Best streamlined gun holding position

  • Hi guys,


    I was wondering how you deep divers hold your guns specifically
    during your initial duck dive. When just freediving, I usually need a
    breast stroke to completely get my fins under the water upon descent.
    Any tips you guys can offer? Also, I'm using the abellan denton, so if any of you
    have any tips on how you hold that gun when descending, it would be a great help.


    Thanks!

  • Caveat: I am NO longer a deep diver :(


    Not sure if this helps but I use a mid handle and basically, really don't think about it, but essentially hold it by the handle in my right hand (right handed), with back of gun semi tucked under my right arm/elbow loosely held again my side. I throw my legs in the air with jack knife which slides me down enough to mostly push me deep enough for fins to be underwater.


    I do sometimes just hold the speargun about mid way with hands over bands and body of gun.


    If you need to use Breast stroke your weights may be too light and/or you aren't throwing your legs high enough on the jack knife. Getting the weights on your weight belt right is the key.

    Edited once, last by Oscar ().

  • Thanks for the reply oscar. I may end up adding maybe 1-2lbs more since I switched to a 3mm from a 1.5mm suit. I appreciate it!

  • Thanks for the reply oscar. I may end up adding maybe 1-2lbs more since I switched to a 3mm from a 1.5mm suit. I appreciate it!


    More rubber needs more weight. I suspect getting your weight to where you are neutral around 15-30 feet, depending on your normal depth to hunt, will help you on the initial decent to glide down. I struggle getting my weight right when changing wetsuits.

  • Yeah I used to duck dive with 2 feet, then I took an FII course and they said to do the one legged one. Seems like I gotta either experiment with my duck dive and put a tad more lead on my belt.

  • I've always extended my right arm straight out with the gun, pointing it directly at the bottom. I tried several other positions and keeping it close to my body, but it never really stuck and I'd end up reverting back to pointing it without ever thinking about it. Do you duck dive with both legs? I used to only use one leg, then several years ago I started using both legs and it made a huge difference in my duck dive. Now, properly weighted, I can get the top of my body close to 10ft or so below the surface without using my fins. I've dove with people who would point their gun towards the bottom as I do, but they'd let go of it, do a breast stroke on the duck dive and grab the gun on the way down. Tried it, definitely not for me, but it seems to work for him.

  • Thanks for the detailed response Nate. Nice rashguard btw! Rare these days

  • Remember that how you weight according to the free diving classes is going to be different from how you weight yourself for separfishing.


    I personally hold the gun in one hand (my right hand as I am right handed) and thrust/extend it out as I start my duck dive. Before I get to the bottom I bring the gun in closer to my to appear smaller less aggressive.

  • Old school guys like me hold the gun upside down by the handle and make a stroke with both hands finishing with the right handle attached to the body close to the waist and the speargun attached to your body. I use the left hand to compensate as I never learnt to do it without pinching my nose.


    This is me a couple years ago in a 80' dive off La Parguera, Puerto Rico. Camera: Rodolfo Abrahams "El Asesisno". :)


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk1yVvz6CKE

    Marco Melis

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

  • Old school guys like me hold the gun upside down by the handle and make a stroke with both hands finishing with the right handle attached to the body close to the waist and the speargun attached to your body. I use the left hand to compensate as I never learnt to do it without pinching my nose.


    This is me a couple years ago in a 80' dive off La Parguera, Puerto Rico. Camera: Rodolfo Abrahams "El Asesisno". :)


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk1yVvz6CKE


    Im not much of a deep diver but I tried this technique after seeing videos of divers doing it and I prefer it to everything else. I find that holding the gun upside down by the handle feels streamlined, unaggressive, gives me good leverage over the gun as im swimming with the handle hand, and gives me a really good starting point to turn the gun in whatever direction I want. Since the shooting hand is already on the handle you just need to spin the gun around and extend it. When I dive just holding the barrel which I sometimes do, I often find myself reaching around for the handle when I want to shoot a fish. Sometimes I will let go of the gun for a moment and use both hands for an extra boost and then grab it and attach it to my body as marco said.

  • Depends on the type of gun. A long euro being held by the handle will stick out a few feet in front of the diver. A mid handle will be completely hidden by the diver. Both have advantages and disadvantages. I usually either hold the middle of the gun and sort of toss it in to my hands when I get to the bottom or do what Marco describes

    i like to spear fish

  • Using a standard one-legged entry, I hold my long gun straight down and do a half breast stroke with my gun-free arm that gets me to 10-12ft with enough weight to be neutral at 30, for hunting beyond 40. Because I tend to make my descents more or less vertically, holding the gun extended feels exactly the same as a typical streamlined no-gun descent..


    Some of the guys I dive with don't have the greatest surface entry technique, and struggle to get down the first 10ft without overweighting themselves, or doing a flailing breast stroke with their gun hand. Which obviously wastes a ton of oxygen. I try and advocate mastering an entry technique that works efficiently for them to get quickly into a streamlined gun-ahead position.

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