Posts by Reefchief

  • Interesting and funny stuff

    Ive seen that pic before. Thats the boat that hit a japanese fishing vessel and sank it a few years back. This picture is of a salvage tug crew trying to toss a guide rope to get it on tow after the crash. I think the accident killed like 14/16 of the fishermen and the boat sank immediately. Sad story.

  • Rain-X

    Dusky, does your mask leak a bit? Or is the water in there initially and just never comes out? You might want to try to find a mask that fits your face a bit better if it leaks. I find that a good fitting and well defogged mask with a small amount of de-fogger or spit. Put on your face after jumping in and cooling your face down. Can stay perfectly clear for 5-6 hours solid.

  • Freediving 'The Caves' HD video

    Quote from jdv

    Freediving The Caves - with Linda Paganelli & Stefan Randig - YouTube


    Video of Record Freedivers Linda Paganelli and Stefan Randig freediving 'The Caves' just south of Dahab, Egypt.


    Be sure to watch it in full HD :thumbsup2:


    jdv. Wonderful beautiful video. I really enjoyed it and it made me want to go diving quite badly. dahab egypt looks like a magnificent place for freediving. Is there any sort of spearfishing to be done around that area?

  • Dive torches? Lumens?

    Hey Al,


    I don't have personal experience with that light but that thing is probably a pretty good light. A 1 watt cree led @220 lumens is pretty bright. And 4-5 star Amazon reviews are usually a good indicator in my experience. I actually kind of want to pick one up. But replacing my light means losing the clip my light has. Its too big and not bright enough (40 lumens). But man I really like that clip and don't know how I would carry a light without one. (it clips right to my belt)

  • Bluewater hunting techniques.

    Thanks for the info Ronny. Thats exactly the kind of stuff I was wondering about wahoo.


    Mike, you're building a bluewater gun right? I am thinking about doing the same. Not a tuna gun or anything, but a nice long 3 bander with two wraps. Im gonna use this next season to gauge how much I really want and need one.


    Another technique I was thinking about using next season was trolling for mahi, getting a fish on the line, and then leaving it in the water to keep the school around. Maybe deploy some flashers / drop some chum. Then slipping in and taking the biggest.

  • Bluewater hunting techniques.

    Ive only just recently dabbled in bluewater spearfishing. Started bringing along gear while offshore fishing with my dad and jumping in on things we find floating. I enjoyed it quite a bit and was considering doing it more. But I am not exactly keen on having to find flotsam to produce fish.


    Can anyone here share some insight and information on some other bluewater hunting techniques? I am interested in stuff like jigging flashers from the boat, chumming, swimming weed lines. The main target species are wahoo and mahi mahi off the SE florida coast.


    Thanks guys,

  • Another Accident

    Sometimes other spearos are a way bigger threat. I know too many people who keep the gun loaded more then they should.


    The photos they post on that Facebook seem to be completely unrelated to a timeline. So this picture could be quite old.

  • Pathos Fireblade and Salvimar 4One reviews

    Quote from adelito

    That said..... diving equipment is not ment to be generic like jeans or shoes...you find the size and color and boom, buy it and go


    Thats why there are so many different brands that produce slightly similiar but different products....


    .



    Thats not exactly true. To run your jeans analogy into the ground a bit. Yes many aspects of jeans are slightly different. But even with a pair of jeans the industry has decided on a number of standards that jean manufacturers usually stick to. The belt loops, button, pockets, and stitching will for the most part all be the same. These standards or defacto standards exist either because its the best way to do something, or because they offer conveinience and interoperability the customer demands.


    One of the biggest issues being raised about these footpockets is that metaphorically they are essentially jeans with a slot in the belt loops. The only belts that actually fit the jeans are special slotted belts from the same company. I think anyone would agree this kind of "purposefully pointlessly proprietary" stuff stinks and offers no benefit to customers, and should urge manufacturers to stick to standards that work.

