Little Help Please

[Matthias]

Hi Guys,

Just moved to Cairns a few months ago and been doin a little snorkling and a little spearing. I want to get some gear but not sure what I really need ie. knife, weight belt etc and good brand + places in cairns to buy good gear? Any chance you guys could throw some suggestions my way? any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Pete

[Richard]

I've heard the store on Aumuller St over in Portsmith is the place to go for good advice and gear.. called Spear and Dive, 84a Aumuller

have a look in the january NQ Fish and Boat mag, there's a story in there about it and about the Cairns Underwater association.. a club that is always looking for crew to go out spearing with them..

[devocean]

Rob Allen make very good guns mate - same with aim rite there are two stores on Aumuller street both are good and will provide you with what you need. If you can shell out for a good pair of fins (DIVERS) as these are important

[Pointyfish]

I'm still bit of a green horn when it comes to free diving but I had a mate help kit me out with some quality reasonably priced gear.

I bought a pair of Immersion Black fins. These are great for getting down deep or swimming against a strong current. I got one size larger than my foot size and then got some diving socks. Heaps more comfortable for a big day out. I think from memory these were about $180.

I use an Omer mask which I think may have been around $80. I bought a snorkel with the little drain valve at the bottom. I would srongly recommend against these. It seams to make it harder to blow all the water from the snorkel after resurfacing and it sucks to have to lift your head out each time.

I use a weight belt to help hold me down whilst lining up a shot/looking under ledges or to get down on deeper free dives ( 10-15m ). I weigh about 80kgs and use three leads on my belt. Don't know what they weight....1kg each??

I have been using a 1.2m pelagic rail gun with two jellies. Still can move it around with ease but its powerful enough to shot a fish from around 4m. I recommend a float line attached to your gun. If you shot a large fish or have a trout shoot back under a bommie you can resurface, get another breath and go down again to get the gun/fish or even pull it up from the surface. The float will also make you visable at all times to your standby in the boat.

Don't know about brands of knife but they are good to kill your fish with before you start swimming back to the boat. In the tropics its a good idea to stop that fish struggling asap.

Might want to consider a rashie to protect against fire coral etc while looking under ledges etc and against boxies I guess.

Hope this helps.

[D river]

Hey mate a cheap wetty will get you out of trouble up this way no point spending big $ on 1 till you learn not to tear them, plastic fins will do for now try omer or picasso or something similar, a mask that fits is better than a good quality expensive 1 so help from the shop owner is the go here, with a cheap wetty 2-3 weights wll get you down but if you go open cell you'll need 6-8, Float a must not just for other boats but for your boat bitch too as it can be hard to spot divers very quikly, tou dont need an expensive float rope they are nice to have but cheap ski rope works just as good, as for guns go nothing but aim rite I've owned rob allen freedivers riffe & mares and they are all utter crap compared to aim rite you'll pay for 1 of these but they are worth the coin and lifetime warrenty nafter all its this that brings home the fish. I use Aim Rite guns, DiveR fins, Cressi open cell suit in winter and adreno cut down in summer, Rob Allen float Omer mask. My mate in cairns gets me to get all his kit from here in Townsville so not sure about the dive shop up there but Aqua sports n dive is there name or try adreno at spearfishing.com.au, hope this helped some.

[Badone]

" Rob Allen guns are utter crap"... I'm thinking about 90% of spearos would disagree with you there D river. I have an Aimrite and an RA and I almost exclusively use my RA as it is easier to turn in the water, quicker to load ( one rubber and closed muzzle ) and I would argue just as accurate. The Aimrite has more power and hence range but shooting fish from a long way away is not a good thing. At the recent QLD Titles in Cairns out of 30 divers more than 20 were using RA's..... no one had an Aimrite. Are we all misguided?? Granted, Aimrite are very nice guns, smooth,accurate and powerful ( they would want to be considering their price ) but can be tricky to get the spear into the trigger when you are in a hurry due to the shallow rail... especially for a novice. Edge guns are great as well.. solid, accurate and Aussie made here in QLD.

