anyone got a recommendation on the best gun for a total beginner girl!!
guess what I'm gonna try my hand at spearing...
sam
guess what I'm gonna try my hand at spearing...
sam
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guns for girls!
- Thread startersamdive
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
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It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
Whether you're a girl or not, I'd say go with a gun that is 1: close to neutrally buoyant when loaded and floats when the shaft's out, and 2: relevant to the fish and conditions you have.
I have 3 guns and so far my fav is the OMER T-20, 75 cm. Perfect in limited vis, fish up to 5 kgs, for a freediver. You could get bigger fish with the gun too if you wanted, but you certainly don't need a 5-band, 2 metre bluewater gun to start. Any of the Picasso/OMER/Cressi/Rabitech, etc guns would probably be fine.
Cheers,
Erik Y.
I have 3 guns and so far my fav is the OMER T-20, 75 cm. Perfect in limited vis, fish up to 5 kgs, for a freediver. You could get bigger fish with the gun too if you wanted, but you certainly don't need a 5-band, 2 metre bluewater gun to start. Any of the Picasso/OMER/Cressi/Rabitech, etc guns would probably be fine.
Cheers,
Erik Y.
yeah her long hair kinda gives it away... :hmm
One thing Sam, you probably wont have the muscular development of a male, so loading a euro gun, particular a RobAllen say, might be difficult at first.
I know when I first got my 1.1 and 1.3m guns I was struggling to load, and it took all of my brute strength to manage it. Later on when the technique slots in, its easy as.
The only lady spearo I'm familiar with had her gun rubbers a bit longer than normal to begin with, then shortened them as she learnt the technique. Mind you, now she can load guns that guy beginners struggle with! Too funny to see egos deflated... rofl
Go hard Sam, nothing like eating your own fish for dinner!
One thing Sam, you probably wont have the muscular development of a male, so loading a euro gun, particular a RobAllen say, might be difficult at first.
I know when I first got my 1.1 and 1.3m guns I was struggling to load, and it took all of my brute strength to manage it. Later on when the technique slots in, its easy as.
The only lady spearo I'm familiar with had her gun rubbers a bit longer than normal to begin with, then shortened them as she learnt the technique. Mind you, now she can load guns that guy beginners struggle with! Too funny to see egos deflated... rofl
Go hard Sam, nothing like eating your own fish for dinner!
For a first gun for the UK, get a 75cm band gun, brand is not too important, but the ones I sell are very good! Look for a tahitian spear 6-6.5mm diameter, articulated wishbone, and you are probably best off with 16 or 18mm rubbers until you get the hang of loading
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk
thanks - probably will be mostly in cornwall and portland - I have got a couple of chances to have a go with other people's guns lines up soon so will see how I get on and then decide.
remi - deepest bear is pissing me off at the moment with all the nagging about wanting to go to Monaco. Maybe I will use him for target practice... then again Bryn gave him a speargun about a year ago so he is probably better than me and would shoot me back....
sam
remi - deepest bear is pissing me off at the moment with all the nagging about wanting to go to Monaco. Maybe I will use him for target practice... then again Bryn gave him a speargun about a year ago so he is probably better than me and would shoot me back....
sam
in my opinion a lady should start with an airgun: maybe a woman's body could have some trouble in loading a rubber gun because of her breasts and "softer" abd muscles. try an airgun, size between 70 and 90, of a recent design such as Omer Tempest, Cressi Sl, Mares Cyrano, Asso Tigullio or Sporasub Stealth: you won't have to load them on your breast but on your foot.
Hiya
Airguns have their place in a spearo's gun bag, but not as a starting off gun.
As ALL spearo's who use rubber powered guns WILL atest too, loading a gun is more tecnique than brute strength. We ALL battled to load our guns until we learnt the proper tecnique. All of us have the bruised sternum to prove it!!!
With a airgun, you will not learn the proper loading tecnique, which will prohibit you from moving onto longer guns. Not forgetting the fact that airguns are high on maintanance and expensive to purchase as well.
