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What's the deepest dive you've done???

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
Over 100ft depth while chasing a wahoo which was taking off to the depth... in vain
dec 2016/ south coast of Cuba
 
Hello guys.

After a long hiatus from posting I am back. Life just takes over after school finishes. I am still alive in case you were wondering. Quite funny reading my posts from 3 years back.

Going on a spearing trip this weekend, if the weather plays along, will hopefully post once again with some pics.

Cheers,
Mozzie
 
Hello guys.

After a long hiatus from posting I am back. Life just takes over after school finishes. I am still alive in case you were wondering. Quite funny reading my posts from 3 years back.

Going on a spearing trip this weekend, if the weather plays along, will hopefully post once again with some pics.

Cheers,
Mozzie
G'day mate. Great to see you are still spearfishing, looking forward to seeing some photos of your catch.(y)
 
Hi there!

I have been wondering for some time what diving talents lurk on DB. I am sure others too.

So I'd like to hear from as many spearos and freedivers what is the deepest they've dived. Under what conditions? It can also be a dive you did under difficult conditions...

Let me start with mine:

I was freediving at the reef at Inhaca. There is this one deep spot(where the reef meets the sand) where its about 22m deep(I've read reports of scuba divers who dive there because I don't have a dive computer). The tide was busy turning so the current was zero. I did a 2 minute breathe up and dove into the abyss... I get to the bottom with a awesome feeling. I look at my stopwatch, 30 seconds to get down there. I look around a bit taking in the beauty of the seastars(there were so many there but funnily enough nowhere shallower on the reef). Then start heading up. Total dive time 1:10min.

This was done with a shortie wetsuit, no weights and scuba fins. My PB dive.

Hope many of you reply. I'd love to hear your stories.

Regards. ;)
I used to work as a dive master on a tour boat out of cairns and during down time we would have little free diving comps best i ever did after two or three practice attempts 2 minutes 45 secs at around 16 metres , mind you that was around 15 years ago heading down the mooring line these days rarely get below about 10 metres and around 1 minute 3o secs. Although most fishes we are after are found between 5-10 metres
 
I have known too many young keen spearo's that are no longer with us because they were too concerned about depth & times instead of their fishing skills. This is the spearo's section, not the apnea forum if I'm correct? (I stay out of there) Trust me, all the depth that you will need to get fish will come as you practice your fishing skills, not the other way around. Sorry to cast a shadow over this subject for all you good keen spearo's, but fishing skills are more important than how deep you can dive. Depth will come naturally & will also vary from day to day depending on your health & attitude. In my own circle its considered bad form or etiquette to openly discuss depth or times, particularly to inexperienced or impressionable divers. Spearo's chase fish, not depth or the stopwatch, IMO some of the greatest fish ever landed have been taken in very shallow water.

Safe Fishing!

Cheers Sharkey
Sharkey you are spot on with your comments , some of the biggest groupers I have seen have been in 2-3 metres of water presenting the challenge that the fish unavoidably sees you , making camouflage and stalking all the more important , hence improving your skills as an underwater hunter
 
Hello guys.

After a long hiatus from posting I am back. Life just takes over after school finishes. I am still alive in case you were wondering. Quite funny reading my posts from 3 years back.

Going on a spearing trip this weekend, if the weather plays along, will hopefully post once again with some pics.

Cheers,
Mozzie
Glad to hear you're still alive. This thread is so old that I couldn't figure out why I got an email notice of a post to it until I went back and read it.

I'll be 79 next month and I'm still alive too, partly because I don't push depth.

I still agree with Sharky. If you want to talk depth, go over to the pure freediving forums.

Until recently I had a Facebook friend who is apparently a very gifted diver and spear fisherman. But every time he'd write about shooting a nice fish he'd show a photo of his watch. I remarked that in the good old days, we showed photos of our fish instead photos of our watches. That seemed to piss him off, so I unfriended him so we wouldn't bother each other anymore.
 
