New Forum - Who is from Wisconsin?

[Whopperhead]

WOG - Welcome! for wetsuits - you can buy what ever you want as long as it's a Freediving "Open Cell" interior wetsuit- if you only plan on buying 1 get a 5mm (open cell) Home is the place you want to go for the BEST wetsuits out there- Custom fit- you can't beat it. But as long as it's "open cell" you'll be heading in the right direction.

 

[Jon]

There are NO dive shops in the state that carry any freedivng gear. Deep Blue used to carry OMER, but lost that account a couple of years ago. The shop has since been sold and no one there knows about freediving.

Your best bet is to look on line for gear- it's cheaper that way. Look through the threads on here for wetsuit suggestions. My best suggestion would be a 5mm, custom cut, Elios wetsuit with opencell inner lining and nylon outer lining.

Your in water breath hold times are shortened up quite a bit if you are cold.

Jon

 

[ILDiver]

The dive shop I work for has an OMER account now, I'm in Illinois though. But the owner is not wanting to get too invested into Freediving. It's a tough market, it's so small and with the internet, people don't buy local. I would like to start pushing OMER gear and start selling it online, like ebay or some other online site. I don't want to get pushy with it, but I want to make it easily available for sure.

As for the class, your always ready for a class. It's the best way to get started really. Learn how to do it right up front. That's my opinion anyway.

 

[Whopperhead]

ILDiver - When you know what you will be getting/ can get - with prices - let me know- I've got 2 more guys at work here that will be doing this with in a years time. Other than TASS. One guy (we call GROG) will need a custom suit - as he is built like a cross between SHREK and the Incredible Hulk -so he'll probably go Elios - but the other guy (we call STEEBS) is a 6'2" 170 # skinny dude. We are probably looking at 5mm "open cell" interior.

 

[Pinggene]

WOG,

Welcome! I'm from Oshkosh, so we are practically neighbors!

Any time you want, you can look at my wetsuit & freediving fins. There is nothing to compare with an open cell inner, super stretch nylon outer 5mm wetsuit for our area. You can go year round...went ice diving last year & had a blast (Jon should be setting one up again...watch for it).

Be certain to check the regs...only pan fish & rough fish are legal (you may already know that, but just didn't want you to get nailed).

How has the visibility been in the places you have gone to? I've wanted to get to the Waupaca Chain, but have not had a chance yet.

Any carp in any of the waters you went to?

Thanks, we'll see you around.

Gene

 

[James Jay]

Hi again

Thanks for all the great feedback. For a long time I didn't think there was any one else around here that freedived or speared underwater. As I stated before I am new at this but find myself thinking about my time under water long after the trip is over. I don't like the cold (as I'm sure most of you don't) but still want to get back in the water. Thank you all for the info on wet suits. This is consistent with other sites that I have read about wet suits. I have never worn one so will take your experience and opinions to heart and start looking for a 5mm open cell suit. I do plan on renting a wet suit at a local scuba shop but it is not open cell. This should keep me in the water longer till I can get mine. What is your opinion between the Farmer John style and the two piece waiste high pants suits? Doesn't appear to be a warmth factor.?.?
I was bummed out to hear that there are no dive shops in Wisconsin that sell freediving suits. I've never been big on purchasing clothing(wet suit) of any kind on line. But, seeing how I don't get away from Wisconsin very often I've been looking at some different sites that were suggested here and the process doesn't look as painfull as I thought.
Thanks Idler for the info on your shop in Illinois. If I get the opportunity I will come down to check it out. Where in Illinois is it.
Hey Gene, I caught your Oshkosh location right away. To bad Winnebago looks the way it does most of the year. We would be sitting on a spearing gold mine here otherwise. , Yeah, I have become framiliar with the spearing regs here. Still reading and trying to figure out some of the finer points as I see some of the group here is doing. Can't wait to meet all of you at some of the gatherings etc...

 

[Jon]

Farmer Johns are better for scuba diving and high wasited pants are better for freediving- makes it easier to breath up.

The scuba suit will help you quite a bit, but it's still a LONG way off from a good freedivng wetsuit- so don't get talked into buying one.

A decent freediving wetsuit will take you a couple more minutes to put on, but it will keep you much warmer and be eaiser to move around it. In addition you'll be able to get away with a thinner suit (5mm for a freediving suit vs. 7mm in a scuba suit) which will also mean that you can wear less weight on your weightbelt- and this makes a big difference when your swimming up from depth!

