Review: JBL Travel Magnum Combo Speargun

Before you go off about JBL, please read this, and be aware that their bad reputation was from before they were sold.

I bought this speargun as a travel reef + rock gun. It is actually two spearguns in one, fully assembled it is a "Magnum" (US/overall length 55"/140cm, Euro/tube length 102cm) suitable for larger reef fish:

And in the smaller setup it is the "Custom" (US/overall length 31"/79cm, Euro/tube length 43cm) suitable for rock hunting:

It is well built, it floats well when the spear is not on. Where is shines is its portability, especially for air travel. I can just slip it in a suitcase and fly off anywhere, no need to carry a sportube or any other special luggage. It comes with two cords (spectra braided outside and spectra fibers inside) each with a shock cord.

Handle

The handle is solid and feels ok, it has a protection for the knuckles, not that you ever fist fight under water :-). It is made of aircraft quality aluminium, anodized and finished with an epoxy system; it has a metallic trigger:

Safety mechanism

The safety mechanism is my favorite (I am right handed), it is located above the thumb and is a switch type, you can see it in the picture above. The reason I like it so much is that it is easy to toggle with your thumb. This allows you to keep it on at all times and turn off the safety just when you need to. It is sturdy (metallic) and effective. I can see however how it could be a pain if you are left-handed however.

Barrel

The barrel is made of aircraft grade aluminium, it is quite resistant and has a sealed inner tube to provide buoyancy. I have had this speargun for probably ten years now and I have been getting corrosion where the stainless steel screws touch the aluminum. This is normal (salt water + steel + aluminium) and has happened even though I rinse it well every time in still water. I cleaned it well & removed the corrosion and covered those parts with a sealant. It seems to be holding out well. This is more of an issue with this speargun than others since others usually use plastic to hold things in place; the Travel Combo uses screws so you can take it apart. Again, this has only been an issue recently and I would still recommend it despite this.

The rail

The rail is made of "True-Glide", whatever that is. It does its job well though and is changeable if you need to, not that I have ever had to do so.

Sling

There are three 24"x 9/16" (14mm) bands for the long setup and two 14" x 9/16" (14mm) bands for the short setup. They are made of a special latex using a drip method and have anti-oxidants to protect against UV rays, from what the website says. They have a 302 stainless wire wishbone.

Shaft

The shaft is a 7-14 hardened Stainless Steel. In the long setup (48"/122cm) it is split into two parts and comes together using threads; the front part has an 8mm diameter and the rear part a 9.5mm diameter. In the short setup it is 24"/61cm long with an 8mm diameter. I am always afraid that it will break where is screws together (long setup) but it hasn't so far. I bought an extra set just in case since you can find this type of shaft in most stores. It has on issue of unscrewing itself sometimes, I use the supplied thread seal tape to prevent that. The shaft tip is threaded (6mm) so you can choose your points depending on what/where you are hunting. The shafts being quite heavy means you have strong penetration but it will shoot not as far as a lighter shaft. The shafts use sliding rings.

Points

It comes with two points/tips, the JBL-823 and the JBL-825. The first one is for the long setup, it is a beautiful hardened steel tri-face (laser cut) breakaway with a stainless-steel cable:

and the second is a simple single flopper made of stainless steel:

I recommend getting some hardened steel rock points, I got the rotating type, and a good trident.

Muzzle

The muzzle is a standard closed type, nothing special:

It does have a slightly annoying issue, I am not sure if this is the case with other multi-band spearguns as this is the only one I own. Once you shoot, the bands overlap and get tangled up sometimes. I think this is due to the way they are held, when the energy dissipates/rebounds the pushes them out a bit and they overlap/get mixed up and sometimes tangle a bit. I assume if they were held like this:

it wouldn't happen since they cannot overlap (at least I don't think they can). It is no big issue, when you pull them back to reload they sort each other out, but is does perturb my methodical mind a bit...

Carrying bag/case

It comes with a handy carrying case, it looks a bit like a mini soft guitar case:

It holds and protects the speargun well and has a small mesh separator so you can put extra spear tips, a screwdriver, the thread seal tape, etc:

This is very convenient when traveling, it holds everything nicely; I just stick it in the center so my cloths add extra padding on all sides and off I go. At  a total of 7.75 lbs (3.52 kg), including the carrying case, it is not light, but it is not too heavy for airline checkin weight restrictions.

Conclusion

I think this speargun is well build and innovative (the 2-in-one & folding aspect). It is a tank and has survived many trips for more than 10 years all over the world. The one thing they could make better is the way it is taken apart and put back together, you have to do this setup on land or on a boat if the see is not too choppy, you need a screwdriver. I lost a part once on the beach, it was a pain to find. I think they could use thumb screws for this it would make it MUCH easier. All in all I would recommend this beast if you need a travel speargun built like a tank.