Posts by nyspear

I like to use a break-down spear so that I can change the length depending on the conditions. My Crist has three 3' sections so that I can use it as a 6' or 9' spear. I also have 12" and 18" shafts so that the overall length can be changed from 7' to 10.5'. I also have a Ray Odor that has three 2' sections with both 12" and 30" shafts. The overall length on this can be 5' to 8.5'.

In a perfect world, I would also have a Gatku, but unfortunately it doesn't travel as well as the others do. If I lived in Florida and was diving locally, I'd have one.

To answer your question - Judah is right. If you're diving in the Bahamas with a 10' spear and you see a lobster, you'll wish it was 5'. If you're diving with a 5' and you see a Mutton, you'll wish it was 10'.

During my PFI class, I didn't hear any specific gear recommendations (except for the Aqua Sphere mask), but 3 out of the 4 instructors that were there were using C4 fins.

I'm sure you'll get the gear advice you need from Don and Monster Slayer when they chime in, but I'm headed there at the end of August. I'm not staying at Palapas, but will be diving with them. I'm pretty sure the water temps around this time of year are in the low 70s, at best. You might be ok with a 3mm open cell, but a 5mm would be right for me, since I tend to get cold easily.

FYI - Palapas is in La Ventana, which is about 35-40 minutes from La Paz, from what I understand. I'm still doing my research, but Monster Slayer (on this board) gave me some great advice.

I saw that, too. On their website under "Questions" I saw this.

Is there spear fishing?

We will not be offering spear fishing trips ourselves, but we are coordinating with dive clubs and individual groups that will be using our accommodations and lodging accommodations.

Wow, thanks for following up on this. I'm definitely going to give it a try. I'll be going with a single wrap on mine for sure. I'll be placing the order in the morning :thumbsup5:

Cool - post up if you plan on doing a trip to the Bahamas. I could take a quick flight down to FLL.

Quote from Jpilot1

Hey well the cost shouldn't be too bad it's roughly $122 per HR of flight time and that price is with fuel. We are allowed to have the planes over night I believe the minimum is 5 hrs to keep the plane overnight but i can always talk to the owner if the time haplens to be less. The planes are in great shape and are equipped with gps. 5 hrs split between 4 guys is not bad at all. Everyone on board needs to have a passport.

I haven't flown in a few years, but was about 10 hours away from getting my private when "life" happened. That sounds like a great idea. Are you flying Cessnas or Pipers?

Oh and I roadrace sportbikes, too, in the MidAtlantic region in the expert division :D. Welcome to the site.

I'm going to Costa Rica next month and I'll be renting a car at the airport. Has anybody had any issues putting a fully loaded Series 3 Sportube on a standard roof rack? I was thinking about bringing a couple of ratcheting tie-downs and putting it on the roof. I'm assuming that with all the surfers that go to CR, getting a roof rack shouldn't be an issue. I only ask because an SUV big enough to carry it inside is over double the price.

Nice video. Which side of the island did you dive? I'm thinking about doing a long weekend down there over the next couple of months.

That's very impressive. Nice job on that fish.

Quote from Dan

Is the function of these things really any different than taking a snorkel and putting a cap on the end with a smaller hole?

I don't think so, but I think the snorkel method might give you the added advantage of increasing CO2 tolerance. I have one of those power lung things. I don't think anybody can prove that it works or it doesn't. One theory I read suggests that it might actually be counterproductive to training because it decreases lung flexibility.

I was hoping you would know

Oh, and these shafts are pencil point vs tri-cut. In my inexperienced mind, this tells me that I'll like these for the reef for ease of sharpening, but would prefer a tri cut for blue water for penetration, especially since I'm only using dual 16s on my 130.

As for the 90 or 100 that I'm going to buy, I might keep shafts with both types of points depending on what/where I'm hunting. I realize I'm probably overthinking this

I got my mono from Neptonic and I think it's 1.8mm, but even that got chewed up in the mechanism. When I swapped shafts, I was sent Riffe shark fin shafts. According to the Riffe site, these are "spring stainless?"

Quote from Marco

Probaly your shooting line is too thick. Try a 1.8 mm. It's the perfect thickness.

Because of that issue, I went to a 300lb mono, and it still happens. That's why I started using a shark-fin tab so that I could change the attachment point of the shooting line.

Quote from LunkerBuster

I use a 7mm x 130cm

RA shaft? The issue I had with the RA shaft, at least on the Aimrite, was that the shooting line would get chewed up in the trigger mechanism because of where it attached (back end of the spear).

Hey LB,
Do you shoot a 6.5 or 7mm shaft out of that gun?

Cool, thanks!

Quote from LunkerBuster

Ithink the ability to change the power has more effect on longer guns as a 90 with a 20mm band is still not that powerful..

That's what I was thinking but wanted to make sure. I was actually hoping that you would respond because I thought I remembered reading that you had a RA 90. Thanks, LB.

I currently have an Aimrite Venom Comp 130 and am thinking about buying a second gun. I think it's going to be a Rob Allen 90 or 100 that I'm going to use to start doing some hunting up my way (NY tri-state area) for striper, tog, etc., and also as a back-up and hole/reef gun when I travel to warmer places.

I found an older thread on dual 16s versus a single 20mm band, and it seemed that most preferred the dual band setup so that you can power down for hole shots. Having said that, I do like the idea of a single band. Is a single 20 on a 90cm gun really too much power for a hole shot, even if you use the forward tab? Or is it more of an issue with longer guns?

Welcome. I'm in NYC. Good group of guys on here.