Salvimar Predathor Vuoto?

[Crustyfish]

Hi All

I've been meaning to put together a 115 dry barrel gun for quite a while now and in the mean time Salvimar have released what looks like the perfect tool. See link below:

http://www.subprof.com/tienda/produ...tID=1&nom=SALVIMAR+PREDATHOR+VUOTO+SPEARGUNS+

Does anyone have any experience or insight into this gun? It seems like a pretty good deal if the quality is OK. Definitely cheaper than buying a 115 gun then adding dry barrel kit and new spear.

Cheers

Crusty

 

[Gazz]

It sure looks the goods, i have a vuoto 100 and 130, they are awesome but i would like a more ergonomic grip so the predathor looks perfect.

Contact subprof for availability before you make a purchase, you might be waiting for them tr get one in.

 

[Crustyfish]

Thanks Gazz, Good idea on contacting subprof. I've heard about them ordering stuff in once they receive and order and did wonder that they seemed to be the first place with predathor vuoto listed late last year. Even Salvimar are calling them a 2015 model.

Maybe I will treat myself as a birthday present soon and will put bit of a review up. Not that I'm any expert on pneumatics tho.

Cheers

 

[popgun pete]

It looks like there are two versions, this second one (see reference below) is available in four lengths (40, 55, 65, 75 cm) and has white highlights instead of green on the gun body which appears to be a standard "wet barrel" pneumatic type (but with no power regulator). No reel is fitted, unlike the other "dry barrel" or pneumovacuum version which is available in 55, 65, 75, 85, 100, 115, 130 cm models. I note that they both have side-mounted line releases which seems to be the new fashion for pneumatic spearguns as can be seen in a number of new models being produced by various companies.

PS. Make that three versions as the "Predathor Plus" is the "wet barrel" counterpart of the "Vuoto", but with orange highlights on the gun body and comes in the same range of gun lengths. It has the power regulator, hence the "Plus".

The only other information that I can find about the "Predathor Vuoto" speargun was that it was shown at DEMA in November 2014, so it may be a while yet before the new gun becomes available. Subprof have a habit of being the first to list new releases well before anyone else even though they don't have those guns in stock to sell. The Sporasub "One Air" was first listed by Subprof when that gun was still a prototype and yet to reach its final form.

http://www.subprof.com/tienda/produ...e=en&catID=1&nom=SALVIMAR+PREDATHOR+SPEARGUNS+

 

[Crustyfish]

Yep, it all looks great on paper. I've asked the question at subprof so lets see what they say. There don't seem to be any reviews out there yet so maybe they haven't shipped yet afterall? Will let you know what the stock status is at subprof when/if they get back to me.

Cheers

 

[popgun pete]

Here is a detail of the rear end of the "Predathor" gun obtained from the Salvimar web-site. The power regulator positions are reversed, same as for the "Vintair", as the high power position denoted by a "+" is forwards and down in the selector gate. You can see the label on the grip indicating this fact if you look closely at the photo.

Note that the inlet valve cap at the rear does not seem to be of the usual screw type, judging by its appearance in this photo. It may be a clip, but we really need to see what it looks like on the other side.

Plastic pneumatic speargun triggers in the past were usually braced by a rearwards flange that prevents them from being snapped off if you squeezed too hard with the safety accidentally left "on", here the trigger is relatively slim, hence it must be made of a stronger plastic. If you look at the "Vintair" trigger then you will see that it has the appearance of having a slim trigger profile, but is braced by a strut at the back with a slight recess in-between in order to thicken the trigger's fore-aft dimension.

 

[Diving Gecko]

Hey guys,
Did anyone buy one yet? If you did, then I could do with a bit of info for a bandgun friend who is considering switching over to our side;-)
Could you please measure your Predathor from tip of muzzle to upper end of handle (where the pump valve is located)? And then let me/us know what designated and real length your gun has?

Cheers,
David

 

[Diving Gecko]

Hmm, this is interesting. A Danish spearo just bought one of these and it came with a warning on the side of the gun not to use the power regulator when unloaded... Weird. Also, the schematic seems to show that the gun is at full power when the regulator is in the forward position.
Could something be going on internally that is different from the traditional designs and what if the gun was last shot at low power and one needs to service it? Then not being able to empty both air chambers could be dangerous.

