Spearguns
Tackle · Last reviewed 2026-08-10
Elastic- or air-powered devices that propel a shaft over a short distance underwater — and a piece of equipment that must be treated as loaded at all times.
Safety: entanglement — can cause serious injury or death. 3 more points apply here.
Never dive alone, dive one up one down, and never extend a dive for a fish.
Shallow water blackout and breath-hold loss of consciousness — Can cause serious injury or death
The presence of a fish on the end of a spear is the single commonest reason divers extend a breath-hold beyond what they had planned, and extending a breath-hold is what produces blackout.
What reduces it: Decide on the surface what your limit is and hold to it underwater. If a shot fish requires more time than you have, let go of the gun — the float line is what recovers it. No fish is worth a blackout.
- Category
- Spearfishing equipment
A speargun stores energy — in stretched rubber bands or in compressed air — and releases it to drive a shaft forward. Range is short, typically a few metres, because water decelerates a shaft very quickly and because spearfishing is a close-range activity by nature.
The two main types differ in character. Band guns use rubber bands stretched over notches in the shaft, are simple, quiet and easily maintained, and are the usual choice in European recreational spearfishing. Pneumatic guns use a compressed air reservoir, are shorter for the same power, and require more maintenance. Pole spears are the simplest of all: a shaft with a rubber loop, held under tension by the hand.
The safety framing here is unambiguous and does not moderate. A speargun is a projectile weapon. Loading it out of the water, pointing it at anything you have not decided to shoot, and swimming with it loaded and unsecured are all specifically dangerous, and there is no version of this page that treats them as matters of preference.
What it does
Stores mechanical energy and releases it to accelerate a shaft over a short underwater distance. A line connects the shaft to the gun so that a fish, once shot, remains attached, and a further line usually connects the gun to a surface float.
How to choose one
- Match gun length to the water: short guns for confined ground and poor visibility, longer guns for open water and greater range.
- More power is not automatically better — an overpowered gun in confined ground drives shafts into rock and is harder to handle.
- Choose equipment you have been shown how to use, and get instruction before buying rather than after.
- A reliable safety catch and a shaft-retention line are basic requirements, not features.
- The float and float line are part of the system and should be chosen with it.
What the numbers mean
LENGTH is quoted as the barrel length in centimetres and correlates with range and with power: longer barrels allow longer band stretch and higher shaft speed. BAND diameter and number determine power on a band gun. SHAFT diameter, in millimetres, trades penetration against speed — thinner shafts are faster and less durable. PNEUMATIC guns quote a barrel diameter and a charging pressure. None of these figures has any meaning without the training to use the gun, which is the specification this page cares about most.
Care, and how it fails
Rubber bands perish with ultraviolet light, salt and age, and a band that fails under load fails violently; replace them on a schedule rather than when they break. Rinse everything in fresh water after every dive. Check the shaft for bends and the tip for damage. Inspect the shooting line and its attachments before every session — a line that parts leaves a shot fish swimming away with a shaft in it. Never store a gun loaded, and never leave a loaded gun unattended for any reason.
What choosing a gun decides about everything else
A speargun is not a single purchase. It is the head of a system, and choosing it fixes most of the choices below it.
LENGTH DECIDES THE GROUND. A long gun carries further and swings slowly; a short gun turns fast in a confined space and reaches nothing. That is not a preference — it is a statement about the water. Hole hunting and kelp gullies want a short gun; open blue water wants a long one; and a diver who owns one gun is choosing which kind of diving they are doing.
POWER DECIDES THE SHAFT. More band, or more pressure, needs a heavier shaft to absorb it without flexing. An overpowered gun with a thin shaft whips the shaft in flight and drives it into rock behind the fish, which is how shafts bend and tips are lost.
THE SHAFT DECIDES THE TIP. A thin shaft favours a plain flopper for speed; a heavy shaft carries a slip tip for large fish without losing much.
