No fish were harmed in the making of this lesson

[skidivefish]

I got in the water yesterday, long island N.Y. , ocean/bay interface.
So im all geared up, in the water with my newly home made slings/dacron wishbones..[ i finally learned how to tie them nice and tight and was proud of the custom fit]. i smoothed the edges of the notches in the shaft to avoid cutting the wishbones. the gun is a sporasub instinct pro , 90 cm.
After reading the hints in here ,and feeling the stretch ,somewere around
250-300 percent stretch was achieved, standing in chest deep water i loaded the gun..... BLAM my middle finger felt as if it was hit by a hammer:crutch ... instantly i knew what happened, the wishbone slipped out of the notch just as i was pulling away my fingers!! DAMN i know better, but i loaded the rubber PALMS UP fingers pointing up,between the rubber and shaft. Good thing i was wearing fairly heavy neoprene gloves.or ill bet it woulda been a trip to the hospital. i slowly let water in my glove and looked for blood to flow out...Nope no blood! good news there. the pain and throbbing was constant but i did an hour long dive session{freediving of course}. Today my middle finger is half purple and swollen.. a nice reminder to Use Safe Loading Techniques in the future

p.s. im switching to sharkfin shafts and proper loading technque {palm down}

Safe Diving: Sebastian

 

[jimy286]

how is that safer????i dony see the diff?

 

[skidivefish]

As i said in the story , i should know better than to load the band with my fingers ending up trapped between the shaft and the rubbers. PALM UP ,its easy to be lazy,extend your fingers skyward on the inside of the band,and end up with your fingers in the way should the gun misfire or in my case,the wishbone slip outa the notch.
palms down i feel, keeps your fingers on the outside of the band,in a much saferplace shoud things go wrong.