May be a stupid question, but seen as I've never done spearfishing before, I'm looking at different guns online. ...
looking at this at the moment..
OMER CAYMAN GI 100 SPEARGUN
any thoughts would be much appreciated!
Cheers Ash!
Re. whether spearguns come rigged/with rigging harware:
My Omer spearguns included spear, spear-line, crimps and braided cord but no muzzle bungee - your mileage may vary.
My Rob Allen railgun came completely rigged with beautifully crimped heavy duty line, fittings & big game bungee.
I expect some come without line, etc.
This site offers a nice little kit:
http://www.picassouk.co.uk/product/gun-rigging-kit/
Ah right ok cheers james! What do you think about the length of the gun, most of the forums on here say about 65-90cm for our waters?
Yes 65-90cm is a good range of size for a general purpose UK speargun IMHO.
Depends on where on the visibility that you will most often encounter and that often depends on where you will dive. A 100cm Cayman would likely be a good speargun for areas that generally/often have good visibility (e.g. Pembroke, Cornwall, Channel Islands, Mediterranean) but a poor choice for areas that more often have poor visibility (Dorset, Hampshire, Kent, Sussex). I expect Gower would fall into the latter category - but perhaps when it clears it gets very clear(?); have been meaning to try dive there for sometime.
The Omer Cayman like a very good range of spearguns - and is available in various sizes, barrel types and colours. The constant tension trigger mech sounds clever. The price of the above looks good for a gun with a rail (compared to, say, a Rob Allen railgun, which would likely be "heavier duty") - watch out for shipping costs. Aluminium is a decent choice of material for speargun barrels IMHO.
My current thinking is that 75cm (band gun) is a great size for beginners for the conditions I have encountered in the UK (Dorset, Devon & Cornwall): easier to carry/transport & load, versatile, range not much less than a 90cm gun. I started with a (large) 90cm gun but now use a 75cm gun pretty much all the time. I have an unproven theory/hypothesis that a 90cm gun might be a bad choice for the UK, being too long for the poor vis. we often encounter and yet to too short for those fantastically clear days we occasionally encounter (when a 110/120 might be more appropriate). I now own a lighter-weight, slimmer 90cm speargun, the 90cm version of my 75cm gun in fact, but have only used it once - it's good but the 75cm is better for most conditions that I have encountered and I don't want to carry 2 spearguns into the water.
I think a couple of forum members have 80cm spearguns - splitting the difference between 75 & 90. I can definitely see the appeal. In practice there isn't much difference in range between the 3 of them but they do feel significantly different in the water - at least that's how it seems to me. While a longer barrel
might help you point long distances more accurately & reach, say, an extra 60cm, you'll likely miss closer, fast moving fish quite often - that was what me made me move to a shorter gun, and it definitely made a difference. BTW Strong currents (which are fairly common) tend to really mess up the accuracy of longer shorts, regardless of speargun length.