AND ALL OF IT DECIDES THE LINE SYSTEM. A low-powered gun on small fish works with shooting line and a simple attachment. A gun powerful enough to take a fish that will run needs the shot fish attached to something that yields — a reel, or a breakaway to a float line — because a fish that cannot pull line breaks the shooting line or tears the hold.
SO THE HONEST ORDER IS BACKWARDS FROM THE SHOP. Decide the ground, then the fish, then the gun, then the shaft and tip, then how a shot fish is going to be attached to the surface. A gun bought first tends to arrive with a rigging system that suits somebody else's diving.
AND NONE OF IT SUBSTITUTES FOR TRAINING. Equipment does not make a diver safe and the most expensive gun on the boat is held by somebody with the same breath-hold physiology as everybody else.
Official guidance — why, and the sources (3)
Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.
- CMAS technical and sporting standards for underwater activities — Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (Standards body)Relied on for: Breath-hold spearfishing practice, equipment convention and the safety expectations set out by the international underwater federation.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- BlueWater Hunting and Freediving — BlueWater Freedivers, Ventura, California, 1995 (Practitioner report)Relied on for: Spearfishing equipment and practice: gun and rigging choice, shot placement, and the handling of a shot fish, from a practitioner tradition distinct from the European one.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of equipment convention and rigging practice, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
How the system fails, and which failures are dangerous rather than annoying
Equipment failure in spearfishing splits into two categories and the difference is worth being explicit about, because they are treated identically in most equipment writing and they should not be.
ANNOYING FAILURES END THE DIVE AND NOTHING ELSE. A band that has lost power, a bent shaft, a fogged mask, a reel that has jammed, a lost fish. All of these are dealt with by surfacing.
DANGEROUS FAILURES ACT ON A DIVER WHO CANNOT BREATHE. There are four worth naming.
A BAND THAT PARTS UNDER LOAD releases stored energy at the hands and face. Bands perish with ultraviolet light, salt and age rather than with use, which means the gun that has sat in a garage for three years is the dangerous one and not the gun that has been dived weekly. Replace on a schedule, not on failure.
AN ACCIDENTAL DISCHARGE is a projectile weapon firing at whatever the muzzle was pointing at. It is prevented by loading in the water, unloading before leaving it, muzzle discipline that does not depend on believing the gun is unloaded, and knowing where the buddy is before every shot.
ENTANGLEMENT IS THE FAILURE THAT KILLS. Shooting line, float line and reel line around a diver at depth is the specific mechanism, and it is why a cutting tool reachable with either hand is equipment rather than an accessory, and why lines are kept short and tidy rather than long and convenient.
AND A WEIGHT SYSTEM THAT WILL NOT RELEASE turns any of the above into a drowning. That is covered on the weighting record and it is the single most consequential piece of equipment on a spearfisher.
THE PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCE. The pre-dive inspection that matters is not a general once-over: it is bands, line, knife and quick release, every time, because those are the four that act on somebody who has no air.
Official guidance — why, and the sources (3)
Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.
- CMAS technical and sporting standards for underwater activities — Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (Standards body)Relied on for: Breath-hold spearfishing practice, equipment convention and the safety expectations set out by the international underwater federation.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- DAN guidance on freediving safety, hypoxia and shallow-water blackout — Divers Alert Network (Water-safety or diver-training authority)Relied on for: Freediving safety guidance including the buddy system, weighting, positive buoyancy at the surface and the management of equipment failure.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- BlueWater Hunting and Freediving — BlueWater Freedivers, Ventura, California, 1995 (Practitioner report)Relied on for: Spearfishing equipment and practice: gun and rigging choice, shot placement, and the handling of a shot fish, from a practitioner tradition distinct from the European one.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Safety
Shallow water blackout and breath-hold loss of consciousness is set out at the top of this page, where it cannot be missed.
Never dive alone, dive one up one down, and never extend a dive for a fish. The full set of breath-hold essentials — training, the buddy system, conditions, equipment and visibility — is on the spearfishing safety page.
Entanglement — Can cause serious injury or death
A speargun is a projectile weapon, and a loaded one that discharges accidentally — at the surface, in a boat, or towards a buddy — causes catastrophic injury. Shooting line and float line can also entangle a diver who cannot surface to sort it out.
