Foot pocket warning

Amazing video. That was really close. Glad he's OK.

I've been saying for years those particular clips are death traps. It's mind boggling to me that a spearfishing manufacturer would put them out. The extensions on that clip serve absolutely no purpose, other than potentially kill you. If you have them on your f/p the least you can do is snip off the extensions leaving only the rounded clip similar to the original.

This kind of snagging can happen not only with those clips, but with any footpocket blade combination where there's a gap left between the end of the footpocket tends and the start of the water channeling rails.

You can see in such a situation reaching for the knife is a secondary thought. But it helps to have the knife easily accessible and removable ie. no complicated sheath locking system.

It was a pretty lengthy thread on spearboard as well, here's the link. It's worth reading, there's some pretty good information.
Trapped Underwater Fighting a 65lb+ White Seabass (Video) - Spearboard.com - The World's Largest Spearfishing Diving Social Media Forum

The fins and pockets come from omer with those long clips and there is usually an alternate set of small clips. At Austin's we switch them as soon as they arrive and throw the long clips in the trash. Im glad the guy is ok but kind of surprised he didnt think to drop his weight belt.

Thats scary. Glad the diver is OK.

This was in February. Look on SB there was a lot of good input.

Very scary situation for Tanc. And he is one hell of a diver... If that had happened to a less experienced, as I call them internet divers, then I feel we would have only read about it in the news...:(

When these things happen, you do an amazingly quick calculation in your head and take stock of everything; how much air you got, how strong you are, how much give the line has based on the last few seconds of fighting it, the intangible boost of strength which only happens in a life or death struggle, a little bit of luck that you hope will go your way, and you go with your decision. Many times I felt blessed because it worked out. I wonder if you know what I'm talking about, like it wasn't, it isn't my time.. yet. But knowing about guys who don't make it has made me doubt that there is a magic protective force over me. It does boil down to a species long time of earning the right to be here, and experience gained through one life time, to survive.

To a very real degree though making the right decision depends on the right frame of mind, which strangely enough we are more likely to possess if we feel "magically" protected, in other words relaxed in the first place. Obviously the force was with our friend in the video, that's why I liked it a lot. And I'm glad for it because I feel he's a kindred spirit. Excuse my ramblings.

there but for the grace of god go I.....

i think you are right Dan....a lot of it is luck, but that is when planning, experience, knowledge, and confidence all come into play.

I get my ass handed to me a lot in life but that is because I am willing to lose and get better, at work, on the basketball court, surfing, biking, whatever challenge we undertake, the more you can prepare and train, the better you will perform...

the scary thing about diving is that you MUST learn the lessons that other people teach you or you will die in the process.

check you gear, dont test your limits and dive safely gang

interesting video, thanks for posting

Very insightful video. Glad he won.

Quote from ddonnell

Very scary situation for Tanc. And he is one hell of a diver... If that had happened to a less experienced, as I call them internet divers, then I feel we would have only read about it in the news...:(

Glad Tanc is ok, all I can add is; I have the knife in hand and ready to cup the jaw/head with the other while bear hugging the mid body. With a freshly shot fish like that they can come unglued and go ape-shite. As soon as I sense a line wrap or kelp wrap one of my two knifes is in my hand, next is the wt belt. But you need to practice and train yourself for this. First issue I..
1. Calm yourself and move with slow deliberate motions. 2. Knife out, use if necessary. 3.Unhook the belt . 4. Survival first....Fu -k the fish. If I'm gong down to cut out or retrieve a fish I let a buddy know if (he can hear me). I'm not going to lie... I dive alone allot myself, and try to practice self survival.

Yeah the fin clips suck but we need to be ready for anything when we enter the water.

Cheers, Don

While those clips are an absolute snag hazard, this type of thing can happen to all types of fins. Using bright line and being ready for entanglement is the best defense.

In this photo I also had a big white seabass and large kelp ball tied to the other end. I noticed I was tangled and immediately dropped what I was doing, reached down, and pulled the line off of me. Turns out the tendon had popped out of the notch.

Tanc is very lucky using that invisible mono and super-snag clips...

Good call and good point. A calm mind buys many extra seconds underwater. I love qpowerline.