 

[Diving Gecko]

Ah, I guess it has to do with the upstream valve as Pete talks about here:
https://forums.deeperblue.com/threads/salvimar-vuoto-problem-help.102669/#post-941534

And even more precisely here:
https://forums.deeperblue.com/threads/salvimar-vent-air-plus.96856/#post-901055

Sorry for the false alarm...;-)

 

[popgun pete]

I think that message on the side of the gun is a somewhat confused way of saying "don't use the low power position when bleeding air out of the gun". It might have been clearer if the message was moved to the rear by a few millimetres so that it was positioned more under the negative symbol. "Unloaded" in this context means releasing some air pressure.

 

[popgun pete]

The "Predathor" uses a four arm, windmill type of line release lever according to this diagram in their 2015 catalogue.

 

[Gazz]

There are a couple of good vids on youtube of this gun. I am keen to get my hands on a 115 model.

 

[Gazz]

Scubastore are selling them for $212USD, but they wont send salvimar products to oz as we are suppose to use the oz dealers(who dont stock this gun!!)
http://www.scubastore.com/scuba-diving/salvimar-predathor-vuoto/1244269/p

I wonder if i could get around this by using a VPN?

 

[mariusshobo]

If orderind from scubastore.com, be aware:
- my firs order. I've ordered OMER Alien googles and I've receiver OMER Bandit. I've called and exchanged it but it was another 2 weeks untill get the right product.
- my second order. I've ordered sling gun + reel + dyneema + extra shaft + some stupid clamps for monofil; everything was on stock except the clamps and I had to wait for another 12 days in order for scubastore.com to get the clamps. And I've missed my S -fishing trip!
- my third order. Be carefull not to use NLPost as a curier for your order. I did that and it tooks 20 days to get a simple package from Spain to Romania. Plus another 3 days for scubastore to prepare the package. So I had to go with the gun without reel.

I use spearfishing.de as my first choise for online purchases, even if it's not that cheap as scubastore.com. Never had a problem with them.

 

[Gazz]

I couldn't resist! I ended up ordering a 115 with reel for 188euro from subprof. Now i have to wait for 2 months.

I tried with the VPN for scubastore but that doens't work, unless you ship it to family or friend over seas and they forward it to Australia.

 

[kees]

Hi Gazz,

Did you get spare seals as well? I could not locate them on subprof..

Kees

 

[Gazz]

Hi Kees, they dont sell them. I am pretty sure you can get away with a asso or mares kit, i know i will use those seals (but you are probably best to email salvimar).

Regarding the pistons, shock absorbers, and muzzle gaskets, try spearfishing.de or vidrax.com.

 

[Gazz]

Some more salvimar vuoto vids etc, posted by salvimar on its facebook page.

http://www.nadirspearfishing.com/fr...sts-de-matos/447-salvimar-predathor-100-essai

Hoping for some good new today!

 

[popgun pete]

The instruction book for the Salvimar pneumatic spearguns now includes the "Predathor" models, in addition to the earlier "Vintair" models, but for some reason has no details on the "Vuoto" versions. They are listed on the front cover and are shown in the gun profile photographs, but are not depicted in the exploded parts diagrams. However the latter diagrams allow a direct comparison of the various parts used in the two main types and indicate a similar power regulator system, although I would expect the power regulator control shaft to be longer in the "Predathor" as its rear handle moulding is longer to accommodate the extra space required for the revolving four arm, side-mounted line release positioned in front of its trigger.

http://www.salvimar.com/downloads/Istruzioni_PNUMATICI_SALVIMAR_2015.pdf

 

[Diving Gecko]

Hey Pete,
Thanks for this!

Interesting to see how the Salvi guns have an o-ring at the pump inlet. I remember one of my first questions that you answered on this board was about how my Seac didn't have one. I was worried I had lost it without ever realizing it during my first ever disassembly;-)

I also like that Salvi is much better at giving proper real world sizes for their o-ring and not some in-house code names... Not so much for the Predathor part of the manual but for the Vintair and as Pete points out, they seem very indentical on the inside.

I am getting confused to the size of the trigger pin though on the Predathor. Is it 1.5m or 2mm? I think I have read both on the Italian forums but can't find it right now. The Vintair seems to have a 1.5mm pin.