Breakaway or flopper tips?

    I thought this needed to be discussed.
    So I will start. IMO I think slip tips are superior in every way to flopper tips but one. Floppers are faster allowing a small low powered gun to be shot accurately but in my opinion other than that they are problematic. Rather than list the negatives of a fixed tip or flopper shaft l will talk about the slip tips. First off a slip tip takes leverage away from a fish, rather than having the shaft to fight against doing massive amounts of damage to itself and your shaft it allows the fish to swim free. A slip tip even if without full penetration (insert lude comments here) will most time spread the pull forces across a large enough area of the skin that it holds without tearing free. I use slips reef and pelagic hunting. All tips are not created equal and some tips have newer models that work much better than the older models.
    Looking forward to reading everyone's opinions.

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

    I like the Ice Pick style slip tips and use them almost 100% of the time on guns and polespears. Not a big fan of the Mori style tips but I have taken some nice fish with it. The one thing I like about a flopper shaft on a big fish is the fish is more subdued with a thick shaft stuck in it. More so then with a slip tiip cable.

    Quote from ladvr

    The one thing I like about a flopper shaft on a big fish is the fish is more subdued with a thick shaft stuck in it. More so then with a slip tip cable.


    IMO, I have found this to be true also, which is VERY important in sharky waters.
    Where I am now, in Guam, there are TONS of sharks to take your fish every second they can. We pass up MANY "good" shots waiting til a STONE shot presents itself, otherwise a nice fish is wasted if it is hit poorly and the taxman takes it. For me, it is a sickening feeling watching a nice fish, helpless with a spear in it, get totally destroyed by sharks. Of course, your situation may vary with your location.
    Generally, I save my floppers for the reef and use my slip-tips out in the blue where the only thing my $85. slip-tip hits is the side of a fish. Slip-tips vs rocks/wrecks/coral is not economical, IMO.
    hope this helps

    The true reason I prefer floppers over S.T.´s is S.T´s are expensive. Floppers are cheap and easy replaceable. I have caught hundreds of fish on floppers without any problems, I have seen huge powerful fish been taken with floppers without tear offs. I have lost several slip tips due to hits to the rocks. another thing I don´t like about them is the cable/ spectra being tucked between the bands. But I totally agree that in bluewater a dedicated slip tip is way better than any flopper for that matter.

    I'm a Speardiver, not a freediver

    Open water - sliptip or single flopper depending on size and number of fish targeted.
    Bottom hunting - single flopper


    I never had a problem with a single flopper bottom hunting. Half the time the shots are complete pass throughs, so in essence the shaft becomes a big sliptip. A sliptip is too slow to get ready when the action is fast.

    Quote from ladvr

    The one thing I like about a flopper shaft on a big fish is the fish is more subdued with a thick shaft stuck in it. More so then with a slip tiip cable.


    Especially barracuda or other "toothy" fish. You can use the imbedded shaft to pin the fish down and get hold of its gills. I had a cubera bust me right in the mouth once when the shaft passed through and it could move around more freely. I swam up to the boat and my wife was laughing at the blood I was spitting out. Crazy Spanish women. :D

    Quote from Timinator

    For me; for small fish I use a gun with a flopper but anything more than 10lbs I use slip tips. Just too many bent shafts.


    The logic and plan are good. But it seldom works out that way. :D Guranteed the day you bring your flopper you'll have a 50 lb cubera come right up in your face. And the day you bring your slip tip, you only see school masters. :laughing:

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