New member, getting back into spear fishing, band colours?

[Adam adam]

Hey all, my name is adam, I'm from Sydney Australia.
I did I a lot of spear fishing as a teenager. I was an easy convert from line fishing, I stank at line fishing and the moment I jumped in and saw the fish I was hooked (pun intended).
So I bought a new Rob Allen inferno Railgun, mostly the same concept I used to hunt with 15 od years ago, only it's a struggle to load. After a few loads I fatigue.
It's a 1000mm shaft with an orange coloured 16mm band. (length unknown). The spear shop rigged the band up when I bought it.
So the question is, do the band colours mean anything? I saw blue, black, red and orange.
Another question is, can I trade this band with two lesser bands to make loading easier without losing performance?

Any and all advice appreciated.

P.s I might just be a weakling, maybe I was stronger as a teenager.

 

[sharkey]

G'day Adam. Sounds like you've been to adreno for the Boxing day sale? That orange rubber should be salvimar, if it is, its good rubber with a really high stretch ratio (more than the blue, black & red), which may be why they may have made it a bit short for you. The staff in there are pretty good & can usually guess pretty well how long to make the rubbers for someone. My guess is it will be more about getting the correct loading technique again rather than strength. Rather than trade the rubbers for two, if you must, just make a longer bridal to start with & then you can go back to a normal one once you have the hang of it. I would stongly recommend that you get yourself a rig rope, float & flag if you don't already have one, even if you plan on using a reel you should still have this safety gear. There are four Spearfishing clubs in Sydney & even if you arent interested in the monthly competitions, they have a very strong social participation & you would be welcome to attend meetings just to talk about spearfishing. If you get a chance check out the USFA web site, there is a bit on everything from the laws to safety, fishing tips & history there. Maybe see you uot on the water.

 

[Mr. X]

Hi Adam. What exactly is the problem that you are experiencing when loading?

 

[SubSub]

Maybe switching to 14mm small id bands would do the trick? Easier to load, same punch.