One of our safety/training guys keeps a track of deaths from SWB down here, we tragically lost another young man whilst spearfishing this weekend. This bring us up to 29 fatalities from SWB in the last decade. It happened at a charity event & his mates provided excellent care & did everything they could to give him the best chance untill the paramedics arrived, sadly it wasnt enough. It's hard to explain the feeling of grief which spreads through our tribe from these deaths, more so because it is usually our most promising & talented people. What is the answer? Yes training & education certainly needs to be part of the solution, however IMO it is also the promotion of depth & time instead of fishing skills from the "free diving industry" which add to the risk. I started diving in the 70's & was very compeditive in the 80s & 90s, we didnt have this problem. With the arival of "extreme" sports in the late 90's & many freedivers wishing to cash in on this new opportunity the deaths in fit young men increased exponentially, interestingly this followed a similar patern to the late 60's when apnea instead of spearfishing was being pushed bu some interests, that is untill the elders & tribe essentially shunned it. IMO there again needs to be a cultural shift away from compeditive apnea by spear fishers if we wish to prevent some of these tragedies.
 
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Just as food for thought, we have lost 9 spearos to SWB in Australia since our young mate started this thread.
 
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That is sad.
It is mate. As I'm sure you have experienced this many times also, these arent just numbers or statistics like depth or times, they are real people with names, who had lives, families & friends (its horrible). I dont know the answers, but I do know that promoting fishing skills above apnea certainly helps. We are moving more towards pairs with proper "one up, one down" rules for competitions down here, but this wont apply to 99.9% of spearfishing, so any suggestions towards achievable change would be welcome. Warning "freedivers", more apnea traning based upon increased depth & time certainly isnt welcome.
 
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Glad to hear you're still alive. This thread is so old that I couldn't figure out why I got an email notice of a post to it until I went back and read it.

I'll be 79 next month and I'm still alive too, partly because I don't push depth.

I still agree with Sharky. If you want to talk depth, go over to the pure freediving forums.

Until recently I had a Facebook friend who is apparently a very gifted diver and spear fisherman. But every time he'd write about shooting a nice fish he'd show a photo of his watch. I remarked that in the good old days, we showed photos of our fish instead photos of our watches. That seemed to piss him off, so I unfriended him so we wouldn't bother each other anymore.

I am totally on board with both of you Bill. I agree that depth isn't important and that pushing depth in spearfishing is dangerous and shouldn't be the focus. I have come to appreciate the safety aspect of things much more in the past few years and I thank you gents for highlighting it for me.

Fish and not feet should be the focus of pictures for sure!

Serious kudos for spearing at 79!
 
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Fish and not feet should be the focus of pictures for sure!

Totally. Nothing wrong wanting to push yourself and dive deeper, but that should be a separate event exercised under special circumstances with appropriate safety measures taken.
 
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Totally. Nothing wrong wanting to push yourself and dive deeper, but that should be a separate event exercised under special circumstances with appropriate safety measures taken.
So apnea, not spearfishing? We are still waiting for coronial recomendations from the most recent deaths down here & fingers crossed we dont end up with more regulatory & legislative embuggerances on spearfishing. The tribe is looking at all this & particularly the relationship or difference between spearfishing education & apnea training. The most alarming indication or "spike" on our time line is that before 1996 we had one death from SWB every five years. After a "self funded" group of individuals from Australia competed in the "apnea" world titles in Sardinia in 96 & returned, our deaths immediately rose to 3 per year. Coincidence? Who knows, it is something we are hoping to understand & fix.
 
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So apnea, not spearfishing? We are still waiting for coronial recomendations from the most recent deaths down here & fingers crossed we dont end up with more regulatory & legislative embuggerances on spearfishing. The tribe is looking at all this & particularly the relationship or difference between spearfishing education & apnea training. The most alarming indication or "spike" on our time line is that before 1996 we had one death from SWB every five years. After a "self funded" group of individuals from Australia competed in the "apnea" world titles in Sardinia in 96 & returned, our deaths immediately rose to 3 per year. Coincidence? Who knows, it is something we are hoping to understand & fix.

It would be worth looking at how many of these casualties had received proper training. I wonder whether good education could lower the amount of accidents? Also do you have any numbers of the amount of spearfishers in relation to the amount of (fatal) incidents?


