Luigi Puretti, Vice World Spearfishing Champion and top athlete of the Cressi Team, shares his preferences when it comes to using spearguns, adapting them to different spearfishing situations. He uses sling spearguns, and only rarely pneumatic ones.
The shortest: Cressi Cherokee EXO 60
The Cressi Cherokee spearguns line is extremely rich of models, all united by the excellence of the handle and barrel, but with different settings. The Cressi Cherokee in the EXO version and 60cm long is used by Luigi with a single circular band of 16mm and a 6mm shaft. This, according to Luigi, gives amazing precision and avoids that the shaft, due to its limited weight, gets stuck in the rocks. It is the perfect speargun for small species like seabreams and croakers.
Comanche Rail 60 cm in competitions
In competitions Luigi opts for the same length as the EXO, but a closed muzzle, which is available on the Comanche Rail. The shaft is a 6 mm with threaded tip for the mounting of a 4,5, 6 prongs tip. The closed muzzle permits a much faster reloading of the speargun and so much time saving during the competition.
Cherokee Fast 75, 90 and 100 cm
One of the most loved Cherokees is the Fast. Luigi Puretti utilizes the 75 cm with double circular 14 mm bands in Winter, in the backwash, hunting seabasses and mullets. It is a very versatile, with great swing and very, very precise.
The most used measured by Luigi are the 90 and 100 cm. On the 90cm the Cressi athlete mounts an historial band, the S45, 18mm diameter pushing a 6.5 mm shaft. It is perfect to move along the grotto shooting at white fish, seabreams on the fly, but laso good if we need to stop and try an aspetto on bigger fish. The 90cm is used for dives down to maximum 15-20 meters.
For deeper dives I prefer to use a longer length of 100cm, double 14 mm circular bands, and again 6.5 mm shaft. These are measures and settings with which Luigi does almost everything. Their main strength is most probably the unbeatable precision. The great handle of the Cherokee line gives an additional help to the intuitiveness of the shot.
Victory 110 and 130 cm
During the hot season Luigi performs deep dives and uses mainly the Cressi Victory (Best Choice 2024) in the lengths 110 and 130 cm. The 110 is equipped with double circular 15 mm bands and 7 mm shaft to obtain great precision and relatively controlled recoil.
When looking for a more extreme setup. Luigi opts for a 130cm version, triple 14 mm circular bands and 7.5 mm shaft.
The 130 cm is almost totally dedicated to aspetto, while the 110 cm is more versatile for almost all situations which might occur.
A special setting for the Victory 90
The Victory 90 cm, with its 31 mm diameter barrel, 7.5 mm shaft and triple 14mm circular bands, is a very specific speargun that Luigi Puretti utilizes exclusively to catch big groupers in the dens. The 7.5 cm shaft gives great penetration, but the limited length also permits to work on the big fish during the extraction phase.
