Hey! Here from Santa Cruz / Monterey. Looking for buddies and gear.

[Pk_appleseed]

Hi i'm new to the forum.

Competitive swimmer, recreational freediver and scuba diver, newbie spearo.

I've joined the Monterey Tritons club and was stoked to shoot a couple fish (rockfish and perch) before the club meeting a couple weeks ago.

Looking for buddies! Will check other posts in the forum and of course club members. Though if you're in the area and available to go on Thursdays or Saturdays or Sundays, LMK!

Also looking to get some new gear (time to upgrade and stop using my surfing wetsuit and my scuba snorkel/mask/fins). I have everything else though...

One question i have is -- how to try out masks before buying? I rented one that i thought fit, while in the store, bit in the water it leaked which was a huge bummer.

Also, I know what I want with a suit (7mm farmer John type) and fins (long overdue to get good carbon fiber one's ever since I started freediving) but wondering where to buy... Could go with my local dive shop but it has limited selection currently. Is there a great place online? Amazon seems to only have a few brands/models..

Thanks!
Philip

 

[GBDN74]

Welcome

 

[Greg Rothaus]

I don't live in or dive that area but for gear I have a couple thoughts: The Freedive Shop in Sacramento has a good selection of gear and they are very experienced spearos themselves so you get good, expert advice. I probably buy most of my stuff on-line from Neptonics, James and Joseph Spearfishing, Spearamerica, and Florida Freedivers. You sometimes have to work backwards with gear and first decide what you want by doing research and then find who carries it (I first decided I wanted Alchemy fins and then found out that Florida Freedivers had them). For masks, there are two things that will help next time: (1) place it on without the strap, tilt your head back, and look and feel for any gaps between the skirt and your face; (2) If no gaps, suck in with your nose to seat it on your face then stop breathing in. If it fits well, you'll have a little trouble getting it off even without the strap. If it peels off really easily, that's not a good sign.

 

[BatRay]

Welcome to Deeperblue! I hear ya in terms of stores. Unfortunately most are limited in inventory, even in normal times, and most are geared toward scuba. I bought some gear from diveinn/scubastore when putting my kit together. It's been years since I bought from them, but never had a problem. Bear in mind that fin fit can vary drastically between different manufacturers, and carbon fiber can take a beating while spearfishing around rocks, so a beater pair or a set of fins with interchangeable blades might save you some money and aggravation.

For the wetsuit, consider a custom suit from a company such as Elios. They can make recommendations based on the type of diving you do, and they offer every option you could want. I've heard nothing but good things about them, and while their suits may cost a bit more, it's worth every penny to get what you want.

I did my first dives off the Breakwater and Del Monte Beach. Beautiful sites, got me hooked on diving.