Introduction
I was looking into getting a PoleSpear, I wanted a new challenge and I have never used one so I thought I would try. I was also looking for a "lite" Spearfishing solution, an alternative to my JBL Travel Magnum Combo SpearGun, one I can just pack and take off with when for example travelling with the family on a "beach" vacation. This allows me to pack light and not have to bring all my gear, that way if I have time and find a spot I can hunt for a couple of hours and if not then I didn't waste precious luggage space/weight. This means that I need a PoleSpear that breaks down into smaller sections so that I can travel with them. I had a look at what was available and decided to go for aluminum instead of composites (fiber glass/carbon fiber) mainly because I hunt in reefs/rocky bottoms and I think composites are more fragile in these environments. I also have a personal preference for metal as it showcases the craftsmanship & engineering better. I shortlisted two makers that fit what I was looking for: Both makers have Aluminum breakdown PoleSpears and had good reviews, I ultimately ended up choosing LingHunt because I believe their PoleSpears:- are of better quality and engineering from various discussions I have had with owners of both
- are made in a small family owned shop that privileges quality craftsmanship and engineering
- offers a more personalized experience (if this is what you like, you can also just order something from their site if you dont like this)
- has different breakdown sizes (18ft/~46cm & 24ft/~70cm); you could request other sizes if you want
- the owner is a very knowledgeable and great guy
What are PoleSpears exactly?
PoleSpears are a kind of long spear that uses a rubber attached to the back end for propulsion and have a spear tip on the other. It resembles hand harpoons used by various tribes (ancient and contemporary) and is a very simple but elegant design. In some parts of the world is one of the only legal ways to spearfish (the other being Hawaiian slings). PoleSpears are defined by their length (usually 3ft-10ft/~91cm-304cm), thickness (usually 0.5in-0.75in/~1.27cm-1.9cm) and the material they are made of (usually Aluminum, Fiberglass, Carbon Fiber); some makers include the tip as part of the length and others (such as LingHunt) do not. Generally, the longer the PoleSpear the farther you can shoot it but of course this also means there is more of a chance of it bending. To counterbalance this bending issue you can:- for metallic SpoleSpears, augment the thickness but this also makes it heavier, thus it is in the end a balancing act between length and thickness
- use composites instead of metal
I will mostly describe aluminum SpoleSpears since this is what I researched the most and ended up buying.
PoleSpears are also either able to breakdown or not, being able to breakdown has the following pros/cons:
- Pro: it is easier to travel with
- Pro: it allows you to have many PoleSpears in one, just mix and match the tubing to get the length that you need
- Pro: easier to fix, since the tubing is shorter you can also always just replace the broken tube
- Con: it also makes the PoleSpear heavier (due to the joints/connectors, usually made of SS)
- Con/Pro: more fragile (for the aluminum types), since it can potentially break at the joints/connectors, but at the same time the tubing being shorter it is less likely to bend as much as a single long tube
- Con: the joints/connectors could become undone in the water
As mentioned above, thicker tubing will flex less but it is heavier and this will of course affect the distance it will fly. On the other hand, a thicker & heavier tube will give more punch when it hits the target due to the added inertia, thus blue water PoleSpears are usually thicker (and longer). As I mentioned, I prefer aluminum for the hunting terrains I go to because composites are more likely to be damaged, so this would mean that composites are better for blue water hunting but since they are much lighter than metallic ones they have less punch (but fly farther) and bigger pelagic fish have tougher skin and bones than coastal fish; I would be interested in having feedback from a blue water hunter that prefers composites to understand the reasons.
Tips/Points
PoleSpear tips are much longer than SpearGun tips, other than that they are similar (see here for more info on tips/points). There are three main categories:- Flopper tips (a.k.a Tahatian tips)
- Breakaway tips (a.k.a Slip tips)
- Paralyzer tips
Flopper tips are the general purpose tips, they can either be arranged as:
- Single flopper
- Symmetric Dual Flopper
- Asymmetric Dual Flopper
The tips can either be replaceable or not.
