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All About Pole Spears & Slings What is it about that traditional method of the early hunter/gatherers under the water? These devices are indeed interesting and effective.

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Old 08-01-2013, 04:49 PM   #1
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Thumbs up Florida Freedivers Forensic Files - 2 Slip Tip Options for Pole Spears & Shafts!

Florida Freedivers Forensic Files

Today's product spotlight- 2 different slip tip options for your pole spear!

Let's take a detailed look at 2 of the most popular slip tip set-ups that we equip pole spears with here at the shop on a daily basis- the Sea Stinger Stinger tip system and the Head Hunter ShowStopper tip system. We see a large amount of orders for these products and ship them out internationally to pole spearos around the globe!



(If you haven't read about our new product review initiative here at Florida Freedivers, check it out here! http://spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=163001 )




Let's first look at the Sea Stinger tip system. These thread on to any standard 6mm male threaded pole spear and have a lot of neat features that make the Sea Stinger unique. They feature a hex adaptor that allows you to wrench this set-up tightly on to your pole spear. The shaft is made out of hardened 17-4 PH stainless steel Sea Stinger offers this set-up in three different styles. All three styles use the same exact modular tip that has a 3/16" inside diameter. Sea Stinger offers...

Stinger #1 "Skinny"
This set-up is just under 14" in total length and has a 3/16" shaft. It's designed for pole spears and hawain slings and designed for shooting fish under 15 lbs. The thin shaft will cause little damage to the fish thus releasing less blood into the water. Sells for $34.95.

Stinger #2 "Fat"
This one is about 10" in total length and features a 5/16" shaft that tapers down to the 3/16" tip inside diameter at the end. This can be used a heavy duty pole spear tip or on the end of a spear gun. This tip is for fish larger that 15lbs. Sells for $39.95

Stinger #3 "Beast"
The beast set-up is essentially the same as #2 but longer, measuring in at 15" in total length. Sells for $45.95.


The Sea Stinger tips use a really unique stainless braided cable retention system that quickly and easily disconnects when it's time to remove your fish. I took detailed photos of how the assembly works and I'll try my best to describe it with typeface....

There are a few different components that are fixed around the main shaft of the tip assembly that work together in order to hold and then release the stainless braided line (and tip) when desired. The stainless braided line itself has a small melted steel (welded) bead on the end of the cable. Once you slip the actual pointed tip onto the shaft of the assembly, you take the stainless line and feed the small bead end through one of three holes that are drilled through the first of two collars. This first collar with holes in it is held tight to the shaft and does not rotate and you can pass the stainless line through any one of the 3 holes. There is then a second collar that has machined knurls for grip that DOES rotate around the shaft that has a single machined "groove" or "channel" in it that must be lined up precisely (by rotating collar) with one of the three holes in the previous described collar in order for the weld bead to pass through. Once the bead has passed through the hole and through the machined channel, you rotate the knurled collar so that the groove no longer lines up with the hole, thus locking the bead and preventing the line from pulling back out until the groove is once again lined up.

Hopefully I explain that in an understandable way, it's a pretty rad design.

The o-ring is to provide friction against the braided stainless line so that when you pull the slack line taunt, the tension keeps the line taunt and keeps the slip tip secure on the end of the shaft.


Sea Stinger also sells "rebuild" kits for their systems. You can purchase a replacement slip tip on it's own with a single braided cable ($19.95), or they also offer a kit that comes with just 2 of the braided cable assemblies ($15.95) so if you loose or bend/break one piece of the assembly you're not left having to purchasing a whole kit again. Pretty cool!




Another top performer in the slip tip category is the Head Hunter ShowStopper system. The machining quality on Head Hunter products is absolutely incredible and their tip systems uses a simple yet brilliant design that has offers incredibly quick functionality, especially under water while wearing gloves.

Head Hunter offers their ShowStopper slip tip system as default equipment on all of there Predator pole spears and they also offer this system in a slightly different "universal" design to fit other brand pole spears such as Riffe's. The Head Hunter system uses a standard 6mm thread that is male threaded. If your pole spear is male threaded as well, a simple female/female union adaptor will allow you to still use this tip system. The injector shaft and tip assembly measures about 13" from end to end.

As I said above, Head Hunter really incorporates some precision machining into their products. Their products are machined by computerized CNC machines within extremely tight tolerances. This benefits the user in multiple ways- the largest benefit being that their tip system is 100% modular. This means that if you loose or damage the tip of your ShowStopper system or if you happen to bend the injection shaft portion, you can simply purchase a new tip/shaft on it's own and rest assured that it will fit with the rest of your ShowStopper parts precisely. This is not the case with lots of other slip tips on the market that are machined (turned down) by hand on a lathe. With those, each shaft and tip are machined together as a unique pair and they do not always fit another in a modular way.


The ShowStopper system uses a stainless tip that has a braided stainless line attached to it with a crimped loop on the opposite end of the cable. There is another small crimped stainless 1" braided loop on the base of the injection shaft (or on the end of your pole spear if you're using a Head Hunter Predator spear). To secure the tip, you slip the looped end of the line up through the loop on the shaft heading towards the end of the shaft. Then pass the looped end up, over the end of the injection shaft and slide it back down the shaft towards the pole spear. There is then a rubber band assembly that pulls the braided cable taunt keeping the slip tip held tight to the injection shaft. With the rubber band pulling the line taunt, it's impossible for the braided line loop to work it's way back over the tip without you manually sliding it all the way back up and over the end. This is a very quick system that works really well and there are no small parts to fiddle with if you are wearing thick gloves.

