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Getting new gear, would love some advice

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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Flackie

New Member
Oct 31, 2007
22
0
0
Hi Everyone,

I've been swimming and snorkling and scuba diving all my life but am relatively new to freediving, which I might add is my new favourite passtime. I couldn't beleive the freedom I got in the water going down without bulky and noisy scuba gear..... ahem anyways I'm looking to update my stuff for freediving and spearfishing, here's what I'm looking at getting at the moment;

Omer Ice fins, Well I should say I already have a set, but I have the old foot pockets, is it worth updating to the milenium ones? I use a pool 3 times a week to practice and the omer fins seem a little long for it, anyone else have this problem?

Picasso suit; Here's the biggest issue, I'm tossing up between a BioTermic or standard Open Cell, and also between 5mm and 7mm, I live in Melbourne so the temperature I dive in varies from about 12 to 20 degrees celsius. I've heard from a few threads that the BioTermic actually lets a bit more water in than the standard open cell. Is this true?
And also with the 5mm, would that be ok for around 14 degrees or would I need to get a 7mm?
Also if you can recommend a better suit then that would be great too, I don't mind spending a bit of money because it's something that I do alot.

Lastly a mask, at the moment I have a scubapro crystalVu frameless which is ok for scuba but It's garbage for freediving.
I'm tossing up between an Omer one and an Atomic Aquatics Do you guys have any recomendations to do with vision and volume?

Phew... sorry about the huge post but I really want to get it right.

Thanks again,

Scott
 
Welcome to the forums! Glad you are enjoying your new past-time.

Where in Victoria do you dive? I'll be down your way around March to do my recruit training at HMAS Cerebrus, and wouldn't mind a casual dive before my course.

As for your questions, I have used only a few wet suits of different internals, and I have found that the plain and simple open cell is often the best choice. Most brands that use alternatives, often achieve greater durability at the price of warmth and flexibility. If your diving in Vic and want to be in the water for a good amount of time, especially during the off-season, you should be trying to get all the warmth you can! Its bad enough in NSW.

OMER masks are great. I have an Alien, and it is excellent. The first thing you notice is how soft the rubber skirts are compared to other brands. Personally I love it, but a few people I know complain that the softness compromises a proper seal. I have not encountered this yet so I still give it 5 stars!

Cressi Matrix is another good choice. I know they are normally SCUBA masks and may have a large internal volume, but the vision is just superb! You shouldn't worry about internal volume if you are just starting anyway :t

Hope it helps!
 
I reckon a 5mm open cell internal, nylon external will do you just fine, unless you're someone who gets cold really easily, in which case go for 7mm to be sure. I've not heard anything too bad about picasso wetsuits, so you're right with that one. You could always get an Eliossub wetsuit made up for you (Home), which will be the warmest option, and that won't be much more than the picasso in cost, but it will take a while to arrive, so buy locally if that will bother you.

As for your mask, I am very happy with my Sphera, but if you're spearing regularly and your gear will be thrown in a boat you might want something a bit more sturdy. With plastic lenses like in the sphera you have to be really careful not to scratch them. The Omer alien is a quality mask, and the cressi superoccio is another tried and tested model. It will be a matter of going to a shop and trying on a few masks and seeing what seals well on your face.

Dive safe,
Lachlan
 
Thanks for the help, I ended up going with the Picasso Ghost 5mm Open Cell after chatting to a few people, I'm a bit dubious on how durable the inside is going to be but I tried it on with soapy water and it seemed ok and I hear they're pretty easy to glue back on.

As for a mask I'm still trying to figure it out, I'm managing to consistantly do laps of a 50m pool on a breath now so I figure that I might as well go for the reduced volume since I'll eventually need it.

Only problem is hardly anyone stocks omer masks in Vic, I was lucky to find the picasso warehouse here that let me try one on.

And penguinator, let me know when you come down, I've done the HMAS cerebrus a few times as its not that far from my house so when you get down let me know and we'll definatley have a dive. I should be ok by then to have a decent crack too.

Cheers,

Scott
 
Hey, thanks for the help, ended up getting an omer bandit mask, it's on order but I'll post what I think of it when it arrives, looking forward to it since I've been doing a fair bit of freediving and having some problems with mask suction!
 
im buying of Spearguns by Spearo uk ltd finest supplier of speargun, monofins, speargun and freediving equipment and im getting 5 mm SPEARO UK LTD - ONE STOP ON-LINE SPEARFISHING RESOURCE and im 52.5 kg and 172 cm but the chart is on the website Spearguns by Spearo uk ltd finest supplier of speargun, monofins, speargun and freediving equipment do you think i will have to get it mtm (made to measure) ? i dont mind it being a bit to small or big

[SIZE=+1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Size[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Weight(kg)[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Height(cm)[/FONT][/SIZE]​
 
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Hey, thanks for the help, ended up getting an omer bandit mask, it's on order but I'll post what I think of it when it arrives, looking forward to it since I've been doing a fair bit of freediving and having some problems with mask suction!
But You do equalise the mask, right? Unless You're going really deep, a new mask won't resolve the mask squeeze (-suction) issue, but only equalizing the mask space will.
 
... im 52.5 kg and 172 cm but the chart goes as following do you think i will have to get it mtm (made to measure) ? i dont mind it being a bit to small or big
...<removed very bulky table>
Hey Carlo,
Size and weight alone doesn't say much about Your build. And by "I don't mind it being a bit too small or big.." Do You mean to say that You don't mind being colder or having to get out sooner than You need to? Because that's the effect a not perfectly fitting suit will have.

You might be well served using the search function to look for the many, many threads available on this issue. - There even is a section of suits on here.

Haven fun pondering the many choices that await You! And rest assured, one or two week's effort of reading and figuring out what suit You want/need is well spent.
 
Yeah I've been equalising the mask as I go down, but the one I've been using has a huge volume so it was a problem as early as two metres where it was pressed right against my face and I had to blow a fair bit of precious air into it to make it better, problem solved now though with the lower volume since it's using much less...