Breakaway tips are better for bigger fish and are a bit more fragile because their point is usually razor sharp and designed to penetrate tough skin and bones and not to hit rocks.
Paralyzer are quite popular with PoleSpears, they are a bit like tridents user on SpearGuns but usually longer and closer together (which reduces the drag). The idea behind these tips is in the name, when it hits the fish they become paralyzed (due to the impact force and the nerve overload). Most paralyzer tips do not have barbs but some do and the tips themselves can be replaceable or not.
For the archaeology aficionados, breakaway and paralyzer tip designs pre-date metallurgy, they were made out of wood, bone, flint and string.
Rubber/Band
The rubber is much longer than a SpearGun's and not as thick. You can/should twist it around the pole when you draw, this will make it spin when released and offers better hydrodynamics (just like a bullet is spun in the barrel of a gun) and will fly straighter. If you have a PoleSpear that breaks down then you need different rubber lengths depending on the length of the PoleSpear you setup. This can either be done by:- literally having different rubbers of different lengths (and switch them out as needed)
- tying a knot in the rubber to shorten it temporarily
- adding a "separation" segment to give you two or more "steps", allowing you to vary the force applied, this is actually a great idea from LingHunt
Some makers have roller mechanisms too, like BillFish Republic
Resting hook
This one is a bit controversial and not common. This is a sort of hook that is attached to the band/rubber which allows you to "cock" the spear and hook it somewhere to rest your hand. It is more common in Japan for example but can be found elsewhere. The reason it is controversial is that in jurisdictions that ban SpearGun this could be seen as a trigger mechanism and thus make the setup illegal. Also there is a safety concern, there is no safety mechanism in this case but the spear is mechanically managed in a way. As you may know from reading my post on SpearGuns: I am against SpearGuns not having safety mechanisms; if the mechanism is released you could shoot yourself or someone accidentally. To be transparent, I had one put in my setup, although it is more to try-out than to use regularly (for the above reasons).Section joints/connectors
The section joints are extremely important, they are what is going to keep your PoleSpear from coming apart. Your run-of-the-mill makers have simple thread mechanisms; these can become undone with vibrations, natural lubrication by the water and fish spinning around. You can counter this with thread seal tape (a.k.a Teflon tape) or a theadlocker like Loctite® 248, as described in my spearguns post but this is merely delaying the issue. Some makers have more sophisticated mechanisms, like this one [pic] or this one from LingHunt [pic]. The o-ring makes sure you have a tight fit with no water motion to lubricate the threads and cause them to slide. It also dampens vibrations a bit to the same effect. LingHunt's design does a step further, the end is not threaded to facilitate putting it together (quickly), reduce damage to the treads while keeping the whole joint tight and strong.Another common issue with the threads, especially for smaller ones, is that the thread breaks. This actually happened to me on a water-proof watch crown, once the threads break your connector comes apart and needs to be replaced. One way of getting around this is to have a bigger pitch (the space between threads) making them thicker and thus stronger another way is to use cold formed threads (a.k.a rolled threads) instead of cut threads; the 1st technique being cheaper than the second. Most makers either use smaller pitch sizes and too bad if it breaks or bigger pitch sizes to make the threads stronger (and faster/easier to close). Only one maker, to my knowledge, uses cold formed threads and this is LingHunt. This allows them to have threads with a smaller pitch which are stronger than cut threads with the same pitch. Why is a smaller pitch important? Why not just go the cheaper/simpler route? The reason for this is that a smaller pitch has more surface area which allows you to have greater tension and a closer adjustment accuracy, both points translating to an overall tighter grip.
Water leaking into the tubing, if the tubes are hollow, can be beneficial or not (depending on your point of view). If the tube is fully waterlogged this will make it heavier, which will mean an impact has more inertia but it also means it will slow down faster and needs a thicker band (making is more difficult to use). It will also change the buoyancy which will affect how it glides through the water. Having a partially waterlogged PoleSpear is the worst thing ever, the water sloshing around inside will completely change the dynamics and it will just suck. Usually however, the point is to not have water inside thus watertight or solid PoleSpears are better; you need to make sure the PoleSpear does not float however! In the end it is a balancing act (Pole weight, buoyancy, inertia) that needs to be just right for you.
