Posts by Ryddragyn

  • Frustrated with GoPro

    My GoPro refuses to charge and hold a charge. When plugged in, the red light is dim and wavering, and is only occasionally fully lit. The camera can be turned on when plugged in, but when unplugged it immediately shuts off. The responses of the power and shutter button are also unacceptably slow.


    Any advice? I have tried removing the SD card and battery to reset it. Haven't messed with firmware yet.

  • 2011 Colorado River tournament

    Quote from mrmike

    I meant whats the difference between the teams in red vs. the teams in blue. I noticed the teams in blue shot far less fish, but are there any other differences in team grouping? IE: are the red teams 2 competitors/team and the blue teams are individuals?


    Red teams are in the professional division. Blue teams are in the novice division. You could register in either category depending on how confident you felt. Pro division competed for cash prizes. Novice division competed for diving gear prizes donated by sponsors.

  • 2011 Colorado River tournament

    Quote from spearstuff

    Alex you know I was jealous when you pulled out that lunker of a carp to get weighed.


    Which one? I had three over 18 pounds:captngrin:


    Quote from Adrian

    Cool tournament and a fun way of keeping and invasive species in "check" but where is all that fish going?


    The tournament organizers took care of it. Some people cut out backstraps from their larger models during the 2009 tournament.

  • 2011 Colorado River tournament

    2011 Colorado River Carp Tournament


    Twice a year, a local dive shop in Bullhead City, AZ puts on a spearfishing tournament. Now, Bullhead City might not sound like someplace that would hold great diving, but in actuality, it's got probably one of the best stretches of the Colorado River. The visibility is at least 30 feet in most spots, and sometimes even more. There is loads of structure, and the fast currents bring lots of nutrients for fish life. As with many bodies of freshwater, there are invasive carp, but there are also giant stripers everywhere (illegal to spear) and a healthy population of the indigenous - and endangered - sucker species.


    As a freediving experience, this is an extremely unique place. Once you're swept into the current, you're going downstream whether you like it or not, and successfully finding and catching fish relies on being able to swim strongly and find areas of slack current on the sides, and finding holes and patches of logs and roots where the carp will hide. Sometimes they don't hide though - I took several shots at fish that were swimming upriver while I was being pulled downriver. Talk about a moving target! The moving water also effects the travel of the spear, so you have to account for that, sort of like wind correction with shooting on land.


    The tournament just focuses on carp, though. Say what you will about the ethics of carp shooting, this event is a TON of fun. Daniel and I dove from 6:30am to 3:15pm, with only a few breaks here and there, and we pulled in 71 fish, just over 500 pounds worth. Daniel had some issues with breaking gear (mono snapping, losing a shaft), but he still managed to outshoot me numerically by quite a few fish after borrowing my aimrite 90. However, I was really fortunate to tie with my friend Paul Bonanno for the biggest carp of the tournament at just over 18 pounds. It was my first time receiving any individual honor in a tournament, so I was really happy.


    A few pictures that have been posted online so far:





  • First Video Attempt

    I did a whole bunch of stuff in the outer banks when I lived on the east coast, but freediving was never one of them. Wish I had taken advantage of it...and that it was legal to spearfish in freshwater there and in VA :/


    Thanks for the video :)

  • Painting PVC

    I like this concept a lot. It eliminates the need for awkwardly stuffing the coiled or uncoiled floatline in the compartment.


    Is the PVC tube a little overkill for the job? If one was riding the board over kelp or through rough waves could you get smacked in the lower jaw by the pipe? Could you accomplish the same thing by installing two T-shaped prongs on either side of the board?

  • Muzzle idea, need feeback

    Jeff-
    Yes, I considered doing something very similar to your idea, and I agree it would be better. But I hesitated on it because as Dan implied, it would be somewhat difficult to do the shaping. Plus I'm an amateur compared to most. So the tubing would be relatively easy.


    I think what I'll do at this point is just make one and install it on a disembodied wood muzzle, then see how much weight I can hangon it before it breaks. Don't want to make the rest of gun then have it break.

  • Muzzle idea, need feeback


    Judah (and Harry, pre-emptively),


    I have spent a bunch of time looking at photos of the Abellansub, Teak-sea, and Gikas' muzzle (the latter being the one that's the most direct inspiration). The Abellansub is by far the most distinct and aesthetically aggressive. That said, these designs all accomplish exactly the same thing - bringing the bands to the absolute front of the gun for maximum band stretch. The AS is unique in that the bands are clear of the wood. That said, I don't know how easily you could add a third band to this concept, and the rest of my gun design calls for 3 5/8" bands. Besides which, I'm a builder of modest means, and I'm trying to accomplish something with the same exact function as easily as possible, while also not directly ripping anybody off.


    I am not doing an enclosed track with this project. The line wrap pin can be on the wooden part, or I can just have the wrap pin be another pin running through the metal and into the wood. I'd rather not do any spot welding.


    For getting the tolerances right on the shape of the wood, I could either use a REALLY big roundover cutter, or I could just be really careful with a file and sandpaper. Either way, the whole thing will be epoxied, so that will give me some flexibility.

  • Muzzle idea, need feeback

    For the weight issue, I always add several ounces of ballast as far forward as I can to help counter muzzle flip. Even on the locust hole gun I did recently, I used a full 2 ounces of tungsten plugs under the line anchor. I don't think the half cylinder weight will be significant.


    As far as bands on rubber, the rubber-metal contact with my sketch is minimal, and is limited to only one band. If the metal is sufficiently deburred, there shouldn't be any problems.


    Any concerns over weakening of the band slot? I think that the opposing 45 degree angles of the pins should act as good reinforcement. The wood will also be of fairly beefy dimensions relative to most wood euros.

  • Muzzle idea, need feeback

    So I am playing with the idea of European style metal muzzle on my next wood gun build. I've looked at all the usual suspects, and trying to come up with ways to do it in a distinctive way.


    This is my idea:


    A section of 316 stainless tubing, that is cut in half into a half cylinder like the first image. The height of the half cylinder will be the same as the width of the gun at the muzzle. The inner diameter of the tubing will need to be the same as the height of the gun. The end of the gun will need to be perfectly rounded so that vertically it will mate with the inside of the half cylinder. The band slot will be cut from the very front of the gun. The section where the track goes to the end of the gun will need to routed out of the cylinder so that the shaft is only on wood. Finally, the metal will be held onto the end of the wood using two or four pins at 45 degree angles.



    Rough sketch: