Pneumatic vs Rubber

Hmmmm...
It would be handy to hear the conditions you are hoping to spear in and the type of fish that you are hoping to catch and the depth at which you are hoping to spear and....

Basically it is not as simple as following a binary tree for making decisions (in my humble novice opinion ).

Perhaps if you gave us more of an idea of what you hoped to acheive you would get a better answer.

I personally think that pneu's vs rubber is a bit of an open question as in different circumstances each has a pro and a con !

For example lets say that you hear that pneumatics are poor at accuracy and on that info decide to buy a rubber gun but the gun you buy is a long heavy aluminium one and you plan to use it in 3 foot visibility in surf or strong currents... it may be accurate as hell but you wont be catching many fish.

What is the visibility like where you are ?

in terms of propulsion I think that if you look at the videos on pescasub.com especially concentrating on the Mamba videos of Shane vs the wooden gun videos of some of the other ones there you will see that propulsion doent come into it too much in terms of those specific conditions and so on.

What I am saying is that you need to state all the details for the conditions.

If you want a long gun I think I am right in saying that you would be better with rubber as you can use multi bands for ease of loading - I am not sure how many people use 140cm pneu's ????

Personally I use a 100cm wooden gun with a single 19.5mm rubber band it is a totemsub pelagos with a rail and a 140cm 6.5mm shaft. I find it is good for aspetto and tracks well - I catch bass with it mainly here in Europe and it tracks well - I guess it has a range of 4m ? Maybe more - someone else will know.

Can you see what I use the gun for and at the end of the day it is just a tool to acheive an end - yes it is a bonus that I really like the gun and consider it an object of beauty in terms of the look and craftsmanship.

If you are interested in rubber then there are many different kinds of rubber too and you can change a guns characteristics by the choice of rubber and also the combination of rubber (single vs multi) and also lenght and thickness of rubber. So a tricky question.

It would be foolish to say that rubber guns are defintely better than pneumatic guns....

Well - if you tell us about the use and conditions you will suceed in finding out what you want - hope this helps !
Ed

Just noticed that you in the States in California - have a look at what locals use - also how tall are you ? Can you load a long gun or would you be more comfotable with a short one ? Find out and try to borrow some friends guns or ask as many people in shops that you can.
Alot of american guns are mid-handle - I have no experience of this....
Later amigo.

Did I mention that it tracks well ?! Less coffee ....

if you decide to get a rubber gun, I would get a rob allen. I did alot of looking at sites and threads before getting it and it seems consensus is that it is a great gun. I am really pleased whith mine.

rob allen is a great gun if you like rear handle euro style guns. If thats your thing also check out Rabbitech and Aimrite. Id eye that new Omer Master America if I was a euro man myself.

As for wooden guns, Wong, Riffe, SS, Biller, are all worth a look. There is a gun for every diver and every budget on that list. They all have pro's and con's.

As for your initial question...I am biased to band guns. Something to be said for simplicity. And maintainance consists of new bands which you can easily tie yourself...

Best advice is to get your hands on as many guns as you can...even on dry land. See what others are using in the areas you want to hunt. Your first gun probably wont be your last so the most important part is to get a gun, get in the water and have fun. You will learn in time what suits you best. Two good people to contact would be Daryl Wong @ wongspearguns.com and Erik Sun (sorry Erik, I dont know your email off hand) Erik is in cali and is a rep for Rabbitech and a member here. Daryl makes semi custom guns in Hawaii but could put you in touch with divers in your area to help you figure out a good starting point gun-wise.

Good luck and safe hunting
Mike Freeman

Must be Fat Turesday.

rigdvr said:

...if you like rear euro style, if thats your thing, I'd eye that new euro man myself.
Good luck and safe hunting
Mike Freeman

Click to expand...

Good luck indeed. :t KK smack resumes.

Here in california your best bet (if you are blue water fishing) is with long mid handle wood gun. i have a riffe island which is a really common gun and its served me well with WSB and yellowtail. when i reef fish i use a pneumatic (yeh i know in CA thats odd) its easy to re-load, accurate, and packs a lot of punch for the size. its a mares 700 and i love the thing. its great for corbina and halibut...but heres a warning on the pneumatics: 1) very hard to fix and the italian companies that make them arent known for their customer service (unlikely youll find someone to service them in southern california so be prepared to replace it when it goes) 2.) illegal in mexico so dont cross the border or go to the coronados with it 3.) loading can be dangerous, if the spear slips out of the loader while your ramming it you could be in for a nasty shock. dont buy a pneumatic if you have bluewater hunting in mind, ive heard of people taking pelagics in the mediterranean with them but the viz in ca isnt going to make that pheasible here.

Re: Must be Fat Turesday.

icarus pacific said:

Originally Posted by rigdvr
...if you like rear euro style, if thats your thing, I'd eye that new euro man myself.
Good luck and safe hunting
Mike Freeman



Good lick indeed. :t KK smack resumes.

Click to expand...

They dont call him the Sultan of Smooch for nothing!!! rofl

Man o man...I actually tried to give GOOD advice this time and I get my sexuality challenged :girlie

As(s) for Sven...here's the scenario for KK05
1 plane ticket to Miami Florida............$200

Share of condo rental.......................$150

New wetsuit for trip.........................$189

Watching Sven sit on the boat with
a sinus infection after listening to
his weak attempts at smack talk........$PRICELESS rofl

rigdvr said:

Man o man...I actually tried to give GOOD advice this time and I get my sexuality challenged :girlie

As(s) for Sven...here's the scenario for KK05
1 plane ticket to Miami Florida............$200

Share of condo rental.......................$150

New wetsuit for trip.........................$189

Watching Sven sit on the boat with
a sinus infection after listening to
his weak attempts at smack talk........$PRICELESS rofl

Click to expand...

If Mr. AARP's ticket to MyJami would be just two Franklins, then I'm afraid, we'd have to see his mug down here a few too many times rofl

I'm hoping the share of the condo for the "out-of-towners" will be a bit less than $150. An update email will be sent next week. 67 more days to go!

Hi Roy, I also live in Los Angeles, (westwood) and dive in different places up and down the coast!!


It's good to get in the water and shoot and see what you like!! That way you can see if you like midhandle, rear handle or no handle Yep, I do rep Rabitech now as Rigdvr pointed out! (cause I like their guns =) )
You are more than welcome to try out my own personal guns or borrow them!! Or we can go together since you haven't got a speargun yet and I can show you.

Cheers,

Erik Sun
erik@sumora.com
949.310.EEZE