Gear Maintenance

Introduction

Spearfishing gear is subject to salt, sand and other elements of nature, proper maintenance is needed if you want to keep it functioning optimally for a long time. One of the main two culprits to watch out for is salt and direct sunlight, it will kill some of your gear in a matter of weeks or months if you do not remove all traces of salt from your gear and keep it out of direct sunlight. 

The most important thing to do after after each time you use is to rinse your gear thoroughly with fresh water. This can be done with a garden hose, in the shower (using a removable shower head) or in the bathtub. If I am going out again next day I usually just rinse it real well with the hose/shower head and let it dry (out of the sunlight). If I will not use it for a while, I do as described above and then I fill the bathtub with lots of fresh water and put in all items that sink and let them soak well for several hours (changing the water at least once). It is important to make sure the gear is well dried before long storage.

I will go through the list of gear most spearfishermen have and share what I do to keep it in a good shape.

Speargun

The speargun is the most complex gear you own, it is also the most important item (you can get away with not having anything else if the need be). Spearguns can oxidize due to salt and air (or even simply the contact of some of the metals that they are made of (e.g. aluminium + stainless steel), the mechanisms can lock up due to oxidization or sand, wooden spearguns can warp, bands/slings can degrade, etc. As mentioned in the introduction the most important thing to do after a hunting session is done is to rinse it well. Special care must be given to the mechanisms (trigger, line release, reel), I try to inject as mush water inside it via the multiple openings as I can. If you put it in the bathtub make sure the spear is on the speargun so it sinks and I let it soak well for several hours. I also make sure I rinse in between where the slings are in contact with anything to remove anything that could help to degrade them during storage. Also important is to make sure it is thoroughly dried to reduce any oxidization. It is also a good idea to take the spears out of the mechanism for longer term storage. Once in a while (I do this every two or three years) you can clean/oil the trigger and line release mechanisms. If you are not comfortable taking apart your speargun then just inject some WD-40 (not too much!) inside the mechanism using the "straw"). Be very careful not to get any on the bands/slings as it eats/degrades rubber (think of what you learned in sex-ed about Vaseline and condoms, same issue!).

Slings/Bands

I have pretty much summed it up on these in the post above (speargun), but I would also add that sunlight is very bad for rubber. It is recommended to store them in a cool dry place out of light. Some people use silicon grease to keep them supple and others go as fare as putting them in a zip-lock bag (make sure there is not humidity inside) and store them in the refrigerator. Some say that the ideal temperature is between 10°C and 25°C and should be stable. Ozone is also bad for the rubber so watch out for this, ozone more prevalent in hot & sunny periods and in smog.

Shaft/Spear/Points

Cheap shafts & tips are made with "standard" stainless steel. This is great for oxidization but not so good for hardness (they deform/warp easily). The good ones are made of a different type of stainless steel, often 17-4PH hardened stainless steel (or something similar). This type of steel resembles SAE 304 in terms of corrosion resistance, which means it is not as "rust proof " as the cheaper stuff. A thin layer of oxidization can form on it but it should not corrode like non-stainless steal. To keep it rust free I do the following:

1. Rinse it well with fresh water
2. Dry it well
3. Put some WD-40 on a rag or paper towel and rub it well against the metal

The idea with step 4 is to deposit a thin layer of WD-40 on the metal to protect it. WD-40 also removes any oxidization that could have already started. When I get ready to use it I rub the metal with a clean rag or paper towel to remove it. As mentioned in the speargun section of this post I recommend storing the shaft off the speargun so any oxidization from either does not contaminate the other.

Reel

If you have a reel make sure you rinse it well. I like to let it soak in the tub so the salt leaves the mechanism and the line. I also inject water where there are small spaces. Let it dry thoroughly, this can take a while with braided line.

Knife

The knife, if not made from Titanium, can rust also. Some knives have a layer of Teflon on most of the blade to prevent oxidization but in some places such as the cutting edge or the region where the blade goes in the handle, rust can form. As with all the gear rinse and dry well, but also use some silicon grease to protect the blade when you are not using it.

Mask

The mask sounds like a no-maintenance item and it mostly is, you can just rinse it well. I like to clean the inside with some toothpaste as mentioned in my "Mask fogging up?" post. I usually let the toothpaste dry so it protects the inside from any oils and when I want to use it I just let it soak in the water a bit and shake the toothpaste out.

Neoprene (wetsuit, socks, gloves, etc)

The wetsuit requires special care too. I rinse it very well and let it dry out of sunlight. UV light degrades rubbers and Neoprene is essentially rubber with nitrogen bubbles in it. It is important to dry it inside and out; if you do not mold could settle in and this is very hard to remove (and it stinks!). I have read that you can wash a wetsuit if it starts to smell (mine never have). Some people just use a little laundry detergent (the kind you use to hand wash wool/silk) mixed with water in a tub. Just rub the neoprene well, let it soak some, rinse well and dry. I have even read some people sick it in the washing machine on the delicate cycle (the one for wool) and let it run (using the same type of laundry detergent). I am not sure I would try, I guess it depends on if the first method failed, but if you do try make sure the temperature and the spin is low (it should be if you have a dedicated wool cycle). Never, I repeat, never use the drying machine! To store a wetsuit is is best to lay it out flat in a cool dry place out of light. You could also try one of those wetsuit hangers but since apnea wetsuits are more elastic than scuba wesuits you could get some deformation from the pull of gravity. If you have an open-cell wetsuit, try to keep the rubber from touching itself to prevent it from sticking. You could for example stuff it with cloth.

The rest of the gear

The rest of the gear is essentially minimal maintenance, just rinse & dry well and store in a dry dark place.

Conclusion

If you rinse your gear well after every use and store it correctly it should last you much longer than if you do not. As with everything is is a question of inverting time to care about your investment but sometimes circumstances make it harder to do it well. In this case just stick to the minimal maintenance which is: rinse & dry well and keep out of sunlight.

As with all my posts, if you have questions or comments please don't hesitate to write below in the comments section!

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.

Review: Salvimar Intruder Drop 40cm Speargun

I bought this speargun as a dirty water gun, I was looking for a simple, low cost, short, euro-style one band speargun without a reel.

It has other features such as adjustable trigger sensitivity, stainless steel trigger mechanism, ergonomic handle, line release (yep, a nice surprise given the price), a removable stock, an ok safety mechanism. It does not have a rail and has a standard non-hardened stainless steel threaded shaft and uses a single 14mm band. It come with the braided line by default which I replaced with a mono shooting line. I will describe the speargun's general performances and then go though each part.

The speargun is well built, well finished, another nice surprise given the price; it is Salvimar's cheapest speargun. It has as much recoil as I expected for a non-roller gun. I don't remember if it floats without the shaft but I think so. It is comfortable to hold and aims as expected for its length. The tube is aluminium painted in non-reflective black, the handle is white (for better visibility they say, I can see how that could be useful in murky water). It shares some aspects of its cousins, like the handle and trigger mechanism. I copied some parts of this review from my V-Pro review.

Adjustable trigger sensitivity

This is an interesting feature, I am not sure how useful it is though, I have not used it yet. It allows you to make the trigger more sensitive or less sensitive, I can see how some people may like this. I always have my finger on the trigger so people like me may want to make it less sensitive as to not pull by mistake, others that do not like safety mechanisms can make it harder to pull as to make this a sort of safety feature, others may want a quick trigger since they take their finger off the trigger unless they shoot, etc. It is adjusted via a small screw on the safety button.

Circled in red (not the Intruder Drop in the pic)

Removable stock

This is another interesting feature, the stock/butt of the speargun is removable. Some people like to have one and some don't, this way everyone is happy. If you don't like stocks on spearguns and yours has one you can usually saw it off, but if you want to sell it someday or lend it to someone that likes stocks it is no longer possible to undo; this feature is small but useful. You could even 3D print your own stock that has an integrated camera attachment point (Salvimar sells a camera kit btw) or a shorter, longer, wider one, etc. I like stocks so I left mine on. I can see however how taking it on and off too much will wear down the attachment point but this is not something you will do everyday.

A Salvimar removable stock

Handle

The handle has a great shape, it allows to have a solid and comfortable grip. It is composed of two different types of material, that back part is fluorescent green is has a rubbery feel to it. It is identical to the one above but in neon green instead of white.

