Spearfishing kit - What and where? (part8 - Gloves & Dive Knife)

We have covered our feet with fins and socks, we have covered our body with a wet suit and we have covered our face with a mask. One of the only things left exposed is our hands and this brings us to the need for gloves. The sea has some pretty abrasive and sharp things just waiting for your exposed flesh!

When diving in a decent swell you might find the need to hold on to a rock. When handling a fish you have just caught you would want to protect yourself form the sharp dorsal spines and gills common on many species. So there are many logical reasons to don a pair of gloves, but what gloves?

Most wet suit manufacturers also produce a few variants of neoprene gloves of varying thicknesses. Although these do their job in protecting you from the elements they come at a sacrifice. Wearing a pair of 5mm neoprene gloves is like trying to thread a needle while wearing a pair of boxing gloves, you loose allot of your hands sensitivity and accuracy. But when you are hanging on a rock encrusted with sea urchins you might see the sacrifice as worth the effort. 

Neoprene Spearing Gloves

One of the most noticeable areas effected by the loss of sensitivity is your trigger finger, you don't want to be swimming along and accidentally pull the trigger of your gun. For this reason I opt to not wear a glove on my right hand (trigger hand). I can hold on to the reef with my gloved left hand while still maintaining sensitivity and accuracy with my right trigger hand.

These neoprene gloves are not cheap. You can expect to pay in the region of about R500 - R600 for a good pair. It's for this reason that I opted for a cheaper option. I am sure you can remember your mother pottering around in the garden with a pair of fabric gloves? Well these double up as a very good alternative. You could also use a pair of crayfish gloves as these have the added benefit of a non-slip palm surface that might assist you in holding on to your catch while stringing it. These gloves you can pick up from your local fishing tackle store for as little as R30!

Crayfish Gloves

Another item that should be in every spearfishermans kit is a dive knife. Almost all the areas you will dive will also be frequented by traditional line fisherman, many of them leaving the remnants of their efforts by means of   fouled fishing line. Many of the deeper reefs are also frequented by commercial long-liners, their line is substantially thicker and stronger than average and can pose a serious danger to a spearfisherman especially if there are hooks still attached. Find yourself caught up or entangled in this line and you will be ever thankful for your dive knife. Another use of a dive knife is to kill the fish before stringing them. This is not only humane but it also avoids the now distressed fish attracting sharks.

If a whale can become entangled so can you!

There are a few variants of dive knives out there, but most of them will suffice. I like the feature on my Kershaw dive knife that has a line cutter at the top of the blade that makes it easier to cut fishing line. Make sure the knife has a decent sheath that is easily attached to the inside of your leg or upper arm. Make sure the knife is out of harms way as your float line can easily become entangled in it.

A knife also doubles up as a tool, be it a screwdriver or just to pry off a muscle to use to chum the water, it is a very versatile and useful part of your kit.

Kershaw Dive knife with line cutter

Spearfishing kit - What and where? (part7 - Buoy, Floatline, Stringer )

when referring in an earlier post to the different style spear guns I mentioned the use of a buoy & float line. These items are generally more popular with shore entry divers as it provides them with the security of attaching their catch to a buoy/float that is held a few meters away. While boat divers tent to find them cumbersome as well as them having the luxury of a boat to load their catch on.

The buoy/float however serves another purpose in my opinion other than just to hold the stringer containing your catch. They are normally brightly colored and for good reason. Most of us will opt for a natural colored wet suit and other gear so as not to spook the fish. With this gear you as a diver become very difficult yo spot in a decent swell never mind behind the breakers. Using a buoy/float that is easily visible will help the skipper of a boat to spot you should you need assistance as well as avoid drifting to far off your position.

I also found that while diving out at Cape Recief, a shore entry that required a decent 800m swim to the reef it was my buoy that kept my wife sane on the beach. I have also heard of divers diving in high traffic areas that have had very close misses by other ski boats due to not having a buoy.

Buoy/Float with an Alpha (diver down) flag

The stringer is attached to th buoy/float to secure your catch. It is generally made of a stainless steel spike about 200mm long with a cable attached to the middle of the spike. The other end of the cable is then attached to th buoy. This spike is then threaded through the gills of the catch to secure it to the buoy/float. It might be a good idea to attach a decent swivel between the buoy/float and the stringer as the swell might cause the fish and stinger to become entangled in your float line.

Stringer

Float line is basically just a nylon line (rope) that is joins your spear gun to your buoy/float. There are a few different options available for color and thickness. Try to get a line that does not float (yes, this might sound odd), as a float line can easily become caught up in a boats propellers. You often find that when diving the bright color of the float line might spook some fish. To defeat this you can setup a "ghost leader". There are different designs but it is essentially just a thick piece of clear fishing line (3-5mm) attached to the float line for the last 5m and then attached to your spear gun.  

