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Shock absorber
- Thread starterJRen
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
, There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
In SA the "boingie" is tied directly to the muzzle and then leads to your spear line.It is used as a shock absorber for larger fish on their initial run to prevent the spear tearing out.It also makes the loading of the line onto the release easier.
muzzle bungee
Check out Sumora.com the muzzle bungge is tied directly to the muzzle and has a snap clip the let you take a fish of the spear by uncliping the line and slidding it off the back end. For large fish try a 3m one tied btwn the floatline and float this provides a great shock absorber that helps you play large fish that aren't shot very well....
PS all these bungees have cord running inside that is several times longer than the rubber, so if it nicks and breaks it doesn't cost you the fish.
Check out Sumora.com the muzzle bungge is tied directly to the muzzle and has a snap clip the let you take a fish of the spear by uncliping the line and slidding it off the back end. For large fish try a 3m one tied btwn the floatline and float this provides a great shock absorber that helps you play large fish that aren't shot very well....
PS all these bungees have cord running inside that is several times longer than the rubber, so if it nicks and breaks it doesn't cost you the fish.
The boingie won't be a weak link, it has dynema running through it, say a 15cm boingie might have 30cm of dynema running through. If it was a weak link they wouldn't put them on. It's made out of the same stuff the blue water bungees are made from, but only in shorter length. Your mono will probably break before the boingie, and with the boingie it will have less chance of breaking - helps playing the fish. Check out the deeper blue shop I got one a while back for next to nothing when I ordered a few things.
I second the spearo uk link, have never had any probs with orders and use his boingee things on all of my guns!
I personally do not believe the boingee has any impact on not losing fish. a 30cm stretch will not be any safeguard against a poor shot. I believe the only thing a boingee does is help keeping the line from the spear tight, thus preventing muzzle wraps. A boingee to prevent fish tearing out would be connected between the gun and float and be long enough to stretch a few metres. If you are using a reel gun, rather keep the reel fairly slack (but not so much that overwinds occur) this will allow the fish to run without getting that sudden stop which tends to tear flesh.
Annother option is to wear a belt reel with a 2m (streching to 6m) boingee connected from the back of the gun to the belt reel. This will allow the fish to run a little before the reel releases.
Annother option is to wear a belt reel with a 2m (streching to 6m) boingee connected from the back of the gun to the belt reel. This will allow the fish to run a little before the reel releases.
Good points but for the relatively small fish we get in the UK a float line bungee would be OTT. A muzzle bungee (or in-line 3mm or 4mm bungee) makes it easier to keep moderate tension in the spear-line (which helps prevent the flopper/barb closing) while absorbing sudden impulsive tensions - which is when tear offs are most like to occur. For large fish, the benefit may be marginal but the modest fish we have here, I think it can be significant. V. useful for grey mullet.
The Rob Allen literature used to say bungees are not essential with monofilament spearline (although RA railguns usually include one), presuambly because it has quite a lot stretch and a certain amount of elasticity. With dyneema spearline, which has v. little give, a muzzle bungee is advised.
I'm currently using 3mm bungee cord but Apnea.co.uk offer a nice, inexpensive Beuchat muzzle bungee which is considerably slimmer and lighter than the South African/Rob Allen ones. The RA ones will be much stronger with their "big game" swivel, etc.. Horses for courses - the apnea/Beuchat one should be good for the UK & probably most Med. fishing, the RA design for destinations with big fish (up to and including Marlin, Great Blue fin tuna & the like!).
The Rob Allen literature used to say bungees are not essential with monofilament spearline (although RA railguns usually include one), presuambly because it has quite a lot stretch and a certain amount of elasticity. With dyneema spearline, which has v. little give, a muzzle bungee is advised.
I'm currently using 3mm bungee cord but Apnea.co.uk offer a nice, inexpensive Beuchat muzzle bungee which is considerably slimmer and lighter than the South African/Rob Allen ones. The RA ones will be much stronger with their "big game" swivel, etc.. Horses for courses - the apnea/Beuchat one should be good for the UK & probably most Med. fishing, the RA design for destinations with big fish (up to and including Marlin, Great Blue fin tuna & the like!).
I personally remove the swivel off my muzzle boingee - this eliminates that irritating knocking in surge or when trying to track a fast moving fish. My guns are now totally silent when I move them from side to side.
At a stage one could get the simple rubber boingees - the ones with the hole at eache end and you just would the dyneema around this a dozen times and it gave plenty of stretch. Are these still available? They were very simple, thin and above all strong (as strong as the dyneema). I think these would be a better option than the heavy RA ones.
At a stage one could get the simple rubber boingees - the ones with the hole at eache end and you just would the dyneema around this a dozen times and it gave plenty of stretch. Are these still available? They were very simple, thin and above all strong (as strong as the dyneema). I think these would be a better option than the heavy RA ones.
