Hi Erick,
If you'd like to know I have five guns. 1. tuna gun on the Ambar II that I used to use for tunas, but now I have used only my Ono gun for the last four years. This Tuna gun is gathering dust in La Paz. 2. Ono gun that I use for our pelagics and shoot tunas with now. 3. Mahi gun with 600 lb cable that I use to shoot Uluas when I check out houses, and the two primary guns that I use for everything here. 4. 50in hybrid, open tracked. And 5. the first generation euro gun that we first came out with. Both are the same exact length because being chinese, I'm pretty cheap and like to only make one set of bands for both guns. And have the same sized shaft as a spare. Those are the two I use here. The hybrid and the euro gun were used in the last Nationals. I beileve they would be a 105cm gun if compared to your euro gun. So in essance I have five guns but use only two 90 % of the time.
As mentioned before, nothing wrong with having too many guns. I wish I had enough time to use 18 guns. I wish there were that many fish here to shoot to use them. But here in Hawaii our fish are not as large on the average like yours so I use a small gun. Besides it keeps me having to rely on stealth and being a better hunter than using a longer gun. Its just my choice. There are times I wish I had a bigger gun but I have to make do with what I like to use the most.
I find that other divers should just be happy with what they have and let others decide what they want to use. You'll never find us (Aimrite partner Rick and I) try to make our guns sound better or is the gun for everything at the exspense of denergrating other brands or products. Unless you have been in our shoes or other vendors doing R and D and trying to make a go at producing the best gun possilbe which all the other manufacturers out there believe their products are, then let the products speak for themselves. Biller, JBL, Riffe all produce guns they believe in.
You have just become the distributor for Rabbitech, that's great. You have something you like enough to want to share with others. Its when other spearos start badmouthing other products that make things ugly and doesn't help others especially from guys who are known distributors of a brand.
Freediving is a very small community, we should be sharing as much knowledge with others as possible. Encourage newbies into our sport, but do it not at the exspense of badmouthing other brands to seem knowledgable. Because all this does is show others with more years of experience how much you don't know. We see others trying to reinvent the wheel, but know of many spearos who won't contribute because there is always someone who knows more at the expspense of cutting down others. It should be the other way around. We should listen to some of the guys who have ben diving longer than most of you have been alive. You learn more by listening and not by talking. One of my mentors told me once jokingly that he forgot more than I'll ever learn. But that's the beauty of it. There is always something to learn. Different fish, different places, different guns.
I have many different models of guns because of input from divers around the world and US. I'm not proud, I'm willing to listen and hear what others have to say. Theres always a better mouse trap to be built. When you think you have the greatest gun or product and stop there... you've already taken a step backwards. Same thing with our products. We won't copy another brands product or design. They worked hard for it and we wouldn't want others to do that to us although it has happened and will continue. But that means we are doing something right.
The nice thing about being a gun builder? It doesn't pay our bills and we don't count on it to. Rick and I have day jobs. Our goal is to build the best products we can make and have fun doing it. Then retire and dive around the world before we get too old. But guys like Bill M and our dive partner Pete Wolfgramm who turns 70 this year and can dive as deep as Rick and I as has a static apnea of 5min keep our hopes alive.
The Wong gun/Aimrite guns users in the last Nationals and Rhoade island ALL bought their own guns except for a local team that asked us to sponser them after they were turned down by all the sponsers they asked and of course we were last on their list, but hey they came in 8th place. And I stand corrected. Andrew Tamasese one of the young kids on the team came in 7th in the Nationals using our Aimrite railgun.
Must have been the gun.
))))
I kind of went off topic here but the point is who cares how many guns you have,how many houses you have, where you dive how big a fish you can shoot. Its about the HUNT, the challange. Ask spearos around the world. Why do they dive and spear fish? Most will say the hunt. I have just as much fun shooting our Mu that don't get over six pounds on average , than most bigger fish. Now I get the same satisfaction shooting fish pictures with my camera. Same with when I used to dive in Southern Cal. I had more fun shooting calicos than any other fish.
And if you want to know where I went to school,...I went to your favorite rival that even Bill M loves to Hate. Too bad we had to wait so long since I as at USC to win two National championships. Sorry guys, I had to wait 22 years to gloat.
This Deeper blue is a hoot. Lets move onto greater and better things.
Aloha, Daryl
