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Any freedivers/snorklers here?

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Inbred_Redneck
Posts: 2776 - Karma: 28
Anybody into this sort of thing and where do you do it?

I got into snorkling in boy scouts and just got into freedive/snorkling last year at the lake. Towards the middle of the summer I started bringing a fish spear with me and ended up getting me a few turtles and some cats.

Definatley going to do it more this summer and probably invest in a dive knife and maybe some dive gloves.

Anybody else big into it?
Mar 28 2011 9:07PM
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--ski--
Posts: 1670 - Karma: 817
My bad used to diver for the police ages ago so I've gotten into diving from that. Which has gotten me into snorkling and shit.
Mar 28 2011 9:09PM
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ThunderousFilms
Posts: 674 - Karma: 2,317
havent gotten to try yet, but i dive and on two of my recent dives on grand bahama this guy could make it down to 50 ft for like 3-4 minutes and he was taking pictures of couples if they needed it, its really impressive to see the free divers do this cool story i know, but thought i would share
Mar 28 2011 9:10PM
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SPskier543
Posts: 2413 - Karma: 324
I do some spear fishing a lot in the summer off breakwaters and near reefs freediving, usually catch blackfish, flounder, stripers, and the occasional dogfish
Mar 28 2011 9:15PM
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DIX~
Posts: 4695 - Karma: 6,502
I swim underwater as deep as I can does that count?
Mar 28 2011 9:16PM
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Barefootin_Fiend
Posts: 7618 - Karma: 4,727
i'm a certified diver, so most of my diving is scuba. i usually only go free diving when I'm traveling because it's cheaper and easier than scuba diving all day. last time i went free diving was in Belize last July. we went lobster hunting with spear guns and it was awesome (and delicious). we also did some shark wrestling at shark ray alley which was pretty humbling.

I'd do it more at home but, well let's face it, the Mississippi river isn't exactly grand for free diving. tropical free diving > fresh water free diving.


Mar 28 2011 9:50PM
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vincepru
Posts: 5474 - Karma: 17
pretty much this^ i did alot of free diving in thailand and malaysia a few summers ago, had some crazy ass experiences with the locals both diving and partying haha
Mar 28 2011 9:56PM
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ForrestW
Posts: 451 - Karma: 56
i love to snorkel with my fish spear during the summer. last summer i got one freshwater drum, a nice northern pike, and a bunch of perch. we fried up and ate everything but the drum and its all soooo good.
Mar 28 2011 9:58PM
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theBearJew
Posts: 10951 - Karma: 15,633
i go norklin every now and then but never gone cuba diving.
Mar 28 2011 9:58PM
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Barefootin_Fiend
Posts: 7618 - Karma: 4,727
that'd be super dope. i've heard amazing things about thailand. full moon party, what up!
Mar 28 2011 10:53PM
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Inbred_Redneck
Posts: 2776 - Karma: 28
do you use a pole spear or a sling?
Mar 28 2011 11:07PM
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ForrestW
Posts: 451 - Karma: 56
i got a mad hood pole spear on ebay for about 50 bucks. i know i could get more fish with a better/longer one but i still have a lot of fun with it. im also currently working through the padi scuba class so i might try scuba with my spear sometime next summer
Mar 29 2011 12:28AM
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POWDER.RANGER
Posts: 1698 - Karma: -24
at the closest sandy beach to my house theres a lagoon, and at low tide when its on the flood again we drift it and catch crabs and see all sorts of cool west coast sea creatures, we were even playin with a seal once last summer. its only about 10- 15 feet deep so its pretty easy to dive. pretty legit thing to do on a midsummers afternoon
Mar 29 2011 12:47AM
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solitaryman
Posts: 3578 - Karma: 123
Haven't we all ;). I'm going to be there for the Koh Phagnan 2012 NYE full moon party, CH CH.

