Posts by Wishihadgills

Nice vid. I always find it interesting how the fish that get shot are barely visible, if at all, in the vids but when we're down there taking the shot they are clear as day.

It would still be easier to shorten the length of the band and increase elongation. I have pulled back 14mm sling bands before and I can do it with some strain on land but in the water it is significantly easier so I might try it. Ive seen slings tied with everything up to 20mm rubber.

I think just a thicker band will work instead of rigging some sort of 3 band system. The pistol grip slings suck in my opinion and arent as powerful as the setup I use currently. Pole spears work but I find they have a very limited range.

John, as for the weight class, the muttons were all in the 5-12 lb range and there were grouper that were larger. Also keep in mind that mutton and other snapper have very large hard scales that can be very hard to get through.

Dan, how do you attach 3 bands? I cant say Ive seen that setup before.

Dan this is a Hawaiian sling, only 1 band and the flopper is roughly the same length as the floppers on a double flopper spearhead.

Shortly before I left to go back I was lucky enough to get a day trip to Walkers Cay (Bahamas) with a few of my friends. More about that trip will come when i get around to a write up. Anyway, while we were there I had a bunch of trouble with getting good penetration from my sling shafts. I was wondering if anyone has any tips to get better penetration. I was also hoping this thread might generate some interesting ideas.

Info:

Sling was a standard wood sling with 1/2" small hole rubber. It wasnt weak but I plan on making this tighter and/or possibly switching to 9/16" spear rubber.

Spear was a 9/32" diameter and 66" long. The spear was brand new so the tip was sharp but I might try to modify it. It had a pencil/rock point tip with the barb starting roughly and inch from the base of the point and the barb was between 1 and 1.5" long.

Very few of the shots I took that day actually went deep enough for the barb to engage. I did manage to stone a few of the fish but some of the shots simply knocked off a scale or two even at point blank.

Any tips, ideas, suggestions...etc are greatly appreciated. Thanks

Personally I was very hesitant to not have a safety on my custom gun. As a kid growing up using firearms we were always taught to keep the safety on whenever possible. They also told us never to trust a safety calling it the "dummy" switch but we used it regardless.

Needless to say nearly every gun I had ever handled had a safety until I made a speargun. At first I was a little uncomfortable. It was always a feature that you dont really use but is nice to have. On my riffe the only time I ever noticed the safety was when aiming at a fish and pulling the trigger only to find out its on safe. Ive since gotten used to not having a safety on the gun and I havent had any misfires or accidents. Knock on wood.

Despite all this there are at least a couple reasons why I like safeties on some of the guns I own. I never allow a loaded gun on the boat but I do feel a little better when loading a gun if the safety is on. Another instance where they are nice to have is when you or your dive buddy passes you their gun or vise a versa so they/you can have their hands free. I trust myself not to pull the trigger but sh@t happens. And possibly the my biggest reason for wanting a safety on a gun is for when I have less experienced friends/family using equipment. All of us on the forum have enough time in the water to control themselves but not everyone is trustworthy with a loaded weapon. Again sh@t happens.

Bottom line, it comes down to whoever is operating the gun. Personally I trust myself not to pull the trigger but the same cant be said of everyone in the water. And honestly, all the fish you fish you ever missed arent worth the damage that can be caused by an accident.

Damn I wish i had that kind of machinery!

Be careful with the ruler measurements. They arent always accurate. Some are off by a pretty good amount.

Dan, Is the loading butt integrated with the trigger mech or is it attached in some way that I cant see?

That turtle looks massive.

If the mold release is still sticky or not working as well as you would like you can try heating the pieces up. The plastic and steel will have a different expansion rate and heating and cooling the pieces will help free them.

That cuda head came out amazing! If you do decide to take orders let me know. Im definitely interested.

Thanks

Hey Dan, I think this would be a really useful addition to the gun building thread.

I wish I would have found this earlier. Tons of helpful information.

I have only held a few personally and they are solid. The people who use them swear by them and I have heard nothing but good review about their performance. That being said they are not the prettiest guns made. Overall I like them and for the price they arent bad but since I havent gotten a chance to actually use one take that with a grain of salt.

The camera is adjustable up and down but not left and right. What seems to work for me so far is to have the camera pointing strait out. Up close some things are cut off. For instance, when I look at my dive watch the bottom half of the display is cut off in the video. But considering that is less than a foot from my face I dont feel like Im loosing anything.

On my mask the camera is not that much higher than eye level but on other masks the difference is more dramatic and compared to the headstrap it is significantly lower. You just have to decide at what distance from your face you want the center of your vision and the center of the picture to line up.

Finally got a video put together using the mask mount. No fish in this video but some cool stuff. Enjoy.

Just a Little Bit of Diving - YouTube

PS you wont be able to watch this video in Germany. Sorry about the music copyrights.

There is a lot of useful info that can be found here:

http://spearfishing.world/spea…3-gun-building-101-a.html

I would suggest you come up with a very well defined idea of what you want the gun to be able to do. No gun can do everything. This will give you a better idea of what components and dimensions you will need.

Also after reading through some of the threads in the gun building thread you will get a better idea of what tools you will need. As for the finish the quality of your work will come from how well you prep your work. More time and effort will make more of a difference than a nice set of tools.

Most importantly take your time. Dont rush and dont force anything that doesnt feel right. Measure twice and cut once and youll be fine.

I personally have nothing but good things to say about the Gara 3000's. They were the first pair of long blade fins I bought and they have held up great. For me at 6'1" and 185lbs they were plenty stiff and Im a very athletic person. If you are a lot bigger than I am I would recommend the 2000"s but if not stick with the 3000's

I have taken the 3000's down to 100' fsw with no problem so you really shouldnt be worried about depth. I dont think the 3000's are too soft and they are comparable to most of the modular fins available in stiffness. Unless you absolutely need a fin that can be taken apart the 3000's are the best plastic fin on the market.