Safety mechanism

The safety mechanism is stainless steel and looks robust, it should fair well against the salt water but as with all your gear you should rinse it well with fresh water after every dive. The safety button is above the thumb and goes through the handle, a bit like Cressi has. What got me though is that it is the opposite of what I would like/expect, when it is sticking out on the left side it is OFF, when it is sticking out on the right side it is ON (I am right handed by the way). I like it the other way around so I can use my thumb to turn OFF the safety since this is easier for me, but this is personal, a friend with the same speargun likes it this sway since he keeps his trigger finger off the trigger and an the side so he uses his trigger finger to turn OFF the safety before putting his finger on the trigger, I always have my finger on the safety. You can see pictures of it above (removable stock & adjustable trigger sensitivity).

Shaft and Tip

The shaft is non-hardened stainless steel, so it will bend more but is very cheap to replace. Its short length may make it difficult to find one that is the correct length though, I have not checked in stores yet. The supplied tip is a trident, the kind with the plastic (you can see it in some pictures). I find it fragile (the tips bend very easily and the plastic tridents can break when hitting a rock) but that was expected, I replaced it with a sturdy JBL stainless-steel trident:

Muzzle

The muzzle is a normal closed muzzle:

Nothing special, does its job. It is more a question of taste (open vs closed muzzles).

Colors

The colors, black and white, simple look. I am not sure if the white handle affect the hunt though, I assume fish see them better than dark colors so it probably does to some point. Since this is a murky water gun, they say the white handle is to allow you to see it better if you lose/drop it, I can see how that can help.

Conclusion

I am overall happy with the speargun, it does what is expected of it and fulfills all my expectations for the price I paid, it even exceeds it for things such as the handle, line release and overall build quality. I would recommend this product. I got this after having tried a friend's.

Review: Beauchat Marlin Revolution 85cm Speargun

Introduction

I bought this speargun as a reef + deeper water (not blue water) gun; it was also a bit of a present to myself :-).

It is beautifully built and gorgeous to look at, you could even display it on a wall when not in use, that is how beautiful it is. The way Beuchat married wood and carbon, the old and the new noble materials is one of the things that makes this speargun unique. It feels quite heavy out of the water, but once in the water it is light as a feather; it floats well when the spear is not on and is generally well balanced. It comes without a reel and has a bungee attached to shooting line. As you may have noticed, this is a roller gun. The theory behind this is that in a normal speargun you lose power when the sling is slack (it doesn't exert energy for propulsion anymore), the amount of lost energy is equal to the length of the band when it is slack. Most spearguns either make the bands thicker (which makes them harder to load and you have to have a thicker spear and a barrel capable to handle the stress) or they use multiple smaller bands (which also takes more time to load but allows you to adjust the power, they also have the same needs for the barrel and shaft as a thicker banded gun does).

Handle

The handle is very ergonomic, feels good in your hand. This is often something that is overlooked but when you are going to hold something for several hours a day it is quite important.

Safety mechanism

The safety mechanism is not my favourite, it is located on the top of the handle:

The reason I don't like it is that you need a second hand to toggle it, which in certain situations means you will simply leave the safety off which is in turn dangerous. I am a fan of

safety mechanisms like JBL has on its spearguns: simple and effective, easy to access with your thumb. I can see however how it could be a pain if you are left-handed however, in this

regard Beuchat's safety is neutral.

Barrel

The barrel is wood and carbon, the center is a carbon tube and outside it is wood. It is very beautiful and despite looking heavy it is not, especially under water.

The rail

The rail is made of carbon, it is incorporated in the speargun, you can see it in many of the pictures in this post. It looks like it organically grew out of the wood, beautiful effect. I am not sure if having a non-changeable rail could be an issue, I don't really see how it could be, I have never heard of having to change a rail. Other than its looks, it is a normal full length rail.

Sling

The sling is a custom sling:

as you see it is unique which will cause a problem if you have to change it and the exact Beuchat part is not available. It is in reality three slings in one, a thicker (19.5 mm) and longer (?? cm) top sling and two thinner (16 mm) and shorter (?? cm) bottom slings. You could make a simpler version with only one bottom attachment if you are in an urgent need to replace the sling, although this will affect the power and the loading time. It is loaded in two (three depending on how you count) stages, first you load the thicker top

sling and then you flip it over and load each of the bottom slings. I think this was designed this way so that it is easier to load, if it was one big sling like most roller

Shaft

The shaft is a 7mm Rockwell Stainless Steel shaft with the point cut in three sides:

It has sharkfins and is very well made, I find it a tad expensive though.

