My Spearfishing gear guide

My Spearfishing gear guide

Well this one is so much fun. Most of spearfishing addicts speak about their gear more than anything in this sport. All seeking safety, comfort, durability & last but not least; style. It is a very interesting subject to talk about with your fellow hunters I assure you. This is due to the fact that spearfishing & its tech. is rapidly developing into a more advanced profile. It's quite interesting to learn that spearfishing is not only a phenomena that recently apeared within the human race, it has been there since the dawn of history. Even smart animals use spears to hunt their food.

So from a long wooden stick with a sharp stone tip, to hybrid & Co2 canons. Yes they could be called canons since they are so powerful. The Spear gun is the tool that mainly receives the most attention, however, there are several items that are also quite important for the hunter. Lets start with defining what you need as a hunter based on your spearfishing environment. One  more thing is to learn how to prioritize what you need & not to waste your money on secondary gear.

Attire

What should I wear & when ?

If you are usually located within tempered regions most of the year like Egypt for instance, you will have to think about attire that will keep you comfortable in warm to semi warm waters. First of all after getting back to your own physique; you need to understand about how your body reacts with the water & its temperature. If you are a person who easily feels  cold, then you need to have something that will keep you warm at depths. Hypothermia usually leads to death but at our ends if you feel cold you will be completely uncomfortable due to your numerous muscular contractions that attempt to warm up your body. On the other hand, you do not need to overheat your body. So a balanced judgment is always fair.

 

Summer: Usually allot of hunters go into the water without any attire, just their swimming trunks & that's it. This is usually doable in warm countries however; it is imperative to cover your body against any harmful organisms that might be invisible to you in the water. The Sun as well will completely burn your back if its not well protected with a good thick layer of sunscreen. So it is ideal to consider for your summer dives either a "Rash guard" or a "Lycra Suite" both will protect your body from any harmful irritations or unintentional contact with rocks or corals. Some manufacturers of diving & water sport attire provide rash guards & suits that prevent ultra violet rays from harming your skin. This is because most of spearfishing activities take so much time in the water. Allot of time that you might not notice & then you get shocked when you look into your watch & say........ My god it has been 4 hours since I got into the water !!!

Winter: It's fun time now, winter is great and comes with many surprises. Any hunter should make sure that his body is completely warm during winter. So your next priority in attire will be a wetsuit. The Wetsuit has several styles, material, thickness & many other specifications. As you go through wetsuits & what is the best fit for you you will understand that the diversity of such products is necessary. Not all divers feel comfortable in the same suite. You need to understand what will be ideal for you in terms of size & comfort when moving your arms & body in general. Usually a standard & non expensive choice would be a full neoprene wetsuit that starts at a 3mm to 5mm thickness. Some of them have hoods & some don't.  You may consider having a camouflaged suit depending on the environment that you are intending to hunt within. Either reef or blue water environments, such camo suits will blend you into the environment , making it difficult for your prey to spot you. If your head really gets cold but this is not in a tempered environment case; you will need to consider buying one. They are sold separately at the convenience of any diving shop near your area. You just need to try it first since hoods mostly are not comfortable when worn but they will keep your head warm during winter.

Other mandatory items that you should be wearing while spearfishing will be hand & footwear. You will need comfortable gloves with easy Velcro patches. When you buy those try them first, they need to be ideally fitting your hands & should be flexible when you move your fingers or making a full grip. Usually such gloves have a rough surface at the palm area just to enable you to easily grab hold of any structure under the water or even securely holding your spear gun. The normal footwear would be a neoprene sock. These will protect your feet from excess exposure to sea water, will keep your feet warm & will protect your feet from tough foot pockets of your diving fins. Some hunters do not use neoprene socks but that depends on their tolerance & comfort with their fins that usually have soft foot pockets.

 

 Gear

Don't you think that you should consider a mask & a snorkel ? They are a first priority aren't they ? Again these are subject to each hunter comfort & fit. So standardization in this sport usually does not exist. You need to find your mask & your mask needs to find you. It sounds like a romance tale of to lost lovers searching for each other. Well just make sure that your selected mask will be comfortable on your face with a firm hold & comfortable head strap. You will adjust the fit on your face with the side buckles. The ideal mask formation will help you focus & decrease the light rays coming into your eyes from different angles. A black mask is an ideal example. The lens should allow you to have a perfect view angle to the bottom & sides. There are several fancy masks with great tech out there & also considerably expensive. So you need to select your mask properly. Some manufacturers like Cressi & Omer have superb models with ideal prices. Anyway you will have to go through several ones before you find the best fit for your face & best visionary underwater. The snorkel should comfortably fit with the mask strap & perfectly aligned beside or at the back of your head. You can find complete sets or generate your own combination between a mask & snorkel that should be comfortable for your personal use.

Gear Tip:  Always keep your gear in a good condition, wash it with sweet water after using it. Do not expose it to excessive sunlight & keep it always in its bag or cover. Use defoggers for your mask before diving or other proven excellent defoggers like toothpaste or cucumbers. You can rub the inner lens of your mask with those before then washing them before diving. Try to get a mesh bag to keep your diving gear well dried & ventilated.

Moving on to completing the collection; you will need to have a weight belt. There are several types of these however; the best is the free diving rubber weight belt. It fits on your waist & hip perfectly, allowing you ta have more air intake when you inhale before you dive. The weight belt does not come with weight tiles. You should buy those as well or you can rent them from your closest diving shop. All what you need is to test your ideal weight that you will be needing according to your body mass & the depth that you desire to reach. It is very important to have a balanced weight according to several factors that will help you take full controls over your maneuvers in the water. Here is a weight calculator that I found on one of Face book applications which gives me the chance to congratulate our fellow hunters in Lebanon for having Spearfishing as a "Legal Sport " finally.

Freediving Weight Calculator

   

All whats left in your basic gear are your fins. We haven't touched base with the Spear gun part yet but now it's the fins turn. Your selection of your fin should be based on power, comfort & adaptation to your environment. Some fins with soft blades will not be suitable for warm waters & will tend to be like spaghetti when you start kicking. These would better work in colder waters. The ideal ones would be with hard blades. Now fins are considerably expensive according to its range, and I mean long fins; not the normal scuba or snorkeling fins. The substance of the blade makes a huge difference in the momentum generated from the fins. Top of the line would be Carbon fins however; if you are still confused about what you want, you should start with the simple approach. not to hurt yourself nor your pocket. Some powerful fins will give you terrible cramps if you are not used to them, so take it easy when buying them & consider that your fins are a very valuable investment. You will notice massive difference between the normal fins that you used to use when snorkeling or scuba diving & your free diving long fins. Again when buying your fins you need to make sure that the foot pocket is comfortable, always buy fins with closed foot pockets not with straps & always consider to have 2 or even 3 marks bigger than your normal foot size. This is to ensure that your feet will fit with the neoprene socks too.

 

Now you have the basics. It is always great to discuss your gear with your fellow hunters to understand & gain more information about that crucial part of spearfishing. It will always have new approaches, ideas & even styles. You have to stay up to date with trends & safety gear. It will help you select & choose the best fit for you. An additional item that you will be needing however, not necessarily to be directly bought. You can postpone that a little bit but you will need it for several uses. It is the spearfishing knife. It's use is not only to stone kill your prey; its also important in the worst case if you get tangled or you need to cut any line when you are under the water. You will even use it to signal your dive buddies by hitting it on your gun barrel to make some noise & grab their attention. It is important to have it however it is not a priority to begin with. From a safety perspective; yes it is necessary.

 

What is still missing out there is your spear gun. This  should be a post of its own but you will have to select a spear gun that will be ideal for you as a start. There are several specifications, types & systems the will be introduced on My Speargun Guide

Finally here is a check list that I use before going on any spear fishing trip. I usually cross check all my gear before going because when you are out there & you are missing something; it's done. Your entire day will be completely ruined.

Gear Check List:

Attire:

Wetsuit/Rash guard/Gloves/Socks/weight belt/weights ....... Check if packed

Base Gear:

Mask/Snorkel/Fins/knife/spear gun/ float/ float line/clips/fish stringer.... Check if packed

Spare Gear:

Mask/Snorkel/rubber bands/mono line/clips/shafts...... Check if packed

Other:

Tools if necessary...................................................... Check if packed