so you say freediving

[holdingmybreath]

doing searches here I come across the word freediving on occassion... "I was freediving....", "...doing some freediving...", "...freediving down to ....", ".. spearfishing and freediving...." Well here's my question.. Who on the forum is serious into this freediving and are you pushing the numbers? Trying for deeper and deeper depths? Longer and Longer breath holds? Getting away from scuba more and more to just go freediving? And tell me this.. what's freediving to you? 6', 12', 20', 25'? (o.k. 2m, 3m, 6m, 7m) or is it 100' or 150' or 200'. Or somewhere inbetween? A few of us want to know... Don't freedivers just get under your (scuba divers) skin sometimes? Are you seeing more and more freedivers out there while scubadiving than in the not so distant past?

[ZoCrowes255]

I'm starting to see more of it and I think it's pretty cool. I've just been having quick goes at it around my local quarry and I do alright for someone who has not really tried it before. I can get down to about 30'-40' but that's really pushing my limits and using a line for assistance.

Chris

[fdog]

40' pretty easily with a quite a bit of "dwell time". I'm just a "recreational freediver" though, not like those that compete and can stay down for whopping amounts of time.

I guess I really like the feeling of freedom and being part of the water. That and it's the only way to take abs in northern California.

All the best, James

[Rick Inman]

I like to free dive occasionally because I think it helps my scuba skills. If I can free dive to 30' , look around for a minute (well, a second, anyway) and return to the surface, then I know I can do it in an OOA situation on scuba. In a book I read on solo diving, the rule stated was to never solo dive to more than twice what you can free dive to. IMHO, basic free diving skills are a prerequisite to good scuba skills.

[salty]

I pulled off a few dives to 60 foot a few weeks ago. I enjoy freediving as much as SCUBA. Especialy when hunting.

[holdingmybreath]

...In a book I read on solo diving, the rule stated was to never solo dive to more than twice what you can free dive to....

That makes no sense to me

[freediver]

I am an avid freediver (I actually teach clinics in freediving) who has seen 185 ft and have a static breath hold of just over 6 mins (after a lengthy warmup). It took years to get to this but I believe evryone has this innate ability to freedive and do incredible things and as Rick Inman stated "IMHO, basic free diving skills are a prerequisite to good scuba skills", this is so true. I am not into the competition aspect, I just took something I enjoyed and pretty much became obsessed with getting better at it.

[holdingmybreath]

I am an avid freediver (I actually teach clinics in freediving) who has seen 185 ft and have a static breath hold of just over 6 mins (after a lengthy warmup). .....

Hey freediver..now that's impressive... did you fin down/up? Why not do some competitions? Those numbers would get you points. Who is the pro that lives in texas.. is it Tanya? Is freediving getting a big following down there and are you seeing your clinics getting more popular? Any gain on the scuba?

[Rick Inman]

That makes no sense to me

I think the logic is (and I'm not saying I agree) if you can free-dive down to 30 feet, thats 30' up and 30' down which equals 60'. So if you are on scuba at 60' feet and run out of air, you know you can easily make a free ascent.

[FreeFloat]

I think the logic is (and I'm not saying I agree) if you can free-dive down to 30 feet, thats 30' up and 30' down which equals 60'. So if you are on scuba at 60' feet and run out of air, you know you can easily make a free ascent.

Maybe, but it's not quite that simple. When I freedive, I use power (finning) thus oxygen during the first part of the descent, until the point where my wetsuit compresses and I become neutral, then negative, usually around 35' or so. (Someone once compared the sensation to "slipping without falling") Then from there I "slip" to whatever depth I want - no more power (oxygen) usage required until I decide to stop, turn around, or maneuver. Then my next power/oxygen usage occurs on the ascent, to power up off the bottom, which gets easier and easier as the wetsuit and lungs expand and become more buoyant.

Freedivers as a rule are incredibly in tune with their weight (among other things) and I can "set" my weight depending on how deep I plan to go. I typically will never set my weight to make me negative any shallower than 15' though for safety reasons.

Freediving is a blast - I was freediving long before I was certified on scuba. I enjoy visiting scuba divers at depth - I can usually hang around for 15, 20, 30 seconds or so dpending on depth. As a rule I'm not in it for the competition although I did attend the Eastern Regional Championships this spring. I'm a self-coined "underwater tourist" - I go down to explore, to see what's there. I've never tried hunting since spearfishing is illegal in Ontario, but I've swam inside schools of fish (lake perch, mostly) with my (cheap) camera.

Now I have also found that freediving has had a marked effect on my scuba - not only has my air consumption plummeted, but I find myself able to completely relax underawter as well as I have heightened awareness of my environment while diving, compared to how I was as a beginning scuba diver.