Rigging a polespear..the rubber band

I went hunting today and was going to change out the rubber band on the tip of my polespear but i decided to see how long it would last before breaking.
It broke on my eight fish..so change out that rubber band before every dive.

how long is the rubber band supposed to be good for?  2 trips, 20?

there's no way you need to change your band before every trip. I use surgical tubing and haven't changed it in well over a year. I've probably used it 30 times or so.

you use surgial tubing?? i think i was not clear on what i was doing. I was using a heavy duty rubber band on the three prong tip of my paralyzer tines to bring them closer together.
See my thread on rigging a pole spear.

The rubber band only lasts one and a half dives, or about 18 fish before getting worn, so change it before every dive. Eats lots of assparagus!!!! those are the bands to use.

sorry Ocean314, I thought you were referring to the engine side of the spear.

Gotcha.

This is just my experience, but I prefer an inline gig tip spearhead on my pole spear or sling.  The only downside is that you have to sharpen it more often, but I find that if you are diving in areas that might have lings, the gig tip will do a better job on big fish and small fish. The paralyzer is better on perch and small rockies, but I have not had good experiences trying to control larger fish with paralyzer tips.