GFT CARBON KNIFE

GFT CARBON KNIFE

CARBON: DESIGN AND FUNCTIONALITY FOR TODAY SPEAROS

Very often we hear about an increasing male vanity that nowadays is tied to women’s one or even greater. As we all know women pay an accurate attention to accessories but what’s wrong if a spearo  surrenders to the temptation of buying a little something in which merge both design and functionality?

The GFT carbon knife is the latest innovation of the Italian company that once again remarks its intention  to design high quality products aimed to cuddle today’s speros. On the internet this product has become already famous thanks to the several bloggers who have written reviews stressing on the amazing design but you should also know that this knife is not only design as it is very practical and functional too. First of all the knife itself is created with a single piece of stainless steel, 18cm long, with an handle covered in 2x2 twill prepreg carbon. This allows to avoid the scenario in which you get the blade and the handle split in two separate parts when you force a little bit on something. There is only one sharp side although the tip of the blade is sharpened on both sides for a couple of centimeters. In the centre of the blade there is a 7mm hole very useful to get afloat or to straighten the shafts.

Another special feature of this product is represented by its case that from my point of view it is far more important than the knife itself. The case is rigid and entirely made with carbon sheets. Conceptually it does not bring anything new to spearos in comparison to the other “arm knives” in the market but its points of strength are mainly represented by a design with no equals and a very efficient hold/release mechanism. In the picture you can see that by pressing on a tab the knife gets released. Check out the video for a practical demonstration. What’s left to say, GFT has once again realized a products that makes you say “I got it, what about you?”

Technical features:

total lenght: 18cm

thickness: 3mm

weight: 82gr total;   66gr (knife)+16gr (case)

LEROI DESIGN WETSUIT

LEROI DESIGN WETSUIT TEST

 WITH TRICK POWER VEST

The widespread of craftsmen specialized in tailoring wetsuits might suggest that the realization of this product only takes an accurate pattern and good raw material.

In reality, the artisan in possession of these two factors is only at the beginning of a process that will turn its creation into a real masterpiece because the care to details and finally a touch of extravagance and cleverness, make the difference between a common wetsuit and a Leroi Design one.

The wetsuit I am about to present is a 7mm jersey/lined one, with a discreet brown camouflage designed for spearfishing on rocky bottoms. This model is equipped with the innovative trick power system, to incorporate the vest to the suit. I personally can not do without it because it solves two problems: the encumbrance of the shoulder straps and the slipping of the traditional vest during the descent.

Thanks to the strong Velcro joints the trick power vest remains still on the back providing a freedom of movement with no equals, just think that sometimes I even forget to have it still on when I have to take the jacket off.
In the past someone made an objection in regards to safety, but as shown in the video below, the removal operation is simpler and more immediate than that of a traditional vest, even in water!

Another detail that struck me is the ear insert created in different thickness to enhance the compensation and to avoid the suction effect. Other special features of this wetsuit are represented by the robust and thick sternal support, the cuffs at wrists and ankles and finally the reinforcements at the elbows and knees and are inside made in "metal" rather than in lined neoprene to make them more robust.

On demand a "duckbill" may be applied, an accessory that makes diving more comfortable especially in wintertime! Finally, anyone ordering a wetsuit from Tony Piscitelli, will receive it personalized with his initials and a small Italian flag. The attention to detail that I have described is a symptom of product quality and on LeroiDesign site you will surely find what you need.

SIGALSUB SHAFTS NOVELTIES 2012

SIGALSUB SHAFTS NOVELTIES 2012

 

SEAWOLF, CARBONTEK, SPETTON AND GIGAPRESS TOGETHER FOR  INNOVATION

 

A continuous flow of ideas and solutions, new equipments and new materials make of Sigalsub a reality constantly on the move like the sea, inexorably reshaping the profile of all that is around. 

Everybody knows it as a top quality a shaft manufacturing company but nobody knows that behind these products there is a full commitment to research and also in the 2012 catalog the Italian firm will present new exciting changes. Next year, in fact, all the pinned shafts will be made with an extra pin in order to facilitate the loading and to be able to reduce the bands tension in case of close shots. Up to size 120cm shafts will then have 3 pins positioned at 65mm, 105mm and 180mm, while the longer ones will have four pins positioned at 65mm, 105mm, 180mm and 320mm. In addition, the slot holes of the pins will be blind and no longer pass-through, in order to let those points be less critical and ensure greater overall resistance to stress. Finally, barbs will be later produced with new a raw steel able to guarantee 50% more resistance! The next year starts with many collaborations, some consolidated while others are brand new but all with leading manufacturers of international repute.

The first novelties are called Deep and Fast and represent the outcome of the joint work with the Spanish company CARBONTEK that has guaranteed a product branded Sigal of absolute quality! These two models of fins are made with the prestigious carbon fiber TORAYACA-T700 and T400, with no holes for the screws, in order to achieve greater overall strength and can be combined with any commercial foot pocket. As their name well expresses, the two fins are designed for different uses. The Deep one, 20cm wide and 83cm long has been designed to dive to greater depths while the Fast one, more responsive and with a wider surface (23cm and 76cm long) has been designed for low and medium depths. The mechanical properties of flexibility and responsiveness of these innovative fins have no equals but it is important to emphasize the aspect of quality, not only in regards to materials used but also to the manufacturing processes. Each prototype is tested with a device reproducing the movement of the kicking for more than 50,000 times in one day, in order to study its behavior and ensure smooth and easy movements in the water.

Thanks to the active and fruitful collaboration with Seawolf sub moreover, Sigal Sub is proud to present a fantastic roller muzzle that however will distribute to resellers only. Made by the Apulian Company, it can be used on any commercial barrel with a female tubular section. It is provided with two O-rings to make it waterproof and two pulleys with four bearings in non-metallic technical material. Tested to be used with the famous 14mm and 16mm brown reactive bands, it weights only 99gr.

Among the accessories, we find the Spetton Shark knife, whose size (23cm total including 12 of the blade) is clearly opposed to the current european spearos’ trend who tend to prefer the "mini" ones, although larger knives offer undeniable benefits of use in many situations such as the capture of a big amberjack. We also find the Q5 Spetton torch that Sigalsub has improved, following the opinions of the users, with some modifications to the switch aimed to make it more watertight. 

Always focused on innovations available on the market, the Italian company recognizing the high value of the GigaPress project, has decided to start distributing GigapressSECUR and ARBA.

These really ingenious and very easy to use products are designed to progressively load railguns and pneumatic guns with no excessive efforts. 

The ARBA model for example is very small in size (weights only 200g) and hooks up the wishbones (metal and Dyneema) allowing through a "blocker" to split, while loading, the race of the bands on the shaft as shown in the clip.

It reconfirmed in 2012, the already established collaborations such as the one with STC (which is already working to make the STC and GIGAPRESS systems compatible) and TOPSUB for wetsuits.

It’s then with due respect that I emphasize the idea of Simone Gallini, a friend of Giulio Campopiano (lost at sea last year), to include the EBAN S&S mechanism in his catalog. This initiative possible only thanks to a courtesy of Campopiano’s family, has no mere commercial purposes but its only objective is to keep alive the memory of Giulio making available at least a part of his work.

This summarizes the main changes that SigalSub presents in 2012, but others will follow during the year so check them out exclusively on NadirSpearfishing. For further information do not hesitate to send an email to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

ROLLEI ACTION CAM 100

ROLLEI ACTION CAM 100:

THE NEW UNDERWATER ACTION CAM

COMPARISON WITH MIDLAND XTC 200

A brand new HD underwater action cam produced in Germany has recently broke into the market and it is called Rollei ActionCam 100. 

Available in tre colours (black, red and yellow) it appears to be a good one for our sport as its weight (75gr without battery) and even its size are really minimum, only 90mm x 41mm x 36mm! It is also provided with a 120° wideangle, a very important feature that all spearos do know very well as the smallest it is the best shooting you get. Furthermore it has an HD resolution lens (1280x720pixel) able to film at 30fps or to take pictures through a 5 megapixel CMOS sensor.

This action cam has a very light and simple design and all its functions are controlled by only 3 buttons located on top of it. The first is an on/off one, the second is the rec button (and also the one to take pictures), the third one controls the two lighting systems. Yes, this videocamera is also equipped with a 4 leds set producing a 1lux cold light and a 4 infrared leds set to shoot in the dark. It can save data on a SDHC card up to 32giga in AVI format (or jpg for pictures) and it is provided with a lithium battery pack that the Rollei ensures to last up to three hours,however according to the opinions of the spearos who have used it, it appears that the battery lifetime is not suitable with the standard spearfishing time.

Another aspect to bear in mind is that the Rollei sells this product ensuring that it is waterproof up to 20mt but unfortunately in several audio video products websites and also in some spearfishing blogs it is described as waterproof up to 30mt. Among the accessories provided with the cam further to the AV cable and the usb one to download the files there are some attachments to mount it on helmets and bikes that can be easily converted to our scopes. According to the opinions of the spearos who have tested the cam, it seems very difficult that the recent successful union of midland xtc200 and spearos could be broken, by the way it cannot be denied that it has several nice features. You can find below some videos recorded with both cams and a comparative table of both technical features.

SIGALSUB: EVOLUTION PRO SHAFTS AND ENERGY WISHBONES

SIGALSUB: EVOLUTION PRO SHAFTS 

AND ENERGY WISHBONES

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES

Sigal shafts are already well-known in the market for materials high quality and for the accurate production processes but with the 2011 product series the company made the difference. I had the pleasure to test a 130cm evolution pro shaft that in term of quality and technology has no equal on the market.

One of the main features of this series is represented by the position of the hooking points. The first is placed 65mm from the very bottom of the shaft and the second one 40mm from the first.

This might not ring any bell but try to think that in most of the cases the release mechanism box and the first hooking point are only one thumb width away from each other! Furthermore the shortest shafts have a third hooking point to make loading easier instead from the measure 140cm on they are provided with four of them.

Another important feature characterizing these shafts is represented by the introduction of the new diameter 6.75mm produced as well as the other classic diameters. This intermediate measure represents a good compromise between strength and easy handling that allowed me, together with the special position of the tips, to increase the power of the bands providing then a very powerful and precise shoot with a 95cm wooden railgun and no effect on the brandish.

With Evolution shafts, at first sight, it is possible to note there is like a light grey coating. That is the outcome of a thermal process making the Sandvik steel 10% stronger than before, getting a 52/53hrc hardness level! 

In addition new 1.2mm steel barbs, edges and holes smoothed and hydrodynamic lowered tips would already make this product outstanding but for Simone Gallini this was not enough and together with BLUWORLD technicians designed and created a new tri-cut tip.

The EVOLUTION PRO series is in fact provided with a tricuspid tip where each cut is concave and it ends with a little tab on top. It looks like a screwdriver but it ensures a high penetration performance when it hits the fish as the tip goes through the flesh with no friction thanks right to its concave surfaces and its very sharp edges…just like some Japanese knives where the food does not adhere to.

The shaft well endures the impact with rocks (better avoiding it anyway) and in most of the cases it only loses the little tab on the top. Thanks to its stiffness and its spring backup the shaft trajectory is linear with no flickering. They are not really cheap but the higher price can be reasonably compared to the higher quality as they cannot be considered a common product. 

Among the other accessories presented this year by SIGAL and that deserve a special mention there is the ENERGY wishbone series. Three models XL, Jewel and Wire are all made in titanium.

The main advantage of the use of this material is represented by the reduced weight. By taking a look at the table below you can note that the standard wishbone weight gets about 50% reduced, a very important feature in relation to the general arrangement of the railgun.

Furthermore, all the weight subtracted to the wishbones turns into a greater power on the shaft and produces les noise. By testing these wishbones I could agree with the producers who suggest the combined use of XL and JEWEL on a double band railguns as mine.

At first I was doubtful since I am used to dyneema wishbones but then I realized that thanks to the different width (4cm for XL and 3.2 for Jewel) the bands stay parallel with no narrowings like when you use dyneema wishbones and in my opinion the shot is more fluid.

Then the only fault these products have is that you get addicted to them and when you use other ones you see the difference!

SIGALSUB: BROWN REACTIVE BANDS

SIGALSUB: BROWN REACTIVE BANDS

RANGING FROM 14.5MM TO 19MM
 

Simone Gallini's SigalSub, well-known for its high quality shaft production, since 2008 has started commercializing a brand new USA made band called Brown Reactive and it has soon been a great success. The Brown Reactive is an amber band coated with a brown/violet coextrusion.
As you know the amber bands tend to get darker and lose their elasticity after a certain period of sunlight exposure. In order to solve this problem the brown reactive has been coated with the coextrusion above. This system is not brand new as there are already other bands like that on sale but its innovative features are the following:

• contrary to other bands the coextrusion is very thin (1/10 millimetre) this way it is possible to exploit all the caoutchouc whithin and thanks to their high power you can avoid to strech them excessively
• the special colour (darker in this version) allows to let the bands disappear when you dive down to the bottom.

The previous version colour of these bands was clearer and once they got streched they turned to light violet but now, as you can see from the picture, the colour remains the same.

Thanks to the intuition of Simone Gallini who introduced the 14.5mm format, already used in other countries like USA, this product has revolutioned the market, breaking the local spearos's common beliefs. The Brown Reactive is sold in the usual formats 16mm, 17.5mm and 19mm but the 14.5mm one was actually designed for speros who prefer multi-bands railguns, a 14.5mm couple makes charging operations much easier with as much power as a 17mm one.

A 17.5mm couple with a 3.5 strech ratio ensures a 45-50 kilos traction, and the elasticity loss after a 30 minutes traction ranges between 1 and 2%. I tested myself this product from SIGALSUB and it is simply perfect. I mounted a pair of them on an Ermes Carribean 110 and at first sight it was nice to look at. Bearing in mind the woodgun dimensions and the 3.3 strech ratio I thought I had to experience some problems in streching the bands!

Instead it was very easy and this led me to think that the woodgun performances would have been not that good but at the first shot I changed my mind as the spear went out very fastly hitting the target with great power.

In the picture above you can note the status of the bands after using them for a season, still perfect!
Here below you can watch some catches made with an 82cm wooden railgun, double bands and Sigal shaft with cone. You can see by yourself how powerful and fast the spear is propelled by two pairs of SIGAL BROWN REACTIVE.
 

ANDREA SETTIMI: GFT AGGUATO CARBON BLADES TEST

TEST: GFT CARBONIO AGGUATO

BY ANDREA SETTIMI TEAM LEROI DESIGN MEMBER

Andrea Settimi, a very experienced spearo that has recently gained the bronze medal in the difficult waters of Bosa at the 2010 italian spearfishing championship, will tell us about the GFT carbon blades, the only ones in the world built with aerospace technology ...

I have been testing the GFT Agguato M carbon blades, (provided by Federico Sensi from InDive shop), for a long period, about 30 days of fishing because you need to get used to a new piece of equipment, especially about fins that are our propellers, in order to give a proper judgement.

At first, after wearing them, I felt a sensation of absolute comfort thanks to Salvimar very soft and wrapping foot pockets. The blades are not at all heavy but extremely light and provide you with a fluid thrust that turns the descent to the bottom into something very simple.

This is something that people used to techno polymer fins cannot do without. I have tested this model also during the summertime to a maximum depth of about 27metres and they did great.
 

I only have some concerns about two points:

1) the height of the side-member, on one hand works great avoiding fins to skid, on the other hand tires the ankles during the glides to explore the bottom.
 

2) The second point is in fact an aesthetic opinion regarding the little space left after mounting the blades in the foot pockets.

However this could be solved by filling the space with a bit of black silicone, and in no case it affects the blade performance.
At the end this is surely an excellent product made 100% with carbon providing divers with best performance and HIGH SAFETY.

 Andrea Settimi

LEROI DESIGN: TRICK POWER

LEROI DESIGN: TRICK POWER

THE REVOLUTIONARY VEST

Leroi design, a company with over 20 years of experience in manufacturing high quality made to measure wetsuits has lately broke into the market with a sensational weight system destined to change the actual way of spearfishing.

During the wintertime the vest is an essential instrument especially when we dive in shallow waters but very often we have to face the following problems:

1. The vest slides towards the head
2. The stripes on the shoulders constrain and obstacle movements
3. The sliding of the vest make noises that alert the fishes

Thanks to the simple idea of my friend Toni Piscitelli this is all history! He patented the “TRICK POWER” a vest without stripes that you can attach directly on the wetsuit through a Velcro system.

The jacket is made with a neoprene inset already covered in velcro that goes from the base of the hood to the shoulders and it ends up on the upper part of the back.

This way you just need to put on the “TRICK POWER” vest previously filled with the belt weights up to 4kg and that’s it.!

This reduced dimensions system ensures a firm hold and a fast assembly and it is further provided with the same camouflage of the suit you order!

If all this did not convince you all you have to do is to watch the video below to see it in action! For further info click on WWW.LEROIDESIGN.IT

RAILGUN TEST: ROB ALLEN SHANTI 90

RAILGUN TEST:

ROB ALLEN SHANTI 90

I had the pleasure to test a speargun from Rob Allen, a South African company well known in many countries with a long spearfishing tradition like USA, Australia and Portugal.
It was established over 20 years ago by the two founders Rob Allen and Jeremy Williams and with its products it has supported a lot of champions while catching their world record preys all over the world.
The railgun I have tested is the “Shanti”, a 90cm ocean mimetic carbon gear.

THE BARREL
Lightweight and extremely handy it allows you to easily aim the fishes and to shoot instinctively. It is provided with an integral rail guiding out the 6.6mm spear the gear is equipped with.
The barrel is available with green or blue water camouflage or without any so carbon coloured.

THE MUZZLE
The plastic muzzle allows to put in place a circular band although it is a “closed” one. The gear is provided with a 16mm blue coloured circular band with line ogive, however the muzzle allows you to mount an extra circular band on.

THE SPEAR
The spear the gear is originally equipped with has two main features that are not so common among local products: the tip and the notches.

The spear tip is a tri-cut one that ensures its integrity and penetration power even after hitting several times the rocks. In regards to the notches this spear has just one of them near the shank in order to eliminate a weakness point.

THE SETTINGS
The setting of this gear is clearly destined to a different conception of spearfishing, more oriented to big the tropical preys.
This is far evident in the spear features as in the bungee and the big snapclip with swivel to link the spear to the buoy.
However this difference does not represent a problem but a proof this railgun was designed to endure a greater stress and that is destined to have a great success in our waters where there are very few 50kilos monsters.

EURO SETTINGS
Before use you need to make a few modifications that are even suggested by the Rob Allen Portuguese website.
First of all you need to drill twice the barrel near the handle in order to screw the reel mounting part in. Then you have to drill the muzzle to screw in an inox ring or eyelet to pass the mono line through.
Just to find myself at my ease I removed the snapclip and the bungee as its function was performed by the reel. At the end my opinion about this railgun is definitely positive.

ERMES SUB: THE SPEARFISHING REVOLUTION

ERMES SUB:

THE SPEARFISHING REVOLUTION

In the last few years through its innovative ideas Ermes Sub has revolutionized the concept itself of arbalete, hitting the market with solutions never conceived before.

When everybody thought the variables to take into account to improve the gun performances were the well-known ones like the barrel (lighter, tapered, wooden or in aluminium) or the bands (single or multiples) here this little Apulia company comes to shuffle the cards bringing a new release mechanism able to enhance the gun propelling capacity to spear fishers knowledge.

It’s called “Innovation” and it mainly has three advantages: increase the stroke of the bands, ensure a more fluid thrust to the spear and neutralize its weak points. How all this could ever be possible?

It’s simple! You need to use a modified spear (as in the picture below) allowing the ogive to hook it right from the back with no tension until the trigger get pulled. In fact until that moment the bands are hooked right on the mechanism and once it gets released thrusts the spear more fluidly and with a more linear trajectory.

This way a 110cm barrel gains 10cm in length for the bands to exploit and this turns your spear gun in a more powerful weapon ensuring an higher percentage of catches since the spear has no more notches.

In the last few months the company designer has projected two new products solving other two problems in creating an arbalete: a traditional rear mechanism and an horizontal professional reel.

BACK 

The main feature of the new release mechanism “Back” designed for traditional spears is the position of the cog situated behind the trigger. This allows to rear spear hooking point without compromise the room destined to the handle. A simple idea allowing the spear fisher to exploit the barrel to the max.

FALCO

The other remarkable brand new product is the “Falco” reel with horizontal spool. In opposition to the others available in the market, this reel is designed with a U-shaped stirrup rather than with an L-shaped one, ensuring increate robustness. In addition it is provided with a spring clutch and with an handle well separated from the reel. It is designed to be mounted on all kinds of spearguns.