Hobie Odyssey - Kayak Fun

Nice work!. :thumbsup2:Wheres the fish pics? That is definitely a kayak spearing trial by fire and it sounds like you enjoyed every minute of it. KB has a shelf which makes the reefs quite a bit further out then the rest of broward/miami. Similar to the keys. So I can imagine you had quite a long day. Welcome to your new addiction. Time flies when you're spearfishing. I always seem to overrun the meter when I am beach diving, and most days at the end I feel obligated rather then ready to come in.

The crazy boat thing is just unfortunately part of life down here. You cant rely on a dive flag and the law to protect you. Between SWB, Sharks, currents etc etc im far more worried about boats when I am diving then anything else.

If your wetsuit is giving you a rash it sounds like its lined inside (has a layer of nylon inside to protect it and make it easier to put on) Lined wetsuits are mainly for scuba guys who plan to spend two 30 minute sessions in the water and want to hop in an out of their suit in between. If you want all day warmth and comfort your only choice imho is an open cell spearfishing wetsuit. The inside of these types of suits is smooth open-cell neoprene. It basically feels like youre wearing pure distilled comfort. It also perfectly seals the suit from any water intrusion. I wear mine all day on the boat and for 4-5+ hours in the water beach-diving and its always perfect. No chafes or rashes or anything of the sort. I dont know very many spearo's who dont wear one because once you go open-cell you never go back. Lots of guys I know (including me) have a nice scuba suit sitting on a shelf because of this.

Don't you just love the feeling of the moving ocean every time you close your eyes at the end of a long water sesh as you try to drift off to sleep? Everything moving in a rhythmic motion? Or the totally fatigued state of the body after leaving it all out in the water? And how about the water logged feel of your skin as you climb out of the salt? And of course looking at your catch regardless of how filled your stringer is or the size of your catch and realizing that very few people could ever do what you just did? Yeah, you paid for your meal...but not with man's paper money. And the satisfaction of your accomplishment is your table tip to yourself paid at 100% ! And people wonder why you and I and every free diving hunter out there would go without breathing for an accumulative time of hours in a day just to get food for the table?! Welcome to the waterman's way of life! It's not about the money, the cars, the cool gear, the house, our status or position in society. It's about LIVING! While my sons friends are wasting their lives on stupid things I'm wearing my sons out in the water and they are stoked to the soul for doing it! There's been times we've had long swims back to a rocky shore in moderate seas and against ripping currents with an empty stringer, drinking salt water all the way from the huge ground swells and breaking wind waves (a staple here on the Big Island) and when finally climbing out onto the black lava rock boulders and feeling totally spent, we look at each other with giant grins and just yell with that primal feeling of triumph, giving thanks for another amazing experience in the ocean! Maika'i ka hana a me mahalo i akua..good work well done and thanks to God!

Thanks for sharing! Look forward to seeing how your diving evolves in the future. I have shared hunting grounds with various species of sharks, always with two to three bulls out in the Gulf, and would rather compete with them for my catch than with boats like you have there in So Fl! Man is stupid. The Mano, shark, is a skilled and amazing hunter to behold and to me not the threat stupid humans with a boat and ego are! Be careful out there. Glad you have a skilled dive partner to hunt with.

Congrats.

Aloha!
Makoa

PS:
This pic is not here to show the size of this fish but because of the significance of it. I was full on "bumped" by an adult mako shark while sinking my knife into this fish's brain. Will never know why my shoulder wasn't consumed by this amazing shark but I will never forget the experience of having this shark hit me then shadow me as I swam this Kahala (Amber jack) to the boat. Even this experience was a "spiritual" one gleaned from being a fellow hunter. He must not have been hungry at the moment cause after several minutes of distressed fish signals and plenty of fish blood and oil in the water from subduing my fish he only hit me in passing! I fear man's props and speeding boats more!

Awesome write up and great day on the water. I have a few more comment for later after work

Thanks for sharing

Great story man, thanks for sharing. Sounds like you had a very successful and fulfilling day on the water, good luck on your next trip out!

Yes what those arms/legs are is essentially "open cell neoprene". An open cell suit is exposed noeprene like that on the whole inside. Ive heard those suits called "semi dry suits" by scuba divers because the gaskets keep water out. An open cell suit works like that only better since the whole suit seals to your body."open cell" is a widely used misnomer. If you read the wetsuit writeup on dans suit he explains a little better what an open cell suit is. Speardiver Pacific Wetsuit

Also not all neoprene is created equal. But it was my understanding all common wetsuit neoprene is made using nitrogen to form the closed cell bubbles. And the bigger differences among neoprene mfg's and types is softness and stretchiness. Its assumed that a nice stretchy spearfishing suit will eventually wear out and compress. Its a trade off for comfort and flexibility during its life. If a suit is that resilient to compression compared with other suits it must be very stiff neoprene and not any special nitrogen bubbles. If those seals are chafing you that bad It makes me think the suit is too constricting (causing the neck seal to move and pull as you dive) In my experience most every double lined scuba suit is too constricting for the type of movements going on during free dive spearfishing (duck diving over and over etc).

"The hooded jacket and high waist pants with full open cell interior, are manufactured in high quality neoprene chosen for the ideal balance between stretch/softness and resistance to permanent compression."

SWB is Shallow water blackout aka loss of consciousness towards the end of a dive from overstaying bottom time.

You mean how much resale value does an article of clothing that you piss in on a regular basis retain? LOL Anyways it's an irrelevant question because if you dive (even occasionally) with a wetsuit, once you use an open cell suit you will never go back to double lined scuba suits.

Read Dan's write up to understand more, he explains all neoprene is "closed cell" and that "open cell" is a misnomer and actually refers to the inside being unlined. Still the problem here isn't just that its a lined suit. It seems instead the problem is the stiffness of the neoprene and the lining. "Rubatex" neoprene's #1 defining characteristic per the website is its dense incompressible stiffness. Great for a scuba suit to last a long time and not compress. But years of life is traded for flexibility. Not a huge deal on scuba. But hugely important in freediving.

Also consider that if you have a rash guard in between the neck seal it will no longer function to keep water from circulating into the suit.

You may not fee that constricted in it, but I can assure you, if you put on a nice 3mm open cell you would feel like you used to dive in a straight jacket.

:)I have several open cell 3mil. I just bought a 3mil from Freedivestore and absolutely love it. The grey black cammo pattern is perfect for the big ulua caves and lava rock reef out here, and the feel of it is great. The price was even better! Thanks Speardiver for a great suit, excellent affordable price, AND shipping it to AZ in time for our trip to Mexico.

Nothing moves with your body or keeps water from cycling through as well as open cell.

Like a second skin!

Don't know, but no need. The wetsuits fit most sizes and shapes. A smaller sized open cell will still fit a bigger build by stretching, but it will thin out the thickness and will not be as warm. A larger open cell with good tight wrist and ankle bands will still fit a smaller diver, but won't be as adhering to the body. My twelve year old wears an open cell two piece that's slightly big on him and handles the long water time along with me and his brothers just fine. I'm 6'2" and 200 lbs and I've fit in that same wetsuit...tight squeez but did it just fine. I like my skin to fit tight, so I wear a L or XL but could actually wear an 2XL, or a Medium! I know it sounds crazy but the open cell adheres to your skin like SKIN, so it's just a matter of how you like the overall wetsuit to fit. Of course I think this is more true for two piece wetsuits. I've surfed plenty in one piece Billabongs and felt totally choked by tight or snug zipper wetsuits! A huge key to longer breath holds is to keep warm and keep the shivering down, and by not feeling constrained or choked around the neck. You could buy a good open cell used on eBay or the forum, but with the way Speardiver has priced their wetsuits, I would recommend buying one new from them. Seriously, search for Omer 3 mil cammo and you'll spend more on just the bottoms/farmer johns than you will on the entire two piece wetsuits at spearfishing.store. The only thing I would change about mine is if they would make their 3 mil bottoms in a Farmer John style like my Riffe so I can wear just the bottoms with a rash guard instead of the upper when I'm diving really warm waters and don't want to wear a 3 mil top with hood. Other than that I have become a huge fan after using my new wet suit last week in Mex!

I have worn both the Spetton on my 12 year old Kainoa, and the Riffe on my 17 year old Kawika!
Aloha

Quote from telekinetic walrus

Thanks Reefchief and Makoa. I guess I will need to try an open cell suit, then. No biggie, I'm sure I can sell my current wetsuit - it's only been used twice.

Can the speardiver wetsuit be custom fit, or no?

I dont think they can be. But Like Makoa says. No need, you'd be surprised at how "custom" they fit. They stretch so well that you can almost certainly find a size that fits like a custom suit. Especially if you aren't rail thin and tall. That seems to be the body type most in need of custom suits. Look at some of the different body types in Speardiver suits on the reviews and you can see what I mean.

I actually just switched from a small suit to a medium. Ive been wearing a small for 2+ years and it fit great. But I tried on a medium recently and found the fit to be even a little better. I even just bought a new suit in small. The small stretched to fit so well I never thought a medium would be better. Being a local if you buy a Speardiver suit Dan can size you up and fit you correctly to ensure you go home with the right suit.

I'll say this. While my height has not changed in the 2+ years I've been wearing my speardiver suit, my weight has and I have been as skinny as 195 and as heavy as 240 in the same suit. It fit great and was warm as a nice blanket.

Quote from Reefchief

I dont think they can be. But Like Makoa says. No need, you'd be surprised at how "custom" they fit. They stretch so well that you can almost certainly find a size that fits like a custom suit. Especially if you aren't rail thin and tall. That seems to be the body type most in need of custom suits. Look at some of the different body types in Speardiver suits on the reviews and you can see what I mean.

I actually just switched from a small suit to a medium. Ive been wearing a small for 2+ years and it fit great. But I tried on a medium recently and found the fit to be even a little better. I even just bought a new suit in small. The small stretched to fit so well I never thought a medium would be better. Being a local if you buy a Speardiver suit Dan can size you up and fit you correctly to ensure you go home with the right suit.

The only guy I recall on here who used to use custom Elios suits was Rolo. He spoke very highly of them but I believe he's since switched to Speardiver suits after finding them as good as his custom Elios. Ive heard a few other people say good things about Elios suits but can't recall who it was. You can search the forum and probably find a few posts with people asking and telling about Elios suits. On the other hand ive only heard terrible things said about Oceanos custom suits so steer clear. Really though, custom suits aren't needed or worth it 98% of the time. And Most of that 2% seems to be tall skinny people. Stretching to fit a little in a few places is good and expected in an open cell suit. Thats how I wore one size too small for years. Its usually when the ankle and leg seals are loose and water can leak in that the suit doesnt "fit".

Also I figured I should mention the best part about open cell suits before you get one. They require lube to put on! :laughing: Really though, since open cell neoprene sticks to your body you need to spray a solution of water and conditioner into the suit before sliding it on. (I use 90% water 10% conditioner) This seems to scare a lot of people looking into purchasing an open cell wetsuit but its really no big deal. 3 extra minutes putting the suit on is well worth hours and hours of comfort.