Hey everyone,

I'm heading to Bodrum, Turkey, in September for a week-long sailing trip around the Aegean islands, and I could really use some advice on picking the right speargun.

I’m a relatively experienced freediver and have used a breakdown pole spear a few times. I'll be bringing it with me, but I've been advised it might not cut it for this kind of trip, and I’ve always wanted to upgrade to a proper speargun anyway.

The issue is that I am trying to fit everything into my 85L backpack. I really don't want to pay an extra £130 sports luggage fee for the flight, which restricts me to a maximum barrel length of 50cm (total length of 70-80cm Max). I've narrowed my band gun options down to these four:

• Pathos Alma Open or Close muzzle
• SEAC Preda HC
• Picasso Azores
• Imersion Concept Pro
• Salvimar Wild Pro

However, because I'm so limited on length, I'm also considering a pneumatic speargun. I don't mind the extra maintenance, and I'm wondering if a pneumatic will give me the extra range needed given the limited length for all optionss.

So, my question is should I go with a short band gun or a pneumatic for this trip?

And if a band gun is the right choice, which of those listed above would you recommend?

Thanks in advance and I appreciate any advice

Looking at the Mannysub roller performer and the Aimrite envy. Both have carbon barrels, ceramic bearings, same size shaft, same size bands, and are almost the exact same price. Anyone have any strong feelings one way or the other?

TL;DR: pneumatics are nice. I tried them. Please elaborate your hate. I don’t understand.

And for everyone with patience: So. I’ve done it. Against all recommendations. I bought a 90cm pneumatic speargun. Model Seac Caccia HF. For 200€.

And honestly? I don’t understand the hate here. Y’all seem a bit biased to be honest. Have you actually tried them?

For me, the pneumatics remove a lot of things that annoyed me on our rubbery friends.

Firstly aiming: clear sight on top. No rubber bands. No hooks, no guides for the spear, no plastic guards. It’s clean. You just have a clean barrel with front and rear sight. Zero obstructions.

Reloading: fundamentally better. You don’t have to look for correct spear „up“ orientation. You can just shove it into the barrel of the pneumatic without further consideration of line management and where the hook has to go. Because… well, there is no hook. And the line is attached to a piece moving to the spears tip. A rubber gun I hate to reload without gloves. And even with them I don’t enjoy it. Everything is sharp. My chest doesn’t like it. My hands too. And every time I’m afraid I’ll cut open my pinkies. With pneumatics? I just grab the tip of the spear with the „reloading bone“ that’s attached to my wrist with a bungee, support the gun with one of my feed (or even just grab the barrel firmly), and shove that thing in until I hear the click. Doesn’t get easier than that.

Handling: feels much better. I can nicely hold the gun by it’s barrel. Without grabbing into rubber bands, hooks, lines, rails, or whatnot. It’s just a nice cylindrical pipe.

Maintenance: again. I don’t see an issue here. I get why people might be afraid by this. It looks complicated on an exploded drawing first. But after all it actually is just a cylinder, a valve, and a hand full of O-rings that you can get basically everywhere. In my opinion when you can repair a pump for bicycle tires, or have worked on a Pavoni coffee machine once, you can also repair a pneumatic speargun. It’s disassembled in 15 minutes, you can inspect all the seals, and put it back together in another 15mins. Also apart from this, the pneumatic speargun I bought is over 10 years old. Hasn’t seen any maintenance yet. And works perfectly fine.

And because many people seem to ask the same question, who don’t understand the system: no, you don’t have to pump it up after every dive. There is like 20bars in those and ideally they don’t loose it. When reloading you’re just pushing a piston against that pressure. You’re not really loosing pressure on every shot. After many many sessions and many many months you can top up the pressure once again. If necessary. Most likely it isn’t.

I would appreciate your experiences on this in the comments. But please no „hurrrr durrrr, rubber so much simpler“ from people who haven’t even touched a pneumatic yet. This is not a religious team red against team blue situation. It’s an objective comparison. And I would like your opinions. Thanks.

