Jay Riffe lifted quality when spearguns were pretty ordinary and concentrated on Bluewater spearfishing, especially the rigging, so they had set the benchmark which forced others to do the same. Now I am not a Riffe salesman and sure others have produced weapons since that are equally as good, but you can walk in a store and buy one off the shelf which has a guarantee behind it and years of track record in the field. As for cost, well they have a US workforce which is not being paid third world wage rates, so that increased cost has to be met. Spearfishermen (and women) plan the product line, not a bunch of marketing men and accountants. In 1995 Riffe were one of the sponsors of the inaugural “Bluewater Freediving Classic” Australian Open event at Woolgoolga in northern NSW, so they have put back into the sport in a big way.
Bear in mind that forum contributors such as ourselves, and other “regulars”, represent a tiny fraction of the spearfishing population and what seems to be a majority view here will not necessarily represent the entire tribe.