First speargun - Caribbean

[orchidius]

Hi there,

I'm planning a sailing trip to the Caribbean, and would love to do some freediving/spearfishing while doing my sailing along the islands. I'm looking to buy my first ever speargun for this, as I'm totally new to the sport. I'll be doing reef-fishing at low depths with good visibility and I most definitely want a band speargun with a reel.

I'm leaning towards 75cm guns (I'm European) as I probably won't be needing the extra power for blue-water pelagic species and I don't want to struggle with too big guns. The smaller ones seem puny though... Does this make sense?

I see a lot of discussion about band-sizes and the number of bands used. Does this make a huge difference and can all guns be outfitted with multiple bands or different band-sizes? Before reading about the importance of this I was planning on just using the band supplied with the 75cm gun I'll end up buying as the band supplied with it is probably going to fit the circumstances the gun is going to be used in...

I'll probably be ordering from the following site and in the cheaper end.

http://www.scubastore.com/scuba-diving/spear-guns-spear-guns/22/s

Any specific recomendations? Is the Espadon gun by Beuchat any good for example?

 

[foxfish]

A simple, single band 75 would make a good travel gun but you would have to selective as to what you shot.
Lots of big powerful fish & clear water in the Caribbean

 

[kwtony]

you want to go with a 90cm gun minimum, where you are diving even that might be too small... Check out the rob allen 90cm gun. Most of the beuchat guns are nice, but some of the less expensive models can feel a little cheap in your hands. The salvimar vodoo is a good gun as are many of the cressi guns.

 

[Apneaddict]

As stated, a 75 would be pretty short for clear water. A 90cm would be better... But 100cm perhaps better.

110 for deep reef work in the clear perhaps.

The problem, is that a gun generally doesn't travel well, unless you get a riffe travel euro gun which breaks into 2 pcs, or a sportube travel case.

Instead of a 75, I'd probably just use a polespear.

If you get a 90 or 100, I'd look into Mako - great quality and hard to beat the price. Super value.

Reels are ok, but I'd definitely get a float with dive flag, for visibility to others and something to hang onto if things get rough.

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

We would recommend a gun with a minimum length of 110 cm for the clear water. A longer gun typically costs somewhat more but the added range, power and accuracy at distance of a longer gun will be very welcome in clear water. Most experienced hunters will select a 120 or 130 cm gun for clearwater reef hunting, but a 110 is slightly easier to handle and still has the power and range.

It sounds like you are in the market for an inexpensive gun. We offer a MAKO Spearguns Predator Pro 2 gun, which includes a very high quality south african spearshaft, a trigger mechanism with the trigger, line release and sear all made from stainless steel and a warranty that would be very tough to beat.

Don't under-estimate the need to have a quality shaft. Even if you target modestly sized fish, a shark can easily rush in and turn a shaft into a pretzel. Our shafts are not "shark proof", but they can take a beating, much more so than found on some other guns.

http://www.makospearguns.com/Predator-Pro-2nd-Generation-Railgun-p/mpp2gr.htm

 

[Mr. X]

Hi Mako1, the new Predator-Pro-2nd generation does indeed look impressive - esp. the shark fins on the spear (for open muzzle's only), the metal trigger & line release & robust handles.

This "why buy" link (http://www.makospearguns.com/why-buy-a-mako-speargun_a/290.htm) does a great job of summarizing and illustrating some of the benefits of railguns that we have discussed over the years on the forum (as well as highlighting some mako's particular advantages of course). From discussion on DeeperBlue.com, the open muzzle v. closed muzzle benefit is less clear cut/more controversial than the article suggests - although the ability to use stronger shark fin spears probably pushes the benefits balance toward open muzzle - but as you offer both options, no problem either way! Another benefit of the metal line release is that they fall into place better (i.e. more reliably & more crisply) - I had a plastic line-release tooth that started to stick, blocking the trigger mech - not good (that mech. has since been improved, using an extra spring to push the hook into place - but simpler & better to use a metal line release I think).

The only additional feature I might desire from such a railgun would be an *inexpensive* railed carbon fibre barrel option (perhaps with C4-like hydrodynamic/"cuttle-fish" shaped but that is probably beyond what is reasonable to expect) - but perhaps there are cost/recoil concerns? With a lighter barrel, perhaps lighter spear (& possibly other fittings) might make more sense - but then perhaps we are more into the realm of "euro-guns".

The AR15 (American Railgun enclosed rail model with different handle & mech.) also looks very interesting too.

Mako started out good and seem to be getting both bigger & better . Innovators - like Omersub.

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

WOW Thanks very much for the positive comments. Open muzzle guns are more popular by a huge majority (based on our customer's preference) but we do stock both types for guns that make sense. An enclosed track gun (and the shark fin tabbed shafts) make it incompatible with a closed muzzle.

As for a CF barrel.. that is something we have been looking at for a long time and we may eventually offer as an option. However, our predator Pro 2 gun is VERY inexpensive. Adding a carbon barrel will increase the cost of the gun. We have tried extremely hard to keep our prices low and avoid compromising quality.

Thanks
dano