Pathos: a giant at Medi Show in Italy
Medi Show, the show of spearfishing and freediving, which has taken place in Rome, Italy, has just ended, and AP has managed to find out nice product news from the companies present. Actually, the stands were mainly chaired by artisans. The only big firm at the show, with a full line of products, from wetsuits, to spearguns, to fins, has been Pathos.
Pathos Sniper-R
The Sniper-R is the great news, as it is the Pathos roller solution, with absolutely innovative solutions. First of all the new roller muzzle. This is made completely of polypropylene, a resistant and very light material. The passages of the nylon line are deep and well shaped, to guarantee, together with other two pins, the perfect positioning of the nylon line out of the way of the rubber bands. The part of the muzzle which goes into the barrel for connection, has two areas for addition of weights or foam, depending wheter one wants to make the top of the gun heavier or lighter. In fact, the closing plug of the barrel is more internal compared to the muzzle, meaning the latter can flood with water in the part inserted in the barrel. Adding foam material to such part will avoid water taking the space of the air, and will determine that the gun will be lighter on the top.
Additional spaces for weights and foam are in the lower part of the muzzle, and external to the barrel, meaning one can add or take away weights or foam without dismounting the muzzle itself, obtaining a first general balancing. To obtain a perfect and longlasting connetion between the barrel and the muzzle, a frequent limit of roller guns, two screws are used in the lower part of the barrel. This guarantees precision of the shot overtime.
Another very interesting solution on the Sniper-R, solution also present on the Sniper with traditional muzzle, is the polypropylene element that is mounted on the inferior part of the barrel, in a similar way to the “Floater” by SEAC. Actually, the Pathos system has two main functions: the first is to generate an upward floating push, which is equivalent to taking 20 grams of weight off the speargun; the second, thanks to the weight of the component equal to 120 grams, is to reduce any minimal recoil of the roller system. The component has a fixed position 8.5 cm from the end of the grip and the start of the barrel, which is equivalent to positioning the weight in the center of gravity of the speargun. The system does not give the possibility, as on the Guun and Guun 30 by SEAC, to be shifted along the barrel to balance the speargun. Still, SEAC solution has a lower weight, meaning the recoil reduction function is not effective. The polypropylene element for the Sniper-R is designed with three passages for the roller rubber band, so that tension of the bands can be fine tuned depending on the needs. This accessory can be bought separately for those spearos who already have the Sniper, but with such optional missing.
To simplify the recharging of the roller, which is often complicated, especially with long spearguns, that require an uncomfortable charging tool, Pathos shaft has an additional advanced fin where to connect the wishbone. A this point one can connect the rubber band in the lower part of the barrel. After that the process of recharge is much simpler, since the rubber band is already well positioned on the first fin. The shaft, made of Sanvik, has diameters from 6 to 8 mm.
The barrel is made performed aluminum, but the roller is available also in carbon fiber, which has a circular section. Very interesting is the shaft guide designed on the aluminum barrel, made with two rails that are in contact with the sides of the shaft, that beneathhas only water, which becomes a bearing when the shaft is realeased, reducing incredibly friction, with great advantace for the acceleration of the shaft and power of the shot. Moreover, the guide closes partially the shaft also in the upper part, incorporating it.
The grip has been launched on the market one year ago, with a release mechanism made 100% of stainless steel and ambidextrous, and has been modified taking away 4 mm of material just under the sternal support. This helps people with small-medium size hands to better reach the trigger with the index finger.
Sniper spearguns mount new more reactive rubber bands called TNT…the name says it all!
The Sniper-R will be available with measures of 65-75-85-95 and 105. Price list, meaning without any discount applied, is, for example, equal to 310 € for the 85. The new Pathos Sniper-R and Sniper with the new muzzle will be available starting beginning of 2016.
Among the novelties of 2016 by Pathos there is also a new wetsuit with thermosealing on the seams, to obtain a higher resistance and avoid the passage of water in the holes created by the thread. The thermoseals are particularly robust, and we shall have to verify if such solution gives the advantages indicated without stiffening too much the wetsuit.
The thermoseals also have an additional interesting sealing effect around the waist of the diver, as they come to contact with the internal open-cell neoprene of the jacket, generating a better isolation from external water.
Some mistery on the new Abyss fins with carbon fiber blades. The big boss of Pathos, the Greek Angelos Michalopoulos, says the new model, made of differentiated layers, offers more thrust with less effort than the previous model. We are curious to test this…we will keep you updated.
