Going deeper than 100ft?

[tuffstuff]

Hi,

I can dive to around 100ft (2lb weight and beauchat fibra fins) on a good day currently but I want to be able to spearfish at around 140ft by the end of the summer. My question is what techniques and training would help me achieve my goal? I would love to take classes however I do not have the extra money for the PFI/FII classes. Are there any good instructional books available?
thanks!

 

[DivingDane]

No substitute for a coach or genuine freediving course, it will take you a LONG time with just texts compared to the goals reached in a good course. they are well worth the money and any many cases a good course by the end you would happily pay double for the knoweledge received.

having a buddy which caqn critique your technique and be a reliable safety are the most important things particularly spearing at these depths (VERY deep) particularly which such a large increase in a short period of time, if it was just freediving then i'd say it is very doable but to increase the depth by this amount and then be able to spear effedtively at that depth is another thing all together.

Umberto's Freediving manual is probably the most useful but it is a pretty full on text and you will need to go back to it more than once for the training and othe info.

just my opinion.

DD

 

[efattah]

Being able to do one bounce dive to 100ft is not the same as being able to catch a fish at that depth. If you want to be able to actually hunt at 140ft (43m), then you are in fact trying to become one of the best spearfishermen in the world. To hunt at 140ft/43m, you would need to be able to do a single bounce dive to at least 80m/262ft or more.

And there is still more to it. To catch fish you normally need to do repetitive dives to the bottom. If you are going to do repetitive dives, then you have two new problems:
1. Decompression sickness, which can kill you or cripple you
2. Lactic acid build up, which can kill you during repeated dives

Doing a single massively anaerobic dive to the bottom to catch fish might work and you might get lucky on that one dive -- that's how Pelizzari and Trevor Hutton both caught fish over 60m deep (200ft). However even they can't make repeated hunting dives to that depth, since once the lactic acid builds up from the dive, it can take 20-40 minutes for it to clear up. If you dive again before the acid clears, it is a recipe for certain death if you are hunting that deep.

If you reduce the depth much below your limit, then the dive becomes more and more aerobic, and less acid is produced. This allows you to do repeated dives without acid build up (i.e. much safer). However if the depth is over 30m then you still risk DCS from repeated dives. There are ways of managing that as well but it starts getting complicated.

Train with good buddies and take courses, but keep your goals within reach and set realistic milestones on the way.


Eric Fattah
Liquivision Products

 

[Fondueset]

What he said!

 

[foxfish]

Hi tuffstuff, I dont think you will get much better advice from anyone more capable of giving it than Eric or DD but I am interested to know want you want to hunt at 40 meters?

 

[Old Man Dave]

Or ... borrow one of my scuba tanks and job done

Dave.

 

[black1]

There is nothing down in the Keys were it looks like you are from worth diving to 140ft for fish, plenty of fish much shallower to catch down there, take a course when you can save enough for it because it can save your life.

 

[Mullins]

Eric has covered it pretty well. I can freedive well past 100m and 30m spearfishing dives are fine, but as soon as I get down around the 40m mark it gets a lot tougher and I have to do fewer dives with longer intervals. Down at 60m - for which I use VWT - I can only do 2-4 dives due to the DCS risk.

So 140ft spearfishing dives aren't out of the question, but they are an altogether more serious proposition than 100ft dives. I'd suggest using VWT because it gives you heaps of bottom time, makes the dive much easier and given the surface intervals you need anyway, it's worth the hassle of pulling the weight back up. Just watch reps & ascent speeds.

 

[Fondueset]

Dave, you should probably add that you've collapsed small cars simply by inhaling forcefully through and open window.

 

[igodeep]

i would agree, one thing i want to say is be thankful you can even spearfish at that depth man, you know theres only a handful that can do it, by that handful its maybe 100,000 people or i dont know but one things for sure 30 meters deep is good enough bro and if you just like the adrenaline, then chum and blue water hunt just remember never dive alone and be thankful that you have some skill that some pros dont even have, now im not saying your a pro but depth dosent mean everything in spearfishing, even though sometimes i forget that as well.

 

[blueface]

This is an awesome thread. We are chatting with some of the very best in the world.

Thanks!

 

[blueface]

This is Alberto March. He is known to use a pendulum weight or VWT as Dave mentioned. He sometimes fishes at 45 meters for grouper and other fish. In the video he puts a 12 pound weight under his weight belt and sinks to the bottom. He then pulls it out (it's attached to a line) to be retrived later. He has also been bent before.

 

[igodeep]

nice vid and interesting tec, i need to study more about this but it doesnt look deeper then 60 feet and hes using the belt release.....hmmm ill revisit after doing some homework, this could be good.

 

[blueface]

nice vid and interesting tec, i need to study more about this but it doesnt look deeper then 60 feet and hes using the belt release.....hmmm ill revisit after doing some homework, this could be good.

Yes, do your homework and find out if Alberto March can go more than 60 ft. :blackeye

 

[igodeep]

Yes, do your homework and find out if Alberto March can go more than 60 ft. :blackeye

rofldid i ever say in this thread that alberto march couldnt do 60 feet? you shouldnt be so quick to respond without reading carefully first, thats the first sign of knowlege:blackeye just a comment on the depth of the video shown and his tec, as im watching a differant video where hes doing over 30 meters, next.:martial

 

[benicio]

will our ears be okay in 100ft?

 

[Fondueset]

dude!

 

[blueface]

If you reduce the depth much below your limit, then the dive becomes more and more aerobic, and less acid is produced. This allows you to do repeated dives without acid build up (i.e. much safer). However if the depth is over 30m then you still risk DCS from repeated dives. There are ways of managing that as well but it starts getting complicated.

Eric, if I understand correctly, less lactic acid is produced because there is less vasoconstriciton?

Would the "aerobic diver" become hypoxic faster since there is less anaerobic metabolism?

I mostly dive the aerobic way 40 to 50 ft.(at least that's what I suspect) because I get contractions and not a lot of lactic unless I pass 85 ft. and I kick a lot to get up. I like to get hypercapnic after a minute or so to be safe. Then I go up.

 

[blueface]

So 140ft spearfishing dives aren't out of the question, but they are an altogether more serious proposition than 100ft dives. I'd suggest using VWT because it gives you heaps of bottom time, makes the dive much easier and given the surface intervals you need anyway, it's worth the hassle of pulling the weight back up. Just watch reps & ascent speeds.[/quote]

Dave, you mentioned ascent speed. 1 meter/sec okay? I didn't even know it would be a problem.

 

[blueface]

rofldid i ever say in this thread that alberto march couldnt do 60 feet? you shouldnt be so quick to respond without reading carefully first, thats the first sign of knowlege:blackeye just a comment on the depth of the video shown and his tec, as im watching a differant video where hes doing over 30 meters, next.:martial

Okay. Sorry