I found lots of interesting information about threads here if you are interested.
My PoleSpear
The PoleSpear I got is the LingHunt 5000 series (Deep Knurl and Finger Ring Grip), 5/8" thick with 18” sections, a flopper tip, a paralyzer tip and a breakaway tip. It is made of aluminum with their signature connectors & grips and it is completely hand made. I have to say that it is beautiful, I almost didn’t use it and I just wanted to hang it on the wall! The craftsmanship and engineering that was put into it is incredible, you just feel the love that went into designing & making it.
Specifications
- Tube section length: 18"
- Tube diameter: 5/8"
- Tube Material: Aluminum
- Overall weight (including the three tips/points in the protective case (shortened poster tube) but excluding rubber): 1.4kg
- Assembled Length without tip: 185cm
- Assembled Length with tip: 230 cm
- Rubber length (unfolder): ~100cm
- Rubber diameter: 12.5mm
Order Process
LingHunt is a small family owned and operated shop, they offer a webpage with tons of information and an online shop where you can just click and order if this is your thing. If you have specific needs/requests then you can go down the more personal route, up to a fully bespoke setup if you want; I went down this path for my order. The owner and I had spoken a couple of years back and he is a very knowledgeable man and a great engineer. Myself also having studied engineering (different field though) I thoroughly enjoyed our conversations and learned a lot of interesting stuff!
Once I had all the specifics of my order down, he sent me a list with prices for my setup and a payment link, I paid, they made the PoleSpear and sent it in time for my upcoming trip. Even if you go down the standard online shop/fast checkout path, keep in mind that they have to make your order. This means it will take some time, depending on their order backlog, so don’t wait for the last minute! If you tell them you need it for a certain date, the will to their best ability, move stuff around to get it to you, but don’t count on this because it may not be possible (so time your order accordingly). I thoroughly enjoyed my order process and as you probably know I like speaking to people about their product and feel their passion.
The Tubes (sections)
The tubes are made of aerospace quality aluminum and are light but sturdy, they are hollow but watertight. The aluminum is iodized with a black dye (not painted) which gives it a beautiful and quality finish. The back section is closed off with a plug that allows you to attach the rubber:
All sections except the front one have vertical groves cut into the tubes to create grips to prevent slippage when assembling and using the PoleSpear:
The front section has their signature deep knurl and finger ring grip which are sturdy, practical, and not prone to where like standard twist grips are. I always use glove but I can see how the knurl may (or may not) be uncomfortable without gloves depending on how soft your skin is. Here is a pic:
Connectors/Joints
The connectors are really beautifully engineered and well thought of……
Tips/Points
As described above, I purchased three tips:· a flopper tip:
· a paralyzer tip:
· a breakaway tip (aka slip tip):
As you can see, the tips are expertly made, I did have an issue once with the breakaway tip where it did not engage correctly, what happened is the little cylinder got stuck on the “wing” of the part that breaks away (i.e. the point). Unfortunately I did not get enough hits with this tip to know if this is a common issue or not. Fortunately I did not lose my catch because I was able to rush in quick enough. I don’ t think this is a design issue per se, I have had for example floppers not deploy in the past (and floppers are simpler mechanisms); I just need more testing before I can say for sure. The nice thing about LingHunt is that they take your feedback with pleasure and use it to make their designs better if needed, or if you are doing something wrong then they take their time to help you.
One thing I would maybe change/upgrade would be to have replaceable tips on the points themselves (paralyzer tip and flopper tip). The reason for this is that I often hit rocks and although so far all is good, I know that even hardened SS does not withstand this abuse forever; I have to change my SpearGun points regularly when they become dull (I have no way to sharpen them and I think it is not trivial to sharpen hardened SS without altering its properties). I think just changing out the end part of the tip would be easier to do and cost less to buy and ship (and LingHunt makes them).
No comments:
Post a Comment