Training Constant Weight

[ADELENELYNCH]

Hi,

I'm a beginner and would like to slowly improve my constant weight depth. Apart from a few dives to about 12-15m, I've never actually pushed my limits to see what max I can go to. I didn't know there was a category in freediving known as constant weight until recently. Here are a few basic questions :

1) If my dynamic apnea in the pool is 50m, does that mean I should only attempt 25M depth at most in CW? (calculating distance)

2) How do I know how deep I should go or can go? I'm a very conservative diver and always try to turn around when I still have plenty of air, but would like to increase my distance. Is it only by trial and error? I guess my question is, at which point do I know I should turn around and head back up without running out of air halfway up? This may sound like a silly question, sorry., but unlike in the pool where I can just stick my head out of the water, I think CW is quite different.

3) I just got a pair of monofins. Never used them in my life. Anything i should take note of?

4) Equipment-wise, I've read about low-volume masks. Are they really necessary? What do most of you dive wiht?

Thanks for any tips you can offer!

 

[Rogert]

to answer your first question, i wouldnt attempt to go 25m first up because as i go deeper i found it was harder to hold my breath than it was at 1m deep during dynamics. i think i might leave the second question up to someone with a bit more experience. number 3 is fairly straight forward just work on your technique during dynamic then put that to constant weight and u should be fine. I have a cressi matrix mask and it is very low volume, i found it easier to equalise and my field of vision was way better than a mask with a higher internal volume. hope this helped

 

[Metridium]

Hi Adelene,

1) 25 M is probably a good rough estimate of what you can presently do, but I would advise that you work to this depth incrementally rather than all at once. Once you are very comfortable doing those 12 to 15 M dives then add two meters. When that is very easy, add two more. Always monitor your body response, as each day and dive can differ and you should back off if anything does not feel right.

2) There is always a risk of running out of air (blackout) despite your best training and judgments. Especially so if you are trying to push your limits, or don't know what they are. It usually happens to the unfortunate very near the surface, or even after surfacing and breathing again. It takes time for the oxygen of your first recovery breath to reach your brain. I suggest doing some reading education on sites such as this one, and making a commitment to finding a partner to dive with you and monitor each other closely. Use safety equipment that you can assemble yourself, such as a surface float, a descent rope and lanyards to greatly improve safety for constant weight diving, in addition to your safety partner.

3) No advice on mono fins.

4) Low volume masks are very desirable if you wish to attain greater depths. To reach deeper depths you have to remove a lot of air from your lungs to equalize the mask. With a large volume mask you might start having difficulty extracting enough air from your lungs at 25 to 30 meters, ending your dive. With a low volume mask you could eventually double your depth. Apart from the mask there are many other techniques and learned capabilities that will help you go deeper.

I dive with an Aqua Sphere - Sphera mask. They are fairly cheap, definately low volume, large peripheral vision, flexible, comfortable. But they have a curved plastic lens that can easily scratch and distorts the peripheral vision a bit.

David