Safetys on Spearguns

A cute phrase I heard is that the only true safety is loose bands. However this has proven to be not true, read this thread http://spearfishing.world/spea…45-pantojas-accident.html I'm only bringing this up to show that anything can happen, I don't want to derail Don's thread.

With that said I don't believe in safeties and build my guns without them. My opinion is that the only true safety is to make sure the gun is not pointed in a direction where it can do damage, whether loaded or not. A safety does not help to promote this mindset. Also a safety on a few occasions made me squeeze the trigger in vain as a fish swam by.

As long as I'm in the water I'm not particularly concerned about the gun going off because I'm never pointing it at anyone. The same can't be said about having the gun loaded out of the water, because if the gun goes off the shooting line will bring the shaft right back at you, often point first.

I think a shaft and trigger combination could be designed for safe boat travel while loaded. A true safety not just a trigger lock.

In my opinion the only need for a safety would arise from someone using the gun in an unsafe manner. Unlike handguns we know for sure when our guns are loaded and need to make sure that the pointy end isn't aimed at anyone. I think everyone's dove with at least one diver who swept their gun across them while in the water, safety or not I'd still have peed my suit just as much.

It would be great if there could be a glock style safety that automatically disengages when you pull back on the trigger though.

Quote from Miguel

Unlike handguns we know for sure when our guns are loaded and need to make sure that the pointy end isn't aimed at anyone.

I'm not quite sure where I stand, but I have to disagree just a little with this statement. A rifle, or pistol, only has one dangerous end. I'm not saying that the recoil from an accidentally discharged firearm can't hurt you, but the recoil from a 6 lb rifle firing a 180 grain bullet is nothing like that of a 4, 5, or 6 band speargun.

So part of the problem, is that spearguns have two dangerous ends. Directly in front, AND directly behind. I think that we are all careful about where the pointy end goes, but I have had smaller guns misfire and kick me in the stomach or chest. There was no serious injury because they were typically just two bands, but the same situation with a large gun could have been ugly.

The situations that I can recall were both when something happened during loading. In one case, a wishbone (on the second band) broke while I was placing it on the tab. The gun jumped, and fired, popping me in the sternum. No big deal with just a single band, but what if the same thing happened on a much larger gun? I felt like I was being safe, because I was in the water, with the gun pointed in a safe direction, etc. But still, under different circumstances and with a bigger gun, I could have hurt myself.

So I have entertained the idea of a safety at times. Not to protect others, because I do that by watching where I point the gun. But as an added precaution during the loading process.

your finger is the safety.

i completely agree with all of Dan's post...no such thing as a 'safe' safety on a spear gun short of a small pin that passes completely through the shaft preventing it from moving at all..this is impractical, weakens the shaft and is also subject to failure

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTalnzcO0xk

Quote from Tin Man

I'm not quite sure where I stand, but I have to disagree just a little with this statement. A rifle, or pistol, only has one dangerous end. I'm not saying that the recoil from an accidentally discharged firearm can't hurt you, but the recoil from a 6 lb rifle firing a 180 grain bullet is nothing like that of a 4, 5, or 6 band speargun.

Very true, I had a band slip while unloading my gun once in baja, and I got knocked in the huevos so hard that by the time I picked my head up I was another 30 yards from the boat... Would accidental firings be prevented with a safety though? I thought those just locked the triggers but didn't do much for the actual mechanism, but then again what I know about gun building just about fits on a post-it note

Tin Man I have tough the same, especially multiband gun, loading de third or fourth band an you are relax with your gun few inches of your chest and it fires:@.

None of my guns have safety and the one that I use to have I never used it, I never have guns loaded in the boat, always load in water and unload in water to handle the gun to the boat, point away of anyone in the boat, in water I never point to anyone, that taught gave me the creep to see someone shafted few miles from shore.

Safety is the first thing I remove from a speargun.

It only has one function: To be engaged when you need to pull the trigger.

I generally dont engage the safety on my gun at all, I just keep it pointed in the correct direction and keep my finger off the trigger.

That said, a couple of weeks ago I found a use for my safety for the first time. I was battling a full size male sheepshead crab trying to control his claws and get him into my NHT bag (barely fit) when he managed to grab onto my loaded gun that was hanging from my float line (wrapped around my wrist) down below my waist. To my distress he got several legs around the gun and had one inside the trigger guard!

I had to let him drop, and after he let go of the gun I dropped it to the bottom so I could re capture him. He was a big 'un and worth the fight as I extracted over 1.5 lbs of clean sweet meat from his carcass.

So there you have it, I have found a good use for a safety; i engage it when struggling with crabs, I'd do the same if dealing with an octopus.

Jeremy