Reloading in the dark

[tracidfish]

How do you re load a spear gun in the dark.

I went spearing at night for the first time yesterday. It was great. though I had real trouble re loading the speargun. I just got into a right tangle with the line on the speargun.

I do not use a real, the spear is attached to the gun, not a float line.

Any one have any tips on how to make it easier?

 

[Jonny250]

are you using a short gun with a single line wrap?
keep it simple...
i have a torch on my mask wich makes things easier to see when reloading, i just let the main torch dangle whilst reloading.

 

[foxfish]

Yep, but yourself a 75cm band gun, fit a single 16mm band & one wrap of 175lb mono.
You dont need power as all the shots will be virtually point blank range & any flatfish can be stabbed not shot.

 

[Magpie]

Yup, very simple short gun and line, and a little torch taped to the mask strap for me too.

 

[Scoobaru]

Agreed with the above comments. But remember to have a lanyard on your torch (preferably one you can tighten around your wrist so it won't come undone) then you can just let it dangle whilst reloading. It's mostly down to practice mate, the first couple of times will be quite slow and probably a few tangles. Then after a while you won't even think about it. I use a 70cm gun with 20mm bands and double wrap of line and have no problem reloading with only one torch on my wrist.

A good torch to use for reloading that is mask mounted is the mini q 40 torch. It has a rubber strap to connect it to your mask.

I got mine from Wimbourne from this place http://www.flippas-n-fins.com/shop.html for about £18 if I remember correctly.

 

[tracidfish]

Cheers guys.

Single wrap and head torch it is. Both of those would have solved my problem.

When you say single wrap - do you mean a length of line from the spear shaft to the muzzle only?

 

[Scoobaru]

It all depends what gun you have, but a single wrap normally comes from the spear, up the gun, over the muzzle, down the gun, around a line holder and back up the gun, before being attached to the muzzle.

As your in Weymouth I can pop around and show you the difference between a double wrap and a single wrap. Maybe pop around later this evening or tomorrow evening if you want?? As its easier to show than explain

 

[Scoobaru]

here you go bud, just found this pic of a Q40 attached to a mask.

 

[Magpie]

Only problem I'd suggest with the Q40 is its a twisty on/off, makes it difficult to turn on one handed when you've got a thrashing fish in the other.

That said it is hard to find a small cheap dive torch with a push or flip switch, I found one on ebay a few years ago, it's not got any brand on it so no idea how to find it again.

 

[Scoobaru]

Yea i know what you mean. I don't really use mine now as i have a very bright hand held torch on a lanyard so i can use that to dispatch and unhook fish, then reload. I did find the Q40 wasn't too bad f you had it right on the edge between on/off. Then it didn't take much to activate/de-activate.

 

[Magpie]

Ah yeh, useable, I originally used on for the tiny 2aa twistys on the mask and was ok, just a little awkward.

Just had a quick look on ebay and does seem like there's a few more options these days. This type was all over it and would work a treat for mask mounted close up use: Cree Q5 LED Waterproof Diving Flashlight Torch 120LM | eBay

A bit of electrical tape fixes it on fine for a few dives.

I build my own main torches, with outputs over 3000 lumens, but still like having a mask mount as well. Lets me save a bit of battery juice when tidying up and not requiring full power.

 

[Scoobaru]

Fair one. Those cree LED lights are very bright and a good white beam.

Whoa 3000 lumens, that's insane Are these torches you make waterproof??? And do you sell them?? : )

 

[Magpie]

Wouldn't be much use for diving if they weren't eh! They're based on gutted existing dive torch bodies (metal only for heat transfer) or my latest has a head based on a modified maglite with an umblical to otterbox based battery pack. It contains a triple XM-L led setup with taskled driver and hall effect external mag switch.

Don't do them for sale, far too bodged for that!

 

[Scoobaru]

Sounds well too technical to me, have you got any pics so i can see??

I currently use an XTAR D06 which is very bright, but i'm sure its about 800 lumens. So nothing on your 3000 lumen beast

 

[Magpie]

Ah yeh, this one uses 3 of the same type of led in your torch, but they're a better "bin" (refers to the quality of the led, same model can vary in output slightly) and will also be driven at higher amps. Uses a lot of power so runs off 8 of the same batteries in your XTAR.

What sort of run time do you get out of yours?

Here's a good place to start if you do want to get into building your own Dive Lighting

Here's some pics, though it's been gutted and rebuilt again since I took these, it's using 3 P7's in this pic, which are about 800 lumens each, and the external toggle switch is now gone, replaced by a hall effect switch board so it's totally sealed and I use a magnet sewn into my glove to switch it.

 

[Scoobaru]

Whoa that is mental. It's like an underwater search and rescue spot light.

I'm not sure about the run time of my torch, i think it is about an hour on full, then the beam fades slowly. But i run it on about 75% where it goes fine for 4 hours +. You can only notice the difference in the beam when you compare it to a freshly charged torch, it isn't noticeable to the eye, mainly because you just get used to it.

 

[Magpie]

Sounds about right for the battery/led combo in it.

It's easy to get addicted to power when you start building your own but it's certainly not neccessary. As you rightly say, your eyes adapt to whatever light you've got.

What is important is getting the right spread of light for your water. Good viz = wide flood beam but in anything that's even a little murky you need a narrow tightly focused light spread or you just light up the murk more brightly, as I found out with my first full build, which had 7 Cree xp-g leds at about 300 lumens each, but I could see further with my crappy little mask torch with 5% of that power when there was a lot of sediment in the water..

 

[Scoobaru]

I never really thaught about that. Cheers for the heads up

 

[misterlizard]

I would thoroughly recommend getting a 55cm or 70cm pneumatic gun. I bought a 70cm Cressi SL and it's brilliant. I've got 4 wraps on it (it's very powerful!) and when I take a shot at night (as I do very often!) I then just 'reel' the line in by wrapping it around the line hooks (or whatever they're called) until the spear arrives in my hand and then one quick pull down with the loader, which I keep bungeed to my hand, and I'm ready to go. Takes about 20 seconds.