the HF2 does look good even more lean then the one on HF, I wounder why omer is so shy about the size of the line holders on the muzzle !

BTW, Just used the gun, the barrel with painted aluminum scratches really easy, so if you are paying adicional money for camo, and the camo is painted on the top of the aluminum barrel, that is not going to last, but it will look good on the wall ; )

[Marwan]

no no no..i had no intention to pay 300 more euros for camo, i dont even like camo..the only thing camo i had was an omer wetsuit, which i traded a friend of mine with an elios black one (for freediving)...our hunting doesnt justify it, and i just dont like how it looks, i like the black wetsuits more
but i didnt get you mpoint about the hf2 muzzle being more lean..you mean its worse? in what way?
im currently experimenting with a gabbiano elite 90 i got from Mikko (great guy)...after all the raving spaghetti did..i decided i had to see what all the fuss is about..and if its all that..i might go that route instead of the HF2...
the weather hasnt been helping though, didnt get to try it yet

[strangelove]

Marwan

The muzzle looks good, I did like what I saw, but since I have never used, I can't say if it is good or bad. I think I would prefer that muzzle instead of the one on the regular HF (the one I have). I don't have any plans on using more them one band on my HF so the extra hole adds on the size (very little but it does). I like my muzzle like my women lean ! Sorry the joke but I just had to say it.

Maybe I should be looking into the gabbiano as well, the problem I have with that, is at some point in my life I plan to move back to Brazil and I am not sure if I would be able to get spares parts for the gabbiano.

[ILDiver]

I have not seen the Gold/HF2 muzzel, but what makes them better in your opinion? So far I personally like circular bands better that the screw in fittings.

Also on the paint, I switched out the metal wishbone and tied in a dyneema one. I wonder what paint they used on the LE's?? If it is duracoat or something similar, it will be interesting to see how it hols up.

[strangelove]

ILdiver

What I did like about the HF2 muzzle is the fact that is little shorter (no room for a second band), since I have other guns that I can fit more bands, that makes the gun a little shorter. I am also like circular bands. I don't have any plan on fitting a second band on cayman therefore the more compact the gun gets the best.

About the wereout on the paint, I did use a dyneema wish bone, that did not help the scraping, I think it is just the nature of the gun, aluminum and steel. Just my opinion.

You can check out the new muzzles on OMER

[ILDiver]

I've also made my shot line Dyneema. I was not fond of the metal crimps. I do have a little scraping from the snap swivel on the muzzle bungee.

On the muzzle, I just got a Cayman Cave, 50cm. It has the muzzle for the screw in bands. I like the circular bands, so I too the screw in bands off, but I do not like how the shot line goes over the shaft. It is not as secure as the HF's muzzle. But it's closed and it holds well enough. I opened the muzzle on the HF.

The extra length has not really bothered me since the length is more based on the shaft's length. So I guess that was more my question, what does the more stubbed muzzle gain? I'm guessing the HF2's muzzle, the mounts for the bands come out? That's probable the thing I dislike the most on the Cayman Cave, the fact that the mounts are fully molded in the muzzle.

[strangelove]

Ildiver
I have not used the HF2 so I am just speculating, but in my opinion and the usage I plan for my HF gun (one single circular band), maybe the extra inch on the muzzle for the extra band could make a difference when fishing for groupers. The 110 was a really long to fish the holes (hole fishing was not what I had in mind for Cayman), but when you are down there and see a nice one it is hard not to check it out ! But you are correct may be it would not make a difference on that sense, but would make a difference for those who wants to use a conventional band rather then a circular. I would not pay any extra for the new muzzle, but if both of them were the same price, I would go for the new one.

But this is just an assumption. When looking back now, I think I should have bought the carbon model, the loud shot can be an issue.

Again it is just my personal opinion and opinions can vary from diver to diver.

The itens I've missed the most were a better line holder on the muzzle and have not see on the new Caymans yet and a line release that is angle back. When reloading speed is important these two things make a difference.

[ILDiver]

Originally Posted by strangelove

Again it is just my personal opinion and opinions can vary from diver to diver.

And that's why I'm asking questions. Just to be clear, I'm not arguing, I'm trying to get a full view of the why's. That way when I look at a new gun in the future, or maybe an upgrade, I can have a better idea.

For example, with the Dyneema line and wishbone, I noticed my HF was MUCH more quiet. But I don't have much to compare it too other than a few JBL's. So your comment on the carbon being more quiet hase me curious.

Thanks for the info.

[strangelove]

Ildiver

I notice you were not arguing, I just felt like making it clear that my statements were based on my impressions and about the HF2 just assumptions.

I did try the Dyneema wishbone to begin with but the noise level was still high, just the friction from the shaft on the top of the barrel. It was taking me a little longer to load, since I was using a shaft without shark fins.

My take is the carbon barrel should be more quite since carbon will be less noisy. Just like one of the main advantages of wooden guns is they are really quite compare to regular rail guns.

[hteas]

Hey, Strangelove,
I don't recall you ever complaining about the noise of my RA when I fire it. I don't think I've ever noticed any particular noise from any of my RAs. Have you?
The coloring on the aluminum of my RA 100 rail is still there too, so no apparent scraping. Maybe it's just the Omer guns that are a problem. I keep telling you, RA is the ultimate answer ; )
Howard

[strangelove]

I know !

But what can I say the RA just did not look exotic enough to me (but I knew I could not go wrong with them), they look to much like my blackvipers, the same gun I have for 11 years.

It is just like being married, my intension was to try something new ! No one can blame me for that ! I guess any one who purchase an European car can sympathize with me !

The good side is the omer customer service is way better then the Florida free divers. But looking back I would still get the Cayman instead of the RA, for these reasons (personal options).

RA does not have a loading pad making it difficult to load (I am wimp).
The muzzle is more lean and would not have crack if I had removed the bridge.
The RA does not come with a reel so I did have to drill the barrel to install the reel.
The line release is longer and on the side.
There is no RA in Brazil would be very difficult to get parts if I ever need it.

[ILDiver]

Thinking about any scraping from the shaft, I decided to to order a new muzzle. The Hammerhead (Home of HammerHead Spearguns) it will bring the bands inline with the shaft and maybe help? I don't have any issue witht he HF muzzle, but I like to try new things. I did make my HF open and added a weight to compensate for it and it's still balanced well. I got one for my Cayman Cave 55cm too.

On my HF I don't think I have much wear showing on the track area. Mine was more knicks up near the muzzle from the metal wishbone that I noticed. I'll have to look at the track again, maybe I just did not pay attention.

I've also wondered about a teflon strip across the top.

[strangelove]

Ildiver

You read my mind about these two ideas, when diving in Brazil, I was using the HF or the black viper with the HH reef muzzle, the idea of using that muzzle on the HF crossed my mind.

If you actually install the new muzzle I will definitly want to hear about it. What I also like about the HammerHead muzzle is the nice long line holder. What model is the one for the HF A or B.

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The teflon tape it is also a very good idea, I am not sure I often you have to replace that.