[Bill McIntyre]

I'm glad you liked the site. Unfortunately, while the Freedivelist was once a very active and busy place, its a server based thing in which we all get emails posted to the list, it has been fading away in the face of web-based competition like DeeperBlue and Spearboard, so its unlikely that the FAQ section will get updated. However, in spite of the fact that a lot of the stuff on the associated web site is old, it is still valuable. The way to fight a seabass and the way to get SWB has not changed.

BTW, we have lost several very fine divers on FDL to SWB, including my best dive buddy while I was along on the trip, so its a very serious problem. I was primarily a scuba diver until 10 years ago when I reverted to freediving, but I am under no illusions that I'm safer now. This is a dangerous sport, and in particular its very dangerous when a white sea bass ties up on the bottom and we try to cut it out while holding our breaths.

I cop out and have a pony bottle in the boat if the situation is at all threatening. After mentioning on Freedivelist that I resorted to a pony bottle when a fish was tied up at 55 feet in very murky water in a strong current so that I couldn't rest on the surface, a former friend said that I wasn't really a freediver. That's why he is a former friend.

You mentioned tying your own bands, but I saw no mention of that in the thread. If you could use some help the first time, I am not all that far up the road.