Active Adventure Publishing's

Spearfishing and Underwater Hunting Handbook (ISBN 1-890079-11-1) covers beginner through advanced spearfishing technique and equipment for use by scuba divers and freedivers. To order a signed copy, send your personal check for $21.95 ($17.95 plus $4 S&H) to the address below. Allow 1-2 weeks (in the U.S.) for delivery.

The book is available at your local dive center and through book stores. Have them call or email us if they need to special order it for you.

Amazon.com can ship it within 24 hours. You can order via their secure credit card transaction server by clicking below:

(Amazon.com ranks Spearfishing and Underwater Hunting Handbook in the upper 1% of all books sold by them and tops in their "spearfishing" search results category.)

Also available (along with a wealth of spearfishing information) from:

The book is available through Barnes & Noble's web site and bookstores as a special order. Barnes & Noble also offers credit card orders.

(For resellers it is available through Great Outdoor Publishing, A.B. Biller, and National Divers Mfg.)

Contact us directly for additional ordering or book information! Send mail by clicking actadvent@aol.com.

Active Adventure Publishing
145 Ramon Way NE St. Petersburg, FL 33704
(727)827-0349 (Voice & FAX); actadvent@aol.com
Promoter of active recreation!

About the book....

Spearfishing and Underwater Hunting Handbook, by B. Allen Patrick, covers beginner through advanced spearfishing technique for use by scuba divers and freedivers. The comprehensive 128 page, 8 1/2" x 11" book complements its clear technique and equipment explanations with over ninety photographs and diagrams. In addition to spearfishing, it includes sections on catching spiny lobster, on scalloping, a glossary of spearfishing terms, and a bibliography of spearfishing related articles, videos, and publications.

Cliff Etzel, Freediving Internet Magazine, May 1998; "I whole heartily recommend this book..."

Sport Diver Magazine, April 1997, page 12: "...As SD (Sport Diver Magazine) editor Pierce Hoover put it: 'I knew most of the stuff in it, but it took me five years to learn it the hard way.' If you're interested in spearfishing at any level, push your learning curve and get a copy."

Florida Scuba News, June 1997, page 12: "Spearfishing and Underwater Hunting Handbook is an indispensable guide for divers wishing to learn about spearfishing; those who have the basics and need a little more information; or active spearfishers that may want to know more about gear options and types of equipment."

"Pick up a copy of Allen Patrick's excellent book, Spearfishing and Underwater Hunting Handbook..." (St. Petersburg Times, August 22, 1997, D-16.)

"Spearfishing and Underwater Hunting Handbook fills the long standing void for a general spearfishing technique, equipment, safety, and etiquette guide," reports Ditmar Biller of A.B. Biller Company. The handbook's easy to read style serves well as a personal reference for individual divers. Its structure lends well as a training aid for underwater hunting specialty course instructors and dive center personnel.

Ron Williams, YMCA Instructor: "Excellent text! I foresee a rebirth in the pursuit of this ethical & ecological activity."

Nelson Alvarez, Ft. Lauderdale: "Great book!! Even an old "Spearo" like me came across a few 'I didn't know thats.'"

Bob Christiansen, Santa Rosa, CA: "Excellent book...."

Barry Smith, Scuba Instructor and FSDA President (past): "...found it complete and very enjoyable too; congratulations."

Mark W. Rice, Winter Springs, FL: "This book is the reason I decided to spearfish. I've just bought my equipment. Am waiting to go. Thank you."

Pick up a copy at your local dive center or book store. Contact Active Adventure Publishing at (813)827-0349 or actadvent@aol.com for additional information.



Table of Contents Summary Follows.....

Introduction

Chapter 1: Diving Skill and Experience
What diving skill level do you need to take up spearfishing? Use this criteria to assess your level of diving experience. It highlights the important skills required for effective spearfishing.

Chapter 2: Dive Gear Considerations
Most basic dive gear serves well when spearfishing. However, there are special considerations when selecting and configuring gear for use in spearfishing.

Chapter 3: Spearguns
Now we're getting down to the good stuff! This chapter reviews various gun configurations and ways to rig and use them. It presents the pros, cons, and precautions for each type.

Chapter 4: Hawaiian Slings and Pole spears
Hawaiian slings and pole spears offer alternatives to mechanical release spearguns.

Chapter 5: Special Equipment
Spearfishing accessory equipment such as spearshafts, speartips, adapters, and stringers improve a spearfisherman's effectiveness.

Chapter 6: Technique
The art of spearfishing requires more than aiming and shooting a speargun. This chapter covers general spearfishing skills and tips.

Chapter 7: Spearfishing Safety
This chapter provides guidelines on overall spearfishing safety and etiquette. It also addresses dive and spearfishing gear care. Its tips on gear storage can save you aggravation and money.

Chapter 8: After the Spearfishing Course
After you know how to spear a fish and bring it back to the boat, knowing where to go and with whom to go is the next step.

Appendix A: Specialty Underwater Hunting
This section represents the initial installment of a continuing forum on underwater hunting topics. These first two topics cover lobstering and scalloping as practiced in Florida. Additional underwater hunting publications and updates on spearfishing itself are planned for the future. Send in the post
card from the back of this book to receive notices of upcoming articles. (Your name and address will only be used by Active Adventure Publishing and not released to the junk mail generators.)

Specialty Underwater Hunting -- Lobstering
In the search for delectable goodies from the sea, few treats top the taste of lobster. This installment describes hunting, cleaning, and preparing Florida Spiny Lobster.

Specialty Underwater Hunting -- Scalloping
Atlantic blue-eyed bay scallops, also found in the Gulf of Mexico, provide a great meal. Hunting them is addictive and the shallow freediving required to collect them improves your snorkeling skill. This installment of Specialty Underwater Hunting tells how to find, collect, clean, and prepare bay scallops.

Appendix B: Ethics, Environment, and Law
Spearfishing is a controversial diving specialty. This section presents spearfishing as the most selective and least wasteful method of harvesting from the sea.

Appendix C: Manufacturer Reference
This section lists manufacturers of spearfishing equipment. If you have difficulty locating a piece of equipment, check with one of these companies.

Appendix D: Answers to Review Questions

Appendix E: About the Author

Glossary
Understanding a subject depends upon understanding its jargon (fancy word for slang). The Glossary would have been placed at the beginning of the book if it weren't so boring. You may want to scan it first to prepare for some of the spearfishing terms and definitions.

Bibliography
SPEARFISHING AND UNDERWATER HUNTING thoroughly covers spearfishing technique and equipment. However, general dive related topics are addressed in more detail by other sources. Refer to the Bibliography for a list of recommended sources on such topics as history, physics, diving equipment and technique, fish identification, dive computers and dive table theory, and site location. The bibliography also lists several magazine articles and video tapes related to spearfishing and underwater hunting.

Index
Listing with page references to key terms.

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