What reduces it: Load only in the water, unload before leaving it. Keep the muzzle pointed away from every person at all times, including when you believe the gun is unloaded. Use the safety, and do not rely on it. Know where your buddy is before you shoot. Carry a knife you can reach with either hand, and keep lines short and tidy.
Precautions that always apply here
- Never spearfish or freedive alone.
- Dive one up, one down: one diver down, one on the surface actively watching, every single dive.
Further safety reading
- Breath-hold blackout — A fish on the spear is the commonest reason a diver extends a breath-hold beyond what they planned.
- Entanglement while breath-hold diving — Every rigging choice on a gun puts line in the water near somebody who cannot breathe, and entanglement is the failure that kills rather than the one that ends a dive.
Check the rules before you fish
Fishing laws, bylaws, access rules, seasons, bait restrictions and permitted methods vary by location and can change. Check the current rules from the relevant authority and the water you intend to fish before fishing.
Check with:
- Current national or regional law for where you are fishing
- Current local bylaws
- The relevant fisheries authority
- The landowner, club or fishery whose water it is
- Any restrictions specific to the species or the method you intend to use
Where to go next
Where it is used
- Hole huntingA short gun, because a long one cannot be turned in a gully or aimed into a hole — and hole hunting with a gun that will not turn is how a diver ends up putting a hand somewhere instead.
- SpearfishingHunting fish underwater on a single breath, using a speargun or pole spear — the most selective way of taking a fish, and the most demanding of the person doing it.
What it works with
- Bands and wishbonesOn a band gun the bands are the engine and the wishbone is where it attaches. Both are consumables that perish with time rather than with use, and both are checked before every session.
- Speargun reelsA reel is mounted on the gun and its line runs to the shaft, so gun choice and reel choice are the same decision. Letting go of the gun is the emergency action a reel rig depends on, which only works if the gun floats or is attached to something that does.
- Shafts and tipsGun power sets the shaft. More energy needs a heavier shaft to absorb it without flexing, and an overpowered gun with a thin shaft whips in flight and bends shafts on the rock behind the fish.
- Speargun power systemsThe gun IS its power system in practice: bands, pneumatic or roller decide length for a given power, the loading sequence, the maintenance burden and how much noise the shot makes.
Understanding it
- Loaded speargun handlingThe handling rules, which are not moderated anywhere on FishingHQ: load in the water, unload before leaving it, and muzzle discipline that does not depend on believing the gun is unloaded.
- How a band speargun worksThe mechanism behind the record: how stored elastic energy becomes shaft speed, and why range in water is short whatever the gun.
- Roller and inverted-roller speargunsRouting the band over a pulley at the muzzle keeps it under useful tension for a longer portion of the shaft's travel, which is a genuine mechanical advantage and brings more components that can fail.
- Speargun length, and what it decidesLength is the choice that fixes the ground: a long gun reaches and swings slowly, a short gun turns in a gully and reaches nothing.
Instead of this
History and culture
Sources and evidence
- BSAC diving safety guidance and annual incident report — British Sub-Aqua Club (Water-safety or diver-training authority)Relied on for: Buddy protocol and equipment-handling discipline for breath-hold diving activities.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- DAN guidance on freediving safety, hypoxia and shallow-water blackout — Divers Alert Network (Water-safety or diver-training authority)Relied on for: That extending a breath-hold beyond plan is a principal contributor to blackout.States this directlyPassage read and verified
Why the 14 connections on this page are here, and the sources
Where it is used
What experienced anglers do — 1 connection
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
Hole hunting
A requirement rather than a preference: the ground makes a long gun unusable rather than merely awkward.
- CMAS technical and sporting standards for underwater activities — Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (Standards body)Relied on for: Breath-hold spearfishing practice, equipment convention and the safety expectations set out by the international underwater federation.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- BlueWater Hunting and Freediving — BlueWater Freedivers, Ventura, California, 1995 (Practitioner report)Relied on for: Spearfishing equipment and practice: gun, shaft, tip and rigging choice, and the handling of a shot fish, from a practitioner tradition distinct from the European one.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Official guidance — 1 connection
Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.