As for diving, scuba all the way. The chronic is too much for free diving hahaha. I would like to get good at it though, what an amazing talent to have.
Mar 29 2011 1:03AM
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MothaHucker
Posts: 4678 - Karma: 2,589
f ur into snorkeling u should try scuba
Mar 29 2011 1:07AM
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squibble
Posts: 4569 - Karma: 104
how can i learn to hold my breath that long? by doing aerobic exercise a lot?
Mar 29 2011 1:19AM
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skithesprings
Posts: 9086 - Karma: 1,349
by diving every day. i got up to 3 and a half minutes just by fucking around and practicing all summer. theres some techniques to help but i think the biggest thing is practice. it's definitely fun to be able to stay down 3 times as long as my friends though. especially in dirty or dark waters when i can hold onto the bottom and stay down for really long times and freak them out or swim 50 yards away without coming up.
Mar 29 2011 1:48AM
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Twinjibber77
Posts: 6239 - Karma: 2,356
Could you direct me to a source explaining some of this, a little how to?
Mar 29 2011 1:55AM
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skithesprings
Posts: 9086 - Karma: 1,349
not going to lie, this is from wikipedia, but i'm too lazy to type all this shit, ahah. the "apnea walk" can be done in a pool, just do a breath up then swim very slow paced laps without surfacing. don't over do the breath up though because you can black out from hyperventilation....


Training for freediving can take many forms and be done on the land.

One example is the apnea walk. This consists of a preparation "breathe-up", followed by a short (typically 1 minute) breath hold taken at rest. Without breaking the hold, the participant then initiates a walk for as far as they can, until it becomes necessary to breathe again. Athletes can do close to 400 meters in training this way.

This form of training is good for accustoming muscles to work under anaerobic conditions, and for tolerance to CO2 build-up in the circulation. It is also easy to gauge progress, as increasing distance can be measured.

Before diving, inexperienced freedivers hyperventilate to a certain degree, resulting in a lower level of CO2 in their lungs and bloodstream.[3] This postpones the start of stimulation to the breathing centre of the brain, and thus delays the warning signals of running out of air. As the oxygen level of the blood is not increased by hyperventilation, this is very dangerous and may contribute to shallow water blackout and deep water blackout.[2][4] Trained freedivers are well aware of this and will only dive under strict and first aid competent supervision. However this does not, of itself, eliminate the risk of deep or shallow water blackout. All safe freedivers have a 'buddy' who accompanies them, observing from within the water at the surface. Due to the nature of the sport, safety is an integral part of free-diving, requiring participants to be adept in rescue and resuscitation. Without proper training and supervision, free-diving/apnea/breath-hold diving is extremely dangerous.

Mar 29 2011 2:19AM
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Barefootin_Fiend
Posts: 7618 - Karma: 4,727
there's more to it than just being able to hold your breath. sure, you need to be incredibly fit and an excellent swimmer, but you also need to be able to equalize your ears relatively easily. that's probably the biggest thing that limits most people. you can't swim down 30 feet and not equalize or you'll blow your ear drums out.

the only real way to practice equalizing is to swim your ass down deep, plug your nose, and try and blow out of it. this should equalize the pressure in your ears to accommodate the additional atmospheric pressure. then SLOWLY start to ascend to the surface. you should feel pressure in your ears and they should slowly release as you ascend. the more times you repeat this, the easier it will become. after all of the diving that I've done, I don't even really have to plug and blow to equalize out - my ears pretty much just do it own their own. this allows me to be able to quickly descend and ascend so i get the most bottom time out of my breath.

another thing is to practice keeping calm and relaxed in the water. the lower your hear rate, the more bang you'll get per breath. i notice this a lot when diving in cold, dark water. you can't see, it's cold, and your heart rate is faster than normal so you don't get the down time that you do on a 85 degree 100 foot visibility day.

