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deirmendjian said:that Manny's little spear-job is really worth shelling out well over 200 bones for. The thing that kills me the most, I think, is the 2.5 foot tahitian shaft that comprises the third and last segment of the spear. That thing is going to bend like a mofo, even if it is made of spring-steel - which I'm not sure it is - and most likely makes the weapon less accurate.
Polespears, because of their wieldiness, can be deadly accurate. A little practice has enabled me to launch a cheapo Trident fiberglass polespear a good 15 feet and nail bullseyes within less than inches on cardboard boxes in my backyard.....QUOTE]
rofl Man, where were you when we were looking for some pro advice on how to make a good polespear! No offense my man but you're a bit off the mark here...
First of all you don't test any speargun or polespear or any underwater shooting device out of the water. Not only is it dangerous but things (like ballistics) behave slightly different under water than they do on land....
Mistakes are human, but if you don't mind let me just correct a few you made:
1.$200 is list price, you can buy it through stoes on the Internet for less than that. It costs a lot because making it the way we do costs a lot....
2. It's made of spring stainless 17-4PH (precipitation hardened) 5/16" or 8mm stainless steel. Even a big fish has a hard time bending that. That's the standard for high end speargun shafts from any major Mfg. The Henley spear is made of normal 304 stainless which is not spring stainless. It is 3/8" thick which Manny figured for most types of fish less than 30 pounds (achievable by most with a polespear) would be too thick and slow. We (Manny and Omer USA) wanted a compromise between speed and strength.
3. No human could load a pole-spear with 20mm bands, not even Manny, which is why it comes with 1/2" OD rubber, thicker rubber than most polespears use and the limit pretty much of any pole-spear. Remember, when the band is stretched, unlike a speargun, your hand and arm muscles must hold the rubber load.
4. 25-30ft range for a pole-spear? a 6-7 band tuna gun barely has that range...rofl
5. As far as making your own and getting it right on the first try, go for it? We spent two years (1 year playing with different designs, and 1 year making our own prototypes) before we came up with this one. And we even like to think we know what we're doing, after al Manny has been using polespears for 40 years so it has to count for something...![]()
These polespears are custom made one by one and machined to exacting standards and tolerances. Anodized aircraft aluminum, a custom knot in the rubber for a float line connection, machine work that I have not seen in any other polespear, and a designed by a guy who spent more time underwater than you and me combined...
Obvously it would have to fit down into the handle further - to take any load off the notches - then have some sort of catch to hold it is place - probably with some kind of twist lock mechanism.
Jon said:Jim,
That would be a step up from my current model.
Jon