Muzzle

The muzzle is unique to Beuchat, it is an open and closed muzzle hybrid. It is open in style but has a clasp that locks the shaft into place, so you don't have issues with the shaft coming off if the line is not wound tight enough.

I personally like it, I am not sure yet if it influences the spear flight or if it wears down.

Conclusion

I think this speargun is well rounded and is one of my favorites so far. The balance, the accuracy, buoyancy, shot distance, and build quality is good. Albeit a being a bit pricey and the band being special I would recommend it if you can afford it and you want a nice toy.

Beuchat came out with an all carbon variant that is cheaper. It however has only one bottom band so it may be less powerful but I am not sure. It does however make it quicker to load.

Review: Salvimar V-Pro 75cm Speargun

Introduction

I bought this speargun as a reef gun, I was looking for a euro-style multiband speargun with a reel & hardened shaft.

It has other features such as adjustable trigger sensitivity, stainless steel trigger mechanism, ergonomic handle, line release, a removable stock, an ok safety mechanism, a rail, a patented shaft and an open muzzle. It come with the shooting line and sleeves by default, I got a special deal where I bought it where they added the reel line and set it up for me (I had to re-crimp the shooting line as they had not crimped it well). I will describe the speargun's general performances and then go though each part.

Build

The speargun is well built, well finished. It has as much recoil as I expected for a non-roller gun. It floats without the shaft. It is comfortable to hold and aims rather well. The tube is aluminium painted in non-reflective black, the handle is neon-green, it overall looks nice. It is a bit like a top line open headed Voodoo speargun loaded up with all their options, the only things that are different if you were to do this is the color scheme (V-Pro is back and neon green and the Voodo is black and neon orange) and the rail (more on this later).

Adjustable trigger sensitivity

This is an interesting feature, I am not sure how useful it is though, I have not used it yet. It allows you to make the trigger more sensitive or less sensitive, I can see how some people may like this. I always have my finger on the trigger so people like me may want to make it less sensitive as to not pull by mistake, others that do not like safety mechanisms can make it harder to pull as to make this a sort of safety feature, others may want a quick trigger since they take their finger off the trigger unless they shoot, etc. It is adjusted via a small screw on the safety button.

Circled in red (not the V-Pro in the pic)

Removable stock

This is another interesting feature, the stock/butt of the speargun is removable. Some people like to have one and some don't, this way everyone is happy. If you don't like stocks on spearguns and yours has one you can usually saw it off, but if you want to sell it someday or lend it to someone that likes stocks it is no longer possible to undo; this feature is small but useful. You could even 3D print your own stock that has an integrated camera attachment point (Salvimar sells a camera kit btw) or a shorter, longer, wider one, etc. I like stocks so I left mine on. I can see however how taking it on and off too much will wear down the attachment point but this is not something you will do everyday.

A Salvimar removable stock (not the V-Pro in the pic)

Handle

The handle has a great shape, it allows to have a solid and comfortable grip. It is composed of two different types of material, that back part is fluorescent green is has a rubbery feel to it. It is identical to the one above but in neon green instead of white.

Reel

The reel is a simple horizontal reel, I don't have enough experience to really review it well though. I was expecting it to release the line once the shaft pulled on it but it didn't, it even felt like it tightened. This may be due to the seller's line winding job though, I inspected it and played with this some, it was not wound the wrong way so it shouldn't tighten, but the line was originally not wound tight enough so as soon as something pulled hard the line would sink deeper into the reel, this may have affected how it unwinds thus giving me the impression it tightened. I unwound and rewound t but I have not been able to test it since then, I will update this when I do. This issue did however cause me problems, since the speargun has an open head I had to tighten it enough so that the shaft doesn't fall off but once I shot the line didn't unwind enough.

