TEST: FIREBLADE 95 

BY GRANDA SUB

It’s with pride and satisfaction that I write this review on the fireblade 95 produced by the Croatian company GrandaSub. First of all, it must be specified that these spearguns, built up with ten strips of fine mahogany, are shaped with a CNC machine and finished by hand. The weapon is presented with an attractive design thanks to the carbon sheets wrapping both the handle and the initial part of the barrel and to the black lacquer which finishes the rest. Finally, this aggressiveness image is completed by the carbon inserts applied to the leads compartment and below the handle. The barrel, 118cm long, has a profile which narrows towards the front end with a section ranging from 6.8cm (near the mechanism area) to 4.2cm, while the center is about 6cm wide. Its height is 3.8cm and remains constant for almost the entire length, because only at the tip it gets slightly thinner (3.4cm).

This speargun is designed with a shaft guide running from mid-barrel to the head and two band guides with same length. These modifications provide several advantages since for example thanks to the flat profile in the mechanism zone, the operation of hooking and unhooking the bands is facilitated. Furthermore the guides of the bands are designed to accommodate their silhouette under tension by creating a more uniform profile that avoids the generation of vibrations during the swing, making a silent weapon of it. The release mechanism is a patent by Granda Sub made with laser cutting machines and belonging to the family of the “reverse” ones. Thanks to the position of his tooth it allows to gain a few inches of traction. It has no sensitivity controls and has a long stroke of the trigger that avoids the possibility of accidental shots as it often happens with too sensitive spearguns. The trigger must be pulled for about 2cm to release the shaft.

The ergonomic and anti-slip handle accommodates well the hand providing the thumb with a a strong point of support for its entire length through an accentuated protrusion. The fully laid index reaches intuitively the end of the hilt and it easily gets through it even when wearing a 5mm glove as shown in the picture. The tested speargun is equipped with an horizontal reel with a 1.5mm line capacity up to 30mt, however GrandaSub also produces reels with greater capacity. They are installed in a groove carved in the barrel that allows, if you wish, to accommodate also other models from other manufacturers. The strength of these reels is the friction that actually plays its role, opening and closing with ease. These weapons are standard supplied with bands and pinned shafts by Sigal Sub, which is already a guarantee itself.

In the water it soon turns out that the weapon is already balanced and does not sink in any direction. The handle ensures a secure grip and swinging it provides a feeling of stability also because of the large section of the initial part of the barrel. Taking the aim is easy and the trajectory of the shot remains clean because the mass of the arbalete absorb the recoil that turns to be then barely noticeable. It is important to consider that this speargun has a 99cm stroke for both bands and it has been equipped with two 17.5mm black ones. The shaft instead is a 6.75mm by Sigalsub. A double traction of almost 100cm on a 95cm speargun could hardly stress many other products with the same dimensions! It is a very powerful weapon and it keeps an ease of swing despite the total weight (including shaft, bands, etc) is approximately 2.5kg.

TRIPLE BANDS 110 CARBONTECH 

BY GRANDA SUB

It’s with pleasure that I present you one of the latest generation spearguns by the Croatian firm Granda Sub. The latest changes introduced by its engineers on the barrel continue to amaze turning the three bands 110 Carbontech into the best-selling model. Compared to earlier versions, the hydrodynamics is further improved although the mass was proportionally increased.

The barrel of the gun in the first two thirds (towards the muzzle) was reduced in volume to make easier sudden changes of direction and the new band-guides carved into the barrel ensure a more silent shot. Both the barrel and the handle are made of 10 strips of mahogany and as all the other CarbonTech spearguns, 180gr carbon sheets are used for coating (three layers for the barrel and four for the handle). The shaft-guide is made of graphite to better withstand the test of time and the ballast cases below the speargun are also made of carbon.

The ergonomic handle, available also for left-handers, is a new concept and due to the greater length and height reduces the recoil and has an easy swing, so that a slight push of the index finger ensures fast changes of direction. This arbalete is equipped with 145cm in length and 7mm in thickness shafts as in the overall design of the weapon (the mass of which, fully set up, is only 3 kilos) they give the highest power and precision to the shot.

The setting of this speargun is so extreme that the Italian firm Sigal Sub, already known more for the excellence of its products, manufactures an EXTREME shafts line specially designed for Granda’s CarbonTech models. They have in fact in the last 6 cm 3 pins placed at only 3 cm from each other.

The use of such shafts allows to apply a triple 110cm traction, in opposition to what happens with the other railguns on the market. This is also possible thanks to the special release mechanism and the compact design of the barrel able to enclose all this power in a smaller space!

