Hiya
Here we go AGAIN!!!
Nothing brings forth greater response than asking about ones preferance to their weapons!!!
Lets start of by saying that i LOVE my Rabitechs!!! They are VERY accurate, powerful enough and very well priced. Not forgeting that they're solidly built as well. They are what i use for 90% of my spearing, which is usually hunting yellowtail kingfish from 5-15kg's in water whose viz. varies between 3-8m. 10m viz is EXCEPTIONAL inshore. Here the Rabitech's work brilliantly. HOWEVER, my alluminuim RA is JUST as good. Just as accurate and also powerful enough. But wait, so is my 115cm C4 Monoscocca!! Now remember, the c4 does NOT posses a rail, yet is just as accurate!!! (granted that it's an EXTREMELY well made weapon!!!)
Now for the fun part!!! We recently started hunting YF Tuna in 20-40m viz. My 1.3m Carbon Apex and Stealth have accounted for YF's in excess of 70kg's. How-ever, here the mid-handled wooden gun came into its own!! We are shooting fish that comes in on chum. They don't swim in a straight line or any pattern, so you end up tracking the fish all over the place. In MY OPINION, the tracking of a mid-handled woodie is FAR superior to a rear handled gun (be it rail/euro or wood). Then we had certain days when the YF were just too shy to come close in. They'd wait for the chum to sink quite deep, then start feeding. This meant taking long shots. This is where my 1.3m Carbon Rabi's weaknesses became apparent. Logically, my 1.3m Carbon Apex with a 8mm spear and 2x16mm's CAN NOT shoot as far as my 63" Mid handled woodie with a 8mm spear and 4x16mm's!!!! Thats DOUBLE the amount of rubbers!! Considering that the 63" is about the same size as my 1.3m Rabi, i reckon i'm doing well by getting more power and manouverability from the same sized gun.
Ok, the downside to this is that my 63" isn't AS accurate as my 1.3m Rabitech. The Rabitech is more accurate, with-out a doubt, as the recoil of 2x16 are much less than 4x16's, even considering the wooden guns additional mass. Spear whip might also be present which also makes matters worse. HOWEVER, the wooden gun is STILL ACCURATE, like i said before, not AS accurate as the Rabi, but ACCURATE none-the-less. Its a trade-off one has to make. The extra range and power to penetrate at that range for a little accuracy. MY VIEW is that you're shooting 60-100kg fish. These are HUGE fish and offer a HUGE target. Since they're constantly moving, its VERY difficult to get a kill shot. So losing a bit of accuracy doesn't concern me too much!!!
That little bit of range could me the difference between coming home empty handed with hard luck stories of shy fish in clean water OR an AWESOME picture of you with the fish of your dreams!!!
I know which one i'd prefer...................
Regards
miles