Safety mechanism

The safety mechanism is stainless steel and looks robust, it should fair well against the salt water but as with all your gear you should rinse it well with fresh water after every dive. The safety button is above the thumb and goes through the handle, a bit like Cressi has. What got me though is that it is the opposite of what I would like/expect, when it is sticking out on the left side it is OFF, when it is sticking out on the right side it is ON (I am right handed by the way). I like it the other way around so I can use my thumb to turn OFF the safety since this is easier for me, but this is personal, a friend with the same speargun likes it this sway since he keeps his trigger finger off the trigger and an the side so he uses his trigger finger to turn OFF the safety before putting his finger on the trigger, I always have my finger on the safety. You can see pictures of it above (removable stock & adjustable trigger sensitivity).

The rail

The rail is a bit a a weird one, it is cut up a bit near the end:

This is supposed to remove some resistance when moving the gun sideways. I admit this is more of a marketing gimmick, I didn't feel much difference, usually the drag comes from the bands IMO. It is even a bit annoying at times, when want to put the shaft back after a shot as the shooting line sometimes goes under the shaft and in those cut spaces, which makes it a bit harder to do. I would prefer a full rail now that I have tested their special rail, it looks cool though but cool doesn't get you any fish :-).

Patented shaft/flopper

The 7mm shaft & flopper (Torsion Evo 2) looks like a good idea at first, the flopper isn't a classical flopper, it looks lake it was machined as part of the shaft:

The idea is that it can freely spin if the fish spins and thus the fish doesn't break away and also it doesn't break off like a regular flopper. The issue I found is that you need to have the little flopper holding ring on always to hold the flopper in, if it comes off then the flopper comes out and it doesn't fold with the water pressure when shot like a normal flopper does. This modifies the spear's trajectory quite a lot. I would have preferred either a normal flopper or one that works a bit like JBL's spinning points. The shark fins are also different;

They are made of wire, I don't really see an advantage from this though other than that you can put a line through them (like you can on sharkfins with holes drilled in them). Maybe it can be useful to attach a delayed surface marker buoy (DSMB) to it quickly to help bring a big fish up and out of a tight spot; I am not sure the fins would hold though. I have read that they broke for some people after heavy usage. I ended up buying an extra Salvimar shaft (I always buy an extra one to have just in case) with a regular flopper and pins instead of this type of fin:

I will probably swap them out and keep the original as the extra shaft.

Muzzle

The muzzle is a normal open muzzle:

I don't have much experience with them, I usually have closed muzzles or hybrid (like on my Beuchat Marlin Revolution). My next comments are not specifically linked to the Salvimar muzzle but more general. I find it slow to put the shaft back, especially in non-still water. The line goes every which way, as does the shaft, once you have wrapped it unwraps or the shaft moves off the rail when you are trying to get the shooting line over the line release or wind the reel line, etc. As I mentioned while describing the reel, I have to tighten the reel if not everything comes apart. I may be doing something wrong though :-).

Colors

The colors, black and neon green, look nice. I am not sure if the neon colors affect the hunt though, I assume fish see them better than dark colors so it probably does to some point.

Conclusion

I am overall happy with the speargun, the parts that I like the least (spear) I can replace myself. I would recommend this product and other Salvimar products if their quality is the same. A friend of mine purchased their "Intruder Drop" speargun (40cm) as a low cost cave gun and he is very happy with it.

Traveling with your gear

Introduction

Some spearos are lucky and live close to the ocean, for some however this is not the case so they have to travel with their gear to go spearfishing. Even the ones that live close to the water may want to travel to somewhere else from time to time so this article also applies to them. Traveling by car is not an issue as you have the leisure to pack your gear as you want, traveling by bus, train or plane is however a bit more tricky. I will mostly focus on air travel as this is the most restrictive; most of the info given is valid for other types of travel. On a side note you can also air mail your equipment, for this you should usually pack it like air travel, make sure it arrives before you do, make sure the destination knows it is for you and pay the often expensive rate. For some this may be the best and less stressful means of traveling but you could end up with your gear arriving late.

Before I start with air travel, here are some non plane friendly bags but that are useful for foot travel to remote sites:

• Beuchat Mundial Backpack: Main compartment with drain for fins, mask, etc. Secondary compartment is a full length cooler, quick-stow bungee on the outside for a towel or jacket, compression side straps for reducing the size, Guns can be attached to the designated external gun holders on both sides of the pack.
  