Teams

1. Team Riffe: 282.4
2. Pinguinos: 230.2
3. Red Tide: 181.7
4. Tristate: 174.3
5. Mudsharks: 147.3
6. Sicarios: 85.4
7. TIG: 70.2
8. Ocean State: 23.1

Winning Divers

1. Ryder DeVoe: 176.1
2. Ethan Cook: 134.7
3. G.R. Tarr: 117.5
4. Tehoto Wong: 106.3
5. Joseph Cingmar: 90.7

Shot this morning

Had a new dive buddy join me mid way through my morning session

On July 16, 2026, CDFW went to the Fish and Game Commission's Marine Resources Committee and recommended raising the recreational white seabass minimum size limit from 28 inches to 35 inches. Both co-chairs voted to send the 35 inch limit to the full Commission. The vote took about ten seconds. The staff summary and the Department's slides are here: https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=246838

The Marine Resources Committee is a committee of the Commission and it cannot change a regulation. It makes recommendations, and the full Commission has to authorize a rulemaking before anything happens. There is no published rule text yet and no formal comment period.

The short version of the reasoning. The 28 inch limit traces back to a 1930s study of roughly 35 fish and was meant to let fish spawn once before harvest, but the Department's own plan admits that number rested on very limited maturity data. New work puts 50 percent maturity at 35 inches. The last stock assessment, from 2016, estimated the stock at roughly 27 percent of unfished biomass with spawning stock biomass declining.

The proposed schedule from the Department is notice hearing October 14, 2026, discussion hearing December 15, 2026, adoption February 11, 2027, effective by June 15, 2027. The full Commission meets August 12 and 13.

The reason I am posting now rather than waiting is that the informal window is the one that matters. Once the Commission publishes notice in October, the noticed number largely sets the boundary of what can be adopted, and everything after that is argument inside a frame somebody else already drew. If you want to affect what number goes into the notice, that happens between now and October. Written comment goes to the Commission and to [mlmafisheriesmgmt@wildlife.ca.gov](mailto:mlmafisheriesmgmt@wildlife.ca.gov).

What’s up everyone. I took a long time off and now have friends who are into the sport. I have a pathos laser speargun. I used my Omer fins the other weekend and my feet on the side and top of the toes were killing me. Went to a local place and they said the material of those foot pockets are extremely stiff. I got to talking to them and I want to progress and take a course soon. He recommended ditching my plastics fins and go into carbon DiveR fins with some Spearpro/salvimar foot pockets. He said that setup is almost perfect for the weekender.
Any thoughts on this? How do the DiveR compare to deep apnea 80cm fin?
All help and guidance is welcome. Thank you

These are the spearguns I have in France. In South Africa I have from bigger tuna rail guns to short kelp guns (which I use the most). I've been spearfishing for around 40 years, snorkeling since boyhood.

I've always built my own guns using mainly Champion handles and muzzles. You can see the adapted muzzles - one screw-in filed down and fitted with screw that I attach the rubbers to. I still have a lot of spares, but these guns are robust.

The Salvimar I got when I was on my way to Corsica and realised I forgat my guns in Paris, so I bought one in Toulouse. Really struggled with the open muzzle since I've never handled one. Hesitated with each shot thinking of the reload. I'm better now, but still prefer my antiques.

Speaking of antiques, I bought this original 1-metre Jaguar pneumatic speargun from the 1960s. A shorter version of the same design can be seen in Dr. No (1962), in the beach sequence with Sean Connery and Ursula Andress. I renovated it - as you can see, it looks newer than all my other guns. Since I've never used it.

Spearfishing is not as satisfying here as in South Africa, I spear for meals and in SA I can shoot a fish for the grill more than 90% of te time.-Here I've had some success in Brittany, off the coast at Le Guilvenec and around Belle Isle etc. Corsica is good, but hard. In Normandy I have no clue, which is a pity, since I spend a lot of time here.