you want to get better? dive, dive, dive, dive, dive, dive, dive. practice makes perfect. especially with diving.
Mar 29 2011 2:22AM
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skithesprings
Posts: 9086 - Karma: 1,349
this, ruptured my ear drum in aruba while free diving in less than 40 feet of water because i had punctured it somewhat recently and it didn't take much pressure to re-rupture. i could blow bubbles out my ear though, but seriously, ruptured ear drums are no fun.
Mar 29 2011 2:28AM
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I_Am_Mod
Posts: 13214 - Karma: 3,753
i'm a scuba diver but train weekly in a swimming pool on my snorkeling/freediving skills, i found its mainly psychological, don't ask me to swim 2 lengths under water when i'm just in, but ask me at the end of the training and i'll easily give you 3 :)

it's all about remaining calm throughout the dive, don't go too fast, don't go too slow, focus on something other than your breathing
i do math exercises, i count the last number + the current number to give me the next nr. etc ....

also, never train on your freediving/breathholding skills on your own, once you get further into freediving you'll learn how to hyperventilate, this gives you ability to hold your breath much longer, but is also susceptible to sudden blackouts... which aren't ideal underwater .....
so always have at least 1 buddy watch your back ....

and claim; last year i went freediving in nemo 33:
http://www.nemo33.com/ <- deepest pool in the world!
got down to -33m freediving on a life line :)
(= -108ft)

Mar 29 2011 6:11AM
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Inbred_Redneck
Posts: 2776 - Karma: 28
I made my own pole spear out of 3x.5 in aluminum tube. It sits at 6' minus the arrow tip, and holdin up well so far.



For the kid that wanted to know about how to train, its diving alot. I also go to the pool and do slow laps across the bottom in my fins. First I do 25m then 50m and try to get it all down in one breath, just work up from there.


Mar 29 2011 9:24AM
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Barefootin_Fiend
Posts: 7618 - Karma: 4,727
let me know if you ever want to get scuba certified. my old man is an instructor in the quad cities, so we're only about 45 min away from IC. he does private lessons for a pretty straight price.
Mar 29 2011 9:27AM
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Inbred_Redneck
Posts: 2776 - Karma: 28
Thanks man, I'll keep that in mind further down the road.
Mar 29 2011 1:06PM
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futurespin
Posts: 2178 - Karma: 168
My personal bests are picking up sand at 28ft and holding my breath underwater for 2 min 50 seconds. Something is wrong with my left ear so I can't equalize the pressure in that one and after a few trips down 20 ft or so it kills and I have to call it a day.

On a side note, you've probably heard how they used to tie slaves to cannonballs on the ships and sink them when they were sick. Can you imagine the pain in their ears when they got down to 100 or 200 ft... They didn't drown instantly.
Mar 29 2011 1:35PM
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skithesprings
Posts: 9086 - Karma: 1,349
i don't think they had to tie them to cannon balls. pretty sure they sunk anyways.
Mar 29 2011 4:14PM
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Barefootin_Fiend
Posts: 7618 - Karma: 4,727
obviously. everyone knows black people can't swim. /racial stereotyping.

i was diving this quarry near chicago once last summer and there was a big group there....the african american diving association or some shit like that. it completely caught me off guard to see 100+ black scuba divers suddenly show up to dive the quarry. not something you see every day.
Mar 29 2011 4:35PM
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skithesprings
Posts: 9086 - Karma: 1,349
haha, thats like when the national brotherhood of black skiers rolled up to my home mountain. having never seen a black person in the snow you could say i was surprised to be outnumbered by a hundred black skiers.
Mar 29 2011 4:49PM
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Barefootin_Fiend
Posts: 7618 - Karma: 4,727
lol, that happened to me at keystone a few years back, too. it was definitely a WTF moment.
Mar 29 2011 5:57PM
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Inbred_Redneck
Posts: 2776 - Karma: 28
LOL we dont any of that around here.

I'll try and post up pics of my spear that i made when i get home this weekend. I cant freakin wait till May when the water is bearable.
Mar 30 2011 7:47PM
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