For a small 75cm gun, have a 6.3 or 6.5mm spear fitted with a single soft 16mm rubber. Get a loading notch cut into the spear, which will allow for VERY easy loading, especially with a 16mm band.
My wife started out with a 75cm with a single soft 16mm band AND a loading notch. Pretty soon she was using a 110cm gun also with a single 16mm AND a loading notch. She now loads her 110cm gun with a SHORT 16mm and WITH-OUT a loading notch. She recently upgraded to a 57" mid-handle gun with 4x14mm bands also with a loading fin on the spear.
Just for the record:
A Boca Raton woman beat 239 anglers -- 224 of whom were men -- in the Spearboard Open at New Port Richey and might be the first spearfish-tournament winner in Florida.
BY SUSAN COCKING
scocking@herald.com
A Boca Raton engineer might be the first woman to win a major spearfishing tournament in Florida. Sheri Daye, 48, won top honors in last month's third annual Spearboard Open at New Port Richey in a field of 240 -- all but 16 of them men.
Using both scuba gear and freediving, Daye speared two Cubera snapper weighing 19.6 and 13.5 pounds; two black grouper (23.2 and 19.7); two hogfish (5.0 and 4.7); two triggerfish (5.3 and 5.4) and one amberjack (26.8) for a total gutted weight of 123.2 pounds worth 113.2 points. Points are capped at 20 per fish and there are limits on the number of fish taken per species.
''I loved it,'' said tournament organizer Scott McPherson, who founded the Spearboard.com website in 2002. ``I was thrilled for Sheri. I thought it was really cool. She beat some of the best shooters in the country.''
Under the rules, competitors had one day to spearfish anywhere they liked as long as they made it to the weigh-in in New Port Richey on time on May 22.
Spearfishers went hunting along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Jacksonville to New Orleans.
Daye and teammates Tim Milner and Jimmy Reitz opted for the Gulf waters off Key West. They located wrecks and reefs on their own, plus they got a tip on a wreck location where Daye got her amberjack from captain Bob DeMauro, who runs spearfishing charters to the Dry Tortugas.
While size mattered, so did diversity of species.
USING HER BRAIN
''I won this partly because I used my brain as well,'' Daye said. ``Guys want to go for the real big fish. Guys on my boat wanted to keep going for grouper, and I started going midwater to get triggerfish. I really didn't think it would be enough to win the tournament.''
For her top prize, Daye chose a custom-made buoyancy-compensation vest.
The Honduran-born Daye moved to South Florida at age 8 and didn't learn to swim until she was 10. She earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Florida and an MBA from the University of Miami and now works full-time for IBM in Boca Raton. Divorced with no children, she took up scuba diving and, later, freediving.
''I went with a couple of guys, and they wouldn't give me a turn on their spearguns. So I went out and bought one,'' she said.
She went spearfishing on weekends and days off, joined the Longfins (a freediving club) and got help from two friends. In spearfishing tournaments, she usually won the women's division.
''Dave Earp and Chad Palan -- those two guys are my mentors,'' she said.
Daye got so good at spearfishing while holding her breath that she holds six International Underwater Spearfishing Association world records: a 33-pound dolphin, 18.6-pound mutton snapper, 22.8-pound yellow jack, 46-pound Pacific Cubera snapper and a 157-pound yellowfin tuna -- all women's marks-- plus a 40.8-pound permit that is an overall world record. The permit was speared off Mexico.
MALE DETRACTORS
Daye says many spearfishers in the male-dominated sport wish her well, but there are some detractors.
''I do get some resentment,'' she said. ``There are a few, I know they can't stand it. I've had some imply I was cheating when I wasn't. When you're in the public eye, there are some people happy for your success and some people who put you down.''
Daye said she may take up underwater photography if she gets bored with spearfishing, but for now the athletic pastime suits her.
''To be in the water and the beauty you see, the wonder of nature -- that's amazing,'' she said. ``Some [moments] are terrorizing, like a big shark. But you come away with a feeling you don't get anywhere else. I'm goal-oriented and I like eating fresh fish. You bond with your friends out there. ``When you put that whole package together, the real world is completely out of your mind.''
Airguns have their place in a spearo's gun bag, but not as a starting off gun.
