riffe or omer vinyl floatline

[takeshi]

I am thinking of getting a vinyl floatline like riffes or omers. Does anyone have opinion/experence of them or other floatlines of the same type? Is it worth buying one instead of making your own (the vinyl tubing/tuna cord recipe)?

I know some of you have made your own using clear vinyl tubing. I am thinking of doing that but am worried that the clear tubing line will be hard to see in the water. Is this a problem?

One reason that I want a vinyl floatline is I guess they tangle up less that a braided line and float better. Is it so?

Also if anyone can recommend a europe based (for inexpensive delivery) webshop that sells them?

Thanks beforehand

 

[Alison]

Hey Tak My pet subject
Ive got a couple of homemade ones from clear tubing, you can easily see it, it sort of reflects the light and its obvious where it is, even if you dive deep in crap viz and it gets a bit dark; although I cant say Ive seen one but I would imagine the red tubes from Riffe would be harder to see in those conditions.
They're not hard to make, the trick is to use some thin kite string with a bead tied on it then tape a hose from a vacuum cleaner onto the end and suck the string through, then use that to pull your main line through 5 minutes total tie on a swivel shove a load of silicon sealer down the end of the tube push the swivel back in and crimp/tie the tubing down tight, do the same the other end but stretch the line out a bit and bingo Been using mine for years and Ive never had a tangle or even anything that might have turned into one

 

[takeshi]

that sounds great, I use a braided (twisted) line and it tangles every time I dive. It has a life of its own and loops in on itself.

 

[Groupermadness]

Hi Takeshi
i was using untill not long ago, and for about 2 years some washing line i bought in Germany( diferent colours green,yellow,blue,and orange) i used blue, they are made of a Plastic coating with a nylon core. i laid it in the sun under strain to get out the kinks and sealed the ends, it floats without problems. İ didnt throw it away, i gave it to my Nephew who tied up his tent with it on a fishing trip and trashed it, :waterwork :waterwork . my buddys here use nylon sail string and tie off on bottom and use the gun free. they clip on to the gun after kill which is a bit dubious for me but it works for them.

 

[Marwan]

takeshi,
I have the Omer vinyl float line, very good performance, it is less likely to tangle versus the braided line,but any float line could get tangled. You could try emailing omer in italy, they could send it to you direct. They dont take credit cards though thats the drawback you have to wire the money in advance.

 

[takeshi]

Hello Marwan,
nice to hear that it works good, it seems to be a working concept. I have already bought 30m clear pvc tubing. Now I am waiting for a roll of rob allen mako line to have inside. I'll post a picture when it's done.

 

[takeshi]

so I got the mako line and finished the floatline according to Alisons recipe and the howto on the kitto site http://spearguns.netfirms.com/floatline.html.

 

[kumuhunta]

I think you should have used tuna clips instead of the french clip. sometimes the french clip opens up on its own if it bangs against something. Besides tuna clips are easier to use and are a lot stronger.

 

[Mr. X]

I think you should have used tuna clips instead of the french clip. sometimes the french clip opens up on its own if it bangs against something. Besides tuna clips are easier to use and are a lot stronger.

What is a tuna clip? Clip names seem to vary (e.g. scarab clip, long-line clip, ....) & none of them are particularly readily available ... or that well designed.

I was surprised when you mentioned the above clips can open -- I find them quite difficult to open, on land as well as at sea. I know the gates on climbing karabiners can & do bounce open, but their spring is much, much lighter.

 

[takeshi]

the clips are tight and hard to open. I can't imagine they'll open by themselves. It would be good to use an orca cip though, I'm thinking of making another line with a loop on one end and an orca clip on a swivel on the other side, but I cant find any good swivels. The clips on the picture came already mounted on a swivel. I think I'll use spectra line instead of mono mako line. the mako line sticks to the inside of the tubing making it harder to pull through.

 

[Fondueset]

Any reason why vinyl-coated clothes-line wouldn't work just dandy? I was struggling with my braded line yesterday in some very heavy chop - disentangling the line while I tried not to get bashed up on the rocks. Irritating.

 

[Mr. X]

Any reason why vinyl-coated clothes-line wouldn't work just dandy? I was struggling with my braded line yesterday in some very heavy chop - disentangling the line while I tried not to get bashed up on the rocks. Irritating.

I think clothes line might work. My tiny local harware store had some for £3 or £4 pounds (not much less than a "proper" Rob Allen economy float line -- although they do tend to kink) -- but I picked up one in Lidls for 99p! Unfortunately I did not look close enough -- the Lidls one had steel wire rather than the nylon string that the harware store version had. Oh well, I guess I can always use it as a washing line! I think Alison's suggestion of using aquarium tubing, etc. might yield the best result in the price/performance stakes. Boat chandlers might also offer decent floating rope/string/cord...

The Rob Allen economy float lines are about £5/$9 for 20m (other sizes available, olive green or hi-viz orange) -- they seem decent value. They have a loop spliced at either end (in case you can't tie a bowline or double figure of ). They do tend to kink up a bit -- not too bad though.