Ireland Spearing, 2011

[climbingperch]

Nice photos, must be difficult to go deep with only one leg!!! I didn't know Cressi customised their suit for amputees, ha. Definitely looked like a good time. Heading for my first dive in two months, thank god!!!!!

I was trying to hide my gay blue and black ankle weights but you can still kinda see them:head they look like 80's leg warmers:t. After trying them for a few dives now I have removed one sachet of weight from each, gonna try them again and if I'm happy sew them up and paint all black. Only €10.50 from argos bleedin bargain !!!

 

[johnnybuoy]

Ya Neil your right. All u were short of was roller skates.......

 

[AegeanSeaHunter]

its big bones nic.
and i am ready for next week, hope you are taking some time off from inflicting torture and pain on the good people of killarney.

I am up for it defo for Saturday and Sunday. I'll bring the tent and the dinghy. Might get another day off depending on appointments during the following week. Pray hard for weather!!!! Txt me where u r staying

 

[AegeanSeaHunter]

I was trying to hide my gay blue and black ankle weights but you can still kinda see them:head they look like 80's leg warmers:t. After trying them for a few dives now I have removed one sachet of weight from each, gonna try them again and if I'm happy sew them up and paint all black. Only €10.50 from argos bleedin bargain !!!

I think the lead weights are brilliant. Keep the fins in the water for less noise when looking for bass. Have to try the vest too. A job for nxt year

 

[spudguncat]

I recently made myself some ankle weights fromleaded lights just mooved house and i peeled all the lead of the window fashioned it into a 8" narrow weight weighing about 3/4 of a kilo. wrapped all this in insulating tape and just wear them inside my wetsuit along my calf. massive difference and streamlined to!!! as for the weight vest i couldnt recomend one enough, but i find if your out the water on the boat take it off your intercostals dont need the exercise!!! i have finally sorted my weight out and can lie, kneel comfortably almost feeling no pressure points whilst in the water massive difference from when i started with all my weight on a belt and getting bent into a U shape anchored round the waist not comfortable at all.

peace

 

[fcallagy]

ahh ye spearos all carry too much weight anyway!!!

 

[vasile]

Anyone fancy Wexford area for a few hours session?

 

[sunfish]

ahh ye spearos all carry too much weight anyway!!!

roflroflrofl

Guess you're right there Feargus. If I go much deeper than 12 metres I need a few good sweeps of the fins to start going up again! I prefer that to having to kick like b*ggery just to get down in the first place though as I feel out of breath if I struggle to get down.
If I'm going deeper than 12 I do take some weight off and concentrate on technique to dive.

 

[Fitzy_1982]

I always wear a vest, I would be in agony spending a few hours in the water with only a weight belt. I have 3 kg on my vest and 4 on my belt. Its ok for diving around 5m but any shallower and I I have to hold onto something to stay down.

 

[johnnybuoy]

I wear 15kg on scuba and 7 on freedive. I get a sore back on scuba if I use a belt so I've integrated weights on my wing. I don't use a vest but will look into one due to all the positive feedback.
I get neutral buoyancy at 5/6 m aswell fitzy. I find 6m ideal and safer as blackouts occur at this depth so at least u will surface if your out of it.....

 

[sunfish]

I find neutral @ 5-6 metres is good for diving to 10-12 metres but neutral @ 7 metres or more is better for deeper. That's when it starts to get harder to leave the surface and that's when the heiwa medium density suit starts becoming really useful too.

 

[xriswolf]

I use self made ankle weights around half a kilo each. plus 7 kilos on the belt. Now tomorrow I should be getting my vest so I'll be spreading those 7 kilos a bit. Still need to grab on rocks and kelp to stay down in 3-4 meters. Buy I find it a bit hard to go up after 10 meters. Do any of you guys have the float attached to the belt? Maybe I could try leaving the belt down on 10 plus dives and pull my belt up...

 

[plbenza]

I use self made ankle weights around half a kilo each. plus 7 kilos on the belt. Now tomorrow I should be getting my vest so I'll be spreading those 7 kilos a bit. Still need to grab on rocks and kelp to stay down in 3-4 meters. Buy I find it a bit hard to go up after 10 meters. Do any of you guys have the float attached to the belt? Maybe I could try leaving the belt down on 10 plus dives and pull my belt up...

Never attached to the belt, always in the hand for me! As more spread the weights are along the body, always as better, specially if in few meters of water and you clearly notice that when the sea is "kicking" a bit when you decide to spearfish "in the sea foam area".

Standard weight should be around 1 kg per 10kg of body weight if you´ll be diving untill 10meters deep, although this is only a reference, never a formula. About weights I´ll say that it would be like "the best gun", there isn´t one, it will be the circunstance that will tell you. I have a 8,5mm suit(Heiwa), in my vest 6kg, in belt 3kg and 1kg (500gr+500gr) in legs. My Neutral point is around 7 meters but diving more than 12meters with this amount of weight is simply too much, at some point you clearly feel yourself pushed down, so a quick release system of weights could be the best options or the weight of the float being used as a spare weight for deeper dives and increase the safetyness.

Knowing the place where you will dive must be taken always really seriously and so all the apparatus for diving safe... Better to loose one more minute in your life than your life in one minute...!