Spearfishing
How the equipment is classified, and it is subject to diving safety guidance.
- BSAC diving safety guidance and annual incident report — British Sub-Aqua Club (Water-safety or diver-training authority)Relied on for: Equipment and safety practice for breath-hold diving activities.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
What it works with
What experienced anglers do — 4 connections
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
Bands and wishbones
Band specification is the primary tuning variable on a band-powered speargun.
- BSAC diving safety guidance and annual incident report — British Sub-Aqua Club (Water-safety or diver-training authority)Relied on for: Diving body guidance on equipment configuration and handling.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Spearfishing and sea angling equipment practice.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
A dependency between equipment, recorded because choosing one of these constrains the other. Convention, recorded as convention.
- CMAS technical and sporting standards for underwater activities — Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (Standards body)Relied on for: Breath-hold spearfishing practice, equipment convention and the safety expectations set out by the international underwater federation.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- BlueWater Hunting and Freediving — BlueWater Freedivers, Ventura, California, 1995 (Practitioner report)Relied on for: Spearfishing equipment and practice: gun, shaft, tip and rigging choice, and the handling of a shot fish, from a practitioner tradition distinct from the European one.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Speargun reels
A dependency between equipment, recorded because choosing one of these constrains the other. Convention, recorded as convention.
- CMAS technical and sporting standards for underwater activities — Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (Standards body)Relied on for: Breath-hold spearfishing practice, equipment convention and the safety expectations set out by the international underwater federation.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- BlueWater Hunting and Freediving — BlueWater Freedivers, Ventura, California, 1995 (Practitioner report)Relied on for: Spearfishing equipment and practice: gun, shaft, tip and rigging choice, and the handling of a shot fish, from a practitioner tradition distinct from the European one.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Shafts and tips
A dependency between equipment, recorded because choosing one of these constrains the other. Convention, recorded as convention.
- CMAS technical and sporting standards for underwater activities — Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (Standards body)Relied on for: Breath-hold spearfishing practice, equipment convention and the safety expectations set out by the international underwater federation.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- BlueWater Hunting and Freediving — BlueWater Freedivers, Ventura, California, 1995 (Practitioner report)Relied on for: Spearfishing equipment and practice: gun, shaft, tip and rigging choice, and the handling of a shot fish, from a practitioner tradition distinct from the European one.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Speargun power systems
A dependency between equipment, recorded because choosing one of these constrains the other. Convention, recorded as convention.
- CMAS technical and sporting standards for underwater activities — Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (Standards body)Relied on for: Breath-hold spearfishing practice, equipment convention and the safety expectations set out by the international underwater federation.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- BlueWater Hunting and Freediving — BlueWater Freedivers, Ventura, California, 1995 (Practitioner report)Relied on for: Spearfishing equipment and practice: gun, shaft, tip and rigging choice, and the handling of a shot fish, from a practitioner tradition distinct from the European one.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Official guidance — 1 connection
Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.
Speargun reels
Diving body guidance on line management and entanglement risk in the water.
- BSAC diving safety guidance and annual incident report — British Sub-Aqua Club (Water-safety or diver-training authority)Relied on for: Guidance on lines and entanglement hazards for divers.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Understanding it
Official guidance — 1 connection
Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.
Loaded speargun handling
The equipment record and the handling discipline it requires.
- BSAC diving safety guidance and annual incident report — British Sub-Aqua Club (Water-safety or diver-training authority)Relied on for: Diving safety guidance on planning, conditions assessment, buddy protocol, entanglement and equipment handling.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
What experienced anglers do — 4 connections
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
Loaded speargun handling
An explainer carrying a mechanism the equipment record depends on.
- DAN guidance on freediving safety, hypoxia and shallow-water blackout — Divers Alert Network (Water-safety or diver-training authority)Relied on for: Freediving safety guidance including weighting, positive buoyancy at the surface, the buddy system and the management of entanglement and equipment failure.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- CMAS technical and sporting standards for underwater activities — Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (Standards body)Relied on for: Breath-hold diving safety practice and equipment expectations set out by the international underwater federation.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
How a band speargun works
An explainer carrying a mechanism the equipment record depends on.
