Posts by Anders

  • DIY Aimrite Roller

    Thanks Dan. That's what i was afraid of and I guess in a thoroughly sealed pipe gun you use plugs in addition to the O-rings on the handle/muzzle.
    Being round, and hopefully fairly close in diameter to the tube, the plugs with O-rings could be sufficient as band anchors, but not ideal?

  • DIY Aimrite Roller

    Quote from Dan

    The only way to make a secure anchoring point is to put backing material inside the barrel and seal on each side, in addition to the plugs at each end of the barrel. This increases the weight of the carbon gun. You can only do one such anchor because after the first is done you will not have access inside the barrel to seal the 2nd anchoring point from both sides. If you don't seal you'll have water intrusion.


    This is the main reason I haven't been to keen to buy any of the pipegun rollers, and I don't want an ET, so the OMER ET roller is out although it has a seemingly good system. Now I wonder if maybe MVD has found a nice solution for it. I've never assembled or disassembled a pipegun before, so I don't trust my own judgement on this issue. What do you think? Will the barrel plugs in this kit be sufficient?
    I imagine you push the plugs into the pipe and use them as support for a band rest screwed on from the outside. Will the small hole you need to drill to through the tube to attach the the band rests weaken the tube sustantially?

  • Spearfishing in Norway

    There are minimum size limits on most fish in the sea, but no bag limits or fishing licenses required. Foreigners can fish/spear as much as they like, but it is illegal for foreigners to sell fish (residents can sell fish up to a certain limit) or bring more than 20 kg fillets (or maybe 15) + a whole trophy fish out of the country. No spearing in fresh water, except pike (for some strange reason). All anadromous salmonids are illegal to spear in the sea (charr, salmon, trout) as well as eel. Lobster are off limits for divers all year; short pot fishing season in the fall.

  • Spearfishing in Norway

    Kristiansund is probably the best spot for spearfishing in Norway. Big cod, pollack and saithe are the main attractions. Usually good visibility and heaps of kelp forests (not as big as in California) with rocks and sandy patches in between. Beautiful underwater scenery. You can also find anglerfish (one of my favourites) and different kinds of flatfish (plaice is probably most common) on the sand. Halibut are also around, but not so common. There are also a lot of scallop spots and you can find the occasional wolffish. If you manage to get in touch with Ørjan (through onkelhedde's info) that's your best bet. If he can't get his number shoot me a PM; I have it. Water temperature is around 17 C at the moment .
    Happy hunting!

  • Wolf eels

    We have three similar species here in Arctic Norway, they're called wolffish. Only one lives shallow enough to catch while freediving. The head and mid body look almost exactly the same but with a much shorter tail section so they look slightly more like a normal fish. They're one of my top three favourite fish to eat and can sometimes have a very distinctive shellfish-like taste. Maybe because they eat a lot of sea urchins and mussels..

  • Speardiver wetsuit for cold lake diving question

    Where I live, the sea ranges from 36-37F (April/May) up to 52F (late August). I wear a 7mm Elios open cell suit with 5mm socks all year round, and switch between 6.5mm three-finger mittens and 5mm gloves depending on temp. A highly flexible (the cold makes them go stiff) open cell suit of 7mm thickness (potentially more) is a must for me in these conditions. Around 40F and below I usually don't last more than 1.5 hrs, normally less. Also, make sure the gloves/mittens and socks hav a good seal against the suit. My socks and gloves/mittens all have "slick surface/closed cell" neoprene where they meet the suit, and they always go on the inside of the suit: absolutely zero leakage that way. The second important thing is the shape of the hood. 40F and below will make your sinuses and chin/jaw pay if they're not properly covered. Also, the thick neoprene will squeeze your jaw "into" your face if the part of the hood which is covering it isn't shaped correctly. That'll get painful in quite a short time and can also cause your hood to slip off the jaw; that'll get cold real quick.
    The hot water tip is a good one, both for making suit slip and also to heat up after a dive. Just fill the suit with hot water when you're done and you're nice and toasty in seconds.

  • Elios website, a bit confusing...

