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The ends of the legs are just a rubber "crutch tip" that fits snuggly on the 3/4" diameter tube. I made the clamps from PVC bar stock, with a shape designed to allow the rods to snap in place. I pretty much made everything except for buckles and having the anodizing done. Getting the tubes to telescope perfectly was the toughest part, and is most of what takes the time when assembling. But resulting action meets my specs.:D

Probably about $75 in parts, because I bought a lot of the pieces in quantity with the intent of selling some through the local dive shops. That didn't pan out when one shop folded and took several racks with them when they skipped town. :nono: Anyway, I think I still have enough pieces laying to make another half dozen or so.

I came across this looking for something else in the attic. It was one of my first DIY projects from back when we used to spend all day out at Fort Pickens just hanging out and diving around the old fort stuff. We wanted something portable to keep our stuff out of the sand between dives, so . . .

Dan - You might recognize the telescoping black tubes.

Belly's not a problem, at least not for now! I completely forgot about it being in the way when hip loading, though, and I do both depending on which gun I am using. I got my arm band in the mail, and am looking forward to making a sheath to fit, but haven't started yet. My only concern is that it is only accessible to one hand. I was also thinking that high on the thing could work. Accessible with either hand, and not attached to the weight belt, so no hesitation if it needs to be dropped. Shouldn't interfere with bending to dive. Potentially, the weight belt could get hung up on the knife in the process of ditching, though.

Just playing around with knife placement a little, and had a question for the experienced. It seems to me, that a horizontal knife sheath, mounted near the front of the belt, might be very ergonomic. I prefer my knife mounted in front, if on a belt, but that is obviously unfavorable for bending forward.

So I played around by just taping a knife horizontally on a belt, and found it very easy to access with either hand. On the downside, it must be positioned so as not to interfere with speedy operation of the belt buckle. Any downside to rotating the belt slightly and positioning the belt buckle slightly off center? You would want to position the sheath so that in drawing the knife, you would not inadvertently release the buckle, if using a quick release style.

I have never seen a knife sheath manufactured to be mounted that way, but it wouldn't be that hard to do. Just late night ramblings, but still curious to hear your thoughts.

Here are a couple more pics of the original wooden model, showing why they are called "pinch" weights. The inside of the belt slot is hourglassed on the top and bottom. When the belt is stretched, it gets thinner, and the weight is easily moved. When the belt is relaxed, it expands, locking itself securely within the slot through the weight.

That would certainly be best.

The main reason that I have not explored using a rubber coating is because the thickness of the rubber would have to be considered in designing the belt slot to keep the "pinch" working properly. I would have to make a dedicated mold, and then would have to apply the rubber coating in a manner that resulted in very consistant thickness. Also, a rubber coating inside the belt slot, rubbing against a rubber belt, may make the weight harder to slide, even when the belt is stretched. Not saying that it can't be done, just that it is more then I have been willing to explore so far. If anyone else is successful, I would love to hear about it.

Paint, if only for aesthetic purposes, is usually less than 0.010" thick, and so would not affect the fit of the weights.

I can understand how records for dynamic apnea, or "constant weight with fins" might favor a taller, thinner athlete, and so maybe men might generally perform better.

But for static apnea, the current men's record is 10:12 (Tom Sietas) while the current women's record is 8.00 by Natalia MOLCHANOVA. For no limits using a sled, the current men's record is 214m by Herbert Nitsch, while the current women's record is 160m by Tanya Streeter. These from http://aida-international.org/. For these records, it would seem that external body shape, size, or strength would have little relevance, other than their indirect affect on on things like lung capacity.

So my question is, why don't women equal men in these pursuits?

That is consistent with my my experience using other brands as well. For some reason, the rubber on the Ansell holds up better in my experience. Of course, at $3.00 per pair, I wouldn't feel too bad replacing them periodically.

Do you recall if you tried the Ansell brand?

We use the Ansell Powerflex 80-100 gloves at work, and my employer actually encourages us to take home gloves, safety glasses, ear plugs, etc. to use at home. They are inexpensive (about $40 for a dozen pairs), and they hold up very well. The rubberized palm grips well, and is surprisingly puncture resistant. I particularly like that they are available in several sizes and stretch and conform to fit my hand well. Curious to hear if anyone else has tried them, and what were your thoughts.