• Sporasub Zaino Dry Backpack: a large TPU dry backpack with padded back. It only has one compartment but it can hold lots of gear including full freediving fins. See my review for more information.
  
• Salvimar Drybackpack 60: a large PVC dry backpack with removable straps. It can also be carried like a buffle bag. The old version is not tall enough for freediving fins, the new version is supposed to be able to handle them. The issue is that they use the same name and model number for the old and new versions so be careful not to order one from an old stock.
  

Air travel has gotten more and more complicated, restrictive and expensive. You can't carry any sharp or pointy objects in the cabin, so you have to check your gear in. There are different ways to check in your gear:

• As oversized luggage
• As extra luggage if it is less or equal to 158 linear centimeters (l+w+d)
• As normal checked luggage (in your free allowance) if it is less or equal to 158 linear centimeters (l+w+d)
• As sports equipment. Some companies have sub categories by size others by equipment type, etc.

On top of that there are different types of luggage you can choose from: soft or hard. This is an important question since it will determine if it gets to your destination in one piece. Something else to take into consideration, the customs/border control. In some countries it is illegal to own a speargun, even if you are passing through (Singapore & Hong Kong for example). Other countries have dishonest employees which could steal your gear or parts of it. Lastly some countries such as the USA don't have international zones in their airports so their customs are very aggressive, over worked, etc (since they have to check a lot of luggage since they have no international zone). They may thus damage your gear when inspecting it, not pack it up correctly after inspecting it (thus is can get damaged in subsequent travel), "forget" to re-pack parts of your gear or not close the luggage correctly thus it could open up in subsequent travel. I have had some of these things happen to me when traveling back to the US and good luck trying to get your "forgotten to to be re-packed" gear back or the damaged gear reimbursed. To be fair this could happen at any customs in any country, but most countries have international zones in airports so they usually don't bother checking luggage in transit, unless they have very strict laws regarding weapons, drugs, etc, in which case they may check (as is the case in Singapore and Hong Kong). I will describe different types of luggage you can use later on.

Ways to check your gear in

Checking your gear in as oversized luggage

This is the simplest way to do it, it is also the most expensive. If money so no object than do this, no questions asked, you just pay. Most spearos will not do it this way though as it can easily cost $200 each way. This method though may allow you to have heavier luggage and less size restrictions.

Checking your gear in as extra luggage

This is almost as simple as the previous method but can cost almost the same but is usually less. For this though you have the same restrictions as your free checked in allowance, usually 23kg and it must be >= 158 linear centimeters. I will explain later on ways to find luggage of those dimensions.

Checking your gear in as normal checked luggage

If you travel light, this is the way to go, you can pack all your clothes and non lethal gear in your carry-on and check only one luggage in containing your gear. You have the same size and weight restrictions as above obviously. If you can fit it all in the above restrictions, then this is the cheapest way to travel.

Checking your gear in as sports equipment

This is the way most people travel, it is also the most complicated; each airline has its own rules. You may do (or have to do) this if you already have used your free allowance for checked in luggage limit or if your luggage is bigger than the allowed 158 linear centimeters. Some airlines are sports equipment friendly and allow you to check extra luggage in for free as long as it fits in your free allowance, for example most companies allow one 23kg checked in luggage so if you have sports equipment in another bag and the sum of those two is under or equal to 23kg you are fine, if you only have the sports equipment and it is under or equal to 23kg you are fine, etc. Some even allow you to pool your luggage allowance if you are several traveling, so if for example two people are traveling you get a total of 46kg to split as you wish. Most however are not so nice, they charge you extra regardless on if you have "left over" weight allowance. Those airlines usually have a list of prices per type of sports equipment and spearfishing isn't on the list. The closest is fishing, but often they list the allowed items in this category and spearguns are not in the list. This is fine in most cases, you stick it in luggage that can be used for fishing equipment and say it is fishing equipment (leaving out the terms "spear" and "gun"), which it is, no questions asked and off you go. Sometimes your gear does not fit in fishing luggage, this prompts you to try to camouflage your gear as another accepted type of sports equipment such as:

• Snow sports gear (Skis, Snowboard, etc)
• Water sports gear (Surfboard, Wakeboard, Kiteboard, etc)
• Golfing gear

What you choose depends on the price as not all sports equipment is equal in the eyes of airline companies, they charge different prices for different gear and it is not always logical in a weight/space occupied way. Also, if you have a snowboard case and you are traveling to a tropical region with no snowy mountains they may find that suspicious, some don't care though. Also, if you have "golf equipment" and you are dressed like a beach hobo you may make them suspicious too, so mind your appearance. You should also use special wording when checking in, for example don't say you have golf clubs, say you have a golf bag; if they ask if you have golf clubs keep saying this is your golf bag, this way if they later ask for it to be opened you don't have any explaining to do, you never said you had golf clubs, only a golf bag. These last three points are especially important for some airline companies as some companies ask to see the gear because you have it in a non conventional bag for the specified equipment type or because they have rules that state if you store anything else/extra in your sports gear bag you will be charged as extra non sports (normal or oversized) luggage which is quite expensive. I will describe different types of bags/luggage later on.

Luggage type

As mentioned in the introduction, you have different types of bags at your disposal. I will separate them by soft/hard and then by type.

Soft bags

These are easy to find, can accommodate various shapes and sizes and are cheap. The downside is that you gear is not protected (or less protected since some bags have padded walls). You can partly get around this by padding your gear with clothes and towels, although this doesn't protect as well as a hard case. Another way to protect is to put a hard case around your gear, such as a PVC pipe and put your spears/shafts inside one and your speargun inside another, this adds extra weight however. Some soft bags I have looked at (I only purchased a SporTube series 2 so far), the width in the dimensions (l x w x d) are of the widest part as measured by airline companies:

Imitation Golf bags

• F-One Manera Golf Travel Bag: this bag is well made, looks like a real golf bag, it is made for kiteboarding originally. The fact that is looks like a golf bag and has a big golf label on it means you can't say it is anything else. The external dimensions are 137cm x 52cm x 27cm and the internal dimensions are 135 x 49 x 19cm, it weighs 3.2kg, it has top, middle and bottom handles, 5mm padding, waterproof external material and has wheels.
  
• NSI Pro Golf Bag "The Deceiver": Couldn't find a real website, only an amazon page so not sure of the quality. It is made for kiteboarding originally. Has a big "NSI Golf" label to say it is a golf bag (but looks less like one than the F-One Manera). Having a big label on this bag can be good and bad, good if you want to say it is a golf bag but bad if you want to say it is another type of bag. The outer dimensions are 150cm x 34.3cm x 38.1cm, the internal dimensions are 147cm x ?cm x ?cm, the weight is unknown (shipping weight is 20.73kg), it has middle and bottom handles (no mention of a top one and pictures don show this), padding of unknown thickness, waterproof external material and has wheels.
  
• Surreal World Tour "Golf" Wheelie Kiteboard Bag: Couldn't find a real website, only an amazon page so not sure of the quality. It is made for kiteboarding originally. Has a small "Surreal Golf Tours" label to say it is a golf bag (but looks less like one than the F-One Manera). Having a small golf label is good and bad, it is good because you can say it is something else and they may not notice the label but bad if you want to insist it is a golf bag, even though once they see it it should be fine. The outer dimensions are 135cm/140cm/148cm/166cm (fixed length) x 28cm x 15.2cm, the internal dimensions are unknown, the weight is 5.44kg, it has middle and bottom handles (no mention of a top one and pictures don show this), 10mm padding, waterproof external material and has wheels.
  

Real Golf bags

• Bag Boy T-2000: The external and internal dimensions are unknown, it weighs 3.95kg, it has top, middle and bottom handles, padding of unknown thickness and has wheels.
  

Speargun Bags

• Mares Attack Gun Bag: external dimensions 175cm x 20cm (diameter), large enough for a large rigid tube, center handle, no wheels.
  
• Riffe Large Speargun Travel Case: external dimensions 160cm/185cm (fixed length) x ?cm x ?cm, center handle, no wheels.
  
• Sporasub Speargun Bag: external dimensions 170cm x 20cm (diameter), large enough for a large rigid tube, center handle, padded ends, no wheels.
  

and many other types...

