BLADEFISH Sea Jets - A Completely Different Approach

[Mr.X]

I have my own boat and found a few old wooden wrecks with my sonar. Ive used the ping pong paddle trick in the past but with these wrecks i believe i will need to move more sand than that. I like the compact size of the bladefish but im not sure which one to get ( the 3000 or 5000)

That's great! I hope you find something substantive on your wrecks! It's always fun, and definitely a blast to find something from the past!

I can't speak to the strength of these units - as I've only used Mako-style scooters to blast away silt. I can tell you that the Mako-style scooters move a heck of a lot silt away and sometimes rocks and stuff come flying at your face at full force if you don't dial back the prop settings. The other advantage is that they're strong enough to pull you forward on the granny line, or against a good NE current. Something, a lesser scooter cannot do.

Here's a side thought - attach a small bilge pump prop/motor on a piece of PVC and hook it up to a canister battery using wet mate connectors so that you have precise control of where you want to blast away your silt. Less silt and you can get into areas where a large prop cannot.

Cheers and best with your wreck discoveries.

X

 

[knotical]

We tried the 5000 the other day and were underwhelmed. Our tiniest diver got up to a very slow cruise while also kicking gently. Without kicking, it was WAY slow.

 

[knotical]

Also, this video:
YouTube - BLADEFISH????
cited earlier, appears to be speeded up. If you watch closely around the 20 second mark, you'll see some fish flit by at quite a speed.

 

[Mr.X]

Also, this video:
YouTube - BLADEFISH????
cited earlier, appears to be speeded up. If you watch closely around the 20 second mark, you'll see some fish flit by at quite a speed.

Diver-san was plenty slow. Diver-san needs to take DIR streamlining course.

The miniature fish was plenty fast!

 

[ProfessorAronnax]

I have my own boat and found a few old wooden wrecks with my sonar. Ive used the ping pong paddle trick in the past but with these wrecks i believe i will need to move more sand than that. I like the compact size of the bladefish but im not sure which one to get ( the 3000 or 5000)

Both units are very compact-(clip it on your BC and you won't even know its there) but there is a big difference between the BladeFish 3000 and BladeFish 5000. I'm not a big fan of the 3000 (1 speed and only 40min run time) but it may suit your purposes at a lower cost. With the 5000 you get much more run time and power(similar thrust to other scooters weighing 3 times more)

 

[BoltSnap]

rapidiver,

Did you try the BladeFish while spearfishing? If so how did you handle the spear gun while using both hands with BF? and what did you do with the BF while using the gun?

 

[ProfessorAronnax]

rapidiver,

Did you try the BladeFish while spearfishing? If so how did you handle the spear gun while using both hands with BF? and what did you do with the BF while using the gun?

The BladeFish Sea Scooter triggers are thumb activated which allows you to use the rest of your hand to grasp a spear, light, whatever while still holding on to the DPV-somewhat cumbersome with a spear but it works(at some point I want to see if I can rig a harness-I'll keep you posted). Another idea is carrying a small pneumatic gun with leg holster.

Because the BladeFish is so small, you can actually attach it to your BC-I like to use a coil clip(make sure it's rigged w/quick release): Coil Clip I keep it clipped up when walking to my dive spot as it stays tight to your body-then unclip it, keeping it attached by the coil when cruising underwater. When I spot a nice fish, lobster etc. I either just let it go or clip it up.

 

[BoltSnap]

So taking care of the BF while using the gun is no problem since it is clipped to the BC but the issue is how to handle the gun while traveling with the BF.

I am using Mares Cyrano 1100 gun. It will be difficult to hold on the gun while holding on to the BF at the same time.

Please let me know if you come up with a workable solution.

 

[ProfessorAronnax]

So taking care of the BF while using the gun is no problem since it is clipped to the BC but the issue is how to handle the gun while traveling with the BF.

I am using Mares Cyrano 1100 gun. It will be difficult to hold on the gun while holding on to the BF at the same time.

Please let me know if you come up with a workable solution.

I was diving Lauderdale By The Sea and used this very simple harness-worked awesome for one hand operation. For next time I may use a heavy zip tie to connect the harness to the BladeFish (if the webbing loosened up I think it could hit the prop).

BTW this dive spot was phenomenal with the BladeFish -buzzed through the current like it wasn't there. Covered all three reefs with ease.

 

[BoltSnap]

I was diving Lauderdale By The Sea and used this very simple harness-worked awesome for one hand operation. For next time I may use a heavy zip tie to connect the harness to the BladeFish (if the webbing loosened up I think it could hit the prop).

BTW this dive spot was phenomenal with the BladeFish -buzzed through the current like it wasn't there. Covered all three reefs with ease.

I am not sure that I follow, are you saying that you are now able to use the BF with only one hand with this harness?

Have you figured out how to handle the spear guy while using the BF yet?