My favorite suits are made by Elios, but sometimes you can find good deals on off the rack suits from Immersion, Beuchat, OMER, Cressi sub, Picasso, Esclapez, and others. Look for a suit with NO zippers and an attached hood. Wrist and ankle seals are nice, but not really needed as long as the suit itself is opencell on th inside.

Jon

 

[James Jay]

Hey Gene,

Sorry, didn't respond to latter half of your post. I was on the Little Wolf norht of Royalton yesterday and was able to see about 8 to 10 feet. When you talk vis, I'm assuming you mean when I can see even the faintest movement of a fish fin in the distance. I was diving in an area where the water was cascading over a small ledge with many rocks. this is creating a deep hole on the downward side. the water edys back up against the current creating a sand bar on the back side of the hole that many fish hang out at. I seen a northern patroling the edge of this area the whole time I was there. A week and half ago my friend sen a couple of carp and a lot of sheepshead there. I personally see more suckers and bass than anything else. Down stream of the dam in Weyuwega we see alot . Waters not very deep but there are some deep holes there.

Also been diving/snorkling without spearguns on some trout streams. The trout are very skitish. If I'm slow enough and cautious I can get them to hole up in the rocks along the banks and pet them as long as there eyes are hidden in the rock outcroppings. My son loved that.

See ya

 

[James Jay]

Hey Jon

The scuba suit will help you quite a bit, but it's still a LONG way off from a good freedivng wetsuit- so don't get talked into buying one.

Do you wear your hood on the 5mm in spring and fall(warmer days/water etc..) or let in hang off your head when you get to warm?
Yes, I've felt like the hunted carp when talking to dive shops about freediving. None of them know anything about it but want to convince me how I need to buy there suits and accessories etc... I've dodged there spears though. Just kidding, they really are nice people for the most part.
I did get into an interesting conversation about open cell with a scuba dealer. She was trying to covince me that an open cell suit will alow water to move through the suit cooling me off. I tried to refer her to the internet to investigate this for herself but she said she did not have internet on site.
What does open cell refer to? I can only assume that the other wet suits are closed cell?.?
See ya.

 

[ILDiver]

Starting out we won't have a lot of their line. Starting with some Alien masks. The major online stores make it tough to get going. I will have some stuff of my own to look at and test out. The thing I'm excited to get is the Cayman HF.

 

[Jon]

First, stay away from that lady at the dive shop- she's clueless beyond measure.:head

Opencell refers tot he lining on the inside of the suit. Most scuba suits, besides something like a Henderson Gold core, will have a nylon lining on the inside of the suit fro strength- but this allows water to flush through the suit. Opencell is bare rubber and it sticks to your skin like glue- so NO water can flush through. Some open cell's can be sprayed with different coatings to make them easier to put on, but all of these will wear off after a couple of hindered dives. They cost more, and reduce warmth, but may be a good thing for a newish diver because they make the dressing process easier. Opencell, even in spray coated, is so sticky that the only, decent, way to put it on is by spraying the inside of the suit with something like hair conditioner, and water, to aid in sliding it on- this is called lubing the suit.

Once the suit is put on I have been able to stay completely dry down to 60'. Below 60' the suit itself compresses and allows some water to flow in, and out.

In warmer water I wear a 3mm- as in anything above 58F. If i only have my 5mm with me and the water is warm, and this did happen to me once this spring, I just flush my hood every 20 minutes or so. I never take it all the way off, even though I could, to keep the seaweed out of my hair and ears. rofl Flushing the suit every 20 minutes, or so, seems to really do the trick.

I was diving up in Vlias county the end of July and hit some weird water temps/thermoclines. It was too warm for my full 3mm, but too cold to just wear a vest. I ended up just wearing my 3mm jacket over a pair of board shorts and was very comfortable. I was cool enough with my legs exposed, but didn't freeze out when I dove below the thermocline- which was an easy 30 degree temperature drop. that's another advantage to a two piece suit over a one piece- you can layer for the occasion.

Jon

 

[James Jay]

Hey Jon

Thanks for the great post. That answers alot of the questions I didn't know how to ask. One of my concerns is buying a suit that isn't comfortable at different water temps. 5mm or 3mm, attached hood, detached hood and the list go's on. Now I've got to pry open that bank account and fork out the cash.

60 feet sounds a bit chilly. I've never been past 15-20 feet, ears have a hard time equalizing, mask starts leaking alot (mustache I assume is the problem ), lungs want more air(no weight belt and pike needs improvement),but I'm working on it. I spend most of my time around 10 feet or there abouts. I'm working on that too.