[D river]

True they are tricky to load till you work out the nack as they are alot different to a RA but once you got it down pat its just as quick. I'm a fan of open muzzle n it dont matter what gun its on they present a challenge but nothing that cant be worked out. And yep I'd say 98% of divers will disagree with me in saying RA are crap but hey that is my opinion of them I gave mine away after getting my aimrite and now all 6 of my dive buddies have made the change too so I guess its just the price that stops people getting to see and try aimrite and the fact that RA have been around so long is the only reason you see so many of them. Hey when I started out thats what every1 told me too buy too n I was happy till I tried aimrite. And unless they lieing too me all the guys n gals at adreno now run aimrites too. As for tracking under water my aimrite is way better than my RA was but it was an alloy tuna not top of the line carbon so thats not a fair comparison in my opinion n curious as too which aimrite and RA your compairing. But you can get almost 2 RA for price of 1 Aimrite so for a beginer your probaly right recomending the RA as they are a very good build quality and will last alot of years trouble free.

[Badone]

Aimrite are good guns and Rick provides excellent after sales service I agree with you on that. I wouldn't say RA's are popular just because they have been around for a while though. Many, many people with many years diving experience use RA's for a good reason. A lot of these guys spare no expense on their dive equipment and would quite happily buy an Aimrite if it was so much better. They choose RA's because they work and they work well (I have no commercial affiliation with RA in case anyone was wondering... just a local Brissie diver). I also wouldn't use the fact that the Adreno guys use Aimrites as an endorsement if you know what I mean....;) Either gun would be a great gun.

[D river]

I dont have any affiliation with Adreno mate I buy all my gear locally here in Townsville but a mate of mine buys gear off them and thats what they told him unless they were just trying get a sale, what I've found with the AR & RA guns is the AR is allot more powerful both are deadly accurate although it took me about 20 shots to work out how to use the AR properly as I used my RA and freedivers for years and the point of aim is very different for the dif gun types but now that I have it worked out I find and again this is my biast oppinion the the AR is far better as I get the full view of my shot placement with no muzzle or handle in my line of sight just look down the shaft and what you see is what you hit, every time,

[Badone]

The Aimrite has to be more powerful... it is suppliied with two 16mm rubbers. Most RAs come with a single 18mm rubber which is more than powerful enough if you get close to your fish that is... shouldn't be a problem for you up there D river as Trout are the dumbest fish in the sea. Anyway the RAs come with a great open muzzle as well if that is your preference. Hey I think Aimrites are an excellent gun but so are RAs.

[-Chris-]

No RA guns come with 18mm bands as far as I know, they either have twin 16's or a single 16 or perhaps a single 19mm. This whole power thing is crap anyways to be honest. How could an aimrite be "alot more powerful" than an RA? A speargun's power obviously comes from the rubber your running, so a simple 5 minute job on the RA to change to the rubber the aimrite is running and it'll be the same. A nice short 18mm will suit most applications. Don't be sucked into the marketing of aimrite by certain spearo shops, go buy an EDGE gun and have a laugh at the people outlaying all their coin for the apparently superior aimrite guns ::)

[nigelr]

Or better still, make yourself a nice timber gun, or if that isn't an option, buy a KES!

[D river]

I had my RA rigged up with 2x16mm aswell same length gun as my AR and same rubber lengths but at range on mackrel it did not do the job my AR did, I'm no longer crapping on about how much better it is but now asking if you know why this is because I would have thought rigged the same I would have been able to get the same power out of th RA but it was not the case,the rubber I used was the blue latex stuff, N yeah trout generally require a rubber to be removed from the shaft before shooting, who would have thought something so tastey would be so retarded.

[-Chris-]

I had my RA rigged up with 2x16mm aswell same length gun as my AR and same rubber lengths but at range on mackrel it did not do the job my AR did, I'm no longer crapping on about how much better it is but now asking if you know why this is because I would have thought rigged the same I would have been able to get the same power out of th RA but it was not the case,the rubber I used was the blue latex stuff, N yeah trout generally require a rubber to be removed from the shaft before shooting, who would have thought something so tastey would be so retarded.

Explain what aimrite did that the RA didn't? Are you using the same sized shafts on both guns? I've never used that blue stuff they supply with RA's but all the different types off rubber you can get perform different, some throw a spear much better than others. And also are you double wrapping the mono by any chance?

[nigelr]

D are the shafts exactly the same size on both guns?
Perhaps the RA was more easy to over-power than the Aimrite.
So what was a perfect set-up rubber-wise for the AR may be to much power for the RA and cause it to shoot off line.

[D river]

yeah shafts are same 7.5 on both

[warti]

I have been using a 1.3 Rob Allen with a single 18mm rubber for a number of years now and have no dramas with it not being powerful enough. I have landed some big spanish, blueys and trout on it and have faith i can shoot most things with it. I am about to buy another gun so i thought i would check out these aimrite guns after following this thread. I cannot justify the $1000 price tag, give me two RA's for that price. I am not saying they are better, i just feel comfortable using something i now and trust. Most new toys seem unreal to start with until the next best thing comes along. Nothing wrong with the old toy, just the new more expensive one must be better! The old undersee woodie has probably landed more good fish over the decades than our fangle dangle aluminium and carbon guns anyway. My two cents, feel free to fire away.