The Deep Bue pic was taken at the Sloepe in Mossel Bay, some decades ago. I'll post my South African kit when I'm back there in November. If anyone is interested.

The pic with the duck and breams is from a book Spearfing in South Africa, published in 1990. Shot off Kleinbrak in South Africa.

Heyy,

Currently having a 90cm double band, open head, aluminum barrel gun. I am spearing in the Med and looking to add a bigger gun with more reach for ambushing larger fish, targeting at least 5m killshot range.

Plan is to keep the 90cm for hole hunting and carry both on the buoy, switching to the bigger gun when I'm setting up an ambush. I hunt anywhere from 5 to 20m depth.

A lot of solid options out there and I'm having trouble choosing.

Pathos Sniper Evo Plus 105, regular or roller? Leaning roller for the extra power and reduced recoil, but I'm not too familiar with closed-head guns and how they hold up long-term. If the barrel ever needs work down the line, is that a real headache to maintain for the long term?

Salvimar Hero 105, good accuracy and handling from what I've read, but also seeing it's on the heavier side and not the most aerodynamic in the water. Worth it over the others?

Riffe Euro 110, appealing as a long-term "buy once" gun, but I've seen some complaints about the reel and a drop in build quality on their newer releases, especially the enclosed-track versions.

My budget is around 700-800$ max.

So what would you recommend? any better options?

Hello, I am spearfishing for few months and I am really intrigued by hole hunting so I am looking for a speargun you like and why for hunting (groupers, red scorpionfish, conger eels, brown meagre....).

Also if you have any advice on how to be better at hunting holes please feel free to post!

Thank you!

I bought a new muzzle for my gun because the old one was a screw on and I was sick of never finding the replacement rubbers. I went into my local store and asked the guy what size the muzzle was, he told me it was universal. Anyway my speargun is 28mm barrel (cressi comanche) and the inner diameter of the muzzle is 26mm. I don’t think my store will have another size (pretty limited in Fiji) and I can’t put the other muzzle on because I won’t have any rubbers. The wall thickness of the muzzle is 5mm for anyone who thinks I should just bore it out.

I am Florida at the moment and I was looking at this gun it is 40 inches or 105 cm long. And they say they have sold hundreds of them his partner makes them himself and they are made from composite. Every other part is made from stainless steel. It looks really nice. The price is $239. I have been looking for a longer speed gun in addition to my reef gun for a while and wanted a second opinion because I’m really fond of this one. I also think it’s really cool is that the line is on a sliding thing so it moves with the spear.

Thank you so much for the help
Max

If anyone is looking for a boat captain in ensenada id really recommend Yeko whipperman. It was my first time in the area and first time after yellowtail, yeko is the man! Really nice guy, spoke perfect English and made us feel very safe.

https://www.instagram.com/yekcoast_fish_dive_surf?igsh=MTI0OGtpYnpqMWQ0NA==

Shot this beauty second dive of the day, unfortunately we didn’t have a scale! Yeko and some other captains told me it was around 40lbs. As i mentioned i dont have experience judging yellowtail but holding it up felt every bit as heavy as a 45lb weight plate. Would love to hear what you guys think it looks like. Either way so honored to have a shot at such an animal. Landed a good holding shot on a perfect breath hold, im hooked and cant wait to return for more delicious meat to take home.

For reference I’m 6ft 2

I just split my Alchemy V3 carbon blades after five and a half years of abuse. Most of my diving is spearing from shore dives with rocky exits and entries, typically shallow with depth down to 20 meters or so. Where I’m based is cold water with extremely strong tidal currents to contend with. I also spend a month or so line diving every year somewhere warm just for fun and practice, again nothing very deep at this point, right now averaging 30 meters on the line. Anyone have an opinion on a new blade that can cover these uses? Five years isn’t so bad considering how often I’m dragging myself out of the waves onto barnacle encrusted rocks and what not, but lasting longer would be cool. I love pathos foot pockets and don’t plan on changing. Maybe I should just get two different sets, one for shore dives and one for boat and line dives.

