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Sporasub instinct Reel

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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strangelove

New Member
Mar 13, 2005
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Anyone have any input good or bad about the new sporasub reel (instinct).

The old one was the worse reel ever made.
 
I saw the modified version that Riffe is offering on the new Euro gun, and thought it looked nice. However, I haven't used one. What were the shortcomings of the old one?

A reel is just a line storage device for me, and as long as it holds the required amount of line and doesn't jam and let the fish take my gun away from me, then I don't expect more from it.
 
Last edited:
Bill I agree the reel is just a line holder

The old reel would jam, had a really small capacity also it would fall off the gun, the reel screw on reel tensioner was slick so was very difficult to tune it in the water.
The worse reel I've ever used, even the cheapest brazilian reel would out perform the old sporasub reel.
Like you mentioned a reel should not jam and should hold enough line but also the diver needs to be able to control the line tension without locking the reel, a line guide is also good to prevent tangling (the teak sea reel does not have guide, I had many tangling problems with it) at last a reel should not come apart while diving (the old teak-sea reel also had that problem, it was very easy to loosing the tensioner knob - spring was added to it) , a reel should be light enough and should not make a gun sink, at last I like horizontal reels to minimize the gun profile. After my two aluminum reels I like to stay away from alloys
 
Bill, the modification on the reel is strictly to be able to attach it to Riffe's new euro gun. Otherwise the reel is the same. I showed Jay the reel a couple of years ago and he liked it so much that Mares / Sporasub worked out a deal to allow him to distribute these only to be used with his euro gun.

Strangelove, the reel is very light weight, simple on or off by turning the top tension wheel. It acts as a tension drag so you actually can control tension by working with the wheel. It really is a simple piece of equipment, which I think is what makes it so good. We have sold hundreds of these reels into the Hawaii market, where it seems reel use is more prominent than in other places, and it is doing extremely well. Not one problem has come to my attention (2yrs). I use it and no problems. This reel is designed to fit not only the Sporasub Instinct guns but any 28mm barreled euro gun with the included kit.

I hope this answers some of your questions.

Best Regards,

Zak O'Hara
 
Zak,

Thanks for the background.

Again, I haven't used it, but I have a hard time believing Jay would be offering it with his guns if it were not quality. I may have gotten in trouble with the Riffes for saying that their larger guns are overpowered/underweight and shoot low, but I've never said that their quality of construction was anything but fine. Of course his name is not on this reel, but I doubt he would be offering it if he thought people would be bitching to him about it later.

When I looked at the gun and reel in a dive shop, the sticker said that it had 180 feet of line, and the line seemed to be a decent thickness that wouldn't be cutting your hand or glove. That was appealing to me.
 
Bill,
I have to agree with you about Jay Riffe. The workmanship and quality of material that goes into his product is by far some of the best. He imo has high standards. I have a Riffe Islander (I believe he calls is something else now) gun that I used exclusively when I was crew/captain at Truth Aquatics. I also have to agree that "mine" shot consistently low. I trained myself to shoot a little ahead if target was moving and about 6" over the top. Took a few bellyshots in wsb and yellow to dial it in.

As far as the reel is concerned it is quality. Not much to go wrong with it. I think it is a testament to the quality of the product by Riffe endorsing it and putting it on his guns.

I don't know what line Jay is putting on it, I assumed it was the yellow line he put on his other reels? I would think 180' is plenty for most peoples use.

Zak O'Hara
District Sales Manager
Mares Diving Division
Head USA
 
ZOHARA said:
We have sold hundreds of these reels into the Hawaii market, where it seems reel use is more prominent than in other places, and it is doing extremely well.

When I bought my first Wong hyrid back in 1998, I asked Daryl if the gun would float with a Riffe reel attached, and he said that he didn't know because nobody used a reel in Hawaii.

I didn't want to drill any holes without knowing, so I took it down to the harbor, tied the reel to the handle, and threw it in the water to see if it would float. It did.

If you are selling hundreds of reels in Hawaii and say reel use is more prevalent than in other places, I guess they've come a long way.
 
Bill,
I can't speak for 1998 as it wasn't my responsibility at that time. 2 years ago I was having dinner with AQA our distributor and Wayde Hayashi, and a few of the Sporasub sponsored atheletes. We were looking at the new Instinct guns which they were excited about, and when I pulled out the reel, you could just see the excitement in their eyes. I am pretty sure Wayde uses one, and he is one of the top HI spearfisherman. I don't know the #'s of reel users to non reel users but someone there is using them, or their buying them for hood ornaments.

When I said relative to other places, an example is I sell more to HI than I do in Monterey - N.CA, OR, WA, AK, MT, ID, . This is all I can really speak to. S. Ca might be more popular? It appears Euro or Pipe guns are quite popular in HI and our reel only fits a euro gun, therfore I see more reels going there than locally. I think as the euro guns become more popular in the continental US (which is what's happening) the ratio may change.

Zak
 
Zak,

I wasn't doubting you, but just commenting on how things changed.

Reels are very popular with freedivers in So Cal, but I wouldn't want to guess what the ratio of reels to float lines is.
 
No worries, I didn't think you were. I was just trying to explain myself. Like I said before I am from S. CA and I did and will continue to use a reel. My preference...especially with the way the Kelp is coming back. I appreciate your feedback, I know you post here more than most, and always are insightful and funny.

Good diving to you.
 
I just ordered one out of the store on this site for my RA 90. Got the reel and 50 meters of cressi line for a little over 50 bucks, shipping included. Will let you guys know how the stuff looks when it gets here. The kine is 1.5 mm, it might be a little thin.
 
Thanks IB Boyd

In fact I am thinking about the same set up for my teak-sea , Reel and Line. I would like to know if after 50 Meters, is there still room left on the reel.
 
Alright, got the reel 3 days after I ordered it ( scuba store never ceases to amaze me) and it is in place on my RA 90. My ra 90 is my shoredive gun, will be using it for halibut and calicos. I used the 1.5 mm cressi sub line(got 50 m of that at scuba store also for 14 bucks or so), and the reel took all that with room to spare. Will see how the 1.5 mm line performs. My other reel is set up with 2.5 or so tuna cord, basically Im used to thicker line. Dont know the breaking sterngth on the 1.5 stuff, but it feels pretty strong.
Im no engineer, but it looks like the reel is designed for guns WITHOUT a rail. If you have a barrel free of obsruction, you can use clamps that come with reel to mount to round gun barrel. If not, you have to do like I did, take a deep breath and get out the drill and screws, and screw to bottom of gun. RA's own reel requires a similar procedure, so I gues its not really that big of a deal. The reel sets reel well on an RA barrel, feels snug. Reel is made of some kind of fancy plastic, but it feels pretty supple. My glock is also made out of fancy plastic, and that works fine as well. The drag seems prety good. I always leave my drags set really light, so that should be fine. Havent gotten it wet yet, but the whole setup looks pretty good to me. Basically, the whole package got droped of at my front door for just over 50 bucks, reel and line. Pretty hard to get a good reel stateside for that price. I would recomend it.
 
Srangelove, I like your taste in movies. Am still looking for that 80 lb but picture. Gona get wet when the ice melts?
 
IB Boyd

Many Thanks for all the information, still winter up here, I've got good dump last night around 5 inches of snow. We should be getting in the water in two months, looking for the big halibut.
 
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