The Rob Allen Tuna is a double band railgun with the Vecta handle!
From Rob Allen's (now awkward
)website,
Rob Allen spearguns, railguns and other spearfishing and freediving accessories.
"VECTA ALUMINIUM GUNS
Rob Allen aluminium railbarrels have the same dimension as the carbon barrels. The rail level lines up with the profile of the mechanism and the muzzle. The integral rail is part of the barrel, thus increasing stiffness and reducing flex. This makes the guns deadly accurate.
The rail barrel is manufactured from aircraft grade aluminium with a wall thickness of 1.45mm and the mechanism is manufactured from glass reinforced nylon and has a solid 316 stainless steel sear.
Rob Allen Vecta Aluminium Railguns are available in lengths from 0.7m to 1.4m.
SPARID
(Code RGSP70 – RGSP140)
Fitted with a 6.6mm spear
and single 16mm band.
CARANX
(Code RGCA70 – RGCA140)
Fitted with a 7mm spear
and single 20mm band.
TUNA
(Code RGTU70 – RGTU140)
Fitted with a 7.5mm spear
and twin 16mm bands.
(Specification may
vary to suit your
local conditions)
"
I wouldn't get too hung up about the number/size of rubbers, you can always change them later. I have a Sparid which came with 1x16mm but now has 1x20mm (I prefer 1x16mm), the spear has double notches so I could fit 2x16mm rubbers - although a thicker spear might be better for that(?).
If you plan to get a long one (90cm+) you should probably at least consider the (considerably
) more expensive carbon barrel option if your budget allows. Aluminium works fine tho'.
I own mainly RA & Omer equipment, both are generally
very good (above average) but have different strengths. RAs are built strong to handle big fish but are consequently a bit heavier handling. I reckon the Excalibur would be the
considerably cheaper option.
If the price were the same or close, I would go for the Rob Allen. If you plan to get several guns and this is going to be the small one, or if money is tight, the Excalibur would be fine - it has a good reputation, it is the gun I would suggest to a beginner as their first gun (provided it is relatively cheap). But you are comparing
apples and oranges I think. The
Omer Cayman is more like that RA (in price & spec.) - it has an advanced constant pressure trigger & beefy ergo pistol grip, it is, I suppose "state of the art" being a very recent design & Omer are pushing the design envelope more than most companies.
If I were planning to spear a lot in Florida, I think I would get a fairly long RA or Cayman (or Rabitech or similar), 100/110cm maybe - perhaps longer if your water is very clear. Hopefully one of our Florida spearos will find this thread (you should have put "Rob Allen", "Omer" and "Florida" in the title!) I think Florida Freedivers is the US RA importer (they have an account on this forum but I forget the name), so they should be able to offer you a good deal. Forum member MarkL is the US Omer importer and likes to keep his customers delighted, as does forum member JimDoe2You who I think sometimes supplies Rabitech (& pos. RA) gear. There is also a new US importer (Manta/Marlin/...? There have been several posts and a thread on this recently. Worth looking into, they have a website) that import the equivalent of Rabitech. Also Hammerhead (in Hawaii?). I've always liked the Sumora website (they have a forum account, Eric?) they used to do RA but now do Rabitech I think. There is another good site on the west coast (Northwest Divers/NorthPacific??). Not to mention the fancy Riffe & Wong wooden guns. Lots more choices in the US now than even a couple of years ago -- when choice seemed uncharacteristically limited there (& prices uncharacteristically high).
You might also want to consider the availability & cost of spares (rubbers, spears, wishbones, trigger mechs, muzzles, spear line). Prob. easy to find in Florida. And of course, there is always the web these days. [Americans can buy abroad too!]
[For the record I have 2 Omer XXV's which are super slim (25mm barrels), super lightweight (carbon fibre), to suit to our fast, modest sized fish & murky water - not available in the USA though - maybe your fish are just too big
]