Didn't plan on going back to that dive store again. She had a bit of a problem with spearfishing and wasn't afraid to say so. Informed me that
they teach people to take pictures of the fish. I looked at her with my best look of discust and told her that I thought it would be ok if she just took pictures. The eye balls started rolling after that one. She started to get my warpt humor and cracked a smile before I left.

Thanks again.

 

[James Jay]

Hi all

I was told today that my Username is a derogatory slang term used in other parts of the world. I never knew this nor would I ever use it as such. The Usernames cannot be changed in your profile. It can only be changed by the administrator in rare occasions. I PM the administraor to request the change. Will post again when the situation has been resolved. I posted and Introduction messaage on Deeper Blues Forum "Introductions" explaining how this happened and what the term "wog" means when you are in the U.S. Navy. If you care to read it it's titled "Username misunderstanding. Sorry"

I doubt if anyone here in Wisconsin has ever heard of the derogatory version of the term(I haven't). In the event I am wrong please understand that no offense was meant by it.

Normally I'm just offending hook and line guys.

See ya

 

[Jon]

Thanks Jim,

I had never heard of it either, as I epxlained before, but words have different meanins in other parts of the world- suspenders, rubbers, braces, ect.

I posted a note to Stephan to try and sort it out, since he owns the site, and we'll see what he comes up with. He's on another continent so it might take a day or two to get a reply.

Jon

 

[land shark]

hey !!! Im hook and line guy and you aint offended me .

 

[James Jay]

Hi All

All right, back to Freediving/Spearfishing. Received new Username today (James Jay) Hope thats not to flashy.

Rented a wet suit for the first time this past weekend. Went out on Sunday with it and found it was certainly warm enough 7/5mm. A couple of things bothered me though. I'm 5'11" about 185 this week and I found that the large suit felt kind of tight. Not the kind of tight where I would ever complain if I had a tank of o2, but when I practiced my breath ups I felt it was to restrictive. I also started to feel a bit sick after about and hour. I do have an acid reflux problem that is kept pretty much in check with my change in diet. I had some blue corn chips and salsa (no no's for me) before I went in. Not sure why I did that but I didn't think it would have been enough to make a big difference. Does anyone else here have that kind of feeliing with their wetsuits?

And everyone said, See ya Poly"wog"

 

[Whopperhead]

JAMES JAY - I'm 5'11" and 195# - I have a LARGE Wetsuit that I feel very uncomfortable in. Not to mention it has a zipper in the back that lets water in. That's why I bought another 3mm Elios in addition to my 5mm. Not only are they custom fit- but made for freedivers. Not sure what kind of wetsuit you rented.

Not sure if I've ever felt sick while diving- but then again I don't eat before I dive, I might snack on something mid-day - then am usually starving by the time I'm done diving.

 

[sanso]

A rental suit is probably made for SCUBA diving and those are made of less stretchy neoprene. That would account for feeling restricted when doing Your breathe-ups although it fits okay-ish when not breathing deeply.

 

[land shark]

I'm 5'11" about 185 this week and I found that the large suit felt kind of tight

how tall are you on most weeks ????>.....

 

[Jon]

The problems you had were based on an ill-fitting scuba wetsuit. If you get a proper freediving wetsuit you won't have those problems for a number of reasons:

1. proper fit

2. not so much rubber around your chest- less pressure on chest

3. freediving suits keep you wamer with less rubber because they don't let water through- less pressure on chest

4. no inner nylon lining to restrict breathing- less pressure on chest

5. cut for swimming and not for standing, like scuba suits are

It's really hard to imagine how much mor comfortable a freediving suit is until you try one on- especially compared to scuba suits.

I have had, scuba, students freak out in the past thinking they were having a heart attack becuase the wetsuits were too constrictive across thir chests- mostly overweight, middle aged, men that this happens too. That's the problem with rental wetsuits "they are meant to fit everyone, so in the end they actually fit nobody".

As far as the stomach issues go, I have heard of other divers with the same issue as a result of all the head first decents. Diets can help, and so can drinking fresh water while your out diving. I have also known scuba divers who had the same issue when diving in saltwater. One instructor I knew even used to dive with a container of Rolaids in his wetsuit sleeve so he wouldn't get sick during our dives off of LA.

Now that you know a wetsuit will keep you warm it's time to save up for a custom cut Elios suit. If you can meet up with Pingene he can show you what his looks like.

Jon