Essential Equipment for Spearfishing

Spearguns
For the beginner in UK waters, the best choice is a 75cm rubber gun with a 6 or 6.5mm tahitian spear. A 75 is a good all rounder, being suitable for both open water and hole fishing, and is still the first choice of many champion divers. Anything smaller is a bit limited in range, while a bigger gun is more awkward to handle at first (seeing the end of a bigger gun can sometimes also be a problem in the UK!)
90cm guns are useful for clearer water. Guns bigger than 100cm are rarely used in the UK. For tropical diving in clear water, a 120cm is a good choice. Most spearo's end up owning several guns for different conditions.

 

Wetsuits.

For UK diving a 5mm two piece zipless suit with attached hood is the best option. A 7mm suit is nice for early in the season. You can start spearfishing in a surfing suit, but you will get cold!
A cell interior is warmer, but needs soap and some care for dressing. Spearo UK also offer nylon interior suits which are very hard wearing, and ideal for the diver who is not planning on spending 5 hours in the water at a time.
For the beginer, a nylon or lycra outer is the best option, as it will stand up to the abuse that ones first suit tends to get. Smoothskin suits are very comfortable, but do need to be handled with care.
A loading pad on the chest of the suit is worthwhile, as it does reduce bruising!

Fins.
Although you can spearfish with normal short fins (or even bodyboard fins) no one who uses long fins ever goes back to short fins. The long blades give a much more efficient transfer of energy, and better manouverability in the water. Plastic blades are quite adequate for beginners but until recently most deep divers used delicate and expensive carbon fibre blades. The fibre plastic Apneasub blades give carbon performance at a more affordable price, without the breakage worries. Many divers buy the Spetton plastic bladed fins, then simply upgrade the blades to fibre plastic when they feel the need . When buying fins, bear in mind that you will need to wear neoprene socks when choosing sizes.

Floats.
With ever increasing boat traffic, a float is an essential safety item for the UK diver. Floats also provide a place to keep speared fish, a bottle of water, or maybe a spare gun or spear. In the event of exhaustion or being swept out to sea a float also provides bouyancy.

Weight Belt
Rubbber weightbelts are much more comfortable than webbing. They compensate for suit compression, and do not move around during a dive. The Marseilles type buckle is a proven, simple quick release. 1-2kg weights evenly spaced around the belt are the most comfortable.