As ALL spearo's who use rubber powered guns WILL atest too, loading a gun is more tecnique than brute strength. We ALL battled to load our guns until we learnt the proper tecnique. All of us have the bruised sternum to prove it!!!
With a airgun, you will not learn the proper loading tecnique, which will prohibit you from moving onto longer guns. Not forgetting the fact that airguns are high on maintanance and expensive to purchase as well.
For a small 75cm gun, have a 6.3 or 6.5mm spear fitted with a single soft 16mm rubber. Get a loading notch cut into the spear, which will allow for VERY easy loading, especially with a 16mm band.
My wife started out with a 75cm with a single soft 16mm band AND a loading notch. Pretty soon she was using a 110cm gun also with a single 16mm AND a loading notch. She now loads her 110cm gun with a SHORT 16mm and WITH-OUT a loading notch. She recently upgraded to a 57" mid-handle gun with 4x14mm bands also with a loading fin on the spear.
Just for the record:
A Boca Raton woman beat 239 anglers -- 224 of whom were men -- in the Spearboard Open at New Port Richey and might be the first spearfish-tournament winner in Florida.
BY SUSAN COCKING
scocking@herald.com
A Boca Raton engineer might be the first woman to win a major spearfishing tournament in Florida. Sheri Daye, 48, won top honors in last month's third annual Spearboard Open at New Port Richey in a field of 240 -- all but 16 of them men.
Using both scuba gear and freediving, Daye speared two Cubera snapper weighing 19.6 and 13.5 pounds; two black grouper (23.2 and 19.7); two hogfish (5.0 and 4.7); two triggerfish (5.3 and 5.4) and one amberjack (26.8) for a total gutted weight of 123.2 pounds worth 113.2 points. Points are capped at 20 per fish and there are limits on the number of fish taken per species.
''I loved it,'' said tournament organizer Scott McPherson, who founded the Spearboard.com website in 2002. ``I was thrilled for Sheri. I thought it was really cool. She beat some of the best shooters in the country.''
Under the rules, competitors had one day to spearfish anywhere they liked as long as they made it to the weigh-in in New Port Richey on time on May 22.
Spearfishers went hunting along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Jacksonville to New Orleans.
Daye and teammates Tim Milner and Jimmy Reitz opted for the Gulf waters off Key West. They located wrecks and reefs on their own, plus they got a tip on a wreck location where Daye got her amberjack from captain Bob DeMauro, who runs spearfishing charters to the Dry Tortugas.
While size mattered, so did diversity of species.
USING HER BRAIN
''I won this partly because I used my brain as well,'' Daye said. ``Guys want to go for the real big fish. Guys on my boat wanted to keep going for grouper, and I started going midwater to get triggerfish. I really didn't think it would be enough to win the tournament.''
For her top prize, Daye chose a custom-made buoyancy-compensation vest.
The Honduran-born Daye moved to South Florida at age 8 and didn't learn to swim until she was 10. She earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Florida and an MBA from the University of Miami and now works full-time for IBM in Boca Raton. Divorced with no children, she took up scuba diving and, later, freediving.
''I went with a couple of guys, and they wouldn't give me a turn on their spearguns. So I went out and bought one,'' she said.
She went spearfishing on weekends and days off, joined the Longfins (a freediving club) and got help from two friends. In spearfishing tournaments, she usually won the women's division.
''Dave Earp and Chad Palan -- those two guys are my mentors,'' she said.
Daye got so good at spearfishing while holding her breath that she holds six International Underwater Spearfishing Association world records: a 33-pound dolphin, 18.6-pound mutton snapper, 22.8-pound yellow jack, 46-pound Pacific Cubera snapper and a 157-pound yellowfin tuna -- all women's marks-- plus a 40.8-pound permit that is an overall world record. The permit was speared off Mexico.
MALE DETRACTORS
Daye says many spearfishers in the male-dominated sport wish her well, but there are some detractors.
''I do get some resentment,'' she said. ``There are a few, I know they can't stand it. I've had some imply I was cheating when I wasn't. When you're in the public eye, there are some people happy for your success and some people who put you down.''
