Compact, beginner's buoy/line setup?

Hey, my flatmate and I just completed our PADI Freedive course and each have around a 3-minute breath-hold, but experience issues with equalisation.

We've both hit 11/12 metres, but often have days where we're struggling to get past 7/8 metres.

I have narrow eustachian tubes (and exercises to stretch them), for example.

We're both keen to get out and regularly practise on a line, so are looking at setups.

Obviously the big buoy setups are great, but I travel a lot and will be moving through SE Asia for the next couple of years (where I'd like to keep training), so a compact setup would be ideal.

I've seen a lot of smaller buoys that appear to be for holding fish? Could I order one of these and also a generic spearfishing line, then add our own metre-markers with tape?

Some of these are well under 100 bucks, which is appealing too.

We're around Sydney!

Cheers

Mark Jeffery said:

Here is my experience with building my own dive line. I used one of those freedive floats that is shaped like a double ended bullet - orange solid plastic. Then I used a 25 pound dumbbell as the anchor weight. This proved to be woefully inadequate. The weight held the rope down until we started pulling our selves down the line - at which point our own pull strength and buoyancy started lifting the weight off the bottom. So I added another 15 pound dumbbell and this helped a little. Then the other problem was that when we pulled back up we were actually pulling the buoy under - it could barely float to get us back up.
S0 - two things to think about:
1. Your anchor weight must be big enough to overcome the force of you pulling down.
2. The float must be buoyant enough to stay on the surface when you are pulling back up.

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Thanks, sounds like those smaller floats are a waste of money then?

I'm on the eye out for a fullsize float, second-hand then!

We're only here for 7 months and I don't get the impression they fold into a suitcase easily, hence not buying a new one!

Mark Jeffery said:

The smaller float I used is really for spearfishers, just a place to hang out and hold your dive flag - not really designed for dive lines. There are inflatable floats - kind of like tire inner tubes but plastic. They used one in my dive class and it worked well, although it was quite large and might not fold down as much as you want for suitcase travel. Have fun!

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Hey! Yeah we used one of the big tyre-sized ones this weekend and they're great.. If we can get one second-hand, that's cool; although might have to stump up for a new one if not! Cheers