    It's been a couple of years since I ordered from Elios, but it seems it hasn't changed much. Their site is confusing and sometimes their replies to emails can be the same. However, the only good way to get some info is to send them an email and specify what type of diving/hunting you do, what type of coating/thickness/neoprene type you'd like or are considering and they'll give you a price estimate and most likely some good advice. If you haven't decided on it already, custom made fit (vs standard size) is the way to go.

  • hello from DK


    We had great time in Kristiansund as usual, quite a few nice cod were around. The Ulusub was mine, I'm still very happy with it :) Since then I have moved about 2000 km to the north and am living in Tromsø. I've exchanged the 500 gram pollacks in the Oslo fjord with 20 kg+ halibut and Northern lights above the Arctic circle. I'm not complaining ;)


    That wenge gun is a true beauty, that must make up for some of the pain in the build!

  • hello from DK

    Welcome Søren!
    Were you by any chance in Kristiansund in October last year? I met a few Danish guys that were leaving when we were settling into the KDK-house for a few days, and I remember at least one of them was a gun builder.

  • Abellan Robalo 98 review

    I’ve used the Robalo 98 on almost all of my dives since the beginning of the season, and thought I’d share my thoughts about it.


    Overall impression
    I love this gun. However, it’s not without flaws: see Cons. Despite the long list there is no way I’m getting rid of it, it’s just too nice to use now that I’ve overcome the hurdles and DIY stuff it needed in the beginning. Because of the badly constructed trigger guard I need to get a gun for float line use, but I can live with that However, if you’re in the market for a new, high quality gun I’d take a good look at the competitors before deciding on the Robalo 98.


    Pros
    Extremely nice looking gun that tracks and moves very well in the water
    Can handle spears up to 8mm
    Extremely long band stretch for its size
    Simple and good trigger
    Very nice to have such short overhang
    No need for flopper retainer (if used)


    Cons
    Handle removability (for travel): they say on the website that the handle is removable, but in reality you need to remove trigger first = poor removability
    Buoyancy adjustment: the gun does not come buoyancy adjusted, you have to do that yourself by removing or adding lead shot to the handle and front of gun compartments. The lead shot makes quite a bit of rattling noise and can be a bit fiddly to get just right with regards to buoyancy. Once I had found my preferred amount I epoxied the lead shot into the compartments and removed the front compartment metal cover
    Sharp metal parts and spear hole: The metal parts on the gun come with sharp edges that will shred the recommended 1.5mm mono in no-time. They all need sanding/filing and that is a bit of a pain. It should be done at the factory.
    Trigger protector doesn’t completely enclose trigger: This setup is perfectly OK for reel hunting as I have no trouble keeping my finger off the trigger, even with 6.5mm three finger mittens, but can be extremely dangerous for float line use, as the float line easily gets in behind the trigger guard. One tug on the line and the gun will fire.
    Can’t “stab” flatfish due to short overhang and flopper retained at the tip of the barrel

  • Winter coalfish Norway spearfishing

    Quote from Dan

    Fascinating report Anders, and beautiful fish.


    How thick is the wetsuit you're wearing and is it open cell? Are you cold in the water with it all?


    It's an open cell from Elios with camouflage smoothskin on the outside, 7mm. I do get cold after a while at the moment (ca 7 C), especially if I find areas with low current and am doing aspettos. For the winter and spring diving (2-3 C) I hope to get a 8 or 9 mm suit, but a 7 mm is usually OK for me up to an hour at that temp.

  • Winter coalfish Norway spearfishing

    Most seawater fish are legal to hunt in Norway, cod included. My biggest was in the 13-15 kg range, I never weighed it.. Here's a pic:

    I know that close to where I live now there are some really good spots for cod in the late winter and I'm trying to figure out a way to get out there and beat the Norwegian spearfishing record at 28 kgs.. We'll see how it goes ;)

  • A few cod and a new PB wolffish from my latest dives

    Say hi to her from me as well and good to know you're enjoying the Norwegian "water of life" :)


    The wolffish can definitely do some serious damage. They're rumored to be vicious when attacked, but they're usually docile and friendly otherwise. This one managed to tear off the spear after the first shot (I hit it in the neck, above the spine). It didn't come after me at all, just settled back on the bottom and I managed to get a second shot in and stoned it. However, I've heard stories of them crushing arms or legs after divers have tried to knife them and failed, and I'm certainly glad I used my speargun.