Rigid luggage

These are harder to find and are more expensive. The upside is they protect your gear really well, the downside is they are heavier and being rigid can't contain strange shapes (not much of a problem IMO).

Real Golf luggage

• Cargo Golf Pro Series 500 Golf Travel Bag: The external?/internal? dimensions are 126.12cm x 23.18cm x 23.18cm, it weighs 4.31kg, it has top and middle handles and has wheels.
  
• ClubGlider Tour Series: unknown dimensions and weight, it has top and middle handles and has wheels plus another pair of fold out wheels for stability.
  
• Trav-A-Lite Ultima II: 127cm x 19.05 (diameter), 2.54kg, it has top and middle handles and has wheels.
  

Fishing tubes

• Flambeau Bazuka Rod Case: 160cm-220cm (telescopic) x ?cm (diameter), has middle handles, unknown weight, no wheels.
  
• Plano Airliner Telescoping Rod Case: 119.34cm-223.52cm (telescopic) x 12.7cm (diameter), has middle handles, unknown weight, no wheels.
  
• Flambeau Standard Telescoping Rod Case: 96.52cm-182.88cm (telescopic) x 7.62cm (diameter), has no handles, unknown weight, no wheels.
  

Ski/Snowboard luggage

• Sportube series 1: external dimensions 122cm-212cm (telescopic) x 16.8cm x 14cm, internal dimensions unknown, weighs 3.63kg, padded ends, two middle handles and one top handle, has wheels.
  
• Sportube series 2: external dimensions 122cm-212cm (telescopic) x 28cm x 15.2cm, internal dimensions unknown, weighs 5.44kg, padded ends, two middle handles and one top handle, has wheels. This is what I own.
  
  
• Sportube series 3: external dimensions 107cm-183cm (telescopic) x 36.8cm x 20cm, internal dimensions unknown, weighs 6.35kg, padded ends, two middle handles and one top handle, has wheels.
  

Rifle luggage

• Pelican 1750 Waterproof Rifle Case: external dimensions 134.6cm x 40.6cm x 15.5cm, internal dimensions 128.2cm x 34.3cm x 13.3cm, weighs 10.7kg without foam (11.6kg with), is waterproof, middle handle and has wheels.
  
• Pelican 1770 Waterproof Rifle Case: external dimensions 145.8cm x 46.9cm x 28.5cm, internal dimensions 138.6cm x 39.6cm x 21.9cm, weighs 13.15kg without foam (16.33kg with), is waterproof, middle handle and has wheels.
  
• Gun Rifle Shotgun Long Aluminum Locking Carrying Case: unknown external dimensions, internal dimensions 134.62cm x 27.94cm x 10.48cm, weighs 10.7kg, middle handle and no wheels.
  

and many other types...

Finding a 158 linear centimeter bag/luggage

If you want to get your gear in as normal surplus luggage or as the main (free) checked luggage you need it to be no bigger than 158 linear centimeters and no heavier than the authorized weight (usually 23kg). The weight aspect is easy to manage but finding airline friendly dimensions is not easy to say the least. To check if luggage is the correct size, just add up the l + w + d (double the diameter if it is a tube). However, it is not easy finding something tall/long enough to fit a spear/shaft (longest part). You can put the shaft in diagonally to gain lower the overall height to fit in the required dimensions. You can use the following formula to calculate the minimum hight of your luggage (for a spear in diagonal) to see if it works for you:

     l = sqrt(s² - (w² + d²))

where:

• l is the minimum hight
• s is the spear/shaft length
• w is the width
• d is the depth

and then use the obtained length in the l + w + d <= 158 and see if this is true. I found that most rigid fishing tubes and the SportTube series 2 has to be shortened to at least 114.8cm (total outer length) to fit in 158 linear centimeters, this means a 110cm would fit or a 115cm spear (75cm speargun) would fit fine diagonally. The SporTube series 3 can be shortened to 101.7 to fit a 110cm spear in diagonal although this would technically make the luggage 158.5 linear centimeters, but it should slide. The default series 3 is too big even in it's minimal size, although it would fit a 115cm spear that would make it 163.8 which I am not sure you can argue with them about. The SporTube series 1 can be set to 127.2cm (outer length) and fit in the 158cm limit; this should allow you to fit up to a 129cm spear. Good luck!