Where can I get Rob Allen in Europe?

[Søren]

Does anyone know where to get Rob Allen guns in Europe?
Anywere other than diveshop.gr?

s
mulletmeister

[scottwilson]

Hello mate (Europe an Spearfishing Supplies)(+44) 7 90 608 3228(+44) 2 07 335 6132sales@europeanspearfishingsupplies.comwww.roballeneurope.com


Rob Allen spearguns, railguns and other spearfishing and freediving accessories. is the international contact list

Good luck they are great guns

[Søren]

Great thanks
I visited Europe an Spearfishing Supplies but since the buy online function has been categorized as "coming soon" for a LONG time and there are no prices I thought it was just a dummy web site.

[jimdoe2you]

Your euro is sooooo strong against the american dollar right now, you may want to consider buying one from the US and paying 30 euros to have it shipped. A Rob Allen from the US may run you as little as 120 euros.

Thanks,
Jim

[Søren]

You may be right though the Danish customs rules makes almost everything from the US twice as expensive with ridiculous fees and stuff.

[Wishbone]

SpearFish DiveStore

[Søren]

Originally Posted by Wishbone

SpearFish DiveStore

Great!!!
Do you know them?
Are they good?

[Wishbone]

You have a PM!

[Mr. X]

Originally Posted by Søren

Great thanks
I visited Europe an Spearfishing Supplies but since the buy online function has been categorized as "coming soon" for a LONG time and there are no prices I thought it was just a dummy web site.

Try emailing Colin at sales@europeanspearfishingsupplies.com. Failing that, email Rob/Jeremy in SA via their website Rob Allen spearguns, railguns and other spearfishing and freediving accessories. they will be able to sort you out. [If you put in an order for a gun, consider a carbon barrel. Also the float stringer & limpet sheath are excellent and are/were reasonably priced. The green coloured float lines are/were good value too.] Pity they're not more readily available.

Spearguns by Spearo uk ltd finest supplier of speargun, monofins, speargun and freediving equipment carry some Rabitech gear, which is similar. The owner, Dave, is a forum member.

[mikaelj]

Hi Søren,

I got a RA 110 a month ago or so, which I purchased directly from Rob Allen in SA and got it shipped to Denmark.

Drop me a PM if you want further details.

/Mikael

[Søren]

You've got a PM

[Søren]

Ok, so I ended up doing business with the Bulgarians.

They had the gun I wanted in stock and always replied fast an to the point to my emails.
Very nice people.

SpearFish DiveStore

Thanks to everybody for their assistance.
Søren

[spaghetti]

Now, hem hem, this is the question:
what's so special with RA's other than being so heavy?


edit: the question was serious. I wish someone to explain to me what's special with RA guns, which I never had a chance to try. Some people warned me they're pretty heavy to handle and quite hard to load. What's the payoff? Power? Accuracy? Is it worth it?

[armandozx]

personally there isn't anything special about RA GUNS at least in my opinion. But then again, what is special about the HF2 or any other omer gun? This goes for other brands as well ( don't think I'm just picking on an Italian Manufacturer ), that being a very discrete comparison, I would prefer to have an RA for South Florida waters than any omer gun out there except the COBRA.
I realize that there are plenty of gun manufactures that have very good products but they tend to be expensive like custom made wood guns. Love them but price is def a factor to many spearos.

Other factors that I would consider are shaft diameters of the rob allens and of course the price. There isn't anything of the same quality that comes close.

[Mr. X]

Originally Posted by spaghetti

Now, hem hem, this is the question:
what's so special with RA's other than being so heavy?

edit: the question was serious. I wish someone to explain to me what's special with RA guns, which I never had a chance to try. Some people warned me they're pretty heavy to handle and quite hard to load. What's the payoff? Power? Accuracy? Is it worth it?

, I wonder if this one was aimed at me?!

What's so special about RAs? Well, I think they are special.
- fully equipped to handle big game fish out of the box (rigged with tough 2mm mako line, big game clips & swivels, heavy duty bungee)
- full rail
- single/dual rubbers 16-20mm
- muzzle includes at least 10cm more rubber than screw in bands
- powerful bands
- drab spring steel spears, double notches for dyneema wishbones
- quieter, safer more hydrodynamic dyneema wishbones (why don't the Italian companies use these - or at least include them or sell them?).
- cool, tough, firm rubber-feel handle (& it's blue)
- easy to remove trigger mech. cassette
- sensible SA barb down
- 5 year warranty & super friendly/helpful response from Rob & Jeremy at the Dive Factory is SA.

Re. heavy, well yes, my aluminium one is compared to my feather-weight XXV (but what isn't?!) but RA also offer carbon barrels. The weight is largely due to it being built to handle big, tough fish -- admittedly not a major concern in the UK but handy if you ever travel abroad (how come everywhere else has bigger fish?!). I found the new 20mm rubber tough to load on the 90cm railgun at first (although I found the 16mm rubbers plenty powerful enough for all my needs and would have preferred to stick with 16mm rubber) - you've seen the images of my bruises. I find it considerably easier now but continue to wear a thick supplemental loading pad in addition to the normal Elios wetsuit pad. On reflection, it probably makes most sense to use RA for larger guns, maybe 110-150cm (IMHO) & with a carbon barrel. I think a 120/130cm carbon RA would be a pretty sweet gun for clearer water.

Admittedly, my head has been turned by the Omer XXV. What's so special about the Omer XXV?
- incredibly light
- incredibly slim & low profile
- removable loading butt
- flexible muzzle configuration (although all you need is a bulk rubber muzzle IMHO)
- slim, stainless steel spear with low profile barb.

Doesn't come rigged (not a big deal for your second gun), doesn't include muzzle bungee (don't need one), spear notches can remove deep gouges round the entrance to the trigger mech (soft plastic?), shark metal wishbone, spear notches aren't smoothed for dyneema wishbones, barb on top less likely to open (in practice as well as in theory), highly visible shiney spear (...or is it? I have been wondering if chrome/mirror finish might be good camoflage?). I will eventually fit bulk rubber band & dyneema wishbone to the gun - the wishbone will make it even lighter although that'll be more than offset by a few cm of rubber on the gun. Pity they don't support Dyneema wishbones as standard - it's the only real, glaring deficiency (and more annoying because of that).

That all said, I like both guns a lot. If I thought I was likely to be dealing with a lot of big fish (striped bass, grouper, conger, tuna, barracuda, wahoo, Spanish mackeral, AJs,...), I'd pick up the RA railgun. However, my little 75cm Omer XXV is just so light & easy (& new), it seems to be hogging most of my attention lately - even though this weekend the 90cm RA might have been a better choice most of the time. I like the XXV so much I'm thinking about getting another to fill the gap between my two current guns & which will probably become my main gun. You'd think the 82cm model would fit the bill - but I'm thinking the 90cm XXV will handle much like an 82cm version of any other model (due to shorter spear, slimmer barrel & low mass) -- at least that's what current owners seem to be saying (& my own experience with the 75).

BTW Spaghetti, I took the RA out with me too at the weekend, bungeed to my torpedo float. It increased float drag quite noticeably and I couldn't be bothered to go through the hassle of switching guns once in the water, so rather pointless. How do you carry yours on your float? I've been thinking of making a boogie board float (saw one thrown away recently) so that I can carry both and/or lobster traps but it just seems too much. I enjoy myself more when I carry less gear.

[Darn, just realised I lost my tough RA net crab bag last weekend...major walk out in wetsuit, with fish & lobster pot under an unseasonably hot, humid afternoon. You get attached to RA gear - most should last a lifetime.].