Farallon Shark Dart ??

[manni-yunk]

I found the Farallon Shark Dart reliable only if you can hit them in a limited area in the gut. I suppose it could work in other areas but getting adequate penetration is very difficult at the toothy end. The "needle" alone is often enough to make them look elsewhere though.

Power heads work anywhere you can get a solid hit. I have had occasion to use both while riding shotgun for friends spearfishing in Baja. With either device, getting out of the water is a good idea since their cannibalistic friends get excited pretty fast. Most of the time a little prodding or aggressive behavior alone works.

Using either is a pretty risky business. Both devices fail on a glancing blow and you don’t need one at all unless the animal is exceptionally aggressive. Either is also useless in mediocre visibility since you can't react fast enough when you really needed to.

I am thinking about powerheads - but they see inherintly less safe.


I wasnt aware that the farralon dart was only effective with a gut shot.

Ive have seen sharks, large sharks, survive several direct shots with a shotgun slug and get very, very angry.

Understood about the vis - and usually we are extatic to get mediocre visibility. I would hate to be 100 feet deep with great vis and think "I wish I bought that dart (or powerhead)." Really this is about overplanning. But still.


I dont think its likely to really need or ever use one - but I would love to avoid the previous scenario.

 

[Walter]

Funny you said that - I mentioned to a friend this morning that we could probably get one made if we got our hands on one to see how they work.

There are detailed photos of one posted on ScubaBoard. If you can't find them, I'll e-mail them to you if you send your e-mail address to me via PM.

I looked into the sharkshield last year. Do they work? Is a "buddy" at risk ih he touches it?

They work. They are no danger to humans.

If you consider only scuba divers who were not spear fishing, you can count the number of sharks attacks on one hand and still have enough fingers left over to hold a cold beer.

So much for sticking to facts. We all agree shark attacks are rare. Shark attacks on divers are rarer still. They are not nearly as rare as you would have us believe.

I am thinking about powerheads - but they see inherintly less safe.

Both can kill a shark or a person. Both require extreme care. Both have safeties.

Ive have seen sharks, large sharks, survive several direct shots with a shotgun slug and get very, very angry.

It's not the slug, but the expanding gasses that kill the shark with a powerhead.

 

[Akimbo]

…
I wasnt aware that the farralon dart was only effective with a gut shot.

Ive have seen sharks, large sharks, survive several direct shots with a shotgun slug and get very, very angry. ...

It is not that it is only effective with a gut shot, but more accurately that it is very hard to get sufficient penetration into a cavity at the head and most of the mussel mass is tough enough that the air leaks out the hole without disabling them. Photo was a gut shot from the side.

I agree about the one-shot nature of a power head. I have not had one come back pissed, but I have had glance-offs that didn't go off. One thing I did learn, one person can't protect more than one spearfisherman at a time. I also have very little confidence that you can do much against a whitey or Mako over 8-10' — without a lucky shot anyway.

 

[TMHeimer]

I respectfully find your analogy fatally flawed in it it based on horrible assumptions.

Are more people, domestically, attacked by a terrorist or by a shark? Remember that the shark stats usually discount a lot of situations including those that are provoked - or where someone is spearfishing nearby.

Do I think it is likely - NO. But I also dont think its likely to need my pony - I still carry one.

Although we want to try to protect sharks - I believe that they do, from time to time, attack. Plenty of threads on here supporting that. We, as a society, went from being shark haters and killers - to the exact opposite, where we want to doubt that they do, from time to time, attack.


Agree on everything. Any defense against a shark makes sense to me. Shark statistics, I think, are pretty meaningless. "You are more likely to die from blah blah blah....than from a shark", etc. Oh, South Jersey is OK, but watch out for the rest (not talking about sharks).

 

[manni-yunk]

Agree on everything. Any defense against a shark makes sense to me. Shark statistics, I think, are pretty meaningless. "You are more likely to die from blah blah blah....than from a shark", etc. Oh, South Jersey is OK, but watch out for the rest (not talking about sharks).

The rest of what - the locals?

