Speargun for shallow/shore hunting

[Okis]

That is true, that is a part of the joy? Well i would have needed that gun today and i now understand how overpowered the 120 is for shore diving here in Thailand. I Shot right trough the guy below at about 2 meters distance and the spear ended up hitting a rock 1-1.2 meter behind. It was still enough power to finish as a epic rockshit that demolished my speartip. I spent almost a hour with the file tonight trying to get it better but even if the tip is sharp enough to kill fish im not sure if it will ever go back to normal. And im a bit concerned over how this will affect the trajectory of the spear from now.(the pics of the speartip are from AFTER removing some of the damage with a file)

 

[Danny.c]

Yeh agree,would be hard to trust a shaft that beat'n up.Nice high shot on that trev,looks like a good spine shot.
I found this floating around on youtube the other day.

 

[Okis]

My rubbers arrived some day ago, very suprised how fast they shipped it over here from the states. Unfortunately the shipping of the gun has been delayed and wont be in my hands until wensday or thursday.

However i bought me something else meanwhile to keep me busy.
Got myself this thai wooden 75cm for a very cheap price that im going to use for the holes

 

[Okis]

Finally it arrived, will head down to my shorespot tomorrow and try it out! Was really suprised after opening the box and seeing the green colour. The distributor said he told them to fit a green handle to match the rest of the gun. I kind of like it

Will be using 1*16 and 6.6 shaft for some weeks because the new 7mm shaft wont be ordered from the factory for some time. Still trying to decide if i should go for notched,pin or sharkfins on it.

 

[doyenofcastle]

I already use that rubber 14.5 cut at 350% for 150 *7 RABITECH shaft but spear go down ,I recut it to 380% and will check soon ,I think the better to know how much force needed for the shaft u used and try to cut he rubber to that value

 

[Okis]

Please make a update on what kind of result you got. I will probaly cut mine at 360% first for a 130cm 7mm

 

[Okis]

I already use that rubber 14.5 cut at 350% for 150 *7 RABITECH shaft but spear go down ,I recut it to 380% and will check soon ,I think the better to know how much force needed for the shaft u used and try to cut he rubber to that value

Btw what brand of rubbers do you use? I guess it's not the same as mine since primeline's(the rubber i bought) 14mm small id ranges from 13.6 to 14mm depending on the batch.

I think it's signalsub that have the 14.5 ones?

 

[doyenofcastle]

http://benthicoceansports.com/

 

[doyenofcastle]

I have tried and it look u have to cut it >370 % to activate that rubber ,that's why I prefer to use 16.5 mm regular ID and cut it at 315% it will be equal to that 380%

 

[Okis]

Well a bit late but better than never !

Started doing some testing today, first time for me tying bands so it took a while before i got the knots to stop slipping out under tension.

So i started out carefully with 300%(same as the 16mm band that came with the gun) and yeah there was no real effort to load it so tomorrow i will cut it down to 340 or 350% and hopefully i have decent weather tomorrow so i can go testshoot it and decide if i will go to 360% or higher.

And if anybody with a 90 RA needs the info; the length of the bandstretch from first and last bandhole to first and last notch
83cm
87cm

340%
48
50

360%
46
48

(This is with 5cm wishbone and i have added a few centimeters for tying the ends)

 

[Okis]

Tried out one rubber at 360% with 6.6 shaft today, i must say i didnt notice much loss of power compared to single 16mm. However compared to 16mm the diffrence in recoil was amazing!

But the wishbone did pop out a while after the first and only fish of the day was shot, didnt bring extra rubber so i had to go back home. Will re-tie this rubber and tie some extras as backup for tomorrow.

Atleast the short dive yielded me a very tasty dinner

 

[doyenofcastle]

wishbone poping out every time it mean either you not tight it enough or the knot at wishbone end is not sufficient ,try to make a loop insert and the diameter should be little wide at the knot and pull the constructor knot hard but add lubricant on the rope and rubber to make it slippy surface ,I use soap or silicone

 

[Okis]

wishbone poping out every time it mean either you not tight it enough or the knot at wishbone end is not sufficient ,try to make a loop insert and the diameter should be little wide at the knot and pull the constructor knot hard but add lubricant on the rope and rubber to make it slippy surface ,I use soap or silicone

I used a a double overhand knot with 2mm dyneema, after getting back home i tried using a triple overhand knot but it got way too big for the small id.

I've tied a couple of bands now and double checked/tighten the constrictor as tight as possible. Will see tomorrow how it holds up, if it doesnt i dont know if i should try triple overhand knots. If i need to do something like that i might as well use the beads i have for the normal id since a triple knots will be even thicker than the beads.

If this doesnt work i will try with the loops, it will as you say make the knots wider. I guess a single overhand will do it if i make it with loops?
I actually been thinking of doing this earlier to make it easier to change wishbones since the dyneema i have now is a pretty cheap one and will tear from the notches quicker than the waxed dyneema i had before.

And thanks for the tip about the lubricant on the outside, i actually got a bit of white marks from the contrictors now the last time so i've been a bit paranoid of damaging the rubber if i make it too tight.

 

[mariusshobo]

For constrictor knot try to use slimmer diameter yarn; I use 1 mil dyneema.
This way you can constrict it better.

 

[doyenofcastle]

my knot thick is 6mm

 

[Okis]

Thanks for the tips. I actually ordered some 1.5mm nylon cord, i used it for some other bands and it was much better suited than what i i use now. The problem with the stuff im using now also is that i cant get the ends of the cord to stay down after burning them. They seem to come up and stick out whenever the bands are fully streched.


And i also just finished a rubber with loops. Should have done this before since the knots became better and the loops allows me to use the last bits of my 1.5mm waxed dyneema since the wishbone doesnt require as much length as before.


Will re-tie and do this to the rest of the rubbers when i get some more and better cord.
Thanks for the help!

 

[Okis]

So a small update

I really like the new bandsetup, double 370% 14 mm small id primeline gives me more power than i need for the reefs in the Phuket shores and it will even be ok for the outer islands. It does kick a bit, but after some targetpractice the accuracy at 5+ meter is more than i can ask for.
At the same time unloading one band for close rocks shoots gives me slightly less power than 1 16mm so less damage to the speartip if i would hit a rock but still enough power for shooting fishes at those distances.

I have plans for changing to small id on my 120 as well and will order some bulk sigalsub extreme to try out and save some for the 90 when the current rubbers gets old.

Also i bought a reel so i dont have to deal with the floatline tangles on my belt and legs anymore. Just got some reel line today so finally it is ready to go and i will try it out tomorrow!

 

[Okis]

So a update. I actually lost the gun in the ocean and never found it again. Which really sucked!

But the RA guy in Thailand gave me a nice discount on a new one with a reel and line.
Basically the same model and colour as the old one except that this reel holds 90m dyneema and i ordered some sigalsub 14.5 rubbers for it. Also gonna put a maendros reverse mechanism on sometime this summer.

I know one shouldnt load a speargun out of water but i wanted to see how the colour combo looks like and it looks awesome

 

[doyenofcastle]

use a float and keep your gun connected by rope better than reel