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my first season

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

afshapes

Well-Known Member
Jun 18, 2007
16
1
88
So I think today was the end of my first if little short first season. I have learned a great deal over the last 4 months, caught 2 bass, and 3 mullet which has kept the girlfriend happy as she loves fish. I am begining to sus out the techniques and slowly but surely building up a nice portfolio of spots to visit.
I am well and truly hooked, so next spring I am going to purchase a spearfishing suit as I have been wearing my very nice surf wetsuit, which I tore today loading my gun..bugger. So a quick question, how long( in terms of months) would a 6mm suit keep me in the water and will I notice a difference between my surf suit and a diving suit?
Whilst I am asking questions my stringer keeps coming undone and nearly lost a fish today, the t bar seems to undo its self from the hoop on the other end, what am I doing wrong?
Many thanks
 
Hi afshapes, here in the south of Ireland I dive all year except January and February. If the weather's calm I may dive then too. In the winter you obviously will get cold sooner but if your spearfishing suit fits well you will notice a huge difference compared to any surfing suit. In the winter, the part of your face not covered by mask or hood, will hurt like toothache when you first go in, but it soon goes numb then it's fine!
 
A 6mm open cell suit or even a 5mm will keep you in the water for most of the year even if it was only for an hour or so, a 7mm suit would be too warm for the summer months. I'd stick with a 5mm as it's in the summer when you'll use it the most coz it's pretty hard to actually see sod all come winter. Will you notice the difference between a spearing suit and your surfing suit? rofl Yes is the answer, I could manage a couple of hours in a surfing suit when I used one last but the weekend I got my first open cell I was in all day and still warm best investment you'll ever make washi
 
Definitely get yoursefl an open-cell suit for spearing. A bit more fiddly to put on than a surf wettie but incredibly warm and unbelievably flexible. I would stick with a 5 or 6mm - I have a 7mm Picasso that is very comfy in colder water but will pickle you in your own sweat come summer!rofl
 
what!?

couldn't possibly be the end of the season yet!

ok maybe with a ripped suit.

got a 5mm elios this year, and am going to try and dive all winter with it.

weather permitting that is.
 
so i have a 5/4/3 mm surf suit will that be good for surfing all winter. its supposed to be a winter suit, i suppose your not in the water all the time when you are surfing anyway are you. sorry if thats a little of topic its just some people surf as well as spear, like me.
 
Thanks for all the replies, maybe this isnt the end of the season then!! I 'm not sure but as a surfer I am anxiously awaiting the autumn to get some waves whihch I figure will mess up the viz, maybe we will be lucky id love to get back in again cant stop thinking about those fish i missed!! The Gower seams really sesitive in terms of viz the slightest bit of wind and its like soup, Im sure there are some good spots but I am restricte4d to shore lines. Does anyone know, I have a seacsub 65 with a 7mm shaft can I use any shaft or do I need to get a seac sub?
 
I'd ask Dave at Spearo.co.uk as he stocks their gear. When you asked about fish stringer I am confused. I slip the loop end onto a carabiner on the float and then the spike/t-bar trails behind the float??
 
Yeah I basically threat the t bar trough the other loop around my belt, maybe I will use a clip to keep it all together. Cheers guys and gals
 
I just bought a 6mm Elios Black Shadow, I was using a 5mm winter steamer.

The difference is simply unbelievable.

---it is very warm and comfortable. Because it has no zips there is no water ingress down the back. You should also go for a loading pad, you'll never need worry about ripping your suit.

The open cell is very sticky, you NEED to use some water and soap/shower gel to get it on AND off.

The black shadow lining helps because its smoother, trouble is its only available in black. For me this is not an issue because I'll also use the suit for SCUBA.

I'm so impressed with the Elios suit that I'll be buying a 4mm camo suit for the spring to autumn.

I really do not think that ordinary winter steamers are up to jop properly, they're great for surfing etc. but not for continual immersion.

..and lets not forget at this time of year you're playing with fire allowing yourself to get overly cold.:t
 
The fit is so important I think thats why custom suits are so popular these days as you get the best out of the suit cause it fits so well.

if the suits too small its going to be uncomfortable and if its too big you going to let water in aswell as lose the heat.
 
Hi All
Just seen the thread and I thought I would add my thoughts. I was pottering about in a 'normal' wetsuit for most of last year up until October and then it was too cold. I went in during the week in my custom made to measure open cell camo 5mm suit from elios and although the water temperature has dropped, I can tell by my numb feet, I was perfectly warm and could have stayed in longer than the two hours I did. My suit has a hood and even though I am totally bald and I mean totally, when i got out and took the hood back I was steaming! Hope this helps. Spend the money, you won't look back.
Tribs
Out
 
i have looked at the prices for the made to measure elios wetsuits and think they are very resonable a lot cheaper than i was thinking, some of the top of the range surfing suits seem to cost a lot more than an elios. my surf suit was 160 pounds but have seen some for sale at 260 pounds.
anyone know why some surf suits cost more or the same as elios diving suits.
is it quality or beause some of the surf suits are made by a more well known make.
 

Simple business.

Ripcurl, O'Neil, Gul, etc all have massive advertising costs, you pay for it in the cost of the suit.

Elios probablydo very little advertising and therefore remain competetive.
 
Yep with the surf suits you probably paying for the name, thats not to say they dont produce good quality gear cause they do but the shear size of the companys and the amount of people thay employ as well as advertising you can kind of see why the suits would cost more.

Spearfishing suits are really purpose built suits unlike surf suits which can be used for a number of different water sports which makes them very popular and so a huge market is formed
 
Thanks for all the input, i will definetely be getting a suit this spring, but for the time being I am going to get my lungs sorted for next season. I was suprised to read that spearing suits are much cheaper than surf suits, are they less flexible thus cheaper or are we surfers being ripped off.
Back to the subject of lungs, I quit smoking 5 months ago (so that I could spearfish!!! thats how much it hooked me!) and I started using the power breath tool, it is fantastic, when I started my pb was 1.05 last time i did my tables i did 2.55 that was 2months into it, since then Ive had a chest infection so ive stayed away from it all but cant recommend it enough.
 
what is the power breath tool,
i have never been sure what you mean when people say tables, is this like an excersixe you can do to improve breath hold, if so how would i go about getting it,
 
Use the search function at the top of the page and search for breath table or CO2 table, somewhere there is a thread that has all the info on it.
 
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