Do Freediving and Scuba mix?

[SThompson]

Are there any specific rules, or even a "rule of thumb", about mixing freediving and scuba diving? In particular is there any danger of nitrogen coming out of solution (bends) if I freedive during a surface interval? Or in the evening after full day of diving?

I don't believe that there can be much nitrogen loading during a freedive, but am a bit concerned with possible bubble formation on ascent - especially if I have been divng most of the day. Is this a valid concern? Just need a bit of advice. I would hate to be a statistic for the media just because I can't sit quietly on a boat for a couple of hours.

[icarus pacific]

Hello and welcome to the primo site for info and lewd photos.

Re; your question, yes you can actually aggrevate and cause an occurance of problems by freediving after a SCUBA dive. BUT, a few, OK a lot, of things have to go wrong in order for it to happen- your SCUBA dives have to place you deep in a repetitive scale, your own physiology has to be hurtin', i,e., tired, winded out of shape, etc, and your freediving has to be pushing those same limits. A lot of breathe up's and long and deep dives will certainly exacerbate your decompression calendar.

As a rule, and rules are meant to be broke and redone , if I'm banging my meter and am tired, the only way I'm going to attempt to freedive to my potential is if the bigguns are just massing around the swim platform and my freezer is empty. And only one of those happens with any regularity. Otherwise I'll just do little forays around the kelp and gas off there, downwind of the appreciative boat.

sven

[Walrus]

I have to say I've mixed plenty of freedving after Scuba diving, and not been bent, yet.

The safest is of course if you freedive before a scuba dive, no problems there. If you do it after then you do risk building up more nitrogen, and the rapid accents probably don't help either.
And the whole exercise after scuba is also suposed to be a no no.

Like Sven said I definitely wouldn't do it if you have been pushing the tables doing deep & long scuba dives then jumping in straight after to do some freedving.
After some moderate dives, with a bit of a surface interval I don't see a problem. One thing I do is if I know I'm doing some freedving after I will do an extra long safety stop, ie instead of 3 minutes, make it 10. Then after at least a half hour surface interval you will definitely be back in a lower pressure group.

So if you are conservative then shouldn't be a problem, mind you there are no guarantees.

So if you do a 10-15m 30 min dive, freediving after should be no problems. Think twice if you have just done a 40m+ dive, or a Full Deco dive !!

My 2 cents,
Wal

[Ben Gowland]

I've been in this situation before, and came to the conclusion that you should wait until you are back to a 'B' table (BSAC Tables). This requires that you don't go 'proper' freediving for about 2 hours after a dive. Another way of dealing with it if you have a Suunto dive computer is to wait for the diver warning triangle to go before you freedive after scuba. This should keep you reasonably safe. At least it gives you an quantitative value - instead of 'guessing' very time.

Ben

[Jay Styron]

Technically you shouldn't, but lets face it, as my buddy Sven said rules(or are they really just strong suggestions) are meant to be challenged. You're sitting there after a dive, the water is calm, warm, clear, who's not going to get back in. Just take it easy, unless a really big one comes along. I file this w/ all the other "suggestions" like you should never dive alone. Just use the common sense God gave you. Later.
Jay

[immerlustig]

maybe read the DAN article at : https://www.daneurope.org/eng/faq105.htm
or articles on unexpected dcs
suunto mosquito manual recommends to wait at least 2 hours after scuba diving and not skindive deeper than 5 meters.

be conservative-be safe

roland

[Iyadiver]

suunto mosquito manual recommends to wait at least 2 hours after scuba diving and not skindive deeper than 5 meters.

No wonder me never get bend cause my terms of freediving is 90% on the surface and no deeper than 5 meters in most cases, skill man, skill is what I am lacking.... With good visibility, you can see a lot from the surface.

[thin_air]

Originally posted by Iyadiver


With good visibility, you can see a lot from the surface.

i'm liking that one lol

and i must say i agree (sad thing is, im never in any place with good visibility)

ps. i think suunto is only trying to protect itself from any lawsuits the americans might trow their way (alright, ready to be flamed...)no-one else would really sue someone for getting bent

[M-2]

Scot-

Even with dive tables there is no way to really know what is going on with your individual physiology. The tables are based on models. I suppose that you could take that as meaning that I disregard tables altogether, but really I tend to go the opposite direction. I follow my tables or computer. There's no authority figure there to arrest me if I violate the tables, but I know that it's in my best interest to follow them. On the flip side, following your tables or computer doesn't mean that you won't get bent.

I knew a teenage girl once who was going to start college in a few months. She was going to play lacrosse there, so she was in pretty decent shape. She was doing a rescue class with me and another instructor. The previous day she had done one dive to 40 feet or so and stayed within the tables. That day she hadn't done any dives before or final training dive and I had already done two deco dives. At the end of the training dive I was an unconscious diver that she and another student needed to bring to the surface (role playing). They brought me up a little too quick, but not too bad. The dive had lasted 20 minutes with a max depth around 20 feet. We did a short debrief and got back in to do some snorkeling for fun. We did some dives, but nothing serious. To shorten the story, I spent the night at the local chamber while she was inside with DCS. It was totally freak thing. To this day I have no idea what would have caused it. I have always heard not to freedive after diving. During a freediving clinic I attended the rule was once you take even one breath off of scuba, you're done freediving for the day. One breath made you a scuba diver subject to the tables and rules of scuba diving.

It may seem a bit strict, but why take extra chances? I don't freedive after scuba and won't let any of my kids (I teach and supervise school aged kids a lot) do it either. Maybe it's overkill, but it's a rule I choose to follow.

Just thought this would add a different perspective. Ultimately you have to make the decision yourself.

Enjoy the blue!

-Mike

[immerlustig]

patent foreman ovale (pfo)



read http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/me...q.asp?faqid=60

pfo incidence in the normal population is of 26 % (average) for all ages (according to dan). othe publications i read quote 32%.

whatever,i think it´s a lot anyway.

i´ve had a student come up and getting symptoms of dci 5 hours after a 14 meter dive that lasted 28 minutes. i spent a while talking to the doctor at the hyperbaric chamber and he said that he would blame a pfo for this particular incident. seems also that many dci cases that happen although the diver had followed all the rules could be caused by a pfo.

what has that got to do with freediving after scubadiving ?

obviously hyperbaric research is a fairly new science and discoveries are made all the time. in order to be safe, more so for those of you who have the opportunity to dive regularly, my personal opinion is to not take those things too lightly.

so i fully agree with mike here. why take chances indeed. there´s too much to experience out there.

roland