Switched to a 6.5 mm shaft

    I've been using the Speardiver carbon speargun, with the stainless steel mechanism upgrade (no reel) Speardiver Phantom Carbon Speargun. My background is wood guns with deep open track and enclosed track. For a few years I've taken the minimalist approach with the wood spearguns I built, and made them as thin as possible. In the last year I got this feeling that I want to be even more light and unencumbered in the water, and started using my own Speardiver carbon gun.


    I really enjoy how light it is and the maneuverability. The length of my 130cm gun does not feel excessive at all. The things I miss about the wood gun are the deep track and ease of loading that comes with that. It takes a little more time to keep the shaft positioned on the track and guide it into the mech. Also the attachment points of the float line (at the handle) and shooting line (pin in the muzzle) are not as robust as would make me feel at ease. I tend to make things stronger than they need to be. With a wood gun I feel like a 200lb tuna would not tear out the attachment points in open water.


    A deep open track is something I'd love to incorporate into a carbon gun, and may in the future. The attachment points.. it is what it is, no less strong than any other pipe gun. In any case I feel that realistically the gun is capable of dealing with any fish I'm likely to encounter. Even with these small details that are not ideal, I don't think I'll be going back to wood guns. The lightness factor of the carbon gun wins. BTW I hate chest loading so I hip load this gun.


    I didn't have any problem with a stainless steel 7mm shaft. But wanted to make the gun even lighter. So I decided to try a 6.5mm carbon steel shaft. I used it today and liked it a lot. The shaft really zings and the gun is very accurate. I got a couple of great shots today that went exactly where I wanted them to at a good distance. I will continue using the 6.5mm shaft, I guess until a fish bends it that I think shouldn't have been able to bend it.


    I'll see if I have time to post pics of my gun later.



    6.5 or 1/4 inch is a very fun shaft, I have shot them up to 72'' long with 2 9/16 bands, very fast.



    Cheers, Don

    "Great mother ocean brought forth all life, it is my eternal home'' Don Berry from Blue Water Hunters.


    Spearfishing Store the freediving and spearfishing equipment specialists.

    Another good thing about the thin shafts is when a big fish takes off the shaft will arc back rather than levering the shaft out of the flesh. Being carbon steel it should return to shape most of the time.

    My buddy used a cressi Geronimo w 6.5 mm shafts and literally murdered the fish. Works well for one bandeven better with 2 , super fast and he was getting them for 20 bucks each. When you get your shot placement down perfectly, the fish shouldn't fight much at all. He's about 9 years younger then me and killed twice as many fish as I will in my lifetime

    I have used 6.5 mm shafts and I loved the accuracy, speed and range those small shafts give when the proper power balance is reached. BUT when I have run across larger reef fish A few times with these small shafts they have not had the punch to penetrate a 20lb plus running fish with big scales, of course if close enough or with the opportunity to pick your shot placement this isn't a factor. Never had small shafts fail on pelagics it is just the heavily armed reef fish that made me give them up for larger shafts with more power behind them on the reefs.

    A bad day at sea is better than a good day in the boatyard
    George Steele

    Dan Specifically 15 to 20lb plus snapper, Cuberra and School Masters are especially bastards to get through and Snook aint lightly armored either :@
    I have shot plenty of big snapper with a 90 CM carbon gun with a 6.5 shaft its just those rare fish that made me a wood gun believer.

    A bad day at sea is better than a good day in the boatyard
    George Steele

    Easy enough to test penetration with milk jugs filled with sand. Or dense styrofoam boards so as not to dirty up your pool. Let me know when.


    The sharp tri-cut point on the 6.5mm RA shaft will definitely help with penetration. I normally don't care about sharp points but may have to start paying attention now.

    what about shaft flex!
    Sedisen I never thought about that but it clears up a lot that I have noticed over the years but never put into that context :toast:

    A bad day at sea is better than a good day in the boatyard
    George Steele

    Tell those Aussies in S.W. blue water that their skinny, springy euro shafts don't work on big fish.
    The whole early Riffe gun concept was based on 1/4'' shafts that the Aussies were using when Jay moved there for a while. The Aussies copied what the Tahitians were doing when they went there on holiday or competed against them at World Meets. Tahitian flopper.....long overhang.... all very old news.
    Just don't use them to shoot fish @ 20 feet towing 400# mono and sporting blunt points.