One more thing. I have tried similar rubber dipped designs that I found at hardware stores,etc. and they were awful. Some of the other brands are thinner, and the rubber gets sticky after a while. Not so with the Ansell gloves.

Looks more like a "cutting edge space age polymer" to me . . .

Cost aside, injection molding is a great way to repeatably produce a part to very tight tolerances. Isn't the Aimrite mech made with a plastic housing?

That being said, I'm with you. Not the right place to save a buck.

People here do eat them. Usually, the soft, mushy flesh is rolled into meatball sized balls and deep fried. In fact, I have tried it myself. Maybe it's an acquired taste, but I did not find them enjoyable at all. No texture whatsoever. So I will certainly make room for the possibility that it MAY have been eaten. I just rather doubt it.

That is one wicked looking set of jaws. I think that is called "convergent evolution", and it goes even further than the jaws. Gar are one of the relatively few fish that can "breathe" by gulping air into their swim bladders at the surface, thereby allowing them to survive in waters with very low oxygen concentration. I think tarpon can do the same thing. So in the alligator, you have an air breathing animal that has evolved to hold it's breath for a long time and hunt from the water. In the gar, a fish that has evolved to "breathe" air and hunt the same environment!

I love to hunt, both with a bow on land and a speargun in the water. I'm just not a fan of killing anything that you don't intend to eat, give to others to eat, or use constructively in some other way. I don't count a big set of jaws on the wall as constructive.

So the pictures of alien looking fish from South America or enormous catfish from, Thailand, or wherever don't generally get me riled up because I am pretty sure that they were eaten, and probably shared by many many people.

I have a hard time believing that the gar was eaten, though. I know that the flesh "can" be eaten, but it usually isn't by people with access to anything else. As I recall, gar live a long time, so that fish might well be over 50 years old. I sort of feel the same way seeing pictures of enormous sharks killed just for the jaws and a photo. Same with the old safari pictures of the proud hunter with a dead lion or tiger.

Of course self preservation is a whole 'nother thing. If it's him or me, I'll pick me every time.

Quote from seahunter49

I suspect it's like the difference between Rob Allen float line and any polypropelene clothes line... none.

Of course there's a difference. Any device labeled "Marine" costs twice as much!

Quote from seaweed

What about some type of loop knot.

Because it's way to simple! That would be a great idea in concept, but I've never experimented with tying 400 lb mono. Based on my experience with 80 lb mono, though, I think that it would be very difficult to get heavier mono knots to tighten adequately so as not to slip.

Remember that I'm a scuba heathen most of the time (for now). Since I am using neither a reel nor a floatline, I like to know that I can quickly cut the shooting line (instead of releasing the gun) if I find myself unable to handle a fish safely. I also don't like the way cable tends to get kinked and twisted.

It would seem to me that listing records for fish which are not legal to shoot in all areas is not that different from listing fish (like Red Snapper) which are not legal to shoot at all times (closed seasons). If you want to be listed as a recordholder, then you must hunt said fish in a location where it is legal, at a time when it is legal, and with a method which is legal. Part of the job of a recordkeeping body is precisely to make sure that those conditions were met.

Are there other fish that are illegal to spear in the US, but legal eleswhere, which are listed? Snook comes to mind.

Nice guy . . .

I agree that a hole gun is a more practical approach most of the time, though i would still like to be able to quickly and easily change a damaged shooting line. Most of my hunting is around structure but I hate cable. Not that crimps and a crimping tools are especially difficult, but what about heavy duty split rings? Owner (of super sharp hook fame) makes these out of stainless steel and rated up to 250 lbs.

Focussing for a moment on Riffe style shafts with shark fin tabs, has anyone ever seen a small, low profile, snap connection for attaching the shooting line to the shaft, instead of a direct crimped loop? A regular snap swivel is way too big, IMHO, but it would be nice to be able to quickly change shooting line length, or replace a damaged line, without having to break out the crimps. One other possibility would be to use a smaller snap swivel that is sized for the actual breaking strength of the mono (usually a bit less than the rated strength, I think), instead of the typical 500 lb swivels. Any ideas?

Seems like the metal sliding against metal might be loud. In addition, that sliding might wear away the protective plating on a Rob Allen type carbon steel shaft. Also would seem to make finned shafts potentially problematic, though maybe that is not really a concern on this type of gun.