OMER SUB DRY BAG FLOAT

& SPORASUB BLUE WATER FLOAT

The DRY BAG FLOAT is a product of extreme simplicity and easy to use, designed to be practical and comfortable in the exercise of our favorite activity, spearfishing. Many components of our equipment must be mounted, assembled, balanced and regulated and in most cases these operations must be repeated at each dive. We also need to cope with a series of objects that are not part of the equipment but we have to take with us anyway as keys, phone, documents, etc. As a consequence we use waterproof cases that we fix to the buoy at best, often in a way that is not really comfortable and reliable.

The DRY BAG FLOAT simplifies our lives and saves us from the stress of these alternative cases. It is a buoy so exclusive as to have received the innovation award at the Nantes spearfishing show 2016.

Let's see it then in detail. It is a red / orange buoy covered with anti-abrasion material and consists essentially of two large independent air chambers, one above and one below. It measures 55cm in length and 30cm in width and 55cm in height (including the flag). It weights only 1,15kg (including two lead plates, 100gr each, that have their housing in two pockets located in the lower part of the buoy) and is equipped with two solid handles on the top, 4 velcro rings at the bottom and a solid ring for traction in the front part.

The main feature that makes it special is the capacity of being a waterproof bag and a dive buoy at the same time. Through the opening on the back you can introduce all those objects you want to keep dry. Once inserted, you just need to fold the edges of the rear opening and close it with the clips. At this point you can proceed to inflate the air chambers (I suggest you to inflate them a little at the time instead of fully inflate one first and then the other). The pressure exerted by these inner tubes will keep the objects safe from the water and firmly in the chosen position. The inner air chambers are equipped with double valves (one contained in the other) through which you can inflate and deflate them quickly.

It is, as said earlier, a product very simple and practical, but that appears to be both solid and resistant. The seals, the lining material and the flag locking system (for sure you are not going to lose the flag at sea) express strength and solidity that instill confidence about the reliability and duration of this buoy.

Another spearfishing buoy, designed by sporasub, is the BLUE WATER FLOAT. It is a originally designed for a different type of fishing, the one in the ocean to great size preys, however it well performs in our seas. It has a more tapered silhouette than the previous model, measuring 107cm in length, 38 in width and 81.5cm in height. The weight is 1,150kg (this buoy is also available in a mini version). Also this buoy is built in anti-abrasion material and is characterized by a plasticized orange band which entirely surrounds the central part and which has a lead pocket (in the bottom) for stabilization and a hole (at the top) for flag support housing.

In fact, as shown in the photos, when the buoy is not inflated, we need to put a rubber cylindrical support through the aforementioned hole and then place the flagstick in it. Once the buoy is inflated, the air pressure will hold both the support and the flag tight. However being the flagstick composed of two parts which fit one into each other we should secure them with tape or glue in order to avoid that the part with the flag falls off into the sea. The flag of this buoy, however, has the advantage of having the flag fixed on a support which allows it to rotate 360 degrees following the wind direction. In other words, the flag is fixed to a cylinder that can rotate around the flagstick.

The buoy is equipped with one air chamber which can be inflated through the straw valve located at the edge of the orange band. The operation is very simple, just unscrew a washer which allows the upper part to slide down opening the valve. At this point it is sufficient to blow into the straw which has a retention system through which when we stop inflating the air does not come out.

The system is great but when you want to deflate the buoy it makes the operation slower than with the DRY BAG FLOAT.

It is equipped with two solid handles for transportation and a ring for traction in the front, however, it has not snap hooks, rings or hooks of another type for the transport of our equipment. However the presence of a robust central band in the lower part allow us to customize it.

Thanks to its tapered silhouette this buoy could be customized also to be more visible and functional. If the buoy would remain perpendicularly on the water surface with the aid of a simple lead belt connected at the tip and the its flagstick could rotate thanks to a mounting system with a tilting base which includes fasteners (clips), this mark would be very visible because the flagstick (97cm) height and the buoy length (107cm) would merge. In short 2m above the surface!