[Badone]

What Chris says is right... there is a huge difference in performance between different rubber types. Same rubber, same length gun, same shaft then the guns should have the same power. The rail on the AR is shallower than that on the RA and so may have a little less drag but that should be the only difference.
Have to agree with you Warti.. 1.3 RA with one rubber is all you ever need. Last year I made myself dive all year with a short 900 RA to force myself to get closer to the fish and still shot more than a dozen Spanish. Lots more fish were stoned as well.

[Aimrite]

Hello

This is my first thread as we have been pretty busy since our arrival in Australia. You see I moved my family and business to the tiny town of Cardwell about 9 days before Yasi. Yes I know welcome to Queensland.:-?

I would like to dispell a few items that have been said: First off Rob Allen and I are pretty good friends, Rob makes my OEM shafts for me. We also buy our rubber from the very same manufacturer in the USA, it is the same blend and the only difference is color and choice of size. Both guns are an outstanding value and an excellent choice! We only have one factory/shop and it is in Cardwell Qld.

We have 8 guns in our line up that range from $400-1400 even our alley guns have the same trigger, shaft, bands and yes even the same warranty as our most expensive guns (Lifetime). Is all I ask is that you compare apples to apples alley to alley or carbon to carbon.

Lastly it is my belief that there is no bad gun; at the end of the dat it is the indian not the arrow that brings home the fish! If you are happy with what you are using and confident in it's ability than that is really all we could ever ask of any product.:)

Cheers and if you see a 21.5' Contender out on the reef off Hinchinbrook Island swing by and say hi!

Rick Bettua
Aimrite Australia
aimrite.com.au

[Badone]

Edit. Removed ,tks.

[bondy99]

G'day guys, I'm an old spearo , I should have got your thoughts on this one today Badone but never came into my mind until I came across this particular topic.

I have a Bazooka II speargun made by Undersea, many years ago, twin rubber job.

Where would this gun sit in comparison with the other spearguns you guys have been talking about.

I might get back into the spearing scene, nice crayfish and fish to be had, but greysuits are not my companions...I have a respect for smiling teeth.

bondy

[bondy99]

Welcome to Aus Rick. Good spot Cardwell... or at least it used to be ;) . Any newbies might be interested in this safety vid. Worth a look.


I believe this youtube video has been deleted by loader, does not seem to load.

bondy

[waterbouy]

Bondy, most people start out with a undersea/ seahornet to learn the ropes. But could be used right through if need be. Getting back on the topic a basic spearo kit would be,

- A weight belt with weight/s depending on wetsuit or bare back and depths (cheap $10 quick realese belt would be fine, ive stil got mine)

- Fins (the DiveR900 are one of the best blades on the market, not needed to start out, could use a pair swiming flippers or the esclapez are good for the money.. about $220?)

- A Spear Gun, I like the Ali Railguns (Get the best you can afford, there are some good rail guns kicking around for the $300 mark. You dont need a $600/700 gun to start with.

- Mask and snorkle, You really want a soft silicon mask and want to be able to try it on for comphy-ness. Cressi and Riffe were my fav's. But undersea did a good pack (mask and snorkle) about $99 may have been called black magic or marlin, cant remember.

- Basic Football float with flag and rigline is reccomended.

We dive eitherside of winter with no wetsuits, so not essential down here (SEQ). Goves, booties, knife etc etc can come later.

I have found it to be a big advantage doing both Fishing and spearfishing. Good luck

[bondy99]

Waterbouy,
Thanks for that but did have most of that gear some time ago. Like most things, some deteriorated over time.

My scuba tanks, BCD and occy reg was stolen out of my car many years ago (ddi not replace it)..I also scuba dive and yes I do know spearfishing is a no -no on scuba, (just in case someone states the obvious)

Then some fool 5 years ago stole my wetsuit...5mm diamond nylon 2 made by dolphin wetsuit in Sumner Park...Sure, I outgrown it but it has a big tear in the arse end so it was no good for anything.

Might get another wetsuit in Camoflage colour (I heard it does not spook fish as much). Time to update my gear.

Cheers, bondy

[Triple]

Only need Goggles and spear - (http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showpost.php?p=1259307&postcount=6)

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showpost.php?p=1259307&postcount=6