    Cheers, Don


    Flexing on impact.....sure on a blunt tip, or braking a spine. What do ya think a wood arrow did when the first indigenous hunter dropped a elk in the snow?

    "Great mother ocean brought forth all life, it is my eternal home'' Don Berry from Blue Water Hunters.


    Spearfishing Store the freediving and spearfishing equipment specialists.

    Edited once, last by Don Paul: Arrow comparsion ().

    Quote from Don Paul

    Tell those Aussies in S.W. blue water that their skinny, springy euro shafts don't work on big fish.
    The whole early Riffe gun concept was based on 1/4'' shafts that the Aussies were using when Jay moved there for a while. The Aussies copied what the Tahitians were doing when they went there on holiday or competed against them at World Meets. Tahitian flopper.....long overhang.... all very old news.
    Just don't use them to shoot fish @ 20 feet towing 400# mono and sporting blunt points.


    Cheers, Don


    Flexing on impact.....sure on a blunt tip, or braking a spine. What do ya think a wood arrow did when the first indigenous hunter dropped a elk in the snow?


    Weellll Riffe really came full circle on that one, coming standard with 8mm

    Scupper Pro Gives You Wings!

    Edited once, last by sdeisen ().

    In the video the host says pool testing may be needing to solve the shaft performance, but here is what I would do. Learn what the best speros (Tahitians, Aussies, South Africans.....ext) on the planet use and their methods. Emulate....safer then spearing the next door neighbor's kid's or dog with a launched spear shaft.:@


    Cheers, Don

    "Great mother ocean brought forth all life, it is my eternal home'' Don Berry from Blue Water Hunters.


    Spearfishing Store the freediving and spearfishing equipment specialists.

    Quote from Dude george

    I have used 6.5 mm shafts and I loved the accuracy, speed and range those small shafts give when the proper power balance is reached. BUT when I have run across larger reef fish A few times with these small shafts they have not had the punch to penetrate a 20lb plus running fish with big scales, of course if close enough or with the opportunity to pick your shot placement this isn't a factor. Never had small shafts fail on pelagics it is just the heavily armed reef fish that made me give them up for larger shafts with more power behind them on the reefs.


    I'm with George at this. I'm using right now a 6.5 mm shaft (because is the one I have available and it is impossible to buy any gear in my Country...:() and got this skull shot to a large cubera. Probably it was 2 or 3 feet away from the optimum range and was bigger than what I figured, but you can see that shot placement was good and it did not penetrate all the way through the flopper.


    I couldn't get any closer because my floatline is 90' and was totally vertical...


    Pargote FAD Ago'13 se saca la varilla - YouTube


    Other than that, I like how light and fast they are.

    Marco Melis

    A bad day fishing is ALWAYS better than a good day at work.

    Quote from Dan

    Yep great vid.


    But the fish got away right? How can you be sure what happened.


    What's a cubera doing in mid water? I'm interested in a thread about your FAD.


    Hahaha! :thumbsup2: Real life view is sharper than HD GoPro... The fish got away and will live. Probably longer than others because he already knows what can a speardiver can do... :rolleyes1:


    When we first started seeing these snappers hanging around the FAD's we were the first to be surprised! We already got like 4 or 5 from the FAD's, I don't remember. Normally, wahoos hang above and barracudas deeper. But suddenly we started seeing them every now and then. If you pay attention, there is another snapper in the video. It shows at second 53 and swims away to the lower left corner of the screen.


    But the cubera was at 90+ feet and the bottom is like 120 feet.


    The secret with FAD's is to place them where there's nowhere else for the fish to hang.

    Marco Melis

    A bad day fishing is ALWAYS better than a good day at work.

    Nice video. Great diving. Do you teach courses? :D


    We see cuberas come up like that here without FADs. But only uneducated ones and even those will take one look.....and if you don't get a shot, they're gone. We won't see them again.....unless you can dive to 90 - 100 and hide on the bottom. I can't.

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