  • Save Spearfishing In the Coral Sea

    Its a recurring theme in all societies and walks of life. The people with most of the money want more, and use the money they have to change the rules to ensure they make more. At the expensive of anything and everything including the environment and human lives. Meanwhile the little guy. The one who is the one really in need of and usually deserving of representation and respect. The one trying to enjoy the environment not extract wealth from it. Gets the shaft.


    As a kid I used to think the power = money thing was hyperbole not a math equation.

  • Breath up

    Quote from Billum

    I am new to free diving. I plan on doing alot of free dive spearfishing on the beach wrecks In hatteras Any advice would be greatly appereciated. I can hold my breath for 2:15. I only plan on diving to 25 ft. Is SWB even a factor?


    You can SWB in a puddle if you breath up in a certain way or stay in it for too long.


    People mostly black out for two reasons.


    1) They overstay their downtime. They feel the desire to breath but ignore it eventually blacking out.


    2) They improperly calibrate their c02 levels before a dive (usually by "breathing up" in a way that reduces c02) they don't feel the desire to breath, but blackout near the end of the dive.


    Both are easy to avoid by following stick-ems advice. Start slow, dive with a friend, and go deeper only as you are comfortable. Learn and then listen to your bodies signals and don't push your limits while spearfishing. Push your limits in a pool or just free diving, again with a buddy. Spearfishing isn't the place to push them too far.


    Additionally to avoid #2 Don't train with static c02 tolerance tables. Im no expert, but it seems like common sense that training your body tolerate c02 (but not use less oxygen) will only train you to black out. Ive personally never done them and never will unless someone corrects my understanding in some way. Another thing to avoid is implementing a breath up without understanding its effects. If you ask me the safest way to calibrate c02 levels is to breath calmly and normally before a dive and nothing more. Anything else is changing c02, and not understanding the effects can result in accidents. And as far as I've seen, not even professional freedivers completely understand or agree on the changes.



    IMHO the biggest thing that will get you to dive 25 feet in the water isn't any kind of breathup or breath hold practice. I would say more important factors for a newbie to consider are:


    Being weighted right. So you're about neutral at 25 feet. Having a decent pair of fins.


    Relaxing before the dive, taking a deep full breath before going down.


    Diving with good clean form, doing a calm duck dive without kicking until your fins are in the water. Heading straight down not at an angle. And looking straight forward not at the bottom.


    And thats about it. That should get almost anyone in decent shape down there.

  • New to free diving

    Quote from Billum

    Im new to free diving. Ive been scuba diving for the past 5 years ( NC wreck diving)
    I was playing with an apnea app on my phone and im hooked. Im headed to hatteras may 20th hoping to do some spearfishing. I can hold my breath for 2 min so far. Looking for some advice on my breath up.


    Hi Billum welcome to Speardiver, and Speardiving.


    Check out the "freediving" section of the forums, there are a lot of posts in there about breathups, statics, practice etc. They offer lots of info and opinions from many different divers. But keep in mind that static breatholds dont exactly translate well to spearfishing breatholds.


    If you cant get in the ocean, a better thing to do is "dynamic" breatholds like walking, or even better pool swimming. Trying to simulate the load of a typical spearfishing dive is the ideal out of water practice. Practicing in the pool with fins is even better.


    Regarding breathups, keep in mind that many "breathups" are controlled, limited forms of hyperventilation. And you are messing with your bodies c02 breathing reflex. Personally, my breathup is extremely conservative, I breath normally and as calmly as I can for 2 minutes before taking 2 deep breaths then a last inhale and diving.


    Its also good to learn diaphragmatic breathing. and to breath using your "belly, then chest, then shoulders" to ensure a proper lung fill.


    Good luck in may :thumbsup2:

  • Weather

    Quote from japsw

    can always make the drive to dive our springs in central/ north Florida


    I am actually planning on taking a trip up to blue springs soon to do some free diving. Unfortunately you can't dive the spring head in winter because of the manatee's.


    Also Al,


    I feel your pain, twofold even, because I can only get out on the weekends!

  • Scupper Pro for sale.... only $350

    Thanks for the post. I am jumping on it and emailing em. Been waiting for a scupper pro and this one does look like a good deal. It looks like its been outside quite a while. Does anyone know if that has much of an effect on the kayak plastic beyond fade?