As I hinted to above, the ShowStopper system is available in two configurations, one for Head Hunter pole spears and one for other branded pole spears. The only difference in the system is that the non Head Hunter specific kit includes the braided "pass-through" ring on the injection shaft itself where as the Head Hunter specific model does not because the Predator pole spear has this loop integrated into the actual end of the pole spear itself. The Predator specific model also has a retention ring machined below the threads that's designed to lock the shaft into the predator pole end with a set screw so it will never loosen up on you.


The ShowStopper is sold mostly in separate pieces really taking advantage of that modular compatibility that I described above. The pricing is as follows...

Injector Rod (Predator pole spear specific) $19.95
Injector Rod (universal for Riffe, Gatku, etc...) $21.95 - includes rubber band kit
Slip Tip w/ cable $34.95
Cable Replacement Kit (both cable sections) $6.95
Retaining Band Kit $4.95







This about wraps up the word portion of this Florida Freedivers Forensic File. We hope you were able to gather some knowledge and intel about these two great products and ultimately we hope that the effort we put into this will help you make a more educated buying decision if/when it comes time for you to purchase a slip tip set up. Our customers as well as our staff here at the shop have personally used both of these slip tips and have found them to perform really well.



PLEASE FEEL FREE to ask any questions that you may have about any of these tips and please submit feedback here if you have personal experience with these product so the community can really gain from this thread. This thread is now open for OPEN DISCUSSION.





If you would like to call us, email us, or swing by the shop to ask any more questions or to place an order for any of these items, You can call us Monday-Saturday at +1 561-848-0678 or all the rest of our contact info can be found here. We always have these items in stock and ready to ship out the same day internationally.



Thank you all!


-Nick Nardone
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Last edited by Florida Freedivers; 08-01-2013 at 05:07 PM.
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Old 08-01-2013, 04:50 PM   #2
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Re: Florida Freedivers Forensic Files - 2 Slip Tip Options for Pole Spears & Shafts!















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Old 08-01-2013, 04:51 PM   #3
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Old 08-03-2013, 01:06 PM   #4
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Re: Florida Freedivers Forensic Files - 2 Slip Tip Options for Pole Spears & Shafts!

Great write up
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Old 08-03-2013, 06:14 PM   #5
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Re: Florida Freedivers Forensic Files - 2 Slip Tip Options for Pole Spears & Shafts!

Forgive the dumb question. Does the red rubber band or o-ring rip or tear with every shot?
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Old 08-07-2013, 08:47 AM   #6
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Re: Florida Freedivers Forensic Files - 2 Slip Tip Options for Pole Spears & Shafts!

no, it doesn't tear with every shot... I have been using mine for 3 days and it is in good shape. but I can tell due to the constant tension and wear and tear (uv rays, salt water, use/abuse) the red rubber band will break eventually, and the o-ring too. so it is good to keep a few extras on the boat or in your gear bag, because when it breaks you won't be able to use the spear. My spear came with a bag of a couple extra rubber bands and a couple O-rings, however for future replacement you could just find something similar, it is not necessary to go buy the identical ones from headhunter... they are pretty generic. I think at an office supply store you would be looking for "postal bundle rubber bands" or something like that.
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Old 08-08-2013, 08:58 AM   #7
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Re: Florida Freedivers Forensic Files - 2 Slip Tip Options for Pole Spears & Shafts!

Quote:
Originally Posted by LunkerBuster View Post
Great write up
Thanks dude!



Quote:
Originally Posted by searun View Post
Forgive the dumb question. Does the red rubber band or o-ring rip or tear with every shot?
Not a dumb question at all!

The elasticity of the rubber bands that Head Hunter uses is really incredible. They are top quality bands and have a massive amount of stretch to them. We see them very resilient to breaking, but like every piece of salt water equipment, they will wear out eventually.



Quote:
Originally Posted by IowaDiver View Post
no, it doesn't tear with every shot... I have been using mine for 3 days and it is in good shape. but I can tell due to the constant tension and wear and tear (uv rays, salt water, use/abuse) the red rubber band will break eventually, and the o-ring too. so it is good to keep a few extras on the boat or in your gear bag, because when it breaks you won't be able to use the spear. My spear came with a bag of a couple extra rubber bands and a couple O-rings, however for future replacement you could just find something similar, it is not necessary to go buy the identical ones from headhunter... they are pretty generic. I think at an office supply store you would be looking for "postal bundle rubber bands" or something like that.
Thanks for the great wisdom and words of experience.

IowaDiver is correct, Head Hunter does include multiple rubber bands and replacement o-rings with each one of their kits, and they also market a replacement band kit which includes a bunch of extra bands for just $4.95. It would probably cost you about that much just in fuel alone to drive to your local office supply store to search for replacements.
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Old 04-01-2014, 01:54 PM   #8
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Re: Florida Freedivers Forensic Files - 2 Slip Tip Options for Pole Spears & Shafts!

I have found the Sea Stinger cable somewhat difficult to thread through back through the hole with gloves on, especially if the cable is kinked at the bottom which happens when large fish pull. In fact, I typically have to remove one glove to get it back through but I wear kevlar gloves that don't have great dexterity. Also, if you forget to twist the lock ring then say goodbye to your tip. I still like it but am curious enough to try a different brand.
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Old 04-04-2014, 11:48 PM   #9
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Re: Florida Freedivers Forensic Files - 2 Slip Tip Options for Pole Spears & Shafts!

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I have found the Sea Stinger cable somewhat difficult to thread through back through the hole with gloves on, especially if the cable is kinked at the bottom which happens when large fish pull. In fact, I typically have to remove one glove to get it back through but I wear kevlar gloves that don't have great dexterity. Also, if you forget to twist the lock ring then say goodbye to your tip. I still like it but am curious enough to try a different brand.

Definitely give the Head Hunter one a shot! He has done a great job with it, and it's easy to use with gloves.
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