Posts by Ryddragyn

  • White Chin: First Blood

    Looks like Padauk? (do you say it puh-dook or puh dawk, emphasis on last syllable? paddock sounds just wrong)


    Is that the pierce grip AR15 adapter to the colt 1911 format? Gun looks tapered from this photo?


    Very nice :)

  • Marseilles style knife straps are better

    The straps fuzz pointed out are good, I think they are made of some kind of cloth. They are flexible and comfortable. The quick release ones in Dan's first post are a PITA, the rubber can pull out of the buckles.


    I look forward to trying the Marseille straps.

  • AR15 grip similar to dapiran/abellan, et al?

    Jeff-


    That's exactly what I was looking for! Thanks!


    Good part of the modularity is that I can easily switch back to a Hogue grip if I don't like it.


    re:tracking, most of the tracking I do is horizontal, not vertical. And I am interested in this for the recoil-cancelling properties more than anything else.

  • AR15 grip similar to dapiran/abellan, et al?

    Point well taken on the thumb movement needed for the AR's.


    I have experimented with shapelock and had some success with it, but I still want the option of removing the handle for traveling.


    The trygons solution is a cool link, this could be done with a cheap handle, while taking care not to get any epoxy or sealant in the parts that have to interface with the base plate.

  • San Diego

    Quote from mrmike

    keep listing cali's positives guys! the more people that leave here to go there means less competition and more fish for me :D


    Nooo! We don't need more divers! Unless they're willing to only shoot opaleye! :D

  • San Diego

    If you take the time to adapt to California diving, this is in many respects a diving paradise.


    Response to Dan's points:


    Cold water: with a good wetsuit, you barely notice the temperature. And after hiking down trails to get to the dive spot in that suit, 55 degree water feels very refreshing! I'm not joking or being sarcastic, I love the sensation of first jumping in.
    Limited diving season: In Norcal it's more a matter of the ab season than anything else. In SoCal, it's game on year round, depending on the swell.
    Bad vis: Sometimes that bad vis helps you sneak up on stuff.
    Much smaller variety of game fish: Halibut, rockfish, calico bass, sand bass, cabezon, sheephead, sargo, sculpin, starry flounder, yellowtail, sea bass...and much more a few hours away in baja. The limitations are defined much more by the kind of fish that you personally enjoy cooking and eating.
    Possibility of white shark encounter: you guys have it worse with bulls.
    Possibility of sea lion encounter: they're cute! albeit annoying and overpopulated. They get aggressive at the Nados, but they don't actually attack you. just steal fish if you leave them on a float.
    You sometimes have to deal with enviro freaks: sad but true.
    Large areas have been closed to spearfishing due to MLPA: Norcal yes, socal not yet.
    To dive in conditions that you're used to diving in your back yard you'll have to travel to Mexico: pacific side Baja is like california except less densely populated and less overfished. conditions won't be dramatically different, depending on how far down you drive or fly. Sea of cortes side is much warmer but viz is hit or miss depending on the winds and tides. If you are used to dealing with adversity (viz-wise especially) back in SoCal or norcal, you can do very well even if things aren't ideal.


    Another big plus is that people in Florida seem to think that you're a badass :P

  • Reverse mechs and top line releases?

    I've noticed that all reverse mechs have a top line release. Is this due to how the line release interacts with the sear, so it's impossible to do a traditional, lower release?


    Also, what is everybody's experience with the top line releases? Does the line ever catch on the bands, especially on 3-4 band guns?


    I just bought wood for my next build, and want it to be a larger gun with a reverse mech, but I'm hesitant because I've never used a top line release.

  • gun build..a few challenges

    I'm unclear as to exactly what you mean with the angle of the bands in the muzzle, and with the twisted part.


    Either way, keep in mind that those kinds of muzzles tend to get some vibration from the bands, being as how they spread out and not supported by the stock. Also, if you use a breakaway slip tip the spectra doesn't easily tuck into the bands either.

