Float line question.

How long of A float line do you guys use for your guns? I have an AB Biller 42 special that im planning on soaking this weekend but dont want to lose it... Thanks Andy..

Fish Master,
50 feet is probably good enough.  I don't use a float at the end of my line since it floats.  It drags through kelp with very little resistance.
Stuart

Ditto on 50.....and get yellow, white, red or orange....only morons get black......ask me how I know 

Ditto on 50.....and get yellow, white, red or orange....only morons get black......ask me how I know 

Sadly, I think I got you beat.  When I started diving here, I wanted to make my own floatlines.  Got the tubing, core material, plugs, etc.  After it was made, I decided that the floatline really needed to be bright orange like the standard norcal floatlines.  Went to Walmart and got some "Bright Orange" RIT dye.  Dyed it... and darnit, it came out muted orange.  Dyed again, slightly darker orange.  With trip to Ocean Cove the next day, I figured it would be good enough.

The next day, I was happily swimming around Ocean Cove and found a nice collection of sizeable abs.  Dropping my gun with floatline to mark the spot, I headed to my float tube to grab an iron.  Returning, my gun was gone... rather, that orange line looked EXACTLY like EVERY #$%^&% strand of kelp there!  I spent almost 2 hours trying to find my brand new gun... finally locating it only by diving down near the bottom and eventually seeing the white handle. 


I now stick to fluorescent colored floatlines in norcal.   

I've had a similar experiance looking for my 35' florecent orange so I've recently upgraded to a 70' florecent orange.

ah crap, I just bought a 35 foot orange float line.  Tried using yellow floating rope, but what a freakin mess.

the clip that came with the float wouldnt fit a mares gun anywhere, so ended up using the split ring to attach it directly.  Bought it at dolphinscuba.com

FishMaster, did you get out last weekend?

Hmmm, if floatlines are braided/multistrand, maybe it would be helpful to have heterochromatic strands? 

Disruptive coloration to make an obviously manmade pattern that doesn't blend into the background?

oooohh ooooohhh I smell a patent

oooohh ooooohhh I smell a patent

Sure that's not gas?

oooohh ooooohhh I smell a patent

Sure that's not gas?

well, I did have flautas for lunch

heterochromatic strands? 

easy with the big word there Poindexter!

heterochromatic strands? 

easy with the big word there Poindexter!

 


Thanks Eric!!! WTF does that mean?

heterochromatic strands? 

easy with the big word there Poindexter!

 


Thanks Eric!!! WTF does that mean?

it don't matter.  So long as it's hetero... as opposed to homo... 

You're good to go. 

50 ft it sounds like a common length however, I would say it depends on how deep do you dive. if you are a 20ft diver you don't really need that extra 30 ft spaghetti running throughout the kelp. If you make your own, get a BRIGHT and FLEXIBLE line. Unless they changesd their supplier, the Home Depot stuff sucks because has lots of memory especially in the cold water (stiff coiled mess). I hear Tap Plastics stuff it's better but I have not tried it. For here (norcal) you don't really need the inner cord 'cause even the biggest baddest ling will never break your like. happy hunting!

ah crap, I just bought a 35 foot orange float line.  Tried using yellow floating rope, but what a freakin mess.

the clip that came with the float wouldnt fit a mares gun anywhere, so ended up using the split ring to attach it directly.  Bought it at dolphinscuba.com

FishMaster, did you get out last weekend?

The bright orange ones from National Divers are good.  Pretty sure that's what you got - they're by far the most common in norcal and will work well.  
Mine is faded from years of sun, salt, & abuse... but still works well.  Don't dry it outside in the sun and it will retain it's brightness.  It's a very distinct difference in color between mine & Stuart's (who actually takes care of his).


http://www.dolphinscuba.com/33_Foot_Float_Line_Orange_p/sg_18376.htm

So uuhhhh...how'd that float line work out...