Shark sticks - who has used one?

[miketsp]

Poll - So how many divers presently on Scubaboard have actually dived with and fired a shark stick?
- Never even heard about it
- Know what it is but never carried one
- Carried one but never fired it
- Fired one in anger....


In another thread people were discussing trash movies and their impact on diving.
http://www.scubaboard.com/t57934.html

The funny thing is, in spite of all these trash movies, like Jaws and many others I think divers have a much more realistic idea nowadays of the risks of actually getting attacked by sharks.
Back in the early 70s, a "shark stick" was a standard piece of diving equipment. Today it's hard to find a diver who even knows what that is or even where to buy one. For the younger among you who have never seen one it's a length of steel bar about 50cm long with what amounts to a self triggering gun at the tip. Mine had a 0.303 rifle bullet with the tip filed off and notched to cause a dum-dum effect. To fire it you just pressed it against the shark and a big hole would appear.
Now the strange thing is I know several professional divers who actually had to resort to the use of these devices. So does that mean that there were more sharks around and they were more aggressive? Or that even professional divers were more nervous in the presence of sharks 30+ years ago? And that all these movies had actually had a dumbing effect?
We now take sharks for granted.

 

[BIGSAGE136]

http://www.beco-products.com/beco_catalog.htm

These were much more popular back in the 60's. Spearos still use them for obvious reasons. My bahama buddies usually have at least one in the group, but we are usually taking fish.

Never had to use one, but have seen them in action. They used to make a SMG. Sub Machine Gun. Had 2 or 4 shafts loaded with .223's if I remember correctly. Has anyone seen one lately? :06:

 

[miketsp]

Ah, so nowadays they call them "Bang-Sticks" or "Power-Heads". That's probably why I found very few references on the web.
I like the 44 Magnum option.
Imagine getting on your cruise boat with one of these and a box of 44 Magnum shells.

 

[jagfish]

Ah, so nowadays they call them "Bang-Sticks" or "Power-Heads".

Yeah
These are the terms I am familiar with as well. Never heard the term shark stick...

JAG

 

[Boogie711]

Now the strange thing is I know several professional divers who actually had to resort to the use of these devices. So does that mean that there were more sharks around and they were more aggressive?

Naw - it's simpler than that. The sharks smartened up and realized that Scuba Divers taste awful. And that if they ate the metal parts on our backs, it would make them fart. So now they leave us alone.

 

[Hunter]

I have been an active spearfisherman for may years and never had any real situations to where I felt that I ever needed one. Awareness should always be your concern. When we made a bad shot and had a fish bleeding badly it was a time to be concerned that you may get some company. Sure I've had sharks come in to see what was going on, and many times they would stick around for a while but for the most part they never became excited or frenzied.

Two years ago while shooting in the Tortugas we had a big Bull become interested in our catch while doing a safety stop. Sure, I'll give up my fish in a heart beat but this guy came from 70 feet straight to the surface. I was really scrambling to reband my gun.

After that encounter I purchased a 357 powerhead. I have never fired it and actually have been looking for someone who has. I intend on firing it at the lake this summer just to see.

A question for those who have fired them.

Are you able to shoot the powerhead from the gun without the firing pin discharging the round from the release of the shaft?

Hunter

 

[rickhall]

I had a friend fire a 357 Magnum powerhead at a silver snapper in front of about six sharks while diving on the Papoose off NC coast. The bullet didn't fire and there was blood everywhere. The two smallest sharks came in to get a free meal with the smallest one grabbing the tail of the snapper, my friend and he havd a tug of war over the fish, spear, line, and gun. It's a little disconcerting to see how easily a 2 ft shark can shake around a 3 time NCAA wrestling National Champion. Even more disconcerting is how easily it can bite a rather large fish in half.

When we got back to the boat he said he thought the powerhead going off would scare the sharks away. The dive boat captain just laughed and said that the sound of powerheads was like a dinner bell for the sharks!

Earlier in the dive he killed a grouper with a powerhead firing properly and let me tell you that can scare the crap out of another diver to suddenly hear an explosion underwater on a vessel sunk in WW II by a German U-boat.

 

[headhunter]

We called them bang sticks around here in the '70s and '80s. I seem to remember them being shotgun shells and not bullets, but I could be remembering that entirely wrong.

Never bothered with one though. The sharks that I swam with didn't really seem to care about me. I figured that if one got me I probably wouldn't see it coming anyway. That's not to say I dive oblivious to my surroundings, just that I don't have eyes in the back of my head!

I've seen them come toward me and I just turn my tank toward them. They do a little bump and brush and decide that the tank doesn't taste good. So, they go on their merry way and leave me alone.

Christian