JBL Spearguns Revival – How The Classic Brand Came Back

JBL Spearguns Revival – How The Classic Brand Came Back From The Edge

JBL spearguns have been a part of spearfishing for decades. They have gone through though phases of being great, to having some challenges, and back to being a quality product. JBL spearguns are worth taking serious consideration when you look at new spearguns.

History of Success

JBL is one of the longest last spearfishing brands. They have stood the test of time. They were originally known for having simple, high quality spearguns. JBL spearguns were always easy to use and meant to last. Many of their guns were long railgun designs that were great for taking long shots on big fish. If your dad or grandfather were spearfishing there is a good chance they were using a JBL. One of the best things about them was that they were available everywhere and at a reasonable price. Unfortunately that was part of their decline. 

The Decline

JBL spearguns never really had a dramatic decline in quality, but they stagnated terribly. JBL also had the bad habit of being available just about everywhere. While that can be a good strategy when you are one of only three options on the market, being everywhere started to make JBL spearguns look ‘cheap’ rather than valuable. As more options became available on the market they failed to adapt and eventually started to lose market share to newer companies that were making better products designed around customer needs and wants. This continued until ownership changed hands around 2010.

The Revival of JBL Spearguns

Once JBL changed hands they took a dramatically different approach to how they do business and brought the company into the modern era. Over the past several years JBL gradually focused on creating quality products that create value for the diver. They took their classic designed and refined what was great about them, while improving other aspects of their spearguns. One of the areas that JBL spearguns excel is their scuba spearguns. With most of their wooden spearguns designed to be hip loaded they are designed to be used by scuba divers. Some JBL spearguns, like their euro style speargun, the Reaper, were new additions to their line, but are high quality. The reaper is perfectly paired with the JBL Pacific Reel, which is a simple, but well built spearfishing reel. JBL is certainly back on the rise a speargun companies go.  The JBL tips are also an area that they excel.