S*i* tips!

[sharkey]

I guess I should have done more research instead of believing the websites? These are being sold under several different brands as "thier own" product & I have been caught again by these dissengenious claims ( I believe they are comming out of South Africa before being rebranded). I wasnt expecting the same quality as Mori, I was just after a slip tip I could get one or two shots & maybe 10 hours of use for dogtooth tuna before loosing them & the spear. I dont mind that they are finished to a drunken standard, that the line slide (which is easily replaced) is made out of scrap, that they are not heat treated 17-4 stainless as advertised, but I did expect that the two parts would fit together properly so as to stay on & shoot straight. Just to be "fit for purpose" would bave been enough.
Lesson learnt, buy quality even for disposable items.

 

[subunit]

....hey sharkey,
check me next time. i met this guy on the beach the other day, he building his own custom slip-tips....

 

[subunit]

..but serious,
i had those slip tips you bought in my hand before, i i was not impressed....
came to the same conclusions as you. poorly made.
i stick to my riffe slip-tips, even lots of people saying they find them not accurate,
and to the mori slip-tips.

 

[sharkey]

I like Riffe sliptips on 3/8 spears & although they sometimes take a wee bit of fiddling they are reliable. I have recently started using 11/32 spears on larger fish & love those beautifully made 5/16 Mori slip tips on modified 11/32 spears. I like them so much I thought it would be a shame to waste them on dogtooth tuna. I go through a spear & sliptip less than two days on average when chasing them. It’s not even the money the Mori’s are only about $60 more expensive & just as much hassle to get shipped to Aust, I respect the workmanship in those things & didn’t want to waste or dissrespect it. Anyway lesson learnt buy quality & don’t trust the stores who are trying to flog these points off as something better or as their own brand. Four more Mori’s to order for my next week on coral now.

 

[Bill McIntyre]

The Mori tips are the best.

 

[marco15499]

So you're saying that those Spearmaster sliptips are worthless? I've had them in my hand and they don't look THAT bad.

 

[sharkey]

So you're saying that those Spearmaster sliptips are worthless? I've had them in my hand and they don't look THAT bad.[/

. I was careful not to mention the actual brand.
I have returned them & now have bought enough Mori’s for a trip next week to Osprey reef ( I hope I have enough?). I’m budgeting on loosing at least four spears & sliptips & was hoping that those cheapies would be good for disposables, but they aren’t even fit for that purpose IMO. I also thought about taking them down to a good engineer & having the fit improved so they would stay on & stay straight but the overall quality just wasn’t worth the hassle or expense.
Those Mori’s are too nice to use as disposables (they are like well made jewellery) if there was a suitable alternative, but there is very little choice, so just more valuable sacrifices to "Huey". Hope he is keeping count!

 

[marco15499]

Well, open forums are for that, they can give good or bad publicity...

Have you tried with flopper shafts? I've never speared for Dogtooth, but wahoos a lot. I think that a good SA shaft with a large tuned flopper has better stopping power that slip tips.

 

[sharkey]

Well, open forums are for that, they can give good or bad publicity...

Have you tried with flopper shafts? I've never speared for Dogtooth, but wahoos a lot. I think that a good SA shaft with a large tuned flopper has better stopping power that slip tips.

Ive tried just about everything & will continue to try new things. I prefer sliptips for tuna since about 96. I really only want to bring four spears for my big gun on the flights & I'd need double that if I was using straight shafts with floppers. Once you start getting over 50kg they can bend or snap spears pretty easily, also those floppers fail at the pin, even the welded ones from good brands fail (bungees help ,but they can also give the fish an advantage sometimes). I'd really like to land a 90 kg dogtooth tuna, not just wound them & I believe a sliptip gives me the best chance.
I've lost count of how many trips on coral I have done on Dogtooth tuna I guess its about 30 or more. The trip next week wasnt really planned for & it isn't the best time of year. We are only going on relatively short notice (usually reef trips are planned a year ahead) because this reef with its famous drop off going from 20m to 1000m in sheer walls is becoming a marine park in 5 weeks & this is our last chance to spear some of the large tuna which have had very little pressure from spearos. If the water temp isnt right then wahoo will be an option, hopefully we get that magical 25C water.

 

[marco15499]

I'm sorry to read about it becoming a park...

Good luck and share the pictures/video!

 

[sharkey]

It's pretty sad that we are going to be the last people who get to spear this reef legally. Now, with even fewer people going there the poachers & illegal fishers will have it to themselves.