Various colors of float line

Spearfishing kit - What and where? (part6 - Weight Belt)

As you have seen from previous posts, a spearfisherman carries a decent amount of equipment, from wet suit to fins, mask and snorkel. All these items displace water and therefore increase your buoyancy, this is counteracted by carrying weights.

There are two main different types of weighting methods. Firstly let's look at the traditional belt. Most spearfishing/freediving specific weight belts are made from rubber as most spearfisherman/freedivers spend allot of their time descending head first into the ocean, as depths increases so do pressures, with pressure your wet suit will compress as well as your body, this will leave a standard webbing weight belt loose compared to its initial fitting on the surface. With a rubber weight belt one can fit it with a slight bit of elasticity to compensate for the decreased body size at depth. The rubber weight belt can be used with conventional scuba diving lead weights.

Rubber Weight Belt

Conventional Diving Lead Weights

The one drawback of a weight belt is that the weight is centered around your waist while most of the bodies displacement is due to the torso. This brings us to the other weighting option, the harness. The weight harness fulfills the same purpose as the weight belt but enables a diver to distribute the weights so as to attain a certain buoyancy of certain areas of the body. One can also use wrist or ankle weights to further fine tune weight distribution.

Weight Harness

When deciding how much weight a person needs to take on a dive there are a few things to consider. The rule of thumb is 10% of your body weight but this changes depending on the depth you are planning on diving. Remember that you wet suit as well as your body compresses under pressure at depth, this results in less displacement of the body and therefore less buoyancy. You would therefore need less weight when diving deeper, exactly how much less would be a matter of individual trial and error. Another important thing to remember when donning your weights, be it a weight belt or harness, is how easy it is to release should you need to do so in an emergency. Weight belts do not have loops for securing the slack of your belt, this is so it is easily accessible so the belt can be release with just a tug of the belt. Most harnesses have equally easily operated safety releases, make sure they work smoothly before descending for your first dive.

Spearfishing kit - What and where? (part5 - Wetsuit)

We all want to be protected from the elements and maintain a comfortable body temperature, this is where a wetsuit comes becomes a necessity. In Port Elizabeth as well as along most of the Cape coast temperatures can drop well bellow the comfortable 13°C mark and when spending extended periods of time in such temperatures you want to make sure you are warm.

Most common wetsuits you see come with a "closed cell" neoprene. This is when both sides of the neoprene have a protective layer of nylon fabric This has the added benefit of protecting your wetsuit from tears caused when donning your suit (jaggered fingernails) but it does result in a loss of thermal insulation due to the water it allows to flow between the skin and the suit. An "open cell" suit on the other hand has a layer of nylon fabric only on the outside of the suit thereby allowing you skin to come into direct contact with the neoprene and forming a good seal that will keep the cold water out and your body warm. Obviously one would have to take proper care of an open cell suit, this I will cover in a later article.

Another positive aspect of wearing a wetsuit is that it adds protection from more than just the weather elements but also from the critters that live in our oceans. We are hunters, and as such we are often required to conceal ourselves so as to make that prized catch, this might require us to lay in a gully, or in a bit of seaweed, actions that if unprotected, might bring with it some nasty scratches and grazes, many of which can become infected and painful. I have personally experienced a coral rash (hydroid sting), something I will do everything possible to avoid in the future.

Coral Rash

In Port Elizabeth we also get a fair amount of Blue Bottles (Portuguese Man O' War) blown into the bay by some of the seasonal Southerly winds. These and other Cnidaria can inflict very painful stings that can very quickly put a person into shock and ruin a days diving. A decent wetsuit while not providing full cover (face, hands and feet) does reduce the risk of extensive stings considerably. 

Blue Bottle Sting 

An added feature of wetsuits that has become popular over the last few years is the camo print. this obviously enables a person to blend in a little more with their environment making them a little more likely to fool that prized catch. Although this is a great feature one must remember the limitations when diving multiple locations where the colour of the water and fauna change considerably as this could end up having the opposite effect to the desired camouflage. 

Camo Print Wetsuit

Most spearfishing wetsuits will be in a 2-piece configuration. This will give the added benefit of a double layer of neoprene over the torso increasing the thermal protection, but also making it easier to don the wetsuit. Most will also come with a built in hoodie that covers the head, this drastically helps retain warmth as its been said that the body can loose up to 50% of its body heat through the head. As you can imagine most wetsuit manufacturers make wetsuits in a variety of thicknesses from 2mm all the way to 7mm. One will have to look at the average sea temperatures where they plan on diving when making this selection.

Here are a couple of the main local (South African) manufactures of good spearfishing wetsuits:

Free Divers

Rob Alan

Coral Wetsuits

Spearfishing kit - What and where? (part4 - Snorkel)

As a spearfisherman you are going to be doing most of your breathing through a snorkel. While there are not many features that make for a good spearfishing snorkel there are a few that need to be discussed.

