The French manufacturer Esclapez which I introduced in my latest article about the "Balise" torpedo buoy test, keeps producing truly exceptional spearfishing gears that never fail to be both innovative and effective.

Its flagship product, the Exium, is a speargun that well expresses the desire to present new and reliable ideas to the spearfishing world. It is in fact a railgun characterized by a modern and ergonomic silhouette designed to be as customizable as possible to adapt to the different spearos’ habits.

Like all products by Esclapez, the implementation of simple ideas and the use of the best materials made it an extraordinary speargun solving several problems that are very common to commercial ones.

First of all, we need to point out something; the EXIUM has nothing to do with the TRIAXX and therefore it is not a remake of an old project. The ideas underlying its design are essentially two:

1 - Creating a system that allows to get an optimal balance in all circumstances

2 - Creating a barrel that offers less resistance to water during horizontal swings

I have often bought commercial spearguns that, once in the water were too heavy and every time I changed the original setting (thinner shaft, longer one, etc) the optimal balance was permanently lost . Most of the time I had to stitch some lead (if it was too light ) or worse some cork (if it was too heavy ) and this obviously affected the overall aesthetics and hydro dynamicity of the barrel. The balance of the weapon is a crucial feature for the success of a spearfishing action. We will tend to strain the wrist and forearm muscles to keep the shooting alignment if the railgun is even just a bit heavy, and this will inevitably affect our ability to accurately aim in the long run. This does not happen using the EXIUM since it gives you the chance to install some plastic floats that will help you out to keep the balance under control. The floats do not protrude from the profile of the barrel and therefore they do not obstacle the movements in the water. In order to be installed, these floats do not require any screw and once they are mounted on the barrel they can slide all along it allowing the user to decide the best position.

The Exium is the sole commercial railgun made of anodized aluminum that does not have a classical cylindrical tube but it has two of them with elliptical section. The purpose of such a choice is to make lateral movements more fluid. Thanks to the “windows” along its barrel, the Exium offers a reduced resistance to water while maintaining the necessary rigidity to prevent flexion under the tension of the rubber bands. In fact the two tubes and central supports provide a double resistance to the forces that normally tend to bend them as shown in the drawing below. 

IN DETAIL

The Exium is sold in 6 sizes ( 75-90-100-110-120-130 ) and as indicated in the title of this article, the object of this test will be a 90cm model. It should be noted that the original setting for this model includes a 6.25mm x 130cm shaft and a 18mm circular band, however I preferred to change this configuration by installing two 16mm circular bands and a 6.5mm pinned shaft.

THE HANDLE

The handle is very ergonomic and due to its inclination of about 33 degrees it provides an effective and intuitive grip. On its surface there are elements in soft plastic that can be replaced and that are available in 4 colours.

The chest support was carved in the center with a V shape to facilitate aim alignment. The mechanism is made of 100% stainless steel and its backed structure allows you to stretch bands about 6/7cm more. The distance between the last hole of the muzzle (the most external) and the first shaft pin (the closest one to the mechanism) is 96/97cm (it can vary according to the shaft used ) for a 90cm model of which the overall length is 112cm. Finally on both the left and right side of the handle there is a little lever that allows you to change the sensitivity of the trigger and then to lock it up.

THE BARREL

The height (including the shaft guide) and the width of the barrel measure 4.10cm. Below there is a small groove that runs along its entire length and it is designed to accommodate accessories such as the reel, the video camera mount and the cuttlefish bone stabilizer. Such a groove offers the opportunity to slip these accessories inside it allowing the spearo to move them to the position they feel more appropriate. For example, to mount the horizontal reel (with aluminum spool and available in 50 and 100), you simply need to slide it into the groove and lock it in the desired position with the two screws provided.

THE MUZZLE

The G2 muzzle is the outcome of a full restyling. It allows to mount two circular bands with no metal wishbones and it can also be used in both open and closed version by installing or removing a tyny U-shaped aluminium bridge included in the package. The weight of the railgun ready for fishing (with 130cm x 6.5mm shaft, 2 16mm circular bands and a reel equipped with cord) is 1800gr :

Without shaft 1420gr

Without reel 1206gr

Without bands 982gr

THE TEST AT SEA

As mentioned above I have not used the original configuration because I've adapted it to my style of fishing so I mounted a heavier shaft and a pair of 16mm circular bands ( always Firestorm by Esclapez). That is just the spirit of the Exium project: it is 100% customizable with no problems! In support of a heavier shaft I have installed three floats and in this way the neutral buoyancy was safe. Despite this change the Exium capacity to smoothly move in the water is still excellent, also thanks to the ergonomic handle that allows in my opinion a natural grip that does not require the wrist to adapt. The index finger enters comfortably into the trigger ring without having to bend . At first glance its modern silhouette may seem massive but it is surprising how light it is when you have it in your hands and even out of the water its weight (not at all excessive ) seems to be well distributed. In the water it is effectively easier and more fluid to swing. Whenever I spearfish by using the ambush technique I need to incline the railgun of about 45° to facilitate lateral movements but as you can see in the video below this does not happen with the EXIUM speargun as it offers less resistance to water and therefore the instinctive wrist rotation does not take place .

The firing line is clean from the muzzle to the chest support although the bands ends had not been rounded. I find this gun very good in both design and practice, in fact its performance is unquestionable. Finally, the innovative effort does not affect the price that is in line with the market average.