Hello from Washington State,
The spearfishing here is not great, but it's fun. In Puget Sound we have Ling Cod season from May 21st to June 15th, and that's about it. During the summer it's mostly about diving for crabs and I usually catch my limit every time.
I've been snorkeling since I was a kid and scuba diving for almost 20 years. I'm a PADI Divemaster and I've worked in the dive industry. I've never taken a freediving class, but I've read every book on freediving that I could find.
I have a couple of questions for you guys. I don't have a spearfishing buddy as a lot of the freedive spearfishing people around here won't dive with you unless you have a freediving certification. My question is what do people learn in a four day class that makes them a more qualified diver than someone with decades of diving experience?
So I dive alone, a lot. My operating depth is about 30 feet and I only dive for about one minute. My surface intervals are always at least twice as long as my dives. Do you guys know if there is any actual data that shows that my dive profile could lead to shallow water blackout? Personally, I think that the risk is usually exagerrated and applies mostly to divers who are pushing their limits.
I'm not trying to stir anything up. I would just like to know what experienced divers outside of the dive industry think about this as opposed to dive industry echo chamber.
Thanks