floats

[unirdna]

Riffe Float and Line

With all the float experience in this thread, has anyone ever used the Riffe torpedo and/or either kinds of float line (regular or bungee). These are among the pricery float equipment available and I'd like to know if they are worth the price. I've been thinking about buying a 50-75ft regular float line. It looks like the real deal, but at 80 bones, I thought I would run it past the forum first .

Gracias!

Ted

 

[fuzz]

The Riffe torpedo float is nice for travel, but I rather use a normal foam-injected lifeguard can for sturdiness & reliability. i can get 2 cans for the price of 1 Riffe float in hawaii, so that's a big consideration.

As for the floatline - if you are talking about the black ones, it'd be a very simple matter to make your own Get some cheap clear tubing & dye it black, thread some mono, spectra, dyneema, or nylon through it, terminate the ends with swivels putting a plug of silicone inside, & voila!!! I've made several this way & I've never had one break. If it did, the line inside would hold it no prob.

 

[Murat]

Thanks for the link Amphibious.

 

[Dogmatrix]

Just to let you all know I have a 11 lt rigid Ra float on the way as we speak and also a 35L inflatible RA float... this is going to be rigged with a breakaway on my 1.3M railgun. i will be taking the whole kit and kaboodle to PNG on 15th next month... when I return I will give a full update on the trip and will also let you all know my thoughts on the floats.

Did you know it is cheaper to buy the 2 floats I am getting over here then it is to buy a single riffe float... I realise the riffe has got to be very good quality and all but where does the quality end and the price for the brand name start. Alright we will see.

 

[GoblinShark]

Float lift

Do any of you guys know how much lift an 11 liter RA foam float has? How about a 7 liter?

 

[Murat]

I also wanna buy one. Do you guys know where is the closest dealer o cyprus?

 

[SpearSlinger1]

I don't have a real float yet, but I was thinking of something to at least hang my catch bag off of. Then I got a Stearns Sea Safe as a gift so I figured, "might as well, don't have any other real use for it right now". Didn't have a suitable rope laying around the house so I used a left over piece of the wifes clothes line about 20 meters long. You know, the white plastic kind with the strands of monofilament running down the center. This arrangement was unacceptable. Even though I did recover a nice, new, 5 kilogram Danforth style anchor with it that I otherwise would not have been able to continue the hunt then swim all the way back in to the beach with. The clothes line is negatively bouyant and would occasionally hang on the reef when I dove. So I went down to the hardware store and picked up a 15m X 9mm polypropylene 3 strand twisted rope. The Sea Safe has 4 attachment points on it, 2 on each side, so I ran the rope through 2 of them and secured it with stopper knots. Then ran 3 steel snap links through the rope at intervals between the two attachment points to snap my bags and what not on to. I'm not attaching the rope to my gun figuring that if Mr. Sharky wants my catch bag he's not going to get my Riffe too. Instead I put a rubber bungee loop on the end of the rope and loop that around my wrist. If I need to let go I can just pull and the bungee will stretch enough to let my hand slip through glove and all. The Sea Safe is 40cm x 18cm and works well for an inflatable float for my purposes. Floated that anchor pretty good.

 

[fuzz]

No matter how stretchy, I cringe at the idea of you swimming around with loops around your wrist.

As for rope amterial, some yellow poly cord works great. Cheap, very durable, floats, & can be rigged without knots for streamlined action

 

[fuzz]

BTW, had a few sharks attack my float & never personally had any problems. Just a short game of tug-of-war (once followed by a jousting match) :martial

 

[SpearSlinger1]

We, son and I, did some testing with this system, Fuzz. I wanted to see how quick I could get rid of it before we took it in the water. I wouldn't use just a loop eye spliced in the end of the rope. :hmm The rubber bungee has a few things going for it that aid in it's release using this method. It's got a relatively smooth surface to reduce friction when it's wet, the loop isn't tight to begin with, the stretch in the material makes an even bigger hole in the loop and any part of the loop that does catch or snag on it's way off my hand rolls right over whatever the snag was and keeps going. After testing this system with a 94 lb., ten yr. old dive buddy running around with the other end of the rope I feel more confident in being able to shed this without a hitch than almost any commercial weight belt I've seen on the market.

As for making this system more streamlined. This float rides so high in the water that it tows nicely. I've considered eye splicing the rope to the rear attachment point, splices being more streamlined than knots, which would eliminate that knot, but I would still want a stopper knot in front of the front attachment point to prevent the rope slipping back through. Another thing I've considered is to cut off the 9mm line in front of the float and use a short splice to attach a 6mm line for the tow rope. I haven't done the splices yet because I'm thinking this isn't going to be my permanent float system. The next thing I want to experiment with is a boat fender.

 

[icarus pacific]

somebody say Riffe??

The Riffe float is nice on a couple of counts. One is that it deflates for easy storage and travel. The loops and the attachment points are situated right where they need to be so the pull of the line doesn't tweak the fabric and the loops are sized so the flares, stringer and light are nice and secure.