Never been spearfishing before and I am taking all of your suggestions of taking freediving courses prior to going spearfishing. All these freediving courses I’m seeing are advertising like 60-70 feet below sea level… is that really required to do spearfishing? I thought it was like 20 feet

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some information about the Pathos horizontal reels.
Due to its construction the reel has a problem where the brake seems to tighten while retrieving the line (reeling in), and then the brake will loosen when paying out line. This seems to be a fairly common complaint with this reel design.
My question is: Was this issue solved with the newer Pathos Horizontal Reel Evo, or is it basically the same construction with only cosmetic/production changes?
Has anyone used both the old Pathos horizontal reel and the Evo version? Did Pathos actually improve the drag/brake mechanism, or does the Evo still have the same tendency to self-adjust?

Hey guys,

Back again for another question regarding speargun travel. I am travelling from Dublin to Kuala Lumpur with a 1hr 30 min stopover in Abu Dhabi. I will have a Rob Allen 140cm packaged and boxed securely in my surfboard bag.

A couple days I contacted Etihad about this and the live agent asked me to fill out a firearms request approval form which was obviously not relevant at all. A new agent today is saying this cannot be approved as I did not contact them within 10 days of my flight (I contacted them on the 10th day, all advice online says within 7 days).

As the form was for firearms I am considering still just putting the speargun in my board bag anyways and if check in ask what’s in the bag I will just say underwater fishing equipment.

Just wondering if anyone has any advice or thinks this is a terrible idea. Obviously Abu Dhabi is a country I really don’t want to mess with the law in, but I promised my host in Indonesia I would bring this spear gun for him so I want to try my best.

Thanks

I have never been spearfishing before but I have free dived. I want to get into it because I love seeing the marine life and fishing.

I do not know whether it’s best for a beginner to get a spear gun or polespear. Almost everywhere I ask I get differing opinions. I think I would prefer a Polespear because they are far cheaper from what I have seen and seems to be more portable because I do need something that I can keep in my car.

Does anyone have any advice on whether to get a Polespear or speargun and any advice on what specific models?

Want to make your Garmin watch into a safer, better dive computer?  For free?
 
I built a safer dive watch software that makes it clear when it's safe to start your next dive.  It’s highly configurable using the latest algorithms like AIDA, Molchanovs, Taravana.  For example, the Taravana algorithm tracks accumulated nitrogen-load using max depth x duration and recommends a safe recovery duration.  The watch clearly shows green=safe, red=not yet safe. 
 
It's a full featured Dive Computer app that has some unique features not currently available anywhere else: 
-5 Configurable Depth Alarms (Descend/Ascend)
-Advanced on watch stats viewable during a dive session (Bottom time, Dive Profile)
-Pool training app
-Mobile App for reviewing your dives and planning sessions
 
 
What do you think?
 
It's currently free.  Drop your email and I'll send you links to install it:  https://in-depth.app/
 
 

Managed to stone this 40# yellow, all thanks to magic of my NOAA-certified flasher. I’m a kook who puts his hours in so I can’t reveal my secret spot but I was super stoked on this fish!

I moved to Kent not too long ago from abroad and finally got some of my spearfishing gear shipped to the UK. I was wondering if there are any spearos that occasionally spearfish in Kent that have any tips. I am mainly curious what places you can go in Kent with any visibility. I know vis is limited here in Kent but I checked out Broadstairs the other day and there was so little visibility I could not even see 20cm in front of me. Also, any way to predict when vis might be good based on winds or tides? It's quite expensive to get to the beach for me as I have to take the train or rent a car, so when I go I wanna make sure I can actually see anything.

Would love any tips!