- CMAS technical and sporting standards for underwater activities — Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (Standards body)Relied on for: Breath-hold spearfishing practice, equipment convention and the safety expectations set out by the international underwater federation.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- BlueWater Hunting and Freediving — BlueWater Freedivers, Ventura, California, 1995 (Practitioner report)Relied on for: Spearfishing equipment and practice: gun, shaft, tip and rigging choice, and the handling of a shot fish, from a practitioner tradition distinct from the European one.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Roller and inverted-roller spearguns
Why it works, resting on practice reported consistently across independent sources rather than on experiment.
- BlueWater Hunting and Freediving — BlueWater Freedivers, Ventura, California, 1995 (Practitioner report)Relied on for: Spearfishing practice including equipment selection, rigging, technique and the reasoning behind gear choices.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- CMAS technical and sporting standards for underwater activities — Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (Standards body)Relied on for: International underwater federation standards for training, competition and the safe conduct of underwater activities.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Speargun length, and what it decides
An explainer carrying a mechanism the equipment record depends on.
- CMAS technical and sporting standards for underwater activities — Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (Standards body)Relied on for: Breath-hold spearfishing practice, equipment convention and the safety expectations set out by the international underwater federation.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- BlueWater Hunting and Freediving — BlueWater Freedivers, Ventura, California, 1995 (Practitioner report)Relied on for: Spearfishing equipment and practice: gun, shaft, tip and rigging choice, and the handling of a shot fish, from a practitioner tradition distinct from the European one.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Instead of this
What experienced anglers do — 1 connection
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
Pole spears and Hawaiian slings
The range difference reshapes the approach rather than only the gear.
- Fishers' Craft and Lettered Art: Tracts on Fishing from the End of the Middle Ages — University of Toronto Press, 1997 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: Historical accounts of hand-held spear methods.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary spearfishing practice with both tools.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Two pieces of equipment that do the same job differently.
- CMAS technical and sporting standards for underwater activities — Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (Standards body)Relied on for: Breath-hold spearfishing practice, equipment convention and the safety expectations set out by the international underwater federation.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- BlueWater Hunting and Freediving — BlueWater Freedivers, Ventura, California, 1995 (Practitioner report)Relied on for: Spearfishing equipment and practice: gun, shaft, tip and rigging choice, and the handling of a shot fish, from a practitioner tradition distinct from the European one.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Safety reading
Official guidance — 2 connections
Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.
Breath-hold blackout
Extending a dive beyond plan is identified as a contributor to blackout.
- DAN guidance on freediving safety, hypoxia and shallow-water blackout — Divers Alert Network (Water-safety or diver-training authority)Relied on for: That extending a breath-hold beyond plan contributes to blackout risk.States this directlyPassage read and verified
Entanglement while breath-hold diving
A link to a safety topic substantial enough to be read in full.
- DAN guidance on freediving safety, hypoxia and shallow-water blackout — Divers Alert Network (Water-safety or diver-training authority)Relied on for: Freediving safety guidance including weighting, positive buoyancy at the surface, the buddy system and the management of entanglement and equipment failure.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- CMAS technical and sporting standards for underwater activities — Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (Standards body)Relied on for: Breath-hold diving safety practice and equipment expectations set out by the international underwater federation.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
History and culture
What experienced anglers do — 1 connection
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
How the modern speargun developed
Development history reported consistently by the spearfishing literature and the international federation, and recorded at the level those sources support.
- BlueWater Hunting and Freediving — BlueWater Freedivers, Ventura, California, 1995 (Practitioner report)Relied on for: Spearfishing practice including equipment selection, rigging, technique and the reasoning behind gear choices.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- CMAS technical and sporting standards for underwater activities — Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (Standards body)Relied on for: International underwater federation standards for training, competition and the safe conduct of underwater activities.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy.