Posts by Chase

Quote from Dan

Not that I'm against instruction. I'm all for a practical freediving course that will benefit the spearfishing community, and even have a standing offer for free advertising on Speardiver forum for any instructor that teaches a course geared for spearos. So far no one has taken me up on it. It looks like any instructor with dedication to this cause is drowned out by the trendy PFI, FII, Immersion etc. making his business not viable. It's a real shame.

Ive heard of one guy over in S. Africa that offers spearos a true speardiver beath hold coarse. His name is Trevor Hutton, check him out on youtube. This guy hunts at 171' and I think he's the world record holder for deep dive spearfishing on a single breath. I think here in America its more hype & gimmick and so a coarse like that would be hard to come by. If that guy was teaching here I would give it a serious look.

Chase

Quote from Wishihadgills

The courses do not guarantee depth...

Water rescue techniques are taught in the courses.

CPR is not only ineffective but can also be dangerous to a blackout diver. When a diver blacks out the epiglottis closes to prevent water from entering the lungs. Without reviving the diver, trying to force air into their lungs can won't do anything and you can potentially damage tissue. Also the main premiss of CPR is circulation of blood. The idea is that there is enough oxygen in the blood to prevent tissue damage. periodically adding enough air to the lungs to replace some of that oxygen. When a diver has blacked out the blood is oxygen depleted and the brain is doing everything it can to conserve oxygen and keep as much of it in the brain as possible. CPR would fight both of those natural mechanisms.

There is a bad misconception among those who haven't taken the courses and many looking to take the courses that they are all about depth. While you may increase your depth by taking the course this is mostly a product of proper technique. The courses focus primarily of safety, technique and physiology.

That being said the courses can vary widely from instructor to instructor. Some instructors prefer a more "hippy" style that includes a lot of meditation and other forms of relaxation. Others take a much more scientific approach. In my opinion these are the better and more practical courses.

Clearly there are different levels of quality, but there are a basic level of information and technique that, when applied properly, can improve diving. You can learn many of these with years of practice and from more experienced divers but the courses can condense and shorten this learning curve. You can teach yourself to read but it is still much easier and faster to be taught by a teacher.

If the diver in the video had taken a freediving course he would have known how to revive his friend and many of the factors that resulted in this event could have been prevented.

Sorry, I didn't intend for this for this to become the rant it did.

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Do you think it's worth +/- $300.00?

I have a dive buddy who uses a Pneumatic sometimes for beach dives. He does ok with it but I think that has more to do with his individual skill level. Sometimes he'll miss a fish from close distance because he forgot to 'power' up the gun. It happened today in fact. So they do take more consideration & care. Most people use railguns because they are a giant sling shot basically. Easy maintenance and you never have to worry about your power output so long as the bands are still in good condition. Your bands should last you about a year +/- depending on the frequency of your dives.

There are many manufacturers/brands of railguns but the bottom line is you should never order online if it's your first gun. If possible go into a good freedive shop and put one in your hands. You should be able to recognize quality components & materials from garbage. Omer is a perfect example. They sell total BS and also some good guns as well. My 1st gun was an omer cayman and I went through 2 of them in a week. Divers Direct told me '1 in 200 comes from the factory defective.' I told him 'must be 2 in 200..'

You get what you pay for. $250 is an average price for a nice railgun of decent quality.

- Chase

I had a dive shop in miami tell me that part of their core curriculum is teaching 'proper' kick cycles... Seriously though, couldnt you save +/- $300.00 and just choose a good dive buddy or two, plan your work, and then work your plan? I thought about taking one too, but Dan brings up some good points which got me thinking. I have a dive buddy who's taken an FII coarse and he told me "If you can hold your breath for 40sec you can dive 60'." His bottom time is less than mine because I dive ALOT more than he does and he has his certified card.

my .02,

Chase

Wow! That looks awesome man, let us know how she shoots after you land some fish with it.

Chase

Welcome!

Quote from Marco

Hey! I'm a 50 years old pop belly! And I don't spearfish on scuba.

Haha! You remind me of my father-in-law. He's from Vieques, and he's a crazy diver like you! He goes deep man. I love your videos btw, Im a fan.

Chase

Quote from Sames

Chase,

Being a combat vet has no bearing on spearfishing that I can see, as comparing the rush from killing a fish and killing a fellow human being are not comparable in the least. I have never felt a rush when killing a fish though, so that may just be me. I think I get the basic principle of your argument that some people abuse their spearfishing "rights", but I think perhaps you may be getting a little carried away with the idea that freedive spearfisherman take less on average than SCUBA guys. Many more experienced divers than you and I here have all said the same thing and it seems you don't want to listen to their advice.

I am not trying to flame you, and as a fellow combat vet (U.S. Army, 2nd Infantry Division, Battalion Sniper) I am simply putting my advice out there, take it or leave it; I will not be offended. Good hunting.

Respectfully,
Sames

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My point on that exactly! I feel NO rush shooting a fish. I think how good he will taste and how lucky I was to be able to take him home. I never said my combat experience had any bearing. Are we reading the same post's? Dude george insinuated that I feel some sort of "rush" after harvesting a fish. I do not. I feel love for our reefs and pity for the fish that really dont stand a chance. Its sad because eventually there will be nothing to catch and I guess we'll just be stuck inland because no one wanted to compromise by giving up SCUBA.

Im done argueing and meant no offense to anyone,

Chase

Quote from Dude george

Chase I have been a dive master since 88, you cant imagine the amount of dives i have done, or the fish i have killed, i dont speak out of ignorance. And i can say vet or no vet if your in the water killing dont be a hypocrite about it, if you pull the trigger and kill a living thing you are part of the killing period... The coral hugging i swim for hours and dont shoot shit has no water with me, nor does I feel nothing but serenity when i kill. You have no idea what serious breath hold divers can do to a shallow reef.
I feel more at home in the water and could swim before i could walk, island boy from 300 years of island boys. You show ignorance arguing from ignorance and limited experience, i applaud your passion but passionate opinions with limited knowledge or experience is just that..ignorance.If you feel Florida tropical waters cant learn from other Caribbean tropical waters experiences then i am wasting my fingers typing. LOL actually i am being a ass, i am out of this thread.

I dont need any experience to be able to use my own two eyes. I personally dont care what youve shot or your status. Your not beating up my home waters so knock yourself out bud. And i didnt know you had a phD in psychology? Really? So you know how Im feeling in the water and what Ive done or been through? Please, indulge me with details. Sounds like I struck a nerve or something, unfortunatly I dont care. My POV is what it is and you cant change what Ive seen in MY home waters. Whatever your situation is wherever your at is of no concern to me and if you want to scuba speardive and shoot 100+lbs of fish in a day, knock yourself out bud!

Just so you know, with my "limited experience" Im on the water 2-3 times a week. Diving for a year now, Ive learned my hunting grounds well and made great progress. Its not always how long someone does something. More so how fast each individual progresses in his journey.

But hey, since your a 'master diver' I cant really tell you anything probably. In reality, someone who "knows it all" isnt worth a damn because they refuse to learn anything new. Good luck though bro!

Cheers,

Chase :laughing:

And I am speaking about South Florida waters only. I have no idea what divers are doing around the world nor do I know their methods. My concern is where I live and hunt and the total disregard that Ive seen from a lot of so called "divers".

Later,

Chase

Quote from Dude george

Chase dont get me wrong I feel the same passion for my ocean and really get where you are coming from, but I believe you are wrong on your no tanks spearing. We all do it for sport, so do you, know matter how you phrase what we do the facts are we will not starve without fish harvesting nor do we depend on it for our livelihood...therefore you fish for that rush and for the sport.
That being said sustainability is the name of the game and I dont believe that scuba does more damage than scuba wherever you are... if scuba is getting more action its because the shallow water divers have killed all the fish shallow. The truth of this is we all play a part.
Dan all I get from above is the freedivers killed all the fish shallow so they retreat to the deep and now they want the deep protected from harvesting as a shelter, BUT the damage is not the scuba fault, all that paragraph is saying to me is stop one method to give the fish a breading chance, why not stop the shallow as well?
Many times I have touched on this forum what commercial free divers are doing to our Caribbean reefs, it aint good and no scuba commercial guys could ever do what I see those guys do. Thats the facts not a opinion. But I am not sure what good this discussion does for our reefs, fishes and our sport.

No offense dude, but I dont dive for a "rush". Quite the opposite, Im a combat vet and I dont need that feeling. I dive to feel peace and serenity. Like Ive been saying, I go beach diving for 4-6 hours on average and sometimes I dont harvest any fish and I am just as content as if I did. I see fish all the time but Im very selective on what I harvest because I dont believe in killing for no reason or for fun...

There is no way freedivers are causing more harm than scuba. To make a statement like that shows ignorance. Its common sense if you actually sit back and think on it. Any pop belly 50 yr old person can slap the air tank on their back and "kill something". Not everyone can hold their breathe and dive down past 40' let alone 60', 80', or even 100'. My thoughts are this, no one says you have to harvest fish via diving. If you want to do so, get in some kind of shape and try your luck freediving. Most guys dive for 20+ years to be able to freedive down to 80' or deeper. It takes time. Do you understand? If someone is not willing to give the fish a "fair" chance then they should go line fishing off the pier or something. Those kinds of divers are what's giving the rest of us a bad rap. And when you have a dedicated air supply and go night diving with flash lights and all this gear, where's the fairness in that? Did you forget that these fish are living things?

Save the scuba for wreck diving & exploring the ocean, who knows you might learn something. The saying "to each his own" only applies when your not affecting/harming anyone or anything. Kind of like our legal system, your rights end where someone else's begins. If you would like a prime example of what scuba divers do to spearfishing as a sport and the reefs they beat up, just look at the Mediterranean sea. Scuba has been banned for exactly the reasons I am stating and you can only freedive if you want to shoot a fish.

- Chase

Quote from LunkerBuster

Thanks. I am a fan of the yellowngreen market. I was wondering if that was what you meant. I have never seen the conch there but I get my sorrell, premium flavored oils and amazing pickled and brined stuff from the market there

You have to look for him, he's usually on the far west row towards the back. I believe he's a bahamian gentleman. Usually he has it by the lb. or you could buy in bulk say 5lbs or so. My wife told me last weekend when she went he's now offering jars of conch already cut into chunks and cleaned. I dont mind cleaning mine though, I usually soak it in some sea salt and serve raw with the ceviche.

Later,

Chase

Hank,

Don't get me wrong I don't want to ban scuba every where. I am referring to my home waters of south florida. I have no idea what the rest of the world's reefs look like so how can I cast judgement. I speak from 1st hand experience of what I have seen in MY local home waters of south florida. Its a problem, and many many more people scuba dive rather than freedive because its easier. If you ban spearfishing while on scuba down here in south florida it would detour a lot of these jokers who are not serious about respecting and taking care of our reef here. Im sorry but those guys don't need to spearfish. Go rod & reel fishing and still have a blast. Not everyone should spearfish because not everyone has the understanding of what it takes to preserve our playground.

Like I said, not being able to spearfish on tanks IS NOT the end of the world. There are many more ways to harvest fish and many more hobbies out there. If you dont respect our reefs, you dont deserve to dive & shoot fish, period. I dont understand why this is so controversial, should be simple really. I love & cherish our reefs and hope my fellow Floridians do as well.

Chase

Its not fresh from the ocean. All conch in FLA is imported from places in the caribbean I believe. The market is called the "Yellow Green Farmers Market" Its in Hollywood, FL located on Taft St just west of the I-95 overpass(95 doesn't have an exit for Taft St.) and the railroad tracks. They are open Sat/Sun 8a-4p. A lot of nice stuff there bro you should check it out.

Chase

I just made some conch ceviche last night. I get my conch from a local farmers market down here in Hollywood. I just keep mine simple with conch, peppers, onions, tomatoes, and a lot of fresh squeezed limes. The lime juice really brings all the flavors together nicely. I would be generous though, too little and the ceviche doesn't have that citric zing to it. Sometimes I like to throw in an avocado too. The more its sits in the pot marinating, the better!

Chase

Quote from Dude george

I haven't commented from the start but will now. Chase you need to try spearfishing on tanks to make a informed decision on your views. I spent more time on scuba spearfishing than I did freediving and can say that the both methods have advantages and disadvantages. Scuba spearfishing is not that easy and several experienced free divers like hank have stated that in previous posts, do you think you know better? I won't take another fish on scuba because I am now addicted to the sport (yeah I said SPORT) of freedive spearfishing. I love the challenge and sense of personal accomplishment.
If you are in a rich hunting ground like the videos you see of scuba divers it isn't that they are on scuba its that they are in a target rich area, if we freedivers were in the same place we would have the same killing spree. It's again as stated above commercial and people who don't use common sense or follow good rules that damage our fisheries.
Also none of the above applies to pelagic hunting, which is my thing :p

If you read a page or 2 back I said I have tried scuba spearfishing since my original post on the matter. I respect everyone's POV and opinion 100%. If we all had the same train of thought, we'd be robots gents. That being said, I still stand firm on my POV. Like Dan said "Breath hold spearfishing seems to be a reasonable boundary everywhere else in the world." Save scuba for sight seeing, period. We are not talking about shooting/killing/harming a paper target. Not at all. We are talking about the humane harvest of living things which we are fortunate enough to be allowed to harvest for personal consumption. I love the ocean, my home waters, and the creatures that live there. Like I said earlier too, go watch a scuba spearfishing video on youtube and you will see how ridiculously fast they harvest fish. There's no sport in that. And if it's not a sport, should we just call it "killing"? If you want to kill, go to war and earn that. Hunting is totally different, because, at the end of the day its a privilege to hunt underwater, not a right. And if we don't all get on the same page and "police" ourselves thats when the sport gets banned all together.

Oh and if I had a stroke/heart attack/ or whatever and I couldn't freedive no more, I wouldn't shoot fish anymore either. I'd have no problem going out sight seeing. Unfortunately most people just want to go out and kill something to feel a rush or something. Thats BS! There's more than one way to harvest fish without diving and shooting it. Rod & reel comes to mind. If you love the ocean, you love it period and not being able to shoot fish shouldn't be the end of the world. Im not saying you cant harvest shellfish/lobsters/etc on scuba, I support that. Just shouldn't be allowed to have a speargun of any kind. Scuba would be ok for lion fish with a pole spear, or other "invasive species". The argument that "scuba spearfishing is more difficult because bubbles scare fish" is erroneous! Its all about the individual diver and his presentation. I can catch more fish in a shorter amount of time on tanks than freediving. If I beach dive I usually harvest 1 or 2 nice sized fish after hours & hours of hunting. What's sad is that if you go out to the 2nd & 3rd reef,you see a lot of small fish and hardly any bruisers from getting slammed so hard. I can tell you its not the free divers way out there beating it up. Those depths are too deep for most guys and thats a fact. Any joe can slap on a air tank and go murder something.

Quote from Dude george

if we freedivers were in the same place we would have the same killing spree.

I have to respectfully disagree with you. A freediver is limited by his individual ability to hold his/her own breath. You shoot a fish, you go up for air, you fight the fish, and eventually he gets harvested and put on the boat/float. Not so on scuba my friend.

Chase

I have ZERO issues with the mount moving period. If you are concerned, just put a little clear nail polish on the screw and it will keep it from backing itself out if at all possible. I usually do this to the screws on my fins.

Chase

BTW: the all black gopro housing I picked up @ bestbuy for $50.

I bought one of these a few months back and also bought the gopro mount that Dan sells for it as well. I forget that Im even wearing the gopro its that comfortable. I dont feel any pressure from the mask and Ive been down to 85' with it so far no issues. Even beach diving for 6 hours or more and the mask is still comfortable. Definitely worth the $$$ IMO.

Chase

Quote from Treebilly3

This is a "united we stand divided we fall" discussion. Iv hand this discussion many times with fellow big game hunters. Just because you don't agree with some one else's idea of hunting doesn't mean you should condemn it. In fact you should passionately defend it! because who knows once that is gone it might just be your favored way to hunt that's on the chopping block next.

Im after one nice fish when I go out. Sometimes I even come home empty handed after swimming for 4-6 hours. If someone's idea of hunting is poaching lobsters and shooting undersized fish and surfacing with a full stringer every 20 minutes I cannot and will not support them. The only fish that SHOULD be harvested in this manor are 'invasive species'. It's divers with these practices that make the rest of us who actually care about the reef look bad too. So I must differentiate myself apart. At the end of the day is this not a sport? Where's the sport in scuba spearfishing? If you don't believe what Im saying about them, youtube any scuba spearfishing video and just watch as they fill an entire stringer in one dive. If you want to blow bubbles and shoot fish it should be restricted to 100' or more if we're going to compromise here.

I'd be more than willing to bet that we would see a big change in the life/activity on our reefs within a few years if they implemented a strategy like this. For some reason the old saying "It's like shooting fish in a barrel.." comes to mind when I think of scuba spearfishing..

- Chase

Hey everyone,

I bought this cool muzzle from Dan to install on my 110 pathos and it came out great in my opinion. Here's some pics so you guys can take a look.

Later,

Chase