Yes, the rubber "bones" are available from Omer (e.g. apnea.co.uk usually carry those too). I'm currently using 3mm bungee cord (rubber with woven nylon outer) with no metal hardware for similar reasons (silent, streamline, simple, cheap) -- it is something of an experiement but seems to be working fine so far (forum member SettingSteel has been using bungee for spearline for sometime).
BTW I noticed new RA railguns often have a clear plastic sleeve around the metal parts of their muzzle bungee now -- perhaps to silence them, or perhaps just to avoid scratches during transit?
BTW I noticed new RA railguns often have a clear plastic sleeve around the metal parts of their muzzle bungee now -- perhaps to silence them, or perhaps just to avoid scratches during transit?
I have noticed them too - I think it is for silence.
I do not use RA guns but have number of friends who do and they (the carbon ones in particular) are really attractive guns. There is no doubt that they are quality products and the one thing Rob does is listen to the SA divers and his guns adapt as demands require.
By the way, I saw a prototype of his new trigger mechanism - VERY nice! As usual rubust (none of this pressed steel stuff) and it feels very responsive.
I do not use RA guns but have number of friends who do and they (the carbon ones in particular) are really attractive guns. There is no doubt that they are quality products and the one thing Rob does is listen to the SA divers and his guns adapt as demands require.
By the way, I saw a prototype of his new trigger mechanism - VERY nice! As usual rubust (none of this pressed steel stuff) and it feels very responsive.
Sounds interesting. Do you mean the Vecta handle/mech. or something newer? I think the Omer Cayman, which has a v. ergo grip & constant trigger tension, is probably overlapping the SA railgun market somewhat - perhaps spurring some competitive development? But as you say RA are constantly enhancing their products too.
I've been toying with the idea of getting a longer gun for clear conditions. We don't get them very often but when we do, the standard 90cm UK long gun can seem inadequate. Was interested to hear IckleDevil write of using a 110cm gun during clear conditions in Dorset last year -- it really did go clear. A 100/110cm carbon SA railgun sounds interesting or Cayman-type gun would probably be high up on my list to try.
Rob was showing the mechanism to the Ausies who recently visited - I had a look at it and it looked imensely strong - seems to be cut out of 5mm SS sheet with a flowjet or similar. I did not study the intricate movements (Rob had a cut away cartridge showing the movement of the various parts) as it does not really interest me but the responsiveness felt very good.
On a personal side, I use Rabitech Stealth guns (it is what I am comfortable with - it will take a lot to get me to change). This is not to say that any of the other guns are worse - the RA guns in particular are without doubt top notch spearguns - especially if the target fish are heavier than 1.5kg. By the way, do not underestimate the accuracy and speed of a properly set up SA gun. I have an 80cm Rabitech stealth which is dead accurate and if I need to I can power it up to shoot 15kg musselcrackers in the white water - no problem. You probably will not need this in the UK but it makes a tremendous cave gun when teamed up with 7mm spears and 20mm rubbers. This versatility does give it an edge over some of the more delicate euro guns where the mechanish fails under the tension of the rubbers. I target small fish (zebra, sargos and stumpnose) in the shallows with a 6.5mm spear and it is FAST. This just goes to show that these quality guns can be used for multiple roles with ease. Just think - if you have an 80cm RA gun and want to visit the tropics - it is simply a question of getting a new barrel, spear and rubber and you are ready to go - surely cheaper than buying a new gun!
On a personal side, I use Rabitech Stealth guns (it is what I am comfortable with - it will take a lot to get me to change). This is not to say that any of the other guns are worse - the RA guns in particular are without doubt top notch spearguns - especially if the target fish are heavier than 1.5kg. By the way, do not underestimate the accuracy and speed of a properly set up SA gun. I have an 80cm Rabitech stealth which is dead accurate and if I need to I can power it up to shoot 15kg musselcrackers in the white water - no problem. You probably will not need this in the UK but it makes a tremendous cave gun when teamed up with 7mm spears and 20mm rubbers. This versatility does give it an edge over some of the more delicate euro guns where the mechanish fails under the tension of the rubbers. I target small fish (zebra, sargos and stumpnose) in the shallows with a 6.5mm spear and it is FAST. This just goes to show that these quality guns can be used for multiple roles with ease. Just think - if you have an 80cm RA gun and want to visit the tropics - it is simply a question of getting a new barrel, spear and rubber and you are ready to go - surely cheaper than buying a new gun!
Sounds very interesting. I think Rabitechs have had all s/steel mechs. for years. The plastic bit in my old RA trigger mech. started sticking, I reckon going all stainless steel would fix that. Actually the sear already was and is (and I think they updated the steel used recently). The plastic line release was the problem for me (which affects loading & firing too), I think the carbon guns already have a s/steel line release, and it was available as an upgrade (for example as part of the RA breakaway system). The extra weight & smoothness of steel would probably avoid the issue I saw, although they added a spring to help gravity in my replacement mech, which also works.