We dont stray to far North of Ocean City - mostly in Cape May and Wildwood so our NJ is a different world

 

[AfterDark]

After reading this thread it seems to me at least that having a shark dart or "bang stick" is more of a security blanket type thing. Most people attacked by a shark say they never seen it coming so having a weapon may not do much good.

The shark would probably be more interested in your fish than you. IMO give him the fish and get out of the area / water. I used the fish dangling from the float tactic. If I felt the float getting pulled (never did) I'd just let go of the line, and start swimming towards the shore / boat.

 

[manni-yunk]

After reading this thread it seems to me at least that having a shark dart or "bang stick" is more of a security blanket type thing. Most people attacked by a shark say they never seen it coming so having a weapon may not do much good.

The shark would probably be more interested in your fish than you. IMO give him the fish and get out of the area / water. I used the fish dangling from the float tactic. If I felt the float getting pulled (never did) I'd just let go of the line, and start swimming towards the shore / boat.

Go read one of the spearfishing forums and you will see PLENTY of people that have defended themselves with what you call their security blanket.

Also - it is commonly considered one of the worst things to do to let go of your stringer. First - it oculd put the shark into a more aggressive feeding frenzy and that can have even more unpredictable outcomes if the shark continues to associate you with food as you try to get out of there. Also - some believe it trains the sharks to expect food from divers.

I have dropped a fish before - but that was an almost OOA scenario with a very aggressive reef shark in 100 fsw. Looking back I probably had other options -

 

[Johnoly]

Interesting thread, I had no idea how widespread the misconceptions about sharks were among divers.

I spearfish in Jupiter Florida which is one of the top shark locations in the US. I solo dive with the Freedom 4 shark shield and I can tell you from many attacks that it does work effectively but it's not a guarentee. I have had bull sharks come in so fast that they ignore the pain to try and snatch my stringer. Powerheads are the same way and not 100% effective.

Additionally, if you are using a Beco or Slip-on PPD, you'll need to change out rounds every dive or at a least seal the primers and casing with nail polish since at depth there is a good chance of water intrustion. Lastly about PPD's is that I don't know of a single charter that will allow them on their boats. Too much liability. You'll see most of them on private boats or a commercial boat typically if they are after AJ's since it's time effective and the price point & body appearance on AJ's isn't a factor.

Never drop your fish, alway 'lift' your fish. There really isn't a reason to kill a shark if you have been spearing a while and know what you're doing. Come dive with us in Jupiter around the April / May months and I'll show you more aggressive Bulls than you've every seen.

 

[AfterDark]

Go read one of the spearfishing forums and you will see PLENTY of people that have defended themselves with what you call their security blanket.

Also - it is commonly considered one of the worst things to do to let go of your stringer. First - it oculd put the shark into a more aggressive feeding frenzy and that can have even more unpredictable outcomes if the shark continues to associate you with food as you try to get out of there. Also - some believe it trains the sharks to expect food from divers.

I have dropped a fish before - but that was an almost OOA scenario with a very aggressive reef shark in 100 fsw. Looking back I probably had other options -

The point of my post was that usually the shark you don't see is the one that hits you. How does one prove that the ones that are seen and "darted" were really going to attack anyway? I'm not against anything that makes anyone feel more secure in the water. I don't spearfish anymore and never encountered a shark when I did so hands on experience for me is zero. While it maybe true that sharks in clear water can associate the fish to the diver, if a diver is carrying them on a stringer attached to him/herself. I spearfished in low vis conditions. My stringer hanging from a tube floating 20’ – 30’above me in 10’vis water wasn't likely to be connected to me by a shark. I don't think they are quite that smart. Are they?

 

[Akimbo]

... My stringer hanging from a tube floating 20’ – 30’above me in 10’vis water wasn't likely to be connected to me by a shark. I don't think they are quite that smart. Are they?

I can't answer that question, but I can say that hanging a stringer full of fish from a float often gets them eaten by sea lions in this area. Not a good solution since sea lions are whitey's favorite lunch.