AP visits SEAC for 2016 new products

AP visits SEAC Sub and discovers the new 2016 product line 

Every end of the year the various diving companies are ready with the new product line for the following season. AP has met a company, also present in the ARA,that for next year has focused a lot on spearfishing products. Let us see, among a very complete product line, the most interesting 2016 novelties and solutions.

New Spearguns

New models

Novelties and optimizations have been put in place for the new arbalete line of the company of San Colombano Certenoli (Genova – Italy). The new arbalete spearguns are the Guun and the Guun 30, respectively with 28 and 30 mm circular section aluminum barrel. Evidently, the greater diameter solution is indicated for those markets (ex Australia and the US) where heavier shafts and thicker elastic bands for big preys are used. The European market is well supplied with the 28 mm diameter barrel, which is more than sufficient and is equipped standard with 6.5 mm shaft and double circular 14.5 mm elastic bands. The two Guun take the place of the Ocean and the Thunder.

Weight and balancing

At the base of the design of the new spearguns is weight reduction of the barrel to obtain an optimal balancing. Barrel has been manufactured with a circular section, integrated shaft guide, which is internally machined to take away material and additionally reduce weight.

The lower part of the barrel presents a thin edge along all its length, so that rigidity is improved even more. At the same time such solution is needed for a very interesting accessory from SEAC: a floater that regulates speargun balancing. Functioning is easy: the floater is mounted on the barrel simply pressing it on the lower part of the tube. After that it can shift along the barrel to adjust balancing. The tip of the gun will be lifted up more when the floater is in such position, while the handle will be lifted more when the floater is closer to it. Thanks to this solution, balancing of the speargun can be regulated adapting to shafts of different weights. The floater, though, will reduce slightly brandishing, especially if it will be positioned at the tip of the arbalete.

Grip

Great attension has been dedicated to the grip, concentrating on dimensions and tilt. This has permitted to obtain the ideal solution of having the speargun as a natural continuation of the arm and hand. The grip has a mechanical mounting system that permits to change the back of the handle (coloured part), where the palm of the hand is positioned. It is so possible to change the colour of such component (white, yellow, green and red), and also, available in the next months, it will be possible to mount a component with increased dimensions for spearos with bigger hands.

The release mechanism is completely in laser cut stainless steel, manufatured with tumble process, passivation and polishing treatment, the latter to improve look, but also to reduce any possible oxidizing process.

Among the different solutions, interesting is the connection between the grip and the barrel. To maintain good watertight sealing two O-rings are used, and these are mounted on a tilting support which does not bend in case of heavy loads generated by the elastic bands. Such solution avoids the squeezing of the O-rings and a longer lasting watertight sealing.

Muzzle

One of the solutions we like best is the new muzzle with nylon line blocking mechanism. Practically, the passage of the line is symmetrical, on both sides of the muzzle, with notches for the passage of the nylon line. The central part of the muzzle is in hard rubber, which permits to gently block the line when this is positioned for loading the arbalete.

This solution is very intelligent and effective to simplify the positioning of the line, avoiding it from coming out of the passages, situation that often happens with traditional muzzles when reloading.  Moreover, this solution determines a better positioning and fastening of the shaft. To the question if the line blocking system determines power losses, we feel this is not absoltely the case, and shooting power loss is irrelevant.  Eventually, we should evaluate if the fins on the shaft can wear the line when passing by during the shot. SEAC confirms that this system has been used for years on the X-Fire arbalete and has never generated problem of any kind. AP will soon test the Guun 28 to give deeper comments on this and other aspects of SEAC technical novelties.

Sternal support

Another element which can be dismounted and modified, as for the grip, is the sternal support, which has two dimensions: a small compact one, for short arbaletes which require less force for loading, and a bigger wider one for longer and more powerful spearguns.

Shafts

Also in this area SEAC does not take things for granted, offering 17-4 PH steel shafts, a material which is very well machinable and workable, as SEAC says, compared to the more famous Sandvik, more expensive and difficult to work with.  The17-4 PH is treated through processes of ageing and solubilization, which make the material hard (resistant) and elastic at the same time. After such treatment shafts will appear of a dark colour. Some customers do not like this, while others recognize the effect of eliminating light reflects. The micro-welding of the fins of the shaft without machining the shaft internally is a very interesting solution to avoid weakening of the material.

Reel

Made of completely machined techno-polymer, the new reel has a winding knob that can be bent, solution present in many reels of other brands, with the aim of reducing possibility of the knob getting stuck to objects on the sea floor, lines or other. The interesting solution is the regulation system of the clutch. The latter shifts from fully tight to completely open with just half of a turn of the central knob. A solution that we like, as it gives better awareness on how tight or open the clutch is. In the traditional solutions for reel clutch regulation, it can be difficult to tighten the clutch, and sometimes one can exaggerate in turning the knob and possible breakage of the central axle of th reel can occur (when made of techno-polymer and not aluminum).

Another idea thought by SEAC is the fact that the clutch is never completely free, even when the knob is completely loose. This avoids that the line thread unrolls too quickly when a big prey is caught, tangling up around the reel.

Wetsuits

Wetsuits have been renewed with a new camouflage graphic, which is the same as fins and masks, the Kama! The new wetsuit is actually called Kama and has quite a few interesting solutions. The neoprene is open-cell internally and lined externally, but it is not the famous, and very expensive, Yamamoto, but a high quality selection by SEAC, that comes from deep research done together with the company’s suppliers of South East Asia. As all the big producers, meaning not the artisans who produce tailored-made products, SEAC manufactures wetsuits in such countries, mainly in Cina, to have much lower labor costs.

Interesting details make the Kama a tidy product, that resumes solutions of tailor made wetsuits. First of all the thicknesses of the neoprene around the face are differentiated and thinner compared to the rest of the wetsuit, both around the face and in the area of the ears (3.5 mm for the 5 mm wetsuit, and 5 mm for the 7 mm wetsuit). The sternal protection is internal, so it better adapts to the space left between the pectoral muscles, offering better thermal protection to the torax and giving a more refined look to the wetsuit.

Still considering the sternal area (but also the knees), the external covering is in PV-printing with squared pattern, and not a continuous cover which would make the area more rigid and less elastic. The wristbands and the facial contour are made of double folded neoprene, smooth outside, but lined inside to obtain a strong and tear-resistant solution.

Masks

The Fox is the absolute novelty. This mask presents an attent design of the thicknesses of the silicone of the facial contour, to obtain maximum comfort. The attachment of the belt follows a solution which is not very modern, meaning it connects to the frame of the mask (more up to date solutions connect to the silicone body directly). The novelty is the fact that the part of the frame to which the band connects can be folded, a help to store the mask. The frame is camouflage with Kama design just like wetsuit and fins.

New colours for the L70, the modern one piece mask already launched in 2014. In the 2016 range new camouflage colours are brown and green, and are called M70. The frame is in glass-filled nylon. The belt is connected directly to the silicone fascial to improve adherence to the face. The silicone is also matt externally to prevent sunlight reflects that can disturb the fish, while it in not matt internally, differently to some competition, such as Mares and Salvimar.

Fins

As for the masks, fins have also the new Kama camouflage. To obtain this, the Motus Kama fins, made of techno-polimer, are treated with water film printing. The foot pocket is made of thermoplastic of two different stiffnesses and different thicknesses to better adapt to the various areas and needs of the foot.

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