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Diving Safety, Accidents and Incidents Post here to discuss accidents, incidents, ideas, gear, or anything else to improve spearfishing safety. Memorials and condolences threads should be placed in that separate forum.

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Old 06-27-2013, 01:40 PM   #1
OutdoorCatholic
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Exclamation The Idiot's Guide to Freedive Spearfishing Safety

The Idiot's Guide to Freedive Spearfishing Safety
(This guide is by no means exhaustive nor meant as a replacement to formal training by qualified instructors!)

If you're reading this you already know how awesome this sport is. Between the thrill of the hunt, the serenity of, and connection with, the underwater world, and the ability to put food on the table, there are many good reasons to engage in this lifestyle. With the many positives comes the reality that this can also be a deadly activity if not done with the proper knowledge and discipline. What is particularly tragic about the vast majority of the deaths and injuries in this realm are that they could have been avoided by following some pretty simple guidelines.

”A successful dive trip is one where you make it back safely to your family and friends.”

Buddy Diving

Having a dive buddy is essential to safe diving. Not only are they there to support you in the case of an accident or injury but you help keep one another accountable to the tenants of safe diving.
  • Have a buddy that understands safe diving and that knows CPR (recruit your dive partners to take Freediving and CPR courses with you).
  • When diving have one buddy stay at the surface while the other dives (consider sharing a gun).
  • Be on the same page as your buddy. Go over the dive plan before getting in the water.
  • Watch your buddy when they surface and wait several seconds (around 20) after an OK sign before assuming that all is well.
  • When possible, meet your buddy half-way on deeper/longer dives.
  • Bring an unconscious diver to the surface by cupping your hands under their chin and the lower-back of their head.
  • While at the surface with a blacked-out diver tilt them on their back, remove their mask (and weightbelt if necessary), and blow on the upper part of their face while tapping them, talking to them between blowing. Most divers will resume breathing on their own as long as this is done very soon following black out.
  • Be ready to tilt your partners head in the event that they puke.
  • If your buddy does not start breathing on their own within 20 seconds then immediately move them to the boat or shore, if possible, to administer CPR.
  • Avoid administering CPR on the water surface whenever possible. Water-surface CPR is very difficult as water is prone to entering the nose/mouth which further complicates the situation.
  • If you or your partner blackout or lose motor control (Samba) during a dive session stop diving for the day. Blackouts can be subtle including temporary loss of vision or a weird head-rush.
Breathing

Proper breathing is essential to safe diving. Holding your breath while doing demanding activities underwater can be a quick recipe for disaster if not done correctly.
  • Breathe normally (in a relaxed manner) at the surface.
  • Never hyperventilate prior to a dive (avoid breathing quickly or exaggerating length of breaths).
  • Remove your snorkel as you start your dive.
  • Recover at the surface for twice as long as your dive time (or even longer for deeper dives).
  • Avoid explosive breathing when you resurface. Take controlled breaths and remain relaxed.
  • Recovery breaths should start with a few "Hook breaths" (hold an inhale for a couple seconds while drawing blood to your head using the “constipation squeeze”).
  • Avoid panicked ascents if you end up staying down too long. Ascend in a fluid and controlled manner to avoid blackout.
  • Blue-tinted lips, tingling/burn in the extremeties, seeing stars, feeling euphoric/weird can all be warning signs of low oxygen (Hypoxia).
  • Loss of consciousness often comes suddenly and with no warning!
Proper Weighting

Being properly weighted not only helps increase the odds of your survival but makes diving generally more effective and enjoyable.
  • It’s better to be too light than too heavy. More weight means more danger.
  • Always rig your weight belt/harness in a way that can be easily dumped in case of an emergency.
  • When diving deeper water your goal should be at least neutral buoyancy at 30 feet/9 meters.
  • The thicker your wetsuit, the more compression (and loss of buoyancy) that you will experience at depth.
  • Remember to alter your weight when you change wetsuits, body composition, or water type (salt vs fresh).
  • To allow you to dive with less weight, consider holding onto reef/rocks/kelp while at the bottom.
Gun Safety

If diving deep underwater without oxygen was dangerous enough then adding a weapon designed to kill really puts it over the top.
  • Never point a loaded gun anywhere near another person.
  • Never trust or rely on a mechanical safety.
  • Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.
  • Wait to load your gun until you are in the water and ready to hunt and unload in the water once you are done hunting.
  • Never shoot what you can't positively identify.
  • Secure your spear so that nobody accidentally stabs themselves on the boat, shore, or home.
  • Consider using a tip cover to block the tip of your spear when out of the water.
  • When shooting larger multi-banded guns, lock your elbow and damper the rear of your gun with your hand to avoid being struck in the face.
  • Be ready and willing to ditch your gun if you are having trouble getting to the surface.
  • Routinely inspect and clean your gun, especially paying attention to any cracks forming around your handle.
  • Avoid metal wishbones when possible and be careful when loading them as fingers have been severed by them.
General Safety

In addition to the specific areas that have been outlined, there are several general safety guidelines when spearfishing.
  • Pay careful attention to the weather and avoid diving when surge/current/chop is bad.
  • Equalize early and often. Don't wait until it hurts to do so and be ready to stop/abort your descent if your ear(s) is stuck.
  • Always carry a knife (or two) in case of entanglement.
  • Use a dive flag whenever possible to inform passing boats of your presence (it’s the law in many places).
  • Always have a person manning the boat in situations of current to avoid getting stranded in the water.
  • Avoid handling larger fish with fight left in them. Let them tire out or quickly brain them while they are stunned.
  • When braining fish be very careful as it can be easy to slip or overpenetrate your fish and stab your arm/hand/thigh.
  • Educate yourself on, and be aware of, the pain points (teeth, spikes, spines) that your target fish have.
  • Consider a break-away rigging or a reel so that you are not fighting your fish all the way to the surface.
  • Avoid entering into caves too deeply or at all, especially in surge or current situations.
  • When possible, avoid keeping your stringer on your person, especially in shark infested water. Consider returning them to the boat or keeping them connected to a float.
  • Consider the Freedivers Recovery Vest as a potential purchase.
General Health

In addition to following a set of rules/guidelines, it's important to take care of your body in general.
  • Stay well hydrated before, during, and after your dive sessions.
  • Eat a good meal before extended dive sessions keeping a 2 hour gap between a full meal and a dive. Eat some snacks to keep your energy up during the dive.
  • Get good sleep and avoid too much alcohol the night prior to a dive.
  • Consider cancelling a dive if you are sick and remember to factor your sickness into the length and depth of your dives.
  • Never freedive after doing any scuba diving the same day.
  • Many health factors such as aenemia, smoking, history of seizures or blackouts, concussions, medications, etc. should all be taken into account and extra vigilence should be shown in light of them.
  • Consider seeing doctors with knowledge of physiology in the context of diving.
If there is anything that should be appended, removed, or clarified please let me know. Also, the vast majority of this is from my head. If there is anything that appears too similar or even verbatim from another site please let me know as I'm not trying to rip off anyone's stuff.

(This guide is by no means exhaustive nor meant as a replacement to formal training by qualified instructors!)
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Last edited by OutdoorCatholic; 06-30-2013 at 01:28 AM.
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Old 06-27-2013, 04:35 PM   #2
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Re: The Idiot's Guide to Freedive Spearfishing Safety

Thanks. This will be a good start for a beginner before they take a freediving class.
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Old 06-27-2013, 04:45 PM   #3
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Re: The Idiot's Guide to Freedive Spearfishing Safety

As a Certified Scuba Diver for over 30 years, its rare to hear of anyone attempting Scuba Diving without proper training. but, when it comes to Freediving....all you need to do is add water?
There are so many people that take risks and don't even know it.
Most of us had good mentors and have learned the ropes by trial and error.
Now we have Fii as a certifying agency for reputable instruction.
I formerly dove to 20 feet and held my breath for 20 - 30 seconds.
Now as a certified Fii Level 1, i have made serveral drops to 70 feet and bottom times of up to 1:15. But, most of all i recognize the importance of a good bottom timer and an even better buddy. I was only snorkeling before. Fii changed my view and respect for our sport.
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Old 06-27-2013, 08:55 PM   #4
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Re: The Idiot's Guide to Freedive Spearfishing Safety

Cat, did you come up with that? It is awesome
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Old 06-27-2013, 09:02 PM   #5
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Re: The Idiot's Guide to Freedive Spearfishing Safety

Wow thats a pretty through write up. Lots of it I do, lots of it I dont.

One thing I think is central to dive safety over the long run:

Dont push your limits!

Jeremy
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Old 06-28-2013, 12:50 AM   #6
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Re: The Idiot's Guide to Freedive Spearfishing Safety

OC, well done!!
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Old 06-28-2013, 07:08 AM   #7
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Re: The Idiot's Guide to Freedive Spearfishing Safety

Nice post brother! I place apnea and sky diving in the same category; there are no second chances... Thanks for your post.
Respectfully,
Jay
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Old 06-28-2013, 08:20 AM   #8
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Re: The Idiot's Guide to Freedive Spearfishing Safety

Quote:
Originally Posted by anthropisces View Post
Cat, did you come up with that? It is awesome
Thanks, I wrote it but obviously the knowledge is from the collective community. There are a couple places online that have pretty good info but some delve too much into performance and others feel a bit limited in that they don't give you specifics about some important stuff. This was my attempt to take the best bits of the various sources I have found and make it somewhat clean, organized, and intuitive. I'm open to ideas to flesh it out and I was thinking of making it a sort of safety anthology with lots of links to articles and videos but I'm afraid that will end up missing out on the purpose which was to keep it somewhat simple and clean for the ADD among us.
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Old 06-28-2013, 11:31 AM   #9
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Re: The Idiot's Guide to Freedive Spearfishing Safety

I think to the gun safety part you should add something like-- "always UNLOAD a gun before climbing back into a boat or exiting the water; a airborne spear has a much, much greater range than a spear in the water." It should be obvious but I've seen experienced guys in a hurry climb back into a boat or dingy before unloading a gun, and I have seen guys on their first time out with a gun clamber onto a rocky shore in pounding surf with a loaded gun--other guys on shore and easily in range of a airborne spear. Both things freak me out and start me foaming at the mouth.
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Old 06-28-2013, 11:34 AM   #10
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Re: The Idiot's Guide to Freedive Spearfishing Safety

Also, I think the rule on scuba/freediving mix is 24 hrs, not several hours, and I think freediving BEFORE scuba is okay but scuba then freediving is a dangerous mix. I don't scuba so it isn't something I follow but somebody should clarify that.
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Old 06-28-2013, 11:35 AM   #11
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Re: The Idiot's Guide to Freedive Spearfishing Safety

Thanks for that feedback, I'll clarify in the "don't load until in the water" line. I also changed the scuba line to say "Never freedive after doing any scuba diving the same day." I'm not interested in the exact amount of time it takes to off-gas the nitrogen and I don't want anyone getting hurt as a result.
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Last edited by OutdoorCatholic; 06-28-2013 at 12:55 PM.
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Old 06-28-2013, 12:54 PM   #12
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Re: The Idiot's Guide to Freedive Spearfishing Safety

awesome write up OC! looking forward to how this grows as more is added(not to say this is missing anything).

2 basic rules i follow are 1) dive often and 2) have fun
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Old 06-28-2013, 01:14 PM   #13
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Re: The Idiot's Guide to Freedive Spearfishing Safety

Added symptoms of hypoxia as well as caution to stop diving following a SWB or Samba.
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Old 06-28-2013, 01:27 PM   #14
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Re: The Idiot's Guide to Freedive Spearfishing Safety

Heck, I added/modified several things after thinking about this more.
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Old 06-28-2013, 04:19 PM   #15
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Re: The Idiot's Guide to Freedive Spearfishing Safety

Quote:
Originally Posted by AntiHero View Post
Nice post brother! I place apnea and sky diving in the same category; there are no second chances... Thanks for your post.
Respectfully,
Jay
Almost ... Apnea is more dangerous, when Skydiving you at least can release your main chute and your reserve should save your ass.

Great list! thanks for taking the time.
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