Sent from the abyss
 
It would be worth looking at how many of these casualties had received proper training. I wonder whether good education could lower the amount of accidents? Also do you have any numbers of the amount of spearfishers in relation to the amount of (fatal) incidents?


Sent from the abyss
Yes, this is what I want future research to focus on. However at first look we have had a fifteen fold increase in risk occuring at the precise moment "proper training" ?? arrived in Australia. You dont have to be a genius? I am biased & have an opinion based upon empirical evidence/experience about apnea training, I realise this, so obviously I wont be in a position of influence in regards to the findings of any research. I will however do my best to facilitate more research into the risks associated with the promotion of going beyond what is reasonable in breath hold diving, which lets face it is what apnea events are all about.
 
Well, I think we all can conclude that the "proper training" often have a emphasis on doing safe and secure apnea. And apnea is competitive more often than not, you might not compete with others, but you compete with yourself, going deeper and being under longer.

Prior to the "proper training" and all the deep information we now have of the physiology behind deep diving when there were not more knowledge than that you had to listen to yourself and feel your body to know when it's time to surface. When we felt the the urge to breathe (which normally comes well within safe limits) we went up.

With the "proper training" came knowledge about that it is not lack of co2 that makes you wanna breath, we all know how to fight off contractions and , how long surface times ww should have, and we go deeper sometimes using a buddy system (which in the best of worlds are so so reliable)....

I think when you try to be scientific about it, rather than listen to your body and mind something profound is lost, and that something is what often get people killed. How many Bajau spearos dies...? You need not to think you know the science because the science puts you closer to your limit. When it is only your body and mind talking, call it your 6th sense, or just sense, or what you want, you're probably more more safe than when trying to be scientific about it.

Just my 2 cents..
 
Well, I think we all can conclude that the "proper training" often have a emphasis on doing safe and secure apnea. And apnea is competitive more often than not, you might not compete with others, but you compete with yourself, going deeper and being under longer.

Prior to the "proper training" and all the deep information we now have of the physiology behind deep diving when there were not more knowledge than that you had to listen to yourself and feel your body to know when it's time to surface. When we felt the the urge to breathe (which normally comes well within safe limits) we went up.

With the "proper training" came knowledge about that it is not lack of co2 that makes you wanna breath, we all know how to fight off contractions and , how long surface times ww should have, and we go deeper sometimes using a buddy system (which in the best of worlds are so so reliable)....

I think when you try to be scientific about it, rather than listen to your body and mind something profound is lost, and that something is what often get people killed. How many Bajau spearos dies...? You need not to think you know the science because the science puts you closer to your limit. When it is only your body and mind talking, call it your 6th sense, or just sense, or what you want, you're probably more more safe than when trying to be scientific about it.

Just my 2 cents..

You hit the nail right on the head. All the above is part of 'proper training '.


Sent from the abyss
 
You hit the nail right on the head. All the above is part of 'proper training '.


Sent from the abyss
If this is the case then any apnea training isnt "proper training" the emperical evidence confirms this, (a 15 fold increase in risk of death since apnea became popularised). IMO, spearfishing training should concentrate on fishing skills not breath hold, when the inverse occurs it ends in tragedy. Hopefully we will get some funding soon to qualify the link if any, between apnea training & spearfishing deaths.
 
I guess it may be worth sharing a few of the observations from the last thirty deaths. The majority were using a reel on their gun & not a rig rope, although rig ropes & floats are by far the prefered method for the majority down here (it is compulsory to dive around a flag & float even with a reel gun. The message here may be dont use a reel. The majority (almost all) were not members of a spearfishing club, but were not inexperienced divers either. The members of spearfishing clubs certainly fish as "hard" as those who have perished, yet we dont have the deaths. Why, what is different? Having a fish become entangled on the bottom seems to be a very significant factor, particularly id the diver tries to decend again on the same breath to untangle the fish, this may be why reel guns also score highly for risk. Do not try to decend & ascend twice on the same breath.
 
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