Basic freedive spearfishing gear

    I may be introducing someone to spearfishing. The first order of the day is gear. I and others are probably going to be doing more of this in the future, and it can get tedious going over basic gear again and again. So I thought it would be a good idea to have a thread to be able to refer people to, to learn about the most essential gear they will need to start.


    Gear changes in dependence of conditions but the following is a pretty safe bet for all occasions. A lot can be said about each individual piece of gear but this is not the place, this is just a basic outline.


    #1 and most important, a mask. Can't do anything without it because you can't see well in saltwater. It should be a good fit not allowing water to leak in, and preferably have a black skirt to avoid sun reflecting into the mask. Another desirable characteristic for a freediving mask is lower volume.




    #2 Snorkel.     This is another essential piece of gear that will allow you to rest on the surface without raising your head out of the water to breath, and expend only minimal amounts of energy. Keep it simple without any purge valves and dry tops.



    #3 Fins. We can spend hours talking about fins, but lets just say that for any kind of deep diving long freediving fins are necessary. A good fiberglass blade is better than plastic, and carbon is the best. But just to mess around in shallow water even plastic snorkling fins will do. Actually it's possible to get down using a frog kick without any fins, but it's not something you'll want to do for a long time. The frog kick requires sculling movements with the arms and you're going to be holding a speargun in one of your hands, not easy to do.


    IMO the best carbon longfins.



    Good plastic snorkling fin.



    To be continued.

    Rubber weightbelt, dive socks, gloves, Dive Watch (Suunto, Imersion,ect), wet suit, gear bag, gun bag, rigging kit, oh and a good woman to buy all this stuff for you:D

    well said GR.



    i like this thread Dan...have you considered the reel vs floatline. I think one of the two is needed.


    I agree that gloves, a knife and a weightbelt are also the bare bones essentials

    i like to spear fish

    Great thread.



    This will help alot. There's so much time/money wasted when you start on your own without a guide.

    i don't think glove and knife are esentials. I'd say snorkel , mask , fins ,gun , stringer are esentials. the rest are comodities. weigh belts are a great help but we can fish without them . of course i always bring the line and float and use them , but in case I loose my bag and had to ask people for things , with the stuff mentioned i'll do my day. pluss my underwear as a suit. and for a stringer any piece of wire will do.

    Lets not forget the most important piece of a freediver's grear... A tight fitting Speedo:D
    Not to argue Pantoja, but how could you possibly say a knife and gloves are not essential gear?

    Quote from red tide

    Lets not forget the most important piece of a freediver's grear... A tight fitting Speedo:D
    Not to argue Pantoja, but how could you possibly say a knife and gloves are not essential gear?


    + 1

    Quote from red tide

    Lets not forget the most important piece of a freediver's grear... A tight fitting Speedo:D


    For the LADY spearos that I spear with, the above is NOT 100% true, as I would be happy to supply a free shaft to a LADY spearo should she forget her speedo :thumbsup2:


    But seriously, I consider ALL the gear in my yak as essential (probably that is why my loaded yak is TWICE as heavy as others)

    Quote from red tide

    Not to argue Pantoja, but how could you possibly say a knife and gloves are not essential gear?

    I can tell you having dove with Pantoja many times that he doesn't use gloves. He's got rough hands though like a good guajiro :) And since he took a chunk off his thumb with a steel articulated wishbone that slipped and no longer uses that gun, I think he'll be alright. Some "special" :D people prefer a little pain now and then instead of bothering to make sure to bring along an extra pieces of gear such as gloves.


    As far as not having a knife; simply means that you can dive and get fish without a knife. Is it safe? probably not. But everything done right you can get away with not having a knife for a long time.


    With that said I didn't complete my list yet and was going to add knife and gloves. I just tried to put everything in order of; nothing can be done without it - it would be nice to have.

    good point Dan, can you land fish without it? maybe. should you? totally different question.


    i see the spectrum. gloves are on the less needed side.


    I think the knife is more important, for braining fish, but for tangles mostly...I have never needed to use my knife to free myself but the one time I dove without it I came closer to needing it than ever......I had shot a nice mack and instead of running away, he came straight at me. I literally had to grab my shaft to avoid getting stabbed with it :@. when I finally got a hold of the shaft and the fish, my shooting line was wrapped twice around my waist...if it had been a bigger fish I would have been in DEEP trouble...fortunately I shoot little fish :)

    i like to spear fish

    Dan, when you say that you are introducing a pesron to spearfishing, my initial thoughts are; is the person new to just spearfishing, or are they also new to diving?


    If the person does not have have much dive experience, I would suggest leaving any hunting out of the first few trips until you can determine whether or not the person is going to be comfortable in the water; i.e., not freak out. I have had this happen before with people that said they have previous dive experience.


    I agree with your initial assesment that the most critical gear should be the basic snorkeling/freedive gear; mask, fins and snorkel. I might also add that a wetsuit depending on the water temperstures at the time, and also to help keep the person somewhat bouyant just incase anything should happen, staying on the surface will be the least of anyone's worries.


    I think the most critical aspect of diving is comfort in the the water. Not just physically, but psychologically. Physical discomfort leads to psychological stress. These two factors should be considered above all else. Once it has been established that the person is comfortable in the water, then go to the hunting...


    My "dos centavos".

    Very valid points John. To be clear, if the person was not already comfortable in the water, I'm talking decent snorkling skills, I will not invest my time introducing them to spearfishing whatever the benefits to me. It's just too much of a learning curve and I want to dive, not have the burden of responsibility. I'll leave the teaching to guys like Rick Hernandez or Jorge Mario who do it professionally. Or let the person demonstrate that they have enough desire to do it by starting on their own and letting the sea teach them.

    The psychology of getting in the water, especially deep water takes a lot of anxiety control for a new diver. I remember the first time I went out on a boat I was quietly freaking out even though I had been shore diving avidly at least 3 times a week.

    hahaha, this reminds me of the first time i took my buddy chet diving..we were diving a dredged channel in a flat so the water went from two to 13 ft...we were over the 2 ft water and i got him set up in the mask and snorkel and when he went under he started to hyperventilate like a monster..he paniced so hard in 24" of water that he could not fill his lungs to save his life...he popped out of the water and said (in southern drawl) damn man this is hard!!

    i like to spear fish

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