The Granda firm guarantees that this weapon is able to pass through a 20kilos amberjack at six meters from the tip of the shaft.

Here's a quick standard equipment with which the railgun is supplied by the manufacturer:

Shaft - 145 X 7 mm

Bands 3 X 18 mm

Reel 90 m with 1.5 mm dyneema

Maximum height of the barrel 38 mm, 35 mm in the middle and at the muzzle 33 mm

Maximum width of the barrel 80 mm, 60 mm in the middle and at the muzzle 40 mm

Total weight 3100gr

Click here for the price list

SIGALSUB EXTREME BANDS 

NEW 2013

Simone Gallini, owner of Sigalsub, in recent years has spoiled us with his wonderful shafts and with its unique  Reactive Brown bands, whose progressive force combined with the brown thin coextrusion has built up an unquestionable image of reliability and power in many spearos. Anything with similar features was impossible to find in the market so after such a success, how could anybody imagine that the Italian company could anyhow improve its bands?

Well, so be prepared for an extreme Christmas because next year in his catalog Simone will introduce the new EXTREME bands!

The EXTREME are black bands designed specifically for Sigal. They represent a different product from Brown Reactive although their design has benefited from the experience gained with the latter ones. They have in fact the same micro-coextrusion but with a different colour, still to be defined. In the final version it should be close to the aubergine one with a shade able to avoid that the bands "light up" when under traction.

The secret recipe of these bands and a tiny smart trick (which I will reveal later on) provide a higher concentration of elastic material in the unit of space considered resulting practically in a significant performance improvement. In other words if you cut for example a circular section of a 17.5mm EXTREME band and a section of equal dimensions of another 17.5mm band, in the first there will be a greater density of rubber. You just need to know that they can withstand a 400% traction with no effects on their mechanical properties.

The manufacturer declares that these modifications are designed to ensure a 4-5% performance improvement but they actually work even better. People like me who have tried them can say with confidence that a 16mm pushes the shaft like a 17.5mm and 17.5mm as a 19mm.
The EXTREME will be available in the following sizes but only starting from next year spring: 13mm, 14mm, 16mm, 17.5mm and 19mm.

Soon a test will be published with video and photos.

SAPLAST ECOLOGIC WEIGHTS

ELLENY & TORTUGA: INNOVATION AND DESIGN

I have always found the Saplast products very interesting and finally I am pleased to tell you that I successfully tested them and that they matched 100% my expectations. For all those who don’t know it yet, Saplast is an Italian company headed by Mr. Negri operating in the underwater equipment market for over 20 years  and that in recent years has distinguished itself for the realization of ecological weights.

They are different from those we are used to buy for two main reasons: in first place the absence of lead (highly hazardous to the marine ecosystem) and then the presence of a special patented plastic coating that makes them very resistant against external agents and aesthetically appealing. This coating, available in brown-green camouflage (but also in very bright colors), is also very good at solving another important issue related to the use of common weights: their deformation. The continuous stresses due to impact against the rocks, either during our spearfishing activity or out of the water when we lazily let the belt fall to the ground, tend to deform the original shape of the weights narrowing the slots for the passage of the belt and creating bumps causing permanent damage to the elastic belts.

The spearfishing line is enriched with several useful accessories such as elastic belts, 300gr drop weights, quick release weights and 1kg or 500g "charly" anklets made in soft plastic with Velcro closure. However, the real jewel in the crown, is the now famous "tortuga". This is a vest made entirely of soft plastic in which are inserted four metal discs 750gr each that make it look like a turtle, hence its name, for a total weight of 3 kilos. The discs are not changeable but we can make the vest heavier the same with an innovative trick. If we want to make it lighter than three kilos, there is nothing we can do but if we want to make it heavier, the tortuga is provided with a central hole specially designed for the use one of the most useful weights by Saplast: the Eleny.

The Eleny is a plastic coated weight, provided with a threaded pin which can be screwed on a plastic support aimed to hold it tight to the vest and at the same time to be easy removable. The greatness of this product lies in the possibility to insert the belt through the loops of its plastic support turning it into a quick release belt weight to unscrew rather than pull to remove. Thanks to this device the tortuga becomes a valuable support during winter when inevitably we use a lot of weights and we need to spread them over the body. The shoulder straps, made with the same rubber used to manufacture elastic belts, together with the PVC tube (locking the vest in the lower part) ensure a firm grip especially on lined wetsuits. On the web we can often find suggestions aimed at making it easier wear but I can guarantee that it is absolutely unnecessary since the product is already functional as it is.

In short, these items have all the right numbers to resist much longer to usage while adding a touch of "stylish camouflage" to our equipment, try them!