Shark Shield Questions ???

Living in fisherman's paradise has allowed me more water time than ever before (40-50 days last year). Unfortunately, with all this time on the water, i also logged my first (and second) encounter with the landlord. So after two encounters in one year, i think it may be time to think of a little more safety.
Please post your opinions on the Shark Shield pros and cons if you have direct experience with this product.
Also if you have any connection with this company
Thanks for any info
;0)

I’m not affiliated with Shark Shield other than we do sale them at our shop. I’ve been to a couple of their presentations and looked at their studies and science behind the product. My takeaway is that I think they work and that out of everything on the market they are the best option. Will they work every time or deter every encounter? I wouldn’t bet on that but like I said, I think they are the best option.

In the end, sharks are a reality of kayak fishing and you either accept it and continue on or you buy a boat. For me, the Shark Shield at least gives me some piece of mind. They are pricey but less so since they lowered the price last year. They went from 650 down to 500 now.

I use one everytime I go out.  Definitely makes me feel better and that makes it worth it.  Hopefully I never have to real life test it. 

And yes the price has gone down and the amount of charges has increased since previous versions so per day use cost has gone down. 

Hey Eric,
I just posted up my opinion yesterday.
The product is solid in build and although it won't last forever the company makes that clear from the start and has a decent core charge/trade in program. My unit has withstood a ton of saltwater and kayak exposure with only some expected corrosion on a few replaceable parts.
I had a 1st gen Freedom 7 shield that went through Aaron and Scott before I got it, and I used it every trip for maybe 3 years before the battery died.
SS just sent me a brand new unit in exchange, with a cost of $275.00. They are (in the US) based in Waconia MN and were very pleasant to deal with, and timely considering it is a teeny tiny operation.

My personal experience with the Freedom 7 is that it works, up to a point. I doubt it would deter a committed fish over maybe 10-12 ft, but who knows?
My two stories are #1) once in Capitola when a 10-12ft white breached between us as we paddled along trolling. It was apparent that the fish had targeted Matt's Hobie, but veered off just as it encountered the shield sphere, causing it to bump his bow with the dorsal fin only.
#2 was out on the open sea in 60fOW on our North Coast and I was scoped by a slightly larger version, maybe 12-13ft that did a circle with dorsal and tail visible until it came within the 12ft sphere of the shield and then it did a 180 turn at full throttle and glided away beneath my kayak lit up looking like it was wrapped in polished aluminum foil.
I wrote my undergrad thesis on these fish, so my IDs are accurate (these were not salmon sharks) and my limited knowledge of their behavior seems to fit with my experience. Would the shark in story #2 have hit my boat? Not sure. I've been scoped by an even larger shark that did nothing (other than scare the piss out of me) when I didn't have a shield.
That said, I just spent $275 for the confidence that in a when a great white in in curiosity/checking you out mode, the shark shield makes a difference. With it activated it is clear to the fish that you are an unknown, and may pose danger.
as a side benefit, once a big hali or lingcod gets pulled into the sphere, it does stun them to a certain extent, making them slightly more compliant.

wow, that's a lot of words. Sorry.

TL:DR
I'm a proponent of the shark shield if it is affordable to the angler. My opinion isn't based in fear, but (limited) real world experience.

Living in fisherman's paradise has allowed me more water time than ever before (40-50 days last year). Unfortunately, with all this time on the water, i also logged my first (and second) encounter with the landlord. So after two encounters in one year, i think it may be time to think of a little more safety.
Please post your opinions on the Shark Shield pros and cons if you have direct experience with this product.
Also if you have any connection with this company
Thanks for any info
;0)

Can you tell us a little more about your experience (Im assuming in Shelter Cove ?)...what were your encounters like ?

Good info, Sean! Thanks for posting your experiences with the SS.

I really should use mine more.  I charge it the night before, but most of the time, I forget to deploy and stays under the hatch.  Just like this past weekend at GS, it never came out of front hatch.  I'm guessing each time I charge it and don't use, it decreases battery life???

Living in fisherman's paradise has allowed me more water time than ever before (40-50 days last year). Unfortunately, with all this time on the water, i also logged my first (and second) encounter with the landlord. So after two encounters in one year, i think it may be time to think of a little more safety.
Please post your opinions on the Shark Shield pros and cons if you have direct experience with this product.
Also if you have any connection with this company
Thanks for any info
;0)

Can you tell us a little more about your experience (Im assuming in Shelter Cove ?)...what were your encounters like ?

Here is one report: http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=80720.msg921843#msg921843

I really should use mine more.  I charge it the night before, but most of the time, I forget to deploy and stays under the hatch.  Just like this past weekend at GS, it never came out of front hatch.  I'm guessing each time I charge it and don't use, it decreases battery life???

Yknow I'm not sure on that. I can check my owners manual for my new one. I almost always completely discharged mine when I would use it, over about 6-7 hours.
I do know that heat can weaken the units, so they should be stored out of direct sun in a cool location.

Make sure the entire unit is submerged. Otherwise it interferes with electronics (radio, FF).

Also, their customer service is TERRIBLE. Horrible communication. They don't answer the phone and take weeks to respond to emails.

This is all my personal experience.

My only experience with an SS is spearfishing. I haven't been approached by the landlord yet, thankfully, but I know it makes the fish twitch when they get near it (so the halibut compliance makes sense). It shocks the heck out of me if I bring my foot out of the water when diving down, so I'm a bit curious how you use it on a kayak.. do you just keep your ankle in the water?

I’ve had one for several years and use it every time on the ocean and it’s still going strong. I’ve read the research and IMHO the evidence is solid that it will reduce the chance of a “Polaris” attack or other “surface interaction” on a kayak (the terms they use in the research study, as I recall).

Btw, I read and/or write research papers involving statistical analysis almost daily. So, I think I have a pretty good sense for when the numbers don’t add up. As far as I know, only one serious study involving shark shield has been done, and the results they found did not happen by chance—the shark shield clearly had a deterrent effect, for a few specific types of attacks. Fortunately, these were exactly the kinds of attacks that kayakers would be most concerned about.

SS recommends the Freedom 7 for kayakers, but the Scuba 7 seems to make more sense to me. If you take the tank mounted module and mount near front of yak, and hang the other antenna out rear scupper, this seems like it would give better coverage of the whole yak. Can anyone get info on this ?
It is hard to communicate with SS in Australia.

All the way in shelter cover... that’s really gnarly.

My only experience with an SS is spearfishing. I haven't been approached by the landlord yet, thankfully, but I know it makes the fish twitch when they get near it (so the halibut compliance makes sense). It shocks the heck out of me if I bring my foot out of the water when diving down, so I'm a bit curious how you use it on a kayak.. do you just keep your ankle in the water?

Mine is tethered to the deck next to a scupper hole. The unit then rides in 1/2"+ of water and I just feed the lead down the scupper.

For my part i had no issues communicating with either Australia or MN. It took 'em  24hrs minimum to reply, but they always did.