Second is the integral weight bag in it keeps the flag upright rather than it acting like a keel. There's an increasing pressure to fly flags and the weight keeps it nice and visible.

Now that thats all said, yeah, the Riffe gear costs. A bunch. If you can swing using a smaller float and don't need or like to fly a flag as do I, then the pool lane floats are dakine. String one or a few on the line, clip the swivel-snap back on the end and you be soooo smooth. Easy on the tugging and real easy on the wallet.


sven

 

[Abriapnea]

Re: somebody say Riffe??

Originally posted by icarus pacific
The Riffe float is nice on a couple of counts. One is that it deflates for easy storage and travel.
sven

What ...? It's not made of wood ? :duh

 

[SpearSlinger1]

I take that back. The next float I'm going to experiment with is going to be the large float that I found on the beach this morning when #1 and I took the wife and baby shelling. It's a big foam float of the type the commercial fishermen use on their nets.

 

[Hawkeye31]

Attaching floatline to gun

Kinda off the topic, but have to ask. I finished making my floatline and im trying to find the kind way to connect it to the but of my speargun. Because the floatline has swivel endplugs I could tie a knot through the plug directly to the gun, but this would make me tie/ untie this knot everytime I go out. So I bought some quick / longline clips and thought that I could keep the clip on the floatline and keep a loop of rope tied to my gun and clip the two parts together. The end result seems a bit cumbersome. To be more clear it looks like this. Gun.....loop of rope.....clip.....loop of rope....floatline.

The clip catches kelp. Is there a better way?

Thanks \
Hawk

 

[Bill]

>The clip catches kelp. Is there a better way?

You need another piece of gear for diving kelp. It's called a reel.
IMHO

Aloha
Bill

 

[icarus pacific]

Reely now!

Ouch, a reel in kelp...

Yep, that's the best way to keep from getting the floatline free of the kelp- because you're not using a floatline! rofl But manoman, you get that narrow diameter line from the reel wrapped all over hell and breakfast, you're gonna realize true misery. Still, it's a good way to go...
Another way to go is to drill the butt of the gun, put a loop of plastic coated wire, like the wire on your shooting line. Make it so the loop extends just over the butt end, not a foot long thing. Then just snap the clip onto this. The clip is made off to the swivel on your floater. You can get the clips with the swivel already made off to it for the real smooth way to do things. The less hardware the better, and this will also let you unclip the floater if and when you gt all buggered up in the kelp and have to go back and undo the bouy from the acreage you've been lugging around. :crutch and scaring everything for the rest of the tide...

That's why I use a pool lane float for the bouy- it pulls easy.

Of course the easiest way, and Bill will probably second this, being as how he's got enough time involved in being smooth himself, is to pay attention where and how you're moving through the kelp. You gotta thread your way through the stuff and be aware. All the time. Getting all screwed up in the stuff a few times is part of the process and it'll get old quick.


sven

 

[Hawkeye31]

Bill, buying any more equipment at this point in time would land me in the penalty box, so Ive got to stick with the floatline. Im thinking that the advantages of the reel are moving around prior to spearing a fish, but they become disadvantages when trying to pull thin line through the kelp. I could be wrong, but the reel isnt an option right now.
I do like the simplicity of Svens design. Until I buy a crimper, wire etc. I will tie Dacron line through the floatline swivel to the rear of my speargun, keeping it simple and smooth. Thanks\\
Adam

 

[Abriapnea]

Hawk , are you using the longline clip that looks kinda like a paper clip ? If you want to minimize it cathing on things you can sheathe it in a section of thin bungee . Tie it on at the base of the clip and then just roll it over/back to cover or access the clip .

 

[Hawkeye31]

rigging

After seeing a picture of the setup that Sven suggested, I tied a clip (the kind that looks like an industrial strengthed paper clip) to my floatline real close and tight, so that the clip is really just an extension of the floatline. Now it is da kine...just a cuick snap to connect it to the Dacron loop that is tied to the butt of my gun.

Abri- I am having a hard time picturing the type of bungy tubing you are suggesting, although it sounds like a sweet idea....are you describing something like a miniature condom?

Adam

 

[w3ac]

RA Floats

I personally prefer the RA floats to the lifeguard style. They have significantly less drag than the lifeguards in both blue water and reef situations. Keep in mind that I do a fair amount of diving on the east side of the big island of hawaii so we deal with rough water and swell all the time. I notice more drag with my one lifeguard than I do with two RA's. A few attributes are their price, durability and the fact that they are already foam filled. I have seen an inflatable picasso float folded in have by the run of a thirty pound Ono, and a single foam filled lifeguard hydroplaning two feet underwater behind another Ono of about the same size. I have never seen the RA's fail. Granted that they do have less bouyancy than the lifeguards but like I said earlier, two RA's tow easier than one lifeguard. I don't know what kind of fish you target but I personally feel that three RA's and a good bungee float line can handle almost anything. Hope this helps.

Brad:martial