Crays and gloves?
Crays and gloves?
Hi all,
Went out today for a couple of dives. It was great! This was our 4th dive after getting our tickets. The more dives we do the better things get:)
The highlight of today's dives was that we actually found some crays!:) However - after a few attempts with the loops and using our hands we weren't able to catch any. I reckon i'll get the hang of the loop soon, though I wanted to see what you guys reckon of catching crays with your hands?
There was two crays I couldn't get to with the loop so I stuck my hand in and was able to grap hold of them though unforutantely as the crays were kicking i lost grip and only came out of the hole with a few feelers in my hands. I heard someone say that if you use standard "rubber kitchen" gloves this will give you more grip when catching them with your hands. Is this true? Do they hold more grip?
Also - do most of you guys use your loops, or do you sometimes use your hands aswell? I've never really heard of people catching them with their hands though it seems to make sense in those areas where loops can't be used.
(Btw, for all of you who replied to my last posts my mask was 100% better this dive after scrubing it with toothpaste and then applying those sea drops. I also dropped to 18lb of weight which was more comfortable aswell)
cheers
Wayne
Ryan Thipthorp (not verified)
Posts: 23
Date Joined: 01/01/70
info!
If i cant loop the cray, its cornered or its coming at me then i'll grab it. The key is not to grab the feelers as they will snap and the cray ends up going further into a hole. I go and grab the bases of the feelers (grab its head) which dont snap and will allow you to wriggle the cray out "if" its stuck in. I use proper diving gloves with amara palm & fingers (rubberised will work also) and I get a fair few seasons out of them!
I use the loop mainly but you'll know when the "grab" is required....it works well actually!
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PilbaraBrad
Posts: 3628
Date Joined: 16/05/07
we just use hands up hee
we just use hands up hee most of the crays i get are in aand around plate coral as well so pretty easy to crab one
I have heard but i dont know if it is allowed or not of people using an old string broom with 3/4 of the strings pulled off the end. The thoery is that if you twist the strings on the cray it gets all it spikes stuck in them and you can pull it out, hmmmmm sounds like it would work anyway
big john
Posts: 8726
Date Joined: 20/07/06
Neoprene
Neoprene dive gloves work well but get thrashed fairly easily.
Those fabric gloves with the rubber diamond pattern work okay but they stick to the cray to well sometimes and it can be hard to work your hand up the crays head for a better grip if you initially grab it just on one horn.
Just purchased some kevlar cray gloves so I'll see how they go.
Best tip for grabbing by hand is to go hard and fast and try not to touch its feelers. Try not to reveal your presence either and go for a total ambush (put wobbegongs and other ooglies out of your mind) before it wedges itself right back into the ledge/coral.
John
Ps. Freediving only and I can't hold by breath long enough to bother with a loop. Painteds and greens don't normally hang around for long either when your trying to grab them so the loop is probably useless. Reds are much dumber IMO.
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GrahamM
Posts: 648
Date Joined: 19/01/09
pretty well what ryan said
pretty well what ryan said Noosing is defenatly the go once you get the hang of it and although its hard at the start once you get the hang of it it becomes relatively easy glad to hear you finally saw some under there now that you have spotted them you will start to see more of them also because you will learn what ground to look for them in
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Another thing ...
If you can't get the snare into a good posi, then tap them on the side or ass or whatever to get them into a better posi. Don't tap the front of the feelers though, or they will just shoot off.
I have some kevlar gloves and they're ok, but not as tuff as the amara palm ones.
Whatever you use, buy some neoprene glue and keep them patched up, keeps them together longer in either case.
Auslobster
Posts: 1901
Date Joined: 03/05/08
Gloves..
We have simple cotton ones with rubberised palms/fingers from work (so they're free!) and I thought they'd be too flimsy for crays but it turns out they're great. I've probably grabbed 40 odd crays with my current pair and they're still going strong. They're called "Hyflex". Proper neoprene diving gloves are an absolute waste of time IMO. They cost too much, have bugger all "dexterity", and become shredded in a very short space of time.
To expand on what Jamie's talking about...today I got a cray that was well back in the cave by reaching as far as I could with the loop, one-handed, and tapping him on the ass towards me until he was close enough to snare. Worked a treat!
wayneleech
Posts: 362
Date Joined: 27/06/08
cheers for the response guys
cheers for the response guys - great to get so much feedback:)