SPEARFISHING SAFETY

Spearguns and polespears are dangerous weapons when handled improperly.

Read Before Use!

1. Never load your speargun or polespear out of the water for any reason.
2. Never fire your spear gun or pole spear out of the water. The shaft may break the line and travel several hundred yards or the shaft may "bounce-back" at you.
3. Never point your speargun or polespear at anyone at anytime.
4. Always handle your speargun or polespear as if it were loaded and ready to fire.
5. Always keep the spear tip pointed away from your body.
6. Always put the safety "ON" before loading your spear gun.
7. Always load your speargun in two steps:
a. Place the gun securely against your body with the spear tip pointed as far away from you as is possible.
b. Engage the wishbone in the first notch of the shaft, rest and repeat procedure for the second notch as needed.
8. Always look behind what you are shooting at! A rock might cause the spear shaft to bounce back at you, or another diver may be behind your intended target.
9. Always anticipate recoil! A large and even a small speargun or polespear is capable of removing teeth, breaking face masks and potentially your nose!
10. Always unload a speargun under the water before removing from the water.

FROM http://www.stansdiving.com/spear_safety.htm