Spearfishing has been popular all over the world for many centuries now. Early spearfishers used to spear fish from rivers and streams, often using sharpened sticks. Nowadays, however, spearfishing can be done in a variety of ways, using a variety of gears. Some of the ways in which spearfishing is carried out include free-diving, snorkeling, and scuba diving. And one of the most common spearfishing gears is the speargun.
Considered an essential and undeniably useful piece of diving equipment, the speargun is a device used for shooting underwater by way of gas under pressure, or by a strong rubber band or powerful spring. It is basically used to catch fish.
Like your basic diving equipment, this underwater gun is classified according to its users’ level of expertise. It is also important to take into the account the type of environment for which the speargun is to be used. After all, this diving equipment is just as dangerous as the most common types of guns.
Only experienced divers and spearfishers should use the advanced or complicated type of spearfishing gun. The most common ones normally used by divers of all levels of expertise are the band style and pneumatic guns. A pneumatic speargun is powered by air and can be re-compressed underwater. It is usually used for close kills. A band style spearfishing gun, on the other hand, has one to three bands which are pulled back and put into notches on the spear.
Power and precision are important elements for a speargun. The most accurate and powerful ones are those with an inline propulsion system.
These spearfishing guns are normally in 16 or 20mm. For divers who are basically new to the sport, the best option would be to use the 16 mm one as it is best for a beginner’s level of expertise.
Although some locations consider it illegal to spearfish using a speargun or any SCUBA and artificial breathing apparatus, there are still quite a number of scuba divers who spearfish for fun or as a sport.