Daye said she may take up underwater photography if she gets bored with spearfishing, but for now the athletic pastime suits her.
''To be in the water and the beauty you see, the wonder of nature -- that's amazing,'' she said. ``Some [moments] are terrorizing, like a big shark. But you come away with a feeling you don't get anywhere else. I'm goal-oriented and I like eating fresh fish. You bond with your friends out there. ``When you put that whole package together, the real world is completely out of your mind.''
hi Miles.
being a newcomer in the forum let me say nice to meet you.
I suscribe most of the things you say (and I've always been proud of my own rubbergun sternum bruises). But:
-I started with an airgun (15 years ago): easy to load and suitable for all purpose from cave hunting to open water shooting. Decent for a beginner, until I realized that Iwanted a less noisy and more accurate instrument.
-of course you must firts of all get your gun loaded, but it doesn't have to be too difficult when you're a beginner. There are so many things to learn, and I don't think that loading long rubberguns must necessarily be the first concern.
-women: I was referring to a romantic idea of women, with little training, big breasts and soft abdomen that it would be such a pity to bruise...
being a newcomer in the forum let me say nice to meet you.
I suscribe most of the things you say (and I've always been proud of my own rubbergun sternum bruises). But:
-I started with an airgun (15 years ago): easy to load and suitable for all purpose from cave hunting to open water shooting. Decent for a beginner, until I realized that Iwanted a less noisy and more accurate instrument.
-of course you must firts of all get your gun loaded, but it doesn't have to be too difficult when you're a beginner. There are so many things to learn, and I don't think that loading long rubberguns must necessarily be the first concern.
-women: I was referring to a romantic idea of women, with little training, big breasts and soft abdomen that it would be such a pity to bruise...
It is strange reading these forums as when I was spearfishing, haven't done it for yonks, there were no forums to discuss technique, and you did what you thought was the right thing with no instructions.
I always loaded my speargun on my hip. ie bend right leg at hip and the butt of the gun goes in the joint. This I thought was ideal as you use the strength of your arms as well as your abdominals as you slightly curl your body as in a situp to pull back the rubbers.
May be the wrong thing to do, but might be a way of loading your gun if you lack strength.
It might be the wrong way of doing it, but I didn't damage my delicate breasts.
I always loaded my speargun on my hip. ie bend right leg at hip and the butt of the gun goes in the joint. This I thought was ideal as you use the strength of your arms as well as your abdominals as you slightly curl your body as in a situp to pull back the rubbers.
May be the wrong thing to do, but might be a way of loading your gun if you lack strength.
It might be the wrong way of doing it, but I didn't damage my delicate breasts.
Well, loading a gun on your hip is easier and ideal for women if they can do it.. I think it is harder to load guns on ones hip than against my chest.. but then again that just proves the point it is all about technique.. loading a gun can be very easy if you got the right technique, or you can bruise yourself as I do everytime..
Pekka
Pekka
Hiya
Pic#1 - My wife with her 115cm gun and catch.
Pic#2 - My wife with her 110cm gun and catch.
Pic#3 - My wife with a mid-handled wooden gun and catch.
So much for that theory that its very difficult for women to load guns!!!
Regards
miles
Pic#1 - My wife with her 115cm gun and catch.
Pic#2 - My wife with her 110cm gun and catch.
Pic#3 - My wife with a mid-handled wooden gun and catch.
So much for that theory that its very difficult for women to load guns!!!
Regards
miles
Attachments
Pah! Look at all these guys telling you to get a little girlie gun - they just don't want you to have a 'bigger one' than them. Everyone knows that the best spearo is the one with the biggest gun. Go and get yourself a 1.6m Rob Allen with twin 25mm rubbers, or one of those torpedo launchers from Riffe. That 3/4lb pollack won't know what's hit it!
samdive said:
Miles, your wife really seems to be a great hunter, but we were initially talking about beginners (no matter if male or female at last). I'm sure you wouldn't advice a "total beginner girl" to shoot tunas with a 150 cm multisling as her very first step in the realm of spearfishing. Would you?