  • hi


    Those are some incredibly interesting and cool vintage guns. Thanks for sharing them.

  • Nautilus NS carbon fins AKA Leader fins


    Al, I think Dan provided a pretty undeniably strong point for why one performs better then the other (and costs more). One set is not actually carbon fiber blades, but instead fiberglass/carbon fiber composite blades with an outer layer of carbon fiber and an inner layer of fiberglass.


    The physical properties of the materials that make up the blade define the limits of its performance, and its no secret that carbon fiber as a material out preforms fiberglass in most of the factors that a freediver seeks. Most people if given the choice between fiberglass blades with carbon fiber veneers, or carbon fiber blades would pick the latter. Wouldn't you?


    Im not sure you will find very many people besides Dan with direct comparitive experience of both types of blades. But in my opinion the points he makes in his first post clearly point out where your money is going (actual carbon fiber blades, and a high quality rail system)


    Another thing to consider is that Dan is now selling essentially the same blades for $160. You could probably pay him a visit and compare both blades directly in hand if you are really curious about the difference.

  • Breathology or manual of freediving?

    Quote from smilinmatt

    Manual of Freediving is like a school textbook. It's full of all kinds of positive and useful information, but if you don't have a professor explaining it, you won't learn much. I read it, thought I learned quite a bit, took FII, then reread it and realized that I read it completely wrong.


    I haven't read Breathology so I can't help there.


    As someone who's read the book but has no intentions of taking a free diving class. Im curious which parts of the book did you read completely wrong? Did the instructors provide missing explanations, or a different interpretation of the books contents?

  • Breathology or manual of freediving?

    Quote from Alejandro

    i'm interested in this as well. was planning on buying manual of freediving as soon as i got a couple of visa gift cards in the mail.


    are these the top 2 books? which is better?



    I can't speak about Breathology. But I've read the "manual of free diving" here and there many times and its a great book.


    Its a little tedious, and goes very into depth on things like the history and pysiology of freediving. Finning, equalization and breathing technique etc. I found that I came away with a ton of very helpful information on breath hold diving and even diving in relation to spearfishing, stuff that greatly improved my abilities and confidence. But expect to ignore or forget large chunks of the book that you don't find directly applicable.



    Quote from Dan

    IMO manual of freediving is a waste of time if you just want to go out there and dive better. Even if you can bear reading through it, it's like homework.


    Dan, I agree that large chunks of the book are like homework, and some absolutely useless for diving and spearfishing. But between the charts of fin-strokes and yoga mind exercises I feel there is a lot of very simple directly applicable information that an inexperienced diver can benefit greatly from. I would say that many tidbits of information I learned in the book I incorporated into my diving and they helped go out there and dive better.

  • Broward Beach Conditions

    Quote from Dan

    :)


    Did you like the butt?


    I love the butt. :laughing: It instantly solved my difficulties in loading. And since its so integrated, it cups the top of my hand way better adding a huge amount of contact area to my grip. And it does it without blocking the gun/spear like other butts I've used. I also think it looks better with the butt then without. Couldn't be happier with it.


  • Broward Beach Conditions

    Great report Nate. Was definitely a nicer then expected day. Too nice for me unfortunately. Spent most of the day on the water and only a little bit in it.


    My dad enjoys offshore fishing too much :crazy:, and well its his boat and Im just happy to be on the water. Plus when we find things floating or good weed lines I get to jump in and nail some Pelagics.


    So we spent most of the day fishing, caught a nice 10lb mahi on a current rip and we had a few other knockdowns. Didn't come across anything holding fish though.



    Later in the day I dove the second reef near the south end of Hollywood. Current was a perfect crawl to the south and vis was about 30'. Temp about 72. Saw a few small macs, hogs, porgys, a school of spades but passed on em. Totally missed a monster mac that came and checked me out while I was catching a bug that ended up being short. Pointing my snare at him and imagining it was my gun didn't seem to do the trick.


    Didn't spear a thing but still had a pretty great day.


    Dan, Ive got a fillet with your name on it. I can bring it to you tommorow.