(by Carlo Forni)

Intro

Salvimar in recent years, and especially in the last 3, has shown an amazing capacity of product development, launching on the market top level solutions and technology, together with always high quality standards. Specifically in the spearguns sector, the new products have come one after the other with real novelties, and not simple upgrades. Sling spearguns have been renewed with a shift to greater performance from year to year. The speaguns were upgraded with a 100% stainless steel release mechanism called “Metal“, introducing MIM technology and wheel for the sear, while subsiquently an overdimensioned release mechanism was designed, the Heavy Metal. These two passages have led to the Metal speargun first, the Metal Roller after, and then the Hero, which includes the Heavy Metal release mechanism, the Hero Roller, and now the Very Unique Power speargun, top of the line for Salvimar, the new Salvimar Tomahawk.

Hero base 

We have already presented the Salvimar Hero in the World Première where Apneapassion was the first media to go deep in the technical solutions, then with a dedicated video, and finally enjoying a great spearfishing day with the test in the water. 

Heavy Metal 350 release mechanism

Heavy Metal 350 release mechanism includes increased dimensions of the single components of the system and includes a 17-4Ph heat treated stainless steel roller wheel for the sear. All this with the aim of reducing friction, wear and noise, and permit heavy loads up to 350 kg without deformation of the components as tested by Salvimar. Additional unique on the market MIM technology (Metal Injection Moulding technology) permits, according to Salvimar, best absolute dimensional precision of components.

The handle is then completed with the left and right strongly anatomical grip. 

Between the grip and the hilt we find the “Trigger sensitive adjustment” screw (acting both on the range of movement and the sensitivity).

Elliptical reinforced barrel

The barrel is also key for the Salvimar Tomahawk and follows the guidelines of the Salvimar Hero. The section of the barrel has an elliptical asymmetrical shape and is made of aeronautical aluminium, with internal reinforcement segments and Teflon open track shaft guide for friction and noise reduction. Double elliptical O-rings are present as water seals in the connections handle to barrel and barrel to muzzle for maximum air containment and consequent best buoyancy of the speargun. In fact, compared to the simpler solution with plugs, the use of elliptical O-Rings seals additional almost 15 cm of length per each side of the barrel, determining and increase of air of 30 cm length of barrel volume. This is key, permitting to have a very powerful speargun that can host standard a 7.0 or 7.5 diameter shaft still being able to keep a good buoyancy. Dimensions of the barrel of the Salvimar Tomahawk 95 we have received are: length 92.2 cm, width 77 mm, height 28 mm (measured by Apneapassion). Lengths available are: 75, 85, 95, 105, 115 cm. In some way Salvimar has obtained to design and produce industrially a speargun with a power system that normally would need a wooden structure to maintain a good buoyancy. Salvimar has obtained this avoiding all the costs and the variability of performance of a hand made solution. Well done!!!

Roller muzzle

Salvimar Roller muzzle is the new solution that sees Derlin high dimension wheels (they can host rubber bands up to 19 mm diameter) mounted on 5 mm internal diameter and 1 mm thick wall stainless steel axle. Derlin permits to have a very strong and smooth material that definately resists better to wear compared to glass loaded Nylon, and also reduces friction. This solution does not have the cost of wheels mounted on bearings and according to Salvimar has definately no additional friction (wheels anyway should spin inside the water with braking effect of the liquid).

Something that must really be pointed out is also the fact that the design of the Salvimar Roller muzzle sees a V shaped tip which definately has a key function of permitting, unique on the market, to insert the shark fins shaft in the muzzle and along the shaft guide without having to lift the Dyneema wishbone. This is key for easyness of reloading the Salvimar Tomahawk and has been the base of the work done by Massimo Quattrone in developing this amazing product.

The prototype tested by AP

I had already been able to test a prototype of the Salvimar Tomahawk almost 4 years ago in Sardinia. The prototype put together by Massimo Quattrone (Salvimar Product manager) was putting together the carbon fiber barrel of the Salvimar Sapiens with a generic roller muzzle (Salvimar had not yet produced and launched its own Roller muzzle). The carbon fiber barrel was needed to help buoyancy, that evidently a normal circular aluminium barrel could not obtain and that in the past had been used by other brands with negative results. The power system was almost as today we find on the Salvimar Tomahawk, but the complexity of the entire loading phase, including line positioning, shaft insertion in the muzzle, and elastic bands correct alignment and loading, was extremely high. I needed the help of Massimo each time the protitype had to be loaded. Once though all was in place I had the possibility to test the power of the system and was amazed with my first shot aiming to a 300 grams seabream (just as a test) at about 5 meters of distance with the 115 cm long prototype. The shot was so smooth and recoil equal to zero, even though the shaft was a 7.5 mm diameter. The shaft reached the seabream in an instant still giving the feeling that power was not so amazing since, as said, recoil was totally absent. The point hit the seabream exactly in its center. I returned to the surface and looked amazed at Massimo Quattrone. He smiled, and all was clear: this speargun could become, with the improvement of some solutions and especially making all its fruition much much simpler, an extraordinary revolution on the market, still at a very affordable price for such kind of power system.

Tomahawk power system: Very Unique Power

The Salvimar Tomahawk power system sees the couple of main elastic bands positioned under the barrel close to the muzzle and linked on one side to the Dyneema wishbone and on the other connected to the 4 elastic secondary bands. The main (black) bands are the S400 16mm diameter with elongation controlled by inner core in Dymax line.

The 4 (red) secondary bands are the S400R rubbers of 15 mm diameter. Connection between the elastic bands is in Climax® 1.4mm with tensile strength of 250kg.

The secondary elastic bands are connected to a special glass loaded Nylon element under the barrel in front of the handle. This element also works as base for the mounting of the reel and the eventual camera mount.

Once the Salvimar Tomahawk is loaded we will have the main elastic bands on the top of the barrel, reaching just before the wheels of the muzzle, and the secondary elastic bands just below, as well shown in below video by Massimo Quattrone explaining well “How to load the Salvimar Tomahawk”.

Once the shaft is released the bands that will start pushing will be the secondary bands, that will give power equivalent to around 100-120 kg (each pair pushes for equivvalent 50-60kg). Then, after the first phase, the main elastic bands will start working adding to the secondary ones, putting another 60 kg on top and giving continuity to the shot and longer reach to the shaft. The internal line of the main bands in fact has the aim of tuning the system “locking” the maximum elongation for best efficiency.

Loading kit and tuning

As anticipated one of the key elements wanted by Salvimar was to design a powerful speargun which could include a highly developed power system still maintaining ease of use and reloading. To help such aspect an “easy load system” made of a rubber band with a hook makes it extremely easy and confortable to load the Salvimar Tomahawk with reduced effort. The Salvimar Tomahawk is proposed with a standard setting which is extremely easy to load, but also gives the opportunity to be tuned with an increase of load on the elastic bands by reducing the length of the Dyneema lines linked to the secondary bands and hooked to the inferior red element under the barrel just in front of where the reel will be positioned.