Why a float line is safer than a reel

  • No matter how good a particular reel is and how experienced the diver, the reel inherently comes with the potential to jam due to the line getting entangled in it or with another speargun component. Apart from some really freakish accident where the reel line can actually entangle the diver and not allow him to surface, there is a much more common way for a reel to kill a diver. Imagine this common scenario; an expensive $500 speargun, with a $150 reel and line, and a $500 GoPro/LCD bacpac/mount attached (total value well over $1000), diving 60ft (serious stuff for most of us) in bad vis with a stiff current over a reef with no prominent features. Diver is near the end of his breath hold stalking a fish, he shoots and hits it. Either the fish is big and strong and puts up a fight, or it holes up, or the shaft sticks in the bottom, and then the reel jams. At this point the diver really needs to surface, but he doesn't want to leave the gun. Letting go in these conditions means saying goodbye to $1000 worth of gear. But that's not a safety issue. The safety issue that most of us will take an extra few seconds to try and free the reel, or take out a knife and cut the line before making that decision, and by the time we do a blackout may be unavoidable. I know this because I was there when it happened to someone.


    Another dangerous aspect of the reel is that it not only puts the user at risk, but his dive buddies too. Another common scenario; a boat driver with 4 divers in the water with the divers spread out over a large area. The sea becomes a little choppy, and even floats without flags become difficult to spot. The diver with a reel and no float line/float is impossible for the driver to see until he dives and throws a leg up, or raises his gun out of the water. Suddenly one of the divers starts hollering at the boat to come over. It could be any one of serious problems; shark, blackout, entanglement, all the driver know is that he better get over there fast. But he can't until he knows exactly where each of the other 3 divers is, so as not to run them over on the way to the diver in need of help. This will cause a delay, possibly with serious consequences.


    For this reason on my boat everyone must have a float line, float and flag. I've seen guys try to get around this rule and use a reel saying that they'll stay near a diver that has a float. I find that inevitably they separate creating the same problem. Also I find them consistently selfish as they will shoot fish and instead of swimming them to the boat will clip them to the stringer on their buddy's float, increasing the drag and making the buddy work harder while they enjoy "the freedom" of the reel. For this reason another one of my rules is; all fish on my stringer are mine, if someone puts their fish on my stringer the fish now belongs to me.


    A float line by contrast is worry free. It's easy for the boat driver to know exactly where the divers are and to go collect them when they unknowingly ranged too far from the others, before they too disappear from sight even with the float and flag. No matter what happens I'm never concerned about losing my gear because there's a float at the end of the line. That's why it's called a float line, although some will argue it's because the line itself floats. In any case together with a highly visible dive flag the float will always allow me to find my gear. So if I feel I'm in trouble, all I do is let go of everything and surface. Actually it's a reflex for me to let go of the gun right after the shot (if I hit the fish that is) and after reach for the float line and play the fish or surface straight away if I feel I have to. So, If a float line is so safe then what are diver's reasons against it and for using a reel?


    BTW this is a good Spearfishing float line

  • Just my experience is that the fish where I hunt are spooked easily. Usually for reef diving we have a floatline with a small reef anchor attached to a float we carry around when hunting. Once a fish pile or potential fish area is spotted. We drop the small anchor a little ways off and try to drop outside of the fish pile or in a crevice and just wait on the bottom. Having a floatline attached to our gun will spook the fish. I understand the safety implications and risks associated with using a reel and not using a float line, but just my experience and 2 cents.

  • I agree 100% with you Dan, as far as safety. The only negative issue with two guys diving close together, one up, one down, is the float lines getting tangled. Not an insurmountable problem but a bit of a pain in the ass.

  • I don't get to dive much anymore but I've done a lot of deep water diving in the past where the potential for Big fish was always there. As inconvenient as a 100 foot float line is, tangles in the boat, watching for prop, etc., it was the only option for me.


    But when targeting smaller reef fish in relatively shallow water - the reel is much more convenient.


    I have 5 spearguns. The smaller reef guns (3) have Dan's reels (2) and a Riffe reel (1) attached.
    Incidentally I like Dan's quick mount on the two wooden/teak guns I have Dan's reels mounted on,
    My 50 inch Riffe mid handle Hawaiian has a reel but set up to easily clip a float line if I'm in deep water.


    My 60 inch GR Plus Wong also has a Reel but set up for attaching a float line. I only use this speargun (my largest) with a float line but own the reel.


    In short - I agree 100% with Dan but do like the convenience of a reel in shallow water where the species I'm after is more likely to hole up than run. Additionally, my float line is slippery and hasn't (knock on wood) ever put me in a situation where I could get tangled up in it.


    Now if I could only get out more with either method :laughing:

  • I feel that the psychological aspect of potentially damaging and/or losing your gun when a big (speared) fish runs into holes is a major reason why many divers prefer reels. A majority of divers here in the UAE use reels, even though from what I've seen, the vis (in uae) doesn't allow for fish to be spooked too easily by the lines.


    I use a floatline here mainly because I can't really trust a reel (without floatline), as it may jam on me and I may lose the gun! I also can't be arsed to drill holes into my pipe gun for a reel!:D


    I agree with Dan though. It's less to worry about. It also doesn't (in some cases) weigh the gun down as some reels may make the gun quite heavy in the water.


    I suppose a win-win situation would be making use of the 'Hawaiian Break-away' setup. You get the benefits of the reel, without compromising on safety. I don't use it, as I prefer to keep things simple for now with a float line and a float:). But I've heard of divers using it with great success!

  • Lots of good points here. In my experience it seems like 2 floatlines can be managed decently well between the divers in close proximity but beyond that things start to tangle all the time unless each person is spooling their line. Last week 3 of us were diving in shallow water very close together very close to the anchored boat with floatlines and it was a pain in the ass. In the future I might switch to a reel in those instances to avoid problems, but I wouldn't dive deep with a reel for the exact reasons Dan is describing, nor would I drift dive without one for the other reasons he mentioned.


    Dan is right about the safety difference in a reel and a floatline is visibility of the diver, On a day with big rolling seas a floatless diver is completely impossible to spot from the water, and almost impossible even from the boat.


    I tend to cover a lot of ground diving. I do a lot of swimming and exploring and following fish. It works great for catching fish but can be kind of a safety hazard as I too often venture too far from the boat. I try to stay close but a fish or beautiful reef line is always calling me.


    A few weeks ago on the way in from a day of diving we decided to hit a few really shallow coral heads that sometimes hold hogs. I removed my floatline since we were just going to hit a few heads expecting only hogfish and continue on home. I jumped out and started following a fish in one direction, another buddy jumped out and went a different direction with the boat following him, and before I knew it the boat had absolutely no idea where I went. When I looked up to get a bearing on the boat and realized we were too far apart and I didnt have my floatline, I put my gun up in the air and kept waving it around. The boat eventually came back and said they thought I was 100% the other direction and the only reason they saw me was because I was holding my gun up when they were scanning for me. This isn't a situation a person should purposely put themselves in, but when and if it does happen the big yellow/red float is a great beacon.


    Yet another positive aspect of a float is that if you did get legitimately lost, immobilized somehow, hurt etc, you have a float to hold onto until rescue comes. Like the guy from PR that smashed his face with his gun and drifted away. Imagining myself lost at sea with nothing but my fat ass for buoyancy is 100x more frightening then having a big float to hug.

    Edited 2 times, last by Reefchief ().

  • I use a reel most of the times, less tangles with other float lines, don't have to worry about it getting caught in a prop, less drag, wont snag on structure (reef, wrecks etc..) and whats more annoying then breathing up properly and ascending only to feel that tug of a tangled line, seaweed etc.. When diving with less experienced guys I use a float even if its inconvenient, especially if its a new guy behind the wheel, I have been lost in the water due the captain not realizing the anchor had pulled and he had drifted away :frustrated1:

  • Two things. One is I agree 100 w dan and I've said it before. Float lines are safer. I can see the reasons for using a reel but you do so taking a bigger risk. It is a decision for everyone to make but the trade off is there. second buy a really good whistle and attach it to your gun. Being able to be heard on the water is so important.

    i like to spear fish

  • I agree with everything Dan said. I've also found it frustrating having a dive buddy with no float because you never know where they are unless they are right on top of you. This means I waste time and energy trying to locate my dive partner instead of looking for fish. On shore dives, this is exponentially difficult as distance increases.

  • Dan can speak for himself but he uses a very clever and simple spool to bind the line so only the correct amount is out.


    He is also a very very disciplined line coiler. No extra mess around dan

    i like to spear fish

  • Guilty as charged! Although I actually run away so frank cant put fish on my stringer! :laughing3:


    Yes Dans floatline spool is genius, I need to make me one of those. Although I find the stringer is what ends up getting tangled with everyone elses stuff not so much the spool (when Im using one).

  • Guilty as charged! Although I actually run away so frank cant put fish on my stringer! :laughing3:


    Yes Dans floatline spool is genius, I need to make me one of those. Although I find the stringer is what ends up getting tangled with everyone elses stuff not so much the spool (when Im using one).


    I dont mind pulling the stringer...i just lost mine so I dont have one! Cant be as bad as the banks board in heavy seas!

  • Cant be as bad as the banks board in heavy seas!


    Just like any other float that weighs around 12 lbs, the banks board SUCKS in all but calm seas. I own one and beach dive with it often. You definitely notice it's there the entire time if there's some chop/caps going on. Im not saying it's not workable, of coarse, I'm an addict for spearfishing. But it definitely doesn't beat a nice hydrodynamic lifeguard can. Those things glide across the water and through chop with ease. This makes a big difference when conducting your duck dive. The only place a banks board truly shines is in its carrying capacity in the water and the option of slinging it over your shoulder to/from the water. Overall, it still has its place in my kit.


    Just my .02,


    Chase

    Relax & Go Spearfishing

  • Yeah Frank I usually dont mind or even notice the fish on there, but that big cuda from 2 weeks ago felt like a sea anchor.


    Chase, Frank(hardline) beachdives with me and my banksboard and gets to hear me complain about how impossible it is to even shoot a fish without it yanking my gun from my hands on really nasty days. His lifeguard can doesn't suffer from the same issue. Ive missed quite a few nice fish because my float was pulling on my gun on beachdives. In the future on less ideal days I will probably switch over to a torpedo and just deal with having to carry all the shit to and from the beach like Frank does.


    The banks board is great for storing gear and its vital during lobster season beach bug dives. Its also great as a kickboard to swim faster against currents on the way out or in.


    You should coil your line between dives especially with a banks-board it will kill 90% of those problems. It also has the added bonus of putting your float right near your head instead of 50+ feet away. The only times it really messes me up is when I dont have the line coiled and see a fish, or the wind is blowing so hard the board drifts really fast while im on the bottom.

  • Reefchief,


    Ya I hear ya on the torpedo for rougher days. I was thinking the same thing. Nothing is worse than being frustrated on a dive about something you cannot control. Im definitely trying to work out a system when diving with a float/line.

    Relax & Go Spearfishing

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