Posts by Dan

  • Technisub Micromask questions

    I guess I have a big nose. The Technisub mask wouldn't seal under my nose/over my upper lip. I didn't feel any pressure on the nose so I don't think the leak was caused by the size of my nose. I feel that if the skirt was a little longer under the nose it would seal fine. I had no other problems with the Technisub mask but I didn't want to use it the way it was leaking. I use a Speardiver mask and it fits perfectly with no leaks. If decide to get the Technisub Micromask www.FreediveStore.com has them for the best price $79. Also you may want to look at the Speardiver Micromask which is very similar and cheaper at $49.

  • Heinrich line release

    They do but there are always disadvantages that no one has been able to fully solve. For example the RA gun line release is auto resetting but it's on the bottom which is somewhat of a problem for reel users, and I find it to be small and sharp, inconvenient to slip the shooting line over. Aimrite and omer is semi auto resetting in that you have to first position the spear to press down a lever as you push it into the mech etc etc. You said you got a Mako? How does the line release on that one work?


    I made this line release for the Merou handle, it worked well unfortunately the mech didn't. It's based on Steve Veros' idea. But this is a Heinrich line release thread :)


    Video: Line Release


    Video: Line release demo

  • Heinrich line release

    Steven, I'm just going by how I envisioned it, I could be wrong but I don't think so. Thing is someone who's planning to use 4 16mm bands, as the builder of the gun stated, is probably not too concerned with loading speed.


    Interesting observation Jeff. My experience is that all shafts are made with the last tab unnecessarily far from the mech. They all have room between the last tab and the mech to put a pin, where I put the red dot, that's what I would do.


    This is Pucho's gun BTW.


  • Heinrich line release

    What is commonly referred to as the Heinrich line release system (Heinrich must be the man who first implemented it) is a very simple and efficient way of rigging a line release on a speargun. It's really a wonder that more spearguns don't use this system, as any other kind of auto resetting line release complicates the build. IMO installing a Riffe style line release is the most difficult part of the build, or the part where a mistake can most easily be made. A good auto resetting line release is also missing in most euro/pipe guns with integrated handle/mech. But you can't use a Heinrich system on Euro shafts that don't have tabs for anchoring bands.


    The way the Heinrich works is by routing the shooting line once on each side of the gun and catching it on a shaft tab. This is more easily seen in a picture than described. When the shaft starts moving forward the loops come off the tab and the shooting line becomes free. It is a fool proof system of which the only disadvantage is that the shooting line runs on each side and this may affect the comfort of carrying the gun by gripping the stock?? You can actually route the line with both wraps on one side but this tends to twist the shaft towards one side. If you have an enclosed track this twisting effect is minimized.


    Some examples with wood spearguns:




  • Hoods and boats

    Thanks for sharing your story. I'm very sorry to hear about your accident. I never let myself slip into the mindset "whatever will be will be" or "it's not going happen to me", but I'm aware that the tendency to do so is there. The closest I've come to doing so has been with regard to boats. It's so difficult to relax hearing boat motors in the background that it's very tempting to just disregard it, but like I said I still never have, fear of getting hit outweighs everything. The only time I allow myself to do that is when the situation is truly beyond my control, but this has not yet happened to me with spearfishing that I can remember. The shit thing is with all the precautions one can still get hit by a boat. Thinking about what happened to you the only thing you could've done different is not take that dive until ascertaining the location/trajectory of the boat, but then you were never aware of it until you were underwater.. Truly the only decision that could've been made different was not to dive that day at all.


    One factor that can lead do complacency is that the result of getting hit by a boat is out of the experience of the average diver, myself included. This makes it easier to disregard the possibility. A couple of years ago a local diver (Miami) was killed when run over by a boat, his diving partner narrowly escaped by diving, his fins got run over from what I remember of the incident description. According to one of the accounts the diver's was almost cut in half. One of the people present was a local dive store owner. Seeing him and imagining what it must have been like for him to hold his injured and dying friend gave me a mental image that surfaces every time I'm edging towards becoming complacent.