Posts by Dan

  • The Adventures of Thumper

    I did this exact test with my 162 Igloo marine cooler.



    At that time this cooler was selling for around $350. It held ice for 4 days in my garage (Florida summer no air conditioning). I was impressed with it but also had my doubts, I mean how sophisticated can Styrofoam in a plastic shell get. Now I see that I was right, cooling wise it doesn't really matter if it has a "marine" designation or not. Going forward the factors that will make a difference for me are size and sturdiness ie can it handle someone's weight sitting on it. That's easy enough to find out at the store :) I can tell you the Igloo can handle sitting on, but the lid will eventually bow a little in the middle. The latches will break but are cheap online.

  • Rick says hello - from UK South Wales

    Rick, I'm not sure what you mean by "there's a limit to the pull". Every person has a set draw length depending on the length of their arms and upper body width. The band diameter/power should be adjusted so that the diver has the strength to draw/pull the band fully. Unless you mean that the more secure grip should allow pulling a heavier band? There's always going to be a limit to how thick a band you can pull. In my opinion this design is more for comfort/ease of use, both physically and psychologically ie. you know the sling is not going to fly back at your face if you loosen your grip ever so slightly.

  • Rick says hello - from UK South Wales

    Rick, for 5 years now I've been wanting to bring a sling to market as part of the Speardiver line. My main goal is to alleviate part of the effort required to hold/grip the sling when the band is pulled, I feel no sling currently available has addressed this issue to my satifiaction. In general the "sharkfin" design should achieve this, but I assure you the Headhunter sling does not alleviate the force needed to grip the sling by any significant amount. I don't know about the other features your sling has, but that contour made to fit in the area between the thumb and index finger, is exactly what I had in mind, it's like you took the image out of my brain and made it reality. The only thing I would've done differently is make the back part smaller in diameter and easier to grip. The line attached to the spear is a standard modification for any sling I use. It looks like you have a line retention system, I can't tell if it's an actual line release design. If it is, kudos for both design elements.


    So I have to ask, does it in fact allow for a somewhat relaxed grip when the band is pulled?

  • [SOLD] 55" Wong hybrid rear handle speargun

    I'm 6ft tall with a fairly long reach, a 130cm speargun doesn't look that long on me. I also like a single wrap, but prefer a 1.5 wrap which is easy to do with a wood speargun. For the reef/bottom hunting (which is all I do) I found the 130cm too much to deal with. Most recently I tried two different 130cm spearguns, a wood speargun; the Speardiver Rear Handle classic, and the Speardiver Phantom with a carbon barrel that I made for myself. I ended up having the wood gun made in a 125cm length, and cutting the carbon gun down to 125cm, which is now the max length I'd use. Why 125cm? 120cm just seems a little cliche :) Bear in mind these lengths state the true band stretch.


    9/32" shafts may bend a little easier than a 5/16", but they're easy to straighten.


    I like to feel as unencumbered as possible in the water. A light maneuverable speargun is my preference.

  • [SOLD] 55" Wong hybrid rear handle speargun

    I have to point out that a 5/16" shaft and 3 x 16mm bands is overkill for the fish pictured. A bigger gun will always control recoil better. But it's a trade off, personally I don't like lugging a big gun around and any small perceived advantage in range/accuracy is not worth the hassle over 6 - 8hr diving day. Just get closer to the fish. To me the most important factors that make a speargun a pleasure to use are not necessarily range/accuracy.

  • How do you fix lost mojo?

    You need to check your shaft, perhaps power down a band, and take some time to make practice shots on a target that's not moving, starting close and gradually increasing the distance. You need to see consistency in your shots.


    Other than that.. getting old sucks :P

  • [SOLD] 55" Wong hybrid rear handle speargun

    Thanks for the in the depth review. The reasons you stated are the same reasons I don't like Daryl Wong hybrid spearguns. If I were to pick only one point, it's that the hybrid speargun is inconvenient to carry in the water, I never know where to grip it when swimming. Other than that a close second are the recoil issue, and that atrocious handle. Never mind that it's a very simple/cheap speargun to make, when you consider how much it sells for.


    Unfortunately I also agree about Niletec customer service. For a years Ihab was very prompt and professional, but lately communication has been difficult to say the least. As such I made the decision to no longer offer Niletec products at Freedive Store. All remaining Niletec spearguns in our inventory are now on clearance with a hefty discount Freedive Store - Niletec Spearguns.

  • Another day in Belize

    I never ate a porgy raw :S :)


    In Cuba they were very challenging, some big too. I've never seen a big one here. I remember exhaling all my air at the surface to become negative and sink without movement, in an attempt to get closer. It was shallow water.