You will once again find that most dive gear stockists keep a range of snorkels, most with fancy self draining valves and other fancy attachments. You will also find they come in all colours of the rainbow. Now these are two features that a spearfisherman does not need. First of all the self draining attachments become more of a burden and at times can actually hinder air flow, it is therefore best to look at a simple straightforward snorkel that will have less attachments that can fail while you fight that prized catch.

Flexibility is a feature that is often sought after, when you dive you don't want to have this appendage sticking out the top of your head causing drag and no doubt alerting all the local marine life to your presence. You also don't want a straw, as I mentioned you are going to be doing allot of breathing through the snorkel so you want one that can accommodate this by having a sufficient bore size thereby allowing you to breath unrestricted and naturally.

many manufacturers also offer a camo print on the snorkel so as to blend more effeciently into your surroundings. While this is a nice added feature you want to consider all the areas you plan on diving in and make sure its not going to have an opposite effect in some of the areas.

Snorkel with camo print

Spearfishing kit - What and where? (part3 - Mask)

A mask is almost as important as a speargun because you cant shoot what you cant see!

There are a few different varieties of masks mostly due to the scuba diving and snorkeling industries but spearfishing has some unique demands that are not often met by the run of the mill masks out there. When diving to depths in excess of 5m one will note a bit of pressure on your face caused by the air cavity between your face and the glass of your mask becoming compressed. This can not only cause pain but can effect your vision as well as leave nasty marks on your face where the blood is drawn to the surface of your skin.

Mask Squeeze

To avoid this one needs to equalize the pressure in the mask with that of the outside pressure, this is done by breathing a small amount of air through ones nostrils and into the mask cavity. Obviously when holding ones breath on a dive every little bit of breath is precious, so what spearfisherman and freedivers have done is use a low volume mask. This is a mask that holds a smaller amount of air in the cavity between your face and the glass than that of conventional scuba masks and therefore only requires a tiny amount of air to be breathed into the mask to equalize it.

You will also find most spearfishing masks have a black silicone skirt. This feature is to give the spearfisherman tunnel vision so as to aim correctly and not be distracted by reflections of light that tent to come through the sides and skirt of the clear silicone masks.

Low volume mask with black silicone skirt

Another feature that is becoming popular amoung spearfisherman is that of reflective lenses. Most divers report that fish are spooked when they make eye contact with a diver, so many manufacturerers have now released models with a reflective coating on the lenses that avoids the fish making eye contact.

Mask with reflective lenses

These are just a few of the features most sought after in a mask by spearfishermen, but one of the most important features is going to be fit, so go into your local dive shop and try on a few making sure that the mask seals correctly and most important that it is comfortable.

Spearfishing kit - What and where? (part2 - Fins)

I am sure by now you have noticed that most sperfisherman and freedivers don much longer fins than those of scuba divers and snorkelers. Why is this the case? Well remember that spearfishing requires you to hold your breath for extended periods, while holding your breath you will need to conserve as much energy as possible so as to increase your bottom time. These "longer fins" help in that you get more propulsion from less effort but this comes at the cost of having to have strong legs. There are numerous exercises that can be done to strengthen your legs in preparation.

Back to the fins. There are a two different options of fins you can look at:

• Off-The-Shelf fins
• Foot pockets with interchangeable blades 

Off-the-shelf fins offer the added extra length but do not have a few of the luxury features that the interchangeable blades offer. They are pretty much maintenance free and can be considerably cheaper than foot pockets with interchangeable blades. Should the fin however become damaged in any way, it will require the replacement of the entire fin!

Off-The-Shelf fins

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Foot pockets offer a wide variety of features to suit any diver. You are able to fit the foot pocket to the exact size you require while taking into consideration the neoprene sock you no doubt will be using. Should the pocket tear or otherwise become damaged it can be replaced without having to replace the entire fin and therefore at a reduced cost, the same applies to the blades.

Blades are constructed in 3 main materials:

• Plastic
• Carbon composite
• Pure carbon fiber

Plastic blades are very versatile and rugged. For shore entry dives these are a must if you are only starting out. They however have limited flexibility and only flex uniformly along their length (the base of the blade flexes the same as the tip), this therefore reduces the efficiency of the fin considerably.

Carbon composite blades are offer slightly better flexibly when compared to the plastic blades. Manufacturers are able to adjust the flexibility on the blade along its length to provide more flex towards the tip and thereby improving the efficiency of the blade.

Pure Carbon blades, need I say more. There  is nothing that cant be modified on these blades. Pure carbon blades can be custom made for an individuals strength and desired thrust. These blades however can come at a cost and don't even think of taking them over the rocks on a shore entry dive. Once the epoxy layer and weave of the carbon has been compromised you can pretty much throw them in the bin!

Foot Pockets