Hey All,
Long time lurker, short time member, first time poster.
Since this is going to be my first post I will make sure this is an adequate and properly supported PERSONAL (I am affiliated with no businesses or blogs) review of the Mako Iconic Enclosed Track 110cm gun.
Background about me: I've been spearfishing for about 2 years now in San Diego, and up until recently, have been doing so mainly with a childhood friend. I joined San Diego Freedivers and met some great people who have helped me develop my skills further. I noticed immediately that my choice of hunting gear was inadequate for the level of diver I had become. I have only really made shore-dives and I took a trip out to the Coronado islands with some club members to have the time of my life. (FII Certified, First Yellowtail taken on small gun.. etc...)
I was using the below before purchasing the Mako:
I spent the next 4 weeks doing a ton of research on what is going to be the most versatile gun I could still shore-dive with but also pop the illusive White Sea-Bass and not get killed doing it. I was looking for the following out of my gun, and wanted to make sure it checked all the boxes:
I landed on this, (and many others), forums reading nothing but fantastic things about Dano and the quality of his weapons so I took the plunge. I'm very pleased with it thus far and will continue to update this review once I land some fish with it.
UNBOXING
The Mako came in a long, thin box that was delivered via UPS 2-day shipping.
The unpacking was easy and there was a pretty sweet-ass sticker on the side of the gun with the Mako logo on it. I'd really have liked if that was engraved onto the side, but the sticker had to come off because I didn't want to pollute the water if it fell off.
The Bungee was already attached and free flopping around waiting for shooting line to connect. This process was also super easy. Up next, I had to remove the shaft/line that was zip tied to a few prefabbed tab on the inside of the box.
The crimp appears to be super high-quality and gave me confidence I wasn't going to lose what I can imagine is a $80+ shaft on a big fish.
The shooting line has some memory issues but that can be expected on most guns if not all. once I straightened it out and attached it to the bungee it seemed to forget its coil-position quickly. I attached the line to the swivel, which was REALLY nice it came pre-assembled, and snapped it shut.
Snapped the shaft back into the latch and flipped the red safety switch to ON to test its functionality. Everything feels extremely secure and as well made as some of my buddies $800+ guns.
Ran the line up, under and over the gun barrel to secure it and everything fit exactly as it was supposed to.
Gave a few test trigger pulls and was still impressed with the overall build quality of the gun. my one complaint is that out of the box my shaft seemed to have a defective flopper. it stayed in the extended position after being gently moved there which indicates to me that I'm going to have to oil it up to get some more movement or I may miss/not penetrate/not stick a fish. May even contact Dano about it if I start to lose fish. Either way I'm pleased.
I've got a full weekend of diving, (one shore and one open water), and I intend to put this thing through its paces. After I score some dinner with it I'll be back to update how it performs in the water. Thanks for reading and once I get in in the ocean for review, i'll post a few videos of it in action.
Dive safe boys,
Long time lurker, short time member, first time poster.
Since this is going to be my first post I will make sure this is an adequate and properly supported PERSONAL (I am affiliated with no businesses or blogs) review of the Mako Iconic Enclosed Track 110cm gun.
Background about me: I've been spearfishing for about 2 years now in San Diego, and up until recently, have been doing so mainly with a childhood friend. I joined San Diego Freedivers and met some great people who have helped me develop my skills further. I noticed immediately that my choice of hunting gear was inadequate for the level of diver I had become. I have only really made shore-dives and I took a trip out to the Coronado islands with some club members to have the time of my life. (FII Certified, First Yellowtail taken on small gun.. etc...)
I was using the below before purchasing the Mako:
- Cressi Comanche 90cm
- Cressi Geronimo 95cm
- 6' Un-Branded Pole Spear
I spent the next 4 weeks doing a ton of research on what is going to be the most versatile gun I could still shore-dive with but also pop the illusive White Sea-Bass and not get killed doing it. I was looking for the following out of my gun, and wanted to make sure it checked all the boxes:
- Lightweight
- Strong enough to handle the abuse against rocks and reefs on entry/exit
- Relatively affordable
- At least 5 meters of effective range
- Compatible with my GoPro Hero 5
I landed on this, (and many others), forums reading nothing but fantastic things about Dano and the quality of his weapons so I took the plunge. I'm very pleased with it thus far and will continue to update this review once I land some fish with it.
UNBOXING
The Mako came in a long, thin box that was delivered via UPS 2-day shipping.
The unpacking was easy and there was a pretty sweet-ass sticker on the side of the gun with the Mako logo on it. I'd really have liked if that was engraved onto the side, but the sticker had to come off because I didn't want to pollute the water if it fell off.
The Bungee was already attached and free flopping around waiting for shooting line to connect. This process was also super easy. Up next, I had to remove the shaft/line that was zip tied to a few prefabbed tab on the inside of the box.
The crimp appears to be super high-quality and gave me confidence I wasn't going to lose what I can imagine is a $80+ shaft on a big fish.
The shooting line has some memory issues but that can be expected on most guns if not all. once I straightened it out and attached it to the bungee it seemed to forget its coil-position quickly. I attached the line to the swivel, which was REALLY nice it came pre-assembled, and snapped it shut.
Snapped the shaft back into the latch and flipped the red safety switch to ON to test its functionality. Everything feels extremely secure and as well made as some of my buddies $800+ guns.
Ran the line up, under and over the gun barrel to secure it and everything fit exactly as it was supposed to.
Gave a few test trigger pulls and was still impressed with the overall build quality of the gun. my one complaint is that out of the box my shaft seemed to have a defective flopper. it stayed in the extended position after being gently moved there which indicates to me that I'm going to have to oil it up to get some more movement or I may miss/not penetrate/not stick a fish. May even contact Dano about it if I start to lose fish. Either way I'm pleased.
I've got a full weekend of diving, (one shore and one open water), and I intend to put this thing through its paces. After I score some dinner with it I'll be back to update how it performs in the water. Thanks for reading and once I get in in the ocean for review, i'll post a few videos of it in action.
Dive safe boys,
