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How to start Freediving

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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From Akoni "@Lungfish:
The nitrogen build-up in beginning freedivers is too little to cause problems.

Purging is not for beginners and in my opinion it's the same as hyperventilating which should be avoided anyways!

Deepwater black-outs are really rare and not stuff for beginners.

The vacuum effect as you call it (never heard of that term) is described in the shallow water black-out section."


FYI, I learned from Martin Stepanek and Performance Freediving. They currently teach the breath-up method including purging and packing. Clearly their opinion on the topic is different than yours. If you are familiar with hypocapnia and understand purging, it isn't dangerous at all. It is an effective way of managing gases, if done after saturating....

Secondly, many of the attendees in our class, myself included did their FIRST freedive below 25meters. Heck, a girl in our class who had never freedived before did 88ft on her first try. So the deepwater blackout isn't necessarily something to be avoided in the blackout discussion....

Finally, the Vacuum Effect is not my term, it is from the PFi manual. Shallow water blackouts happen for a variety of reasons and can be caused by several different types of gas imbalances as well as the Vacuum Effect. There is more than one cause of shallow water black out.
 
lungfish said:
Finally, the Vacuum Effect is not my term,
I guess it is a lay term for reverse gradient, as there is no vacuum involved.

Lunfish, I think you should treat the education you got in performance freediving according to the name of the clinique - PERFORMANCE. Their objective is to give you quick gain and tools to keep developing by yourself. The fact that beginners attended it successfully does not mean that the instruction level there will work with beginners here. The learning curve without a course is MUCH less steep (and I'm sure you understand that), some of these stuff gained by reading of the net might take years to implement correctly. I think beginners should have a lot more to mess with than starting with performance. 15 year old beginners who probably never dobe below 15m that suffer from packing blackouts are a good example for performance oriented ideals.
 
DeepThought, did you acctually know that some countrys may not have any freediving courses at all? Here for example, we have several scuba courses to take (PADI, IANTD ,NAUI etc...), but no freediving that I'm aware of (and there probably ain't any, since this is such a small country).
So what's your suggestion then?
 
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My suggestion is, if you want to Freedive, reading my post is a good start to learn Freedive theory but taking a course is a must in my opinion. Spend some money on a course in another country if there aren't any in your country, courses can really teach you the theoretical and practical side of Freediving, this post only the theoretical side.

As for purging & packing, this does, again in my opinion, not belong in a beginners forum, PFi might successfully teach the techniques involved in their clinics, but if purging is different from hyperventilating, there is a very thin line between the two and thus should not be explained in this thread. Packing should also not be taught to beginners, packing too much can cause injuries.
This is all my opinion of course.
 
Mr_Miyagi said:
DeepThought, did you acctually know that some countrys may not have any freediving courses at all?
Yes, I am fully aware of that. It took about me a year to get to do a course (luckily) in my country and about another year to find a dive partner. I know not everyone can take (or will take) a course.
What I was saying is that starting to freedive should be done with the basics, therefore I think some stuff do not belong in the "how to start freediving" thread and in the Beginner freediving forum. What a specific clinique has managed to implement INSIDE a course where it also thought beginners does not necessarily mean it would work over the internet with beginners. From the years I've been reading on this forum (also as a beginner and almost a year before becoming a memeber) those kind of techniques were distractions at best if not a stick in the wheels of progress and even actual danger for some beginners.
 
Hi everybody

Well I'll just jump in and ask for advice.

I'm 32 of age and have been doing breathold as a party trick to always entertain my friends, and they always try and come close to my times but to no avail.
I never knew that this is a sport. My best time is 4min 30 sec.without an headacke , if I realy push it I reach 5min.12sec. but then 2out of 5 time I end up with an head acke.

Now my Q. to you is as follows.

How does one start to do this as a sport and how good are the pro's in this game?

As I consider my self to be an amateur.:confused:
 
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lost said:
Hi everybody

Well I'll just jump in and ask for advice.

I'm 32 of age and have been doing breathold as a party trick to always entertain my friends, and they always try and come close to my times but to no avail.

It would be very entertaining if no-one knew what to do if you fainted in the pool! My advice would be not to do statics without someone else who can react accordingly if you black out. There are no tell-tale signs...

Static is no party trick if you drown...
 
Thanx for the reply.
But in this backward country of south africa i dont think there is someone here with the proper knowledge so that is why I turn to you for advice.
I'm a Dive Master in scuba diving and never found any one that likes diving without scuba gear.

So my Q stands: how do I get into this game?
 
lost said:
Thanx for the reply.
But in this backward country of south africa i dont think there is someone here with the proper knowledge so that is why I turn to you for advice.
I'm a Dive Master in scuba diving and never found any one that likes diving without scuba gear.

