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Diving Safety, Accidents and Incidents Post here to discuss accidents, incidents, ideas, gear, or anything else to improve spearfishing safety. Memorials and condolences threads should be placed in that separate forum.

View Poll Results: Have you ever speared another diver/spearo?
Yes. More than once 4 2.27%
Yes, and it can happen to anyone. 3 1.70%
No 65 36.93%
No, It is easily avoided. 104 59.09%
Voters: 176. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 09-25-2010, 09:03 PM   #1
Gerald C. Perry
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Have you speared another spearo?

Spearing another spearo is irresponsible and easily prevented. With or without a safety, it is possible to live your entire life spearfishing and not spear a fellow fisherman. I know hundreds of spearos and I have never heard of a single incident when they have speared a human. Beginner fishermen have been known to point thier gun at other people but after a scolding, they stop or they are no longer invited. (I changed the word-stupid-to irresponsible) Not a good word I guess.

I always treat the gun as if it could fire randomly at anytime. I do not see any other way to safely deal with a loaded gun. Relying on a safety is risky. In other words, treating the gun as if it is somehow it is impossible to shoot as long as the safety is on.
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Last edited by Gerald C. Perry; 09-27-2010 at 07:42 AM.
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Old 09-25-2010, 09:28 PM   #2
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Re: Have you speared another spearo?

haven't speared anyone else
did spear myself though, wading around with a polespear at night i turned to get out and kicked the tip super hard, still have a scar.
When I walked in the door with my foot dripping blood everywhere my grandma said "you can't fix stupid"
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Old 09-25-2010, 09:40 PM   #3
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Re: Have you speared another spearo?

I've 'looper smacked' another diver if that counts.

Don't swoop my honey hole of bugs !!

If you can smack the diver, you're too close, go find another honey hole.
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Old 09-25-2010, 09:45 PM   #4
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Re: Have you speared another spearo?

No, I havent but...........


http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...13/2684414.htm
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Old 09-25-2010, 11:11 PM   #5
Gerald C. Perry
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Re: Have you speared another spearo?

I had my trigger fail for no apparent reason but it was pointed at the bottom. I point it there so if it happens, it will not hit anyone.
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Old 09-26-2010, 02:55 AM   #6
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Re: Have you speared another spearo?

Face it most spearos wouldn't fess up if they did,
that's almost like admitting you did something perverted when you were a kid
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Old 09-26-2010, 04:12 AM   #7
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Re: Have you speared another spearo?

While out at Treasure Island one day my buddy Fernando and I talked a couple beginner spearos that we met by the parking lot into toughing out the rough conditions. When we got to the point and realized it wasn't really doable, Fernando and two of the others headed back in, but I was being persistent and wanted to check it out a little more. I asked the guy with swimming goggles, polespear and no snorkel if he wanted to go on a bit and he said "sure".

The swells were pretty good size on the point and one knocked us into each other and I guess he lost grip of his cocked polespear and I got jabbed in the back. It penetrated my wetsuit and broke the skin a bit, but nothing major.

We both headed in after that.
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Old 09-26-2010, 08:11 AM   #8
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Re: Have you speared another spearo?

Nope, but I have shot two different boats at different times with different spearguns that expereinced trigger failure
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Old 09-26-2010, 08:14 AM   #9
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Re: Have you speared another spearo?

Not me, but this is a true story. Two guys I usually fished with did a shore dive early one morning in the Northeast. I stayed in bed because it was too early and I am lazy and like to use a boat. Viz was marginal, as usual. One guy hit a striped bass. The normal procedure for us was to specify areas where we would hunt so that we would not be too close to each other. Anyway, they got close to each other which was ok except that the guy who got the bass body strung it. In bad viz, a striped bass shows up much better than a black wetsuit. So the other guy sees the bass and lines up for the shot when he notices funny shapes behind it which he recognizes as swim fins.
After the adrenalin flush was over, he went ashore.
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Old 09-26-2010, 08:46 AM   #10
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Re: Have you speared another spearo?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnoly View Post
I've 'looper smacked' another diver if that counts.

Don't swoop my honey hole of bugs !!

If you can smack the diver, you're too close, go find another honey hole.
Yes, Johnoly, I am also guilty of "looper smacking" another diver. This happened only once in my diving career and was a lesson given to another inexperienced diver to stay away from a small hole from where I was in the process of extracting a couple of bugs. Your advice is spot-on.
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Old 09-26-2010, 09:22 AM   #11
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Re: Have you speared another spearo?

I had a spear whizz right by me a few times - Same guy - Different day! Missing fish in stained water.

Needless to say he's been castrated by me - slightly.

KNOW your target and what is beyond - Keep your finger OFF the trigger until absolutely ready to fire - Always . Pretty easy to check to see where your partner is if freediving. We freedive and use floatlines and floats with dive flags. I tend to give people alot of space nowadays! - I don't wanna "feel the steel"!
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Old 09-26-2010, 11:00 AM   #12
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Re: Have you speared another spearo?

Got my frist speargun in 1955; never have i come close to spearing another diver.

However, there was a guy, from Oregon i believe, at the Nationals' in ~1968 who reputedly shot TWO team mates, different guys, a year apart. Neither guy would dive with him again, DUH!!! He wasn't at the Nationals in 1970; either he didn't qualify or couldn't find anyone to dive with him.

Shunning works. imho after one spears another; time to retire the speargun and get a camera.

i wonder how the rates of speros & firearms accidents compare. We have lots fewer people speared; But there are Lots more firearms. Also, i wonder the rates of freediving vs bubbler spearings.
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Old 09-26-2010, 01:51 PM   #13
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Re: Have you speared another spearo?

I've almost been speared by a fellow diver, however, it was on purpose. We were out looking for white seabass and I was about 25 ft down when I hear a gun go off, I swing my head to the left and see a shaft headed about 10' to my left and a seabass that I hadn't noticed getting poked and bolting off when the slip tip didn't penetrate it's side. I came up and asked him what happened. He replied, "I was watching you and suddenly the seabass began to swim out from the kelp to go investigate you. I didn't want to hit you, so I took a long shot before it got near you." I trust this guy with my life, but it still scared me a bit. Tell you what, it's an amazing thing to see the moment of impact only 10' away. You never get to see that normally.
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Old 09-26-2010, 03:14 PM   #14
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Re: Have you speared another spearo?

i am guilty of giving a couple female divers the shaft.......
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Old 09-26-2010, 03:29 PM   #15
Travis Jones
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Re: Have you speared another spearo?

No, but I'd like to. Any volunteers?
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