  • first gun build that doesn't UTTERLY SUCK

    Thanks for the positive comments guys.


    This gun isn't anything fancy, it's basically a slightly oversized riffe euro stock in a midhandle format. It's not cosmetically perfect- a few scuffs here and there, milling errors, lumps in the finish, etc. But the trial and error of my first gun, my goal was really to build something that was functional, shot WELL, and would last me a long time. I took a few more pics during the build process and when I got it wet:







  • first gun build that doesn't UTTERLY SUCK


    Wow, this took WAY too long to complete. It's been over a year from acquiring the wood to final assembly. But life gets in the way of hobbies, sometimes.


    35" black locust hole gun, open track, quasi-mid handle, with neptonics stealth reef trigger, ar15 handle, epoxy finish, 17/64" rife euro shaft.


    Some modifications of the parts: for the tinman handle, i filled the recess in the trigger guard with epoxy, and milled it out for tighter clearance with the trigger, so as to eliminate any noise and rattling. I chamfered and smoothed out the trigger to feel nicer on the finger. I also ditched the 1/8" 308 pushrod in favor of a thicker, heat treated 17/4Ph 5/32" rod. I drilled the lever for an interference fit with the rod that I was able to easily tap out and adjust to the right length.


    The locust was a real joy to work with. Smooth to cut and sand. I spent only two work sessions doing the actual woodwork, and the rest of the time trying to perfect the epoxy (which I ultimately didn't do, but the gun is more than adequately protected at this point).


    I still consider it incomplete, in that there's some fine tuning to be done to pushrod/trigger interaction, as well as the tuning of the band setup, and the addition of some ballast to the muzzle. But the gun has blood on it, and it did what I wanted it to do.


    The obligatory thank you's:


    -Sweatloaf for the wood.
    -TinMan for the handle and various other advice.
    -Phil H for epoxy, and other advice.
    -Josh for making a great trigger and changing the reef trigger lever to be a bit more
    pushrod friendly.
    -Dean at Vector Marine Products for giving me free reign (as well as advice and materials) in his machine shop.

  • MAKO Spearguns - Poor quality made in China

    My encounters with Mako Spearguns have been pretty frustrating, both as a forum/community member and as a customer. Won't go into detail on the customer issues, since they got resolved (eventually), and I'll get my tires slashed by their mob for suggesting any degree of apathetic customer service.


    Here is an example that's more relevant to the conversation in this thread:


    http://spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=117078&page=2


    I think I asked some pretty basic and simple questions, but Dano pretty much absolutely refused to give a straight answer. Did he not want to outright admit to rebranding something? Everything he wrote was pretty much an evasive, non-answer. I let it slide since it wasn't something I was interested in buying, anyways.


    My paraphrasing of the debate:


    Me: Are these rebranded beuchat foot pockets?
    Dano: I won't comment on how good beuchat foot pockets are, but I can assure you these are built to the same high standards!
    Me: It's a yes or no question.
    Dano: I don't want to badmouth beuchat.
    Me: I'm just asking if they're off the same mold of an existing product from someone else, so people can make informed decisions on something they're buying online and can't try on in person. Footpockets are like clothes and shoes with how personalized the fitting and sizing is. Lots of reviews on different footpockets online, so take advantage of it. Answer the question.
    Dano: Yes I need lots of good information on my site! I'll get right on it!

  • Does this shaft exist?

    7.5 is a rare request, and for a shaft maker to produce them economically, they have to order a lot of the material all at once. You're talking about 4-5 digits worth of steel.

  • Bulk Rubber Supplier

    As far as I know, Primeline is the actual manufacturer for many (but not all) of the other brands/distributors you mentioned.


    I would avoid Spearitco rubber. Their black over amber stuff is stretchier but less powerful than other black over amber, which I avoid anyways since I prefer all black.


    I would buy it from Neptonics.