 

[Fitzy_1982]

I recently made myself some ankle weights fromleaded lights just mooved house and i peeled all the lead of the window fashioned it into a 8" narrow weight weighing about 3/4 of a kilo. wrapped all this in insulating tape and just wear them inside my wetsuit along my calf. massive difference and streamlined to!!! as for the weight vest i couldnt recomend one enough, but i find if your out the water on the boat take it off your intercostals dont need the exercise!!! i have finally sorted my weight out and can lie, kneel comfortably almost feeling no pressure points whilst in the water massive difference from when i started with all my weight on a belt and getting bent into a U shape anchored round the waist not comfortable at all.

peace

Spud, At a quick glance I thought you had a good idea however after some thought I think it is pretty bad information to be sharing, no offence. There is people watching this forum that know nothing about weighting for diving. It shouldn't be forgotten that weight systems are designed with quick release buckles for a reason. In the event of an emergency you need to be able to dump your weight as quickly as possible. So depending on what way you are weighted this means, quick release belt, quick release vest, quick release ankle weights.

With regards to the vest, this shouldn't be over weighted and most of your weight should still be kept on your belt as this could be the only thing you get to drop in an emergency. And an emergency doesn't just relate to yourself, it could be your buddy. If there is a problem with your buddy you may need to drop all your weight and stay as high up on the surface as you can.

With regards to deep dives. As Sunfish said, technique. I don't see how dropping weights could be beneficial. What if you see something and need to get up and breath up and get back down, what do you do? drop your weights, waste energy getting it back up, then breath up too quickly, get frustrated, put yourself in more danger.

I use the padi technique for weighting myself. When you are in the water with your weights on, you exhale, you should be sitting on the surface at eye level with the water. If you sink your over weight. If you float you don't have enough.

Just my thoughts from what I have been shown , I'm open to criticism.

 

[foxfish]

I also use strips of lead covered in insulation tape, I wrap the 40mm strips around my ankle, over my suit & under my socks = about 1lb a side.

Also a point to bare in mind is when fishing the string weed or very shallow water (ie not diving but surface fishing) you will be better off with no vest & more weight on your ankles & belt.

If you want to see in front of you, then you need to sink your lower half & keep your head half more buoyant, imagine lying on the carpet belly down & trying to watch telly, thats going to crick your neck bad!
You would need to prop yourself up on your elbows or - sink your lower body in the sea!
I also use Jetfins for hunting the shallows as these rubber fins actually sink!

 

[chealy]

Sorry to hijack the thread but has anybody been out around Cork lately, Noval cove Rocky bay area. If so has the swell and wind messd up the viz? Just thinking I might grab a session before work tomorrow morning... cheers

 

[plbenza]

For the carbon fins fans around and for those saying that all of them are fragile...!
[ame=http://youtu.be/ef8Nk3MI3aI]PINNE IN CARBONIO CARBON BLADES- SEAPRO: TEST 1 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[climbingperch]

I went to try for some Dublin bass yesterday at h.w, when I arrived it looked great sun was shining vis was good but unfortunately so did 30 people swimming even a lifeguard dunno where he came from??? So had to abandon mission and head to Dalkey :head . The harbour was full of people mackie-bashing and the vis looked good ( for dalkey ) it was 3-4m at best with alot of suspended particles.Spent 3 hours in the water got 3 pollack all about 2lb in 5-8m of water saw a few bigger but they are very spooky, so I spent the last hour practicing my breath hold, duck dive technique etc so next time I'll be able to wait for the bigges. Also spent 20mins trying to find a mobile that a mackie-basher had dropped in off the rocks, why do all the Dublin ones look and sound like extras from Borat.. Made thai fish cakes with some turned out really well first time I had used pollack to make them. Good afternoon overall think its gonna have to be a very early morning raid to get them bass.

 

[spudguncat]

Spud, At a quick glance I thought you had a good idea however after some thought I think it is pretty bad information to be sharing, no offence..

point taken but both the weights together weigh no more than 1kg i do carry nost of my weight on a belt and my vest is also quick release!! my suit is 5.5mm i tried diving with just the ankle weights and could barely brake the surface sorry if i didnt explain myself properly this is just how i have refined my weighting believe me if the belt comes off i come up like polaris!!rofl

no critisism no worries

peace

 

[stone_shot]

I went to try for some Dublin bass yesterday at h.w, when I arrived it looked great sun was shining vis was good but unfortunately so did 30 people swimming even a lifeguard dunno where he came from??? So had to abandon mission and head to Dalkey :head . The harbour was full of people mackie-bashing and the vis looked good ( for dalkey ) it was 3-4m at best with alot of suspended particles.Spent 3 hours in the water got 3 pollack all about 2lb in 5-8m of water saw a few bigger but they are very spooky, so I spent the last hour practicing my breath hold, duck dive technique etc so next time I'll be able to wait for the bigges. Also spent 20mins trying to find a mobile that a mackie-basher had dropped in off the rocks, why do all the Dublin ones look and sound like extras from Borat.. Made thai fish cakes with some turned out really well first time I had used pollack to make them. Good afternoon overall think its gonna have to be a very early morning raid to get them bass.

I've been diving around Dublin for years and can count on one hand the number of bass I've seen - plenty of nice pollack around though. Drop me a PM if you ever want a buddy or 2.