The standard Omer & Beuchat are about 72mm from the center of the pin to the end of the flopper. Although they are well made flopper I still feel we can improve their performance. Looking at the back edge of these floppers we can see they have been punched out of a press in a big hurry & still have sharp edges. I have a problem with these sharp edges. Imagine we have just shot a fish & the spear made it all the way through but the fish is still alive & kicking. The back of this flopper will be rubbing against the fish. Fish skin is very strong but once this skin has been cut through then the flopper tends to work through a lot quicker. By sanding the back of the flopper we take away the burrs from the press process. This makes the back of the flopper rounded & less likely to cut into the fish.

Engage Flopper
Another adjustment that is crucial is making sure the flopper stays up after it has engaged. This is an easy job but also easy to over do.
A lot of the floppers on the European spears don’t stay up after they have been engaged; this increases the chance of loosing the fish. Place the spear on it’s side on top of a vice or solid steel plate, anything that’s strong where you can hammer against. Then tap the rivet not the flopper itself. This shortens the rivet & squeezes the flopper closer to the spear. Sometimes using a punch is more accurate.