Posts by Dan

  • What kinda fish did I spear?

    Congratz again Harry. You must have been so stoked when you got your hands on him. That's a fish of a lifetime for most of us. If you see another big one like that again are you going to take it?

  • Make holes in, reshape a rubber belt

    Note* sometimes guys will think a belt is too long forgetting that it will become shorter once you put conventional weights on it. Threading the belt through the weights will take up length. No belt at this time is specifically designed for pinch weights. Unlike conventional weights pinch weights don't take up belt length because there's no threading of the belt through and around the weight. For pinch weight users belts are almost always too long.


    Pinch weights.




    There are two issues here, a belt that is too long leaving a section past the buckle, and/or a belt that needs another hole or two to fit snug against the body. Instead of cutting it off some guys tuck the loose section back under the belt but I think this is a safety issue. I like about 8" of belt past the buckle and just let it dangle there, it's easy to find if I need to drop the belt.


    For a belt that's too long, put on the max number of weights, and wear the belt over the thickest wetsuit you plan to use. Mark where you want the belt to end. Cut with a utility knife. To use with pinch weights the tip of the belt needs to be tapered a little width wise, and reduced in thickness. Tapering is done with a utility knife and a steel straight edge, reducing the thickness with a belt sander and something like a block of wood to put even pressure on top of the belt as it comes in contact with the sander.


    The concern with cutting into rubber is that a run will be created and eventually the belt will fail/tear at that point. To eliminate this problem, whatever reshaping you're doing must be followed with reducing the rubber past any point where the cut would make way into the rubber material. This reducing can be done with any abrasive tool; belt sander, bench grinder, Dremel with a grinding bit, depending on what you're trying to do specifically. In the case of simply cutting a belt to make it shorter a belt sander is good to round the edges/corners after the cut. In the case of a hole it needs to be made small, so you can then expand it with a small grinding bit.


    A Dremel bit.


    It's hard to find a tool that will make such a clean hole that it will not weaken the rubber and start a run. I've experimented with a punch that I made out of a pipe with sharpened edges, a wood plug cutter bit for a drill, and a regular drill bit. Now I always make the hole small with whatever tool I have handy, I can even do it with small nail scissors if I have to, the main thing is to expand the hole to its final dimension by grinding. This of course is not an effective method for making many holes, but to make one or two it's the best way I found.


    Wood plug cutter.


  • Buechat Marlin Pacific anyone used one?

    The Mako ET is a heavy gun with an uncomfortably big handle.


    The Riffe euro is a nice gun but it has a handle that's too small and a wide profile that's exaggerated when the bands are loaded making it difficult to grip by the stock.

  • What kinda fish did I spear?

    I wanna know one thing, did the cubera bend the RA shaft? :)


    It looks too big for you to be holding it up like that.


    I always thought cobias and remoras are similar. It occurred to me that young cobias are remoras but this is just a guess. The fact that cobias follow sharks would go along with that idea. Cobias even have that flat spot on the top of their head where the remora has its suction spot.

  • Buechat Marlin Pacific anyone used one?

    Alan had the Beuchat Marlin, same thing except for the wood barrel. It felt like a complicated gun for some reason, I think that's why he got rid of it. Does it shoot a 7mm shaft? It has this muzzle system where the shaft clicks into it and is held fairly securely. I can't help but think that when shooting there's friction between the shaft and the muzzle that I'd rather not have. Probably works fine though. From what I recall the handle had decent angle and was relatively comfortable. Tito told me he likes to use these handles on his euro wood guns. I believe the reason the Beuchat handle is good for this application is because it works as a female to accept the stock or pipe.

  • Mask for Kids

    The way I did it is first teach the kid to swim. Starting with the arm floats and goggles. Then slowly deflating the floats until she could make way without them. The first time in the water was a bit of a struggle but in the end I just let her go with the floats and cry until she figured out nothing's going to happen, of course I stayed close and calm. This was at 4 years old.


    She progressed fairly quickly and about 10 sessions later was jumping in the pool and dog paddling all over the place. Not really a proper swimming style, mostly holding her breath and dog paddling and then taking a big breath and continue with the same. This steadily improved.


    Last summer is when I tried the mask and snorkel. The mask was no big deal, the snorkel was a problem. But she got used it just coaching her to keep it in her mouth. The biggest problem is learning not to tilt the snorkel underwater and purging. We'll see how she'll do this summer. Watching her body language seeing the fish for the first time when I took her to the beach was priceless.

  • Mask for Kids

    I tried all the walgreens, walmart, publix, toysRus, and even Sports Authority cheapo masks for my 5 year old. I wasn't satisfied with any of them. I found a nice mask for kids, albeit clear silicone, at a local dive store, brand name Sopra. It fits my kid well, I can't remember if it came with a snorkel. If you want Kyle I'll tell you where the dive ship is, it's near my house. That whole ordeal made me think of expanding the Pursuit line with Pursuit Kids :)