i should add that on this dive i had left my weightbelt on my car at matheson hammock because i was running late and so i was unweighted. this helped a lot because i was catapulted to the surface as soon as the bouancy overcame the current.
and i also am a much smarted diver now than i was then.
i actually have a very simple story to share along the lines of what I was talking about.
I was diving w/ jorge off of elliot key and there was a HAULING current. we were only in about 10 -15 FSW and i found a nice little hole up under a fan coral. I checked it out and it was about a 3 ft deep and around hole that was holding at least 10 bugs. I dropped on it the first time and stuck my head in to see if i saw any bugs that were much bigger than the others. I ran out of bottom time and sufaced. As i was breathing on the surface the current pulled me about 25 ft off the spot i saw the hole, so when i dove again i had to fight the current to get back to the spot (this was the first mistake, i should have fought the current from the surface and then dropped). By the time i made it back to the hole and got my head inside and grabbed a bug I had very little air and i had been upsidedown in the hole for at least 35 seconds so i was disoriented. I felt the burn so i grabbed the two bugs i had gotten out of the hole and turned to the side i thought was up. i was a little turned around and i was actually close to horizontal when i tried to fin up. the disorientation coupled with the lack of air, compunded by the inital sprint of fighting the current all added up to a big second of pure panic. I almost immediately figured out which way was up and i was on the surface a tenth of a second after that, but that moment of fear was the most intense feeling of uncertainty I have ever had.
If i would have been in 30 ft it might have been a lot worse.
this story is filled with rookie mistakes and bag circumstance, but to me, it highlights how one can not realize that one small risk at the end of a dive is really added to the entire rest of the dive. So my poor judgement on several small decisions (fight current underwater)(take two bugs on one dive rather than doing another dive) could have been dangerous. I know I would have been much more conservative in 35 fsw or even 25fsw
for what it is worth...
Actually diving shallow is where you do need more weight. You're much more likely to scare the fish on descent so you need to make it as smooth as possible. Hard to do when you're buoyant. Also although others might say that a blackout can happen anywhere, I believe that for me there's zero risk of blackout diving 30ft. I'm always a few seconds away from the surface and I never hyperventilate during breath up to the point of not knowing when I'm dangerously low on air.
i agree with one fairly large exception. the possiblity to do something stupid is hightened in shallow diving. IMO, the lack of vertical blue above you will allow you to feel that you are safe fighting that bug for a few more seconds or thinking you can sprint extra hard to get off that shot. this results in a diver being signifcantly lower on O2 and still a dangerous 30 ft from air.
the more experienced diver maintains a strong mental edge that keeps him/her from doing something stupid, but the rookie or worse, the guy who is better than a rookie but still pretty amateur, loses that edge and makes a bad decision.
I agree the risk is reduced, but certainly not zero
awesome fish man....delicious eating right there.
what was the fight like? what kind of rig? reel or float? i want to experience the battle as though i was there 
all the kidding aside, spearguns should never be pointed at another person when loaded, EVER. we all know this, esp Hau who could teach us all how to dive safely and properly.
wow, good warning...
off hand, do you know which trigger mechs are prone to this and which tend to be more robust.
I have heard of the biller/ hornet mechs failing when overpowered, but nothing about normal use.
/\
what he said...
very good breakdown of south florida diving
what an asshat.
this is jsut awful, he slowed down to look back at the guy in the water before speeding off. ?!?!?! what to make sure he was good and taken out? i cannot believe this, this removes all of that notion of an accident or "I didn't see him"
BS
Pargo---those are amazing pictures with the lighting conditions
Thank you
LunkerBuster--Thank you. And the gun even recoils less with the added weight of the cam
stevo---I asked scott today if he had ever had his RA accidently fire with the safty on and he said no. He said "why?' I said good, cause if you see me pointing my gun at you I'm taking your picture. He said "glad you warned me" <img src= " height="23" srcset="https://spearfishing.world/forum/images/smilies/emojione/1f606@2x.png 2x">
hahaha, i still might prefer if you take pics of me slightly off center
scott is a much tougher MF-er than i am
Being my first time on these rigs, I really didn't expect the visibility to be as good as it was in the clear layer. And I really hadn't thought about shooting anything other than red and mangrove snapper prior to the trip.
I really think that the big JBL slip tip was the lion's share of my problem with lack of penetration. It's got one of those rings that hold the floppers closed. That ring is probably about 7/16" in diameter, and not at all streamlined. It went through the cobia just fine, travelling some 7" or so from top to bottom of the fish, but it didn't have to penetrate any bone to do that and the shot was at closer range. Maybe the big tip causes the shaft to loose velocity much faster than a comparable flopper shaft. I just never noticed before because I seldom shoot very far.
you are absolutly correct. my first gun was a 24 inch little badass and i tried to use a rotating double flopper on it. I tried shooting 4 or 5 snappers at some very close range (2-4ft) and i would see the shaft hit the fish, but then no fish. I switched to a single barb tip, super simple and was able to quickly get dinner. the same shots that were too slow before now had enough enertia to penetrate and hold.
i blame the retaining collar. it is designed to hold the barbs and when viewed alone, it is a little concave that faces forward. it had to act like a little metal sail slowing the spear
sick rig Hau..thanks for the pics Dan.
the setup really looks perfect, I can't wait to see some Hau shots on vid
you think he's stop f'ing with you after two checks...is he searching your yak for bugs or just checking that you have the same stuff each time...seems like poor resource management
that had me laughing hard man.
nice write-up.. with the way Hau raves about this baby I imagined it had to rule..
Display MoreSo today was the longest I swam with the DiveR's. They killed my legs! I don't understand what it is. When you first put them on you feel great powerfull everything is nice. But then your legs start feeling the pain. My legs rarely give up on me and I like fins that make you feel like you're moving alot of water but damn I have never been this tired from a shore dive.
Moving on to trying the carbon fins. I tested the DiveR back to back with the carbons. As I said the DiveR feel great for short pool test and powerfull. The carbons are perfect! Only thing I thought was that they where underpowered but that's just cuz they are so easy to swim with there very lite. Also I used the carbons with the dans footpockets witch worked very well for me. As I have writin before finding footpockets for myself is very difficult with my thin feet and these worked very nice with my riffe socks.
(I'll post more details about the carbon fins tomorrow morn)
Lastly. Put it this way, the moment I got out of the water I told dan put me down for a set of carbons.
-Larry O M. . .
did someone need a name for a spearfishing gear company?
DANS
or
Dan's
i think it is perfect
even though it is not too helpful because they are not changable. i really love the gara for pockets, they are tight enough not to slip or feel like you are losing power, but they never bind or blister or pinch. they should make interchangeable one like those
just one, but i have been told it is a big one and I don't know how to keep it closed
awesome, so to be clear i am taking 1, 8 and 9
i thought 22 monk had dibbed 2 and 9...if he isn't taking 9, id like that one too plz...let me know
these will be my first non -purge valved snorkels so i am interested to see if I have a learning curve or if it a second nature to clear through the top..
