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fishing line or dyneema to atach spear?

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Boatwayupnorth

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Jul 10, 2020
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Hi, I'm building my first speargun. All went well so far - pics will follow
I'm completely new to this. If this is a stupid question, please bear with me. I have watched some videos on how to rig an open muzzle speargun and in most of them people use strong fishing line for the wraps, tie it to the spear and to the dyneema line on the reel by swagging.
Is there a particular reason for not tying the dyneema line directly to the spear with a bowline or something similar?
 

Sounds like a simple question, but there are a lot of issues. Generally people want to have a shooting line attached to the spear. At the junction with the line from the reel (or a muzzle bungi) it is beneficial to be able to detach the lines. This is often accomplished with a heavy duty snap swivel.

If a shaft fully penetrates a fish and then it ends up on the line and then spins, you end up with a tangled mess. If it is a very small fish, this is a minor annoyance, if it is a large fish and there are sharks around, this can be a big problem. So it is generally best to be able to unhook the line, fix the tangle, remove the fish off the end of the line and then reattach.

Dynema line is generally "soft". Which means it is more prone to tangling. For this reason (and also the reduced cost) most basic guns are rigged with monofilament (250 to 400-lb test). this line is stiffer so it is less likely to tangle and easier to untangle. It is also inexpensive to replace when it gets abraded on rock, coral, wreck. Dynema is more resistant to abrasion and is very strong and hard to cut, so some advanced divers may choose this option for certain situations.

In any regard, if you permanently attach the line to the shaft, you will end up having to cut it more frequently than you might like.

You can accomplish the connection with a knot, but it will be slower to re-tie in the water. Hope that answers your question.

And.. good luck with the new gun! I'm sure we would like to see pictures! (We offer wide selection of DIY gun- builder parts).

Thanks
dano
 
Hi Dano,
thank's a lot, that makes sense! Except for the sharks. The ones we have in Norway are either down far too deep or far to small to be a problem
It certainly makes sense to use a stiffer line and a quick disconnect, though.
Cheers
Walter
 
Boatwayupnorth said:
Hi Dano,
thank's a lot, that makes sense! Except for the sharks. The ones we have in Norway are either down far too deep or far to small to be a problem
It certainly makes sense to use a stiffer line and a quick disconnect, though.
Cheers
Walter
Click to expand...
No sharks? You missing half the fun! LOL
 
Having a quick disconnect is a very convenient way of attaching your spearshaft. I used to do this, and when I shot a fish which proved difficult to extract the spearshaft, I just disconnect it and pull the shaft through. I find it easier this way than having to pull out the spearshaft with sometimes the flopper gets snagged in the fish bones.
 
I remember something about dyneema slowing the shaft more than mono, it has been mentioned somewhere, backed by experimental data
 
Pure unjacketed dyneema does not hold the knot well. There is a specific and rather bulky knot that is required to avoid slipping. Some people REALLY went scientific and I even interacted with the inventor of such a knot. At the end I decided to use mono. People have a tendency also to use a line way thicker than they need. Unless you are about to suspend your huge catch on the shooting line in the air a cheap 200lb crimped mono is all you need. It will be stiff and a diameter of 1.3-1.4mm in size. The only problem i have (I shoot air gun with a slider on my shaft) is that the mono gets destructed in the attachment hole so I use timbles from Aliexpress for 1.5mm line. I modify them slightly to reduce the drag profile.
 
Sounds good, but doesn't it create lots of drag?
 
Boatwayupnorth said:
Sounds good, but doesn't it create lots of drag?
Click to expand...
Drag is not usually taken into equation as the usual range to shoot 2 to 3 M from speargun tip. My usual armament is a 90 mares cyrano or my modified 90 cm inverted rooler for long range shooting and a 70 mares jet for short range or inside rocks shooting. Hence, drag is not usually taken into consideration as the power is sufficient to overcome the drag caused by dynema and snap swivel.
 
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