Posts by Dan

  • Omer Stingray foot pockets review

    I installed Speardiver carbon blades in OMER Stingray foot pockets, here are my impressions. The Stingray foot pockets have a very nice finish and a soft comfortable pocket. The foot pocket tendons are a good medium stiffness. This means they'll provide good support for the carbon blades and a stiffer backbone for hard kicking. I don't like very stiff tendons because they don't allow flex at all in the back 2/3 of the blade which is hard on the knees.


    The Stingray footpocket tendons have a T slot and require tendon rails to be glued onto the blade edges. The tendon T slot accepts the rails well. The stingrays accept a conventional blade back edge, but for it to go all the way to the end of the slot a small recess needs to be shaped in the back edge of the blade. The recess is not absolutely necessary as the blade fits deep enough in the foot pocket regardless.


    OMER Stingray foot pockets are available from FreediveStore.com in a nice range of sizes to suit most divers. Speardiver fins are available installed in Stingray foot pockets Speardiver Carbon Fins.


    Pics of the Stingray footpocket and a Speardiver carbon blade with a reshaped back edge.



  • Stringing fish on the float line

    I bring you another gem from Mako; the speed ring.

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    After a successful shot, the Mako Speed Ring gets you back to hunting in a hurry. Designed to be used with a floatline, the speed ring allows you to quickly string your fish onto your floatline. Simply unclip the longline clip from the speed ring and insert the speed ring through the mouth of the fish and out the gills and then re-attach to the longline clip.

    Notice this thread is not in the safety section, it's not that big a deal, but I want to tell a story that has to do with this. There may be a rare situation where I'd put a fish directly on the float line, because it's too big to put on the stringer or some other reason. In this case I run a loop into the fish's mouth and out the gills, then loop around the whole fish. But I wouldn't do it on a regular basis. The fish on the line create drag, the fish's teeth can damage the float line, or worse..


    I was diving out of Homestead with a few guys and one had a Riffe speargun hat he just bought set up with a needle type stringer at the end of the float line, that would go through the breakaway hole at the back of the speargun and then stuck into a hole he drilled into the red butt. The stringer was well secured this way. As the diver would shoot fish he'd string them on the float line and let them drift back towards the float. At some point I was on the boat with the captain and we heard some yelling. Then saw this diver swimming real fast towards the boat. When he climbed aboard I could see he didn't have his gun. He said two big bulls appeared and were buzzing him so he ditched the gun to be able to swim fast back to the boat. We figured the gun was safe because we could see the float bobbing in the waves, so we took 10 minutes for him to calm down. Then I noticed that the float was much further off than where I first saw it, and we decided to go pick it up before it gets out of sight. When we got to the float and retrieved it there was no gun, the float line was cut. What happened was that the sharks went after the fish on the line and severed it. The Riffe C3 was never found. The fish were 2 or 3 ocean triggerfish.


  • Pursuit band tying twine

    I'm really stoked that I found this band tying twine. Since someone gave me a few yards a couple of years ago I've been looking for the same twine and dreading the moment my little stash runs out. I was sure it's available but it was just hard to find because when you see these cords online they all look the same. That's why I tried to take a real closeup pic of it so you can see the difference.


    This is 1/16" diameter waxed twine that comes in different colors. I'm going to stock black and blue, black looks great on black bands. This twine is round which is an advantage when you're using your hands to pull it tight, it won't cut into your finger creases, yet it settles nice and flat. The wax helps with that a great deal. It has a breaking strength of 100lb which means you can pull it as tight as you can when tying the band. When finishing off the job it melts really well with a lighter for a nice compact look. This is simply the best stuff I could find for tying bands, or any other little project where a constrictor knot is necessary such as joining together two ends of a bungee (not for big load bearing).


    Each spool holds approx 80ft, enough for years of band making. I'm selling each for $8. If anyone from the forum wants to try it, pm me your address and I'll send you a couple of yards in regular envelope.



  • Dangerous gear - speargun wrist strap

    Mako spearguns really have their head up their ass to come up with this money maker. Do not use this contraption. Orca put a clause in the product description on their website warning of the dangers of this strap after I criticized it on planet two years ago. Mako followed suit with this piece of wisdom.

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    NOTE: Although this product does have a quick release buckle, this product is obviously to be used when hunting small game only.

    What happens when you're at the end of your breath hold in 60', shoot a "small" fish and your shaft gets stuck in the bottom. No quick release is quick enough as far as I'm concerned.


  • Omer Airbalete 110

    I noticed that too about the name. Arbalete was also the name of an old speargun.


    That's interesting about the nitrogen. I guess you can fill it with anything you want when you have the adapter. I'm looking forward to the shooting report.