Posts by mrmike

  • first time builder...teach me.

    couldn't you just leave more wood between the bottom of the trigger mech and the handle? If not, then you should be able to grind it down and then polish smooth, it is tough stuff so depending on your tools it may take some time.

  • Broward Beach Conditions

    viz was ok at 7am but there was a hazy brown layer about 2' thick. I got my limit of bugs, lots of boats I talked to had a very hard time... silly bubble blowers. viz shut down by 3 so I came in.

  • What kind of mask/filter for safe lead smelting

    Lead isn't cheap, I made 2 dive belts by smelting my own stuff and it cost me next to nothing. That being said, I am a mechanic and collected wheel weights. Specialty weights can also be expensive/hard to find. If you know what you need and have the means to make it it is very easy.

  • How's Florida looking ?


    That sums it up pretty well. I'd recommend a vacation down here to check out several areas it would take a couple days but be worth it, west coast is quite a bit different from east coast, down south different from farther north. Certainly lots of options and variety. Year-round diving and beach buns are pluses...

  • Broward Beach Conditions

    I have had limits within a few hours during miniseason, in the keys 7 people on the boat, 42 lobsters by 10am and then its time to drink the rest of the day..... what's not to be excited about. Up here it's 12 per person so I'm hoping I can put 7 on the boat and land 84 bugs in that same couple hours with a couple areas I know holding them. And then drink the rest of the day... sure its busier but everyone is lobstering so the speed boats trying to run us over are limited or at least a little more conscious of our presence. I only get excited because the last 3-4 years I've done it seriously have been exciting.

  • Mounting a Gopro to the Micro Mask

    Quote from Hardline

    Do you feel the bottom of your shots getting cut off from what you are looking a with the mask there?


    I have used the GoPro with the head strap and unless I point the camera down a bit, stuff seems to be out of frame on the bottom.


    not knocking your video, but I noticed this in the recent hog vid. Is the camera "aimable" once its mounted to the mask? if so I would take several sample clips in the pool and then just make a mark on the mount so that aiming it every time is quick and easy. I'm hoping to buy a gopro in the near future and this is my plan...

  • first time builder...teach me.


    I chiseled my pocket square, it's easy to do just takes a little bit of time.

  • New Diver: Mako Competition Freediver or Cressi Gara 3000 LD?

    open heel fins are a no go for freediving. The cressi garas are probably the most common plastic long fin, they come in two different stiffness's I believe the 3000 is softer and the 2000 is a bit firmer and more popular. I've read a lot of reviews saying the 3000s are too soft. Hopefully someone on here that uses them will chime in. Ultimately I would say go for whichever fits your foot better, footpocket comfort is of the utmost importance.

  • Broward Beach Conditions

    Got out today from 10'-70', viz was great inside 25' even into this afternoon when the storms picked up. In the morning viz was top to bottom @ 40 but diminished. @ 60' we could barely make out the bottom. We hit a wreck in 70' and could see the wreck but the bottom wasn't visible, current here was ridiculus and we spent a good part of the day trying to get the boat stationary up current of the wreck but it won. We looked like salmon trying to swim upstream and there is a video of Steven that will hopefully wind up on the forum. I saw lots of nice fish but my bottom time @ 60 is minimal. My mutton curse continues, but I did a new PB of 62'(on the fish finder) chasing him around the reef.


    Another great day on the water with friends

  • first time builder...teach me.

    Lots of good build info on here, just have to look around. I personally love woodguy's build and used it A LOT when planning mine. For the finish I too was worried about the coating filling the holes and making them too small etc etc. But its not an issue if you mix up some penetrating epoxy. Just be sure to allow ample time (a week or more) in between coats so that everything fully cures. I did two coats of penetrating epoxy to make sure every absorbent inch was saturated, followed by additional un-thinned epoxy coats. You can wetsand after the first couple coat and then again when its done if you want to make it look all fancy. The uhmw track now fits snuggly. Woodguy mentions this in his thread but only secure the track with one screw near the mech, when the stuff gets warm (like sits in your car) it elongates about 1/4". Because of this make sure you cut it to length at room temperature, if it sits in your car all day at work and then you go home to cut it, it will shrink once it's cool and look funny in the gun. I would recommend opening up the last 3 inches of the uhmw (again it's been discussed in several threads) just to ease in loading. As far as the router bit I believe it's specified on the neptonics site and can be ordered fairly cheaply online, I was unable to find one at the local home depot, lowes, etc.


    2 5/8 bands will be plenty, if your feeling strong a couple of Dan's small ID bands cut short will give you a good workout. 300lb mono seems worthwhile, I personally use 200 on my reef gun and 400 on my BW build. You need to decide whether you want a reel or a float and floatline, it's all personal preference. Unfortunately there is no perfect length gun for both reef and BW hunting BUT a 120-130cm band stretch gun would be the middle grounds between the two IMO. I believe the shaft on my BW build is 63" plus sliptip and about 145cm band stretch so your 57 (depending on shaft overhang - again personal preference) should land you in the 120-130 range. A 9/32 shaft seems a bit light for BW hunting and might end up looking like a pretzel, maybe buy a second 9/32 shaft with a sliptip in the future for when you feel like venturing offshore. I hope this helps and have fun with it. We love gun porn so don't be shy with the camera.

  • Broward Beach Conditions

    I was offshore from 6am-3pm and it was rough and not much sunshine, diving didn't look fun, outside the third reef the water was beautiful blue, but inside the third it was nasty