So my Q stands: how do I get into this game?

Contact this guy
http://forums.deeperblue.net/members/herman.html
He has a club! Miles may know if it is still running...

http://forums.deeperblue.net/members/bevan-dewar.html
Bevan Dewar is very experienced... check this out
http://www.apneamania.com/code/divers_sel.asp?diverID=46

There are plenty of knowledgeable freedivers in South Africa. BTW the unofficial record for breath holding is over 10minutes :D
 
Should Freedivers wear ear plugs? What effect do they have on equalizing ear pressure? thanks
 
[LEFT said:
jfelkins[/left]]Should Freedivers wear ear plugs? What effect do they have on equalizing ear pressure? thanks

Ear Plugs are very dangerous if you plan on diving down deep. Even 8ft or so.

If you dive down with ear plugs the ear plug will get pushed into your ear and might damage your ear. It is something that you shouldn't do at all if you plan on diving down.

You cannot equilize the air space between your ear drum and the ear plug.
 
And even worse, the eardrum might get pushed out (read "torn"). I wouldn't dive even a meter deep with earplugs.
There are some perforated earplugs ('doc earplugs' or something like that) that can keep your outer ear canals warm by restricting water circulation.
Why do you feel the need for earplugs?
 
With some hoods that are extremly tight can't they damage your ears as well? (creating a air tight area around the ear and when you decent it constricts)

I wonder how you would privent this from happening...
 
Hi Morg,

It is a simple matter to modify your hood. Put it on and mark the spot on the outside of the hood that corresponds with your ear canal. Then take a hot wire coat hanger and poke it through the neoprene.... Of course, you should probably take off the hood before shoving a red hot poker into it but hey, if you wanna leave it on....

Regarding earplugs, I have tried using them and they are definitely comfortable in cooler water or if you are out there a long time. I am referring to Doc's ProPlugs which come in a range of sizes to fit your ears and are perforated for deep diving. The only drawback that I can see is that you can't hear anything when wearing them. That goes for people talking to you on the surface as well as fish talking to each other underwater. I did wear them while doing long solo practices and they were comfortable. I have a set in my dive kit.

Lungfish
 
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More tips against hood squeeze, always flood your hood before your first dive. That usually did the trick for me. I usually use the first dive to take bubbles out of my suit as well.
Another smart solution I read here was to run a shoelace (or some other string) around your head and let it pop outside around both your ears, allowing waterflow.
 
thanks for the earplug info. I won't use use ethe silicone plugs diving that I do for swimming. I'm always guarding against swimmers ear.

FYI, this is the kind of info that seems so helpful on this thread. some of the conversations are pretty technical for me (a total newbie).
 
lungfish said:
It is a simple matter to modify your hood. Put it on and mark the spot on the outside of the hood that corresponds with your ear canal. Then take a hot wire coat hanger and poke it through the neoprene....

Actually, I found something as small as a pin does a decent job. The neoprene burning around the hot metal actually makes a bigger hole than the diameter of the object you're shoving through the hood. Just don't go overboard.
 
Indeed, you can use something smaller because it will make a larger diameter hole. The main thing is getting it positioned correctly over your ear canal....

Frankly, in warm water, I don't wear a hood. I do wear a do-rag to protect my head from the sun but when the water is 79degrees to 250ft, who needs a hood?
 
Again thanks for all the good info.

Are there fins that are good for snorkeling and some freediving that aren't necssarily "competition/rope" freediving fins?

If I just buy snorkeling fins are clsoed heel better than open if I'm going to do some diving?

Maybe better than a good brand or model would be to know what to look for in fins in terms of features...

thanks again.
 
Howdy Jfelkins,

I would always suggest using freediving fins vs scuba fins. That is, freediving fins with a closed heel or foot pocket.
I often suggest a package that is available at spearfishinggear.com - $200US gets you a pair of Omer Millinium fins, an Omer Alien mask (one of the lowest volume masks on the market), a good snorkel and booties. None of this is competition grade equipment but it is more than adequate for many freedivers and spearos. Of course, a wetsuit and a weightbelt is also requisite as is a knife, gloves and a dive computer.
The plastic Omer fins are just fine for snorkeling and some swimming down to 25meters or so. They can take a beating as well and you don't have to feel bad about it.
The neat thing about Omer fins is that if you want to upgrade your fin blades, you can buy new fins from a variety of manufacturers that will fit on your original Omer footpockets.
Anyway, there are several threads here that discuss fins and diving equipment. Happy to help with any questions.

Lungfish
 
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