Posts by Dan

  • Adjusting footpockets

    Foot pocket fit is very important, much more so when it becomes a problem because of some unusual foot shape. I see people with thin feet, wide feet and bunions, which doesn't allow them to use fins comfortably. I feel for these divers because next to being cold (easily solved with a good wetsuit), problems caused by fins; sore feet due to poorly fitting foot pockets, ankle and knee pain, will make you end your diving fastest. I really wish I could use heat molding to help them but I know it's futile. The only mediocre solution I know (when trying different make foot pockets a good fit can't be found) is to get a larger foot pocket and fill up the empty space with a sock. The sock will compress more in the area where the foot makes stronger contact with the foot pocket. Other than that they're SOL and have to dive with some discomfort.


    I've considered making holes directly over bunions before but never pulled the trigger. For someone with this problem though the price of a ruined foot pocket is a worthwhile gamble considering the rewards if it works.

  • Adjusting footpockets

    Apples and oranges. You're talking about dubious results with cheap plastic fins that you were going to throw away if you messed them up beyond functionality. I'm giving advice to people who are buying foot pockets for $100+ to not waste their time with this procedure, rather look for foot pocket with correct fit. Rubber cannot be heated, stretched and hold the new shape. Some of the current synthetic materials used in foot pocket manufacturing can, but are likely to be compromised in the process or go back to their original shape after being left out in the sun on the boat deck. You may have a problem with my "categorical" statements, but they're based on experience with many different foot pockets which is more than I can say about most people offering advice about it. It's easier for me to make a simple statement "don't do it" than going into a time consuming explanation.


    That said, rev up your heat guns and have a go at it all yea doubtful.

  • AB Biller customer service, or the lack of

    I'll help you. Get them to send the mech to Freedive Store in Fort Lauderale and I'll ship it to you. Before going ahead with this ask for the weight of the package, then I'll quote you shipping to Mexico so you can decide if it's worthwhile. If it's just a small trigger mechanism and not the complete handle first class mail shipping is very doable.


    See if you need anything from Freedive Store to take advantage of the shipping.

  • Mid handle trigger released issue.

    I don't build mid handle spearguns so I have no first hand knowledge of how to set up the push rod. But I'm pretty sure of one thing, I wouldn't pre-tension any trigger mech unless it was specifically designed for such a purpose. Good trigger mechanisms are designed to offer a comfortable full trigger pull at high loads, to my mind this doesn't lend itself to the trigger being permanently depressed even a fraction of it's range of motion while under load. The idea just sounds dangerous to me. There has to be a different way to eliminate play in the push rod. Perhaps connecting it to the remote trigger.

  • Letting go of a speargun

    In the past when I played out this scenario in my head, I cut line by inserting the knife under it and pulling up. It's probably wishful thinking either way.


    While it does make for a good joke, to me the particular gun used wouldn't play much of a factor in the decision to let go. I wouldn't want to let go of any gun, perhaps because there's a fish attached, perhaps because I don't like to lose what belongs to me. I just don't think the actual value of the gun would be part of the lightning fast calculations happening at that moment.

  • Letting go of a speargun

    Too good to not repost Letting Go - Spearboard bubble blowers drama forum

    Quote from Behslayer 09-21-2015

    A few days ago I was diving 100miles offshore on my brother's boat. We had fished the area during the night chunking for Tuna and I had seen a Wahoo come into the lights and we had caught a few small yellowfin under 20lbs which we released. The fishing was not so good but in the morning we decided to dive the place as there was plenty of bait on the surface with small skipjack tuna and bonito breaking surface. My two dive partners were both very experienced good deeper divers. One of them is a Performance Freediving instructor in Hawaii who is comfortable hunting below 100', the other is my long time dive buddy from Indonesia who is one of the best divers I know. So I figured I'd let them focus on the deep for Tuna and I'd focus on the upper water column for Wahoo and Mahi Mahi. The water was Clear. 100' vis and we were in a line about 75' away from each other drifting. They were both using Floatlines and Tuna Floats. I was using my Bluewater Reel with 330' of line on it I was in the middle. I'm comfortable enough to hunt for Wahoo with just a Reel, especially with two buddies with Floats next to me as Wahoo almost always make arcing runs which are long but not deep. I've shot many wahoo and never used a float. I've been spooled, but I was always able to angle up and stay on the surface and swim with the fish. Myself and my buddies have also landed many Yellowfin Tuna up to 80lbs using the Reels. So I'm focussing on the top 50' of the Water Column. I've got a good bit of Chum going and conditions look right. I make a drop and as I get to 50' I'm hanging for a while, about to head up and I see something below me. I drop another 10' and a Shoal of Big YFT comes right up to me. These fish are thick. All of them over 100lbs. I look for the smaller one and I look at my reel and I think for a second and then I focus on a Kill Shot. I let loose a nice shot. Right up by the back of the head looks good. The fish is not Stoned, and as it turns and shakes I see my tip Toggled on the other side of the fish. I look up. I have 60'. I look at my reel and that fish takes off. At 40' my reel is half full. I'm trying to slow the fish down, holding onto the line and giving resistance as I swim up. At 30' I get to the knot and things go into slow motion. I'm being pulled back down. I give a big tug to see if I can budge this fish. I can't. I grab my knife with my right hand. I'm holding the Gun by the handle with my left hand and it's facing down and I run the knife over the line on the Gunstock cutting into the wood. It's a serrated edge and it's fairly sharp, newer knife, but I only get through half of the line because of the awkward angle. I'm getting pulled straight down. I attempt another slash at the line waiting for the pop of the line separating from the fish. I look to see a few strands of the Dyneema still uncut and I'm still going down. I'm also fighting being pulled. I have the knife in my hand about to make another slash and everything goes into slower motion. "Let Go" is something I've always said to myself in thinking about this situation. Just like I say "Don't use the front brake" when I'm thinking about Motorcycle mantras. In that moment I could have tried one more slash at the line. Instead I was okay to let go of the gun. I looked up and it was far. 70'.. I unbuckled my belt holding the edge with two fingers and got to the surface as quickly as possible. As I hit the surface I was not feeling good at all. I had spotted my buddy Ben and he knew something was up. I yelled "Help" and it barely came out. Both he and my other dive partner Dave were there within seconds and held me up for a while as I recovered. I'm not sharing this story to be judged. I killed a beautiful fish and lost a nice gun I made with my hands and almost drowned. It was a poor decision to go in the water where I could possibly encounter bigger Tuna with just a Reel, no Belt reel, No float, or to choose to take the Shot on a Fat Tuna when it presented itself. But the one right decision I made is what I wanted to share. Letting go. Right now. I don't care at all about that gun. I'll make another. I feel badly, but I don't really care about that fish dying. It all happens real fast underwater. It can happen in many ways. Learn one thing from this. Be willing to Let Go and don't wait too long. We got back to diving an hour or so later. I didn't push it at all and shared a gun with my buddy one up one down. He shot a Nice YFT which we served at his wedding the next day.

  • Stating wind and current direction

    If someone says "we were diving yesterday and there was a strong north current", do they mean the current was coming from the north and pushing them south, or that they were being pushed north? I often find this to be a source of confusion as different people can mean one or the other.


    From Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_direction

    Quote

    Wind direction is reported by the direction from which it originates. For example, a northerly wind blows from the north to the south

    I accept this meaning and see no reason why it shouldn't apply to current as well. I wish everyone would agree on this.


    Anyways I was diving out of Miami Saturday and there was a somewhat unusual north current :)