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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 02-26-2014, 03:04 AM   #31
Markio
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Re: Any self taught divers?

I'm with Kyle on this one. I have a lot of respect for the freediving discipline and the science behind it.
Spearfishing while freediving IMO is a different animal and, I think Kyle is right. Not many people are teaching spearfishing while freediving purely.

The good news is, that an experience freediver spearo who is an instructor, can design such a class and make it a profitable deal for them, because as you can see, there is a huge demand for it.
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Old 02-26-2014, 11:11 AM   #32
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Re: Any self taught divers?

Don't believe in learning myself

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WMSFqrUcw0
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Old 03-05-2014, 01:52 PM   #33
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Re: Any self taught divers?

self taught, there are alot of super informative books and youtube videos on freediving as well. $800 to teach INEXPERIENCED freedivers how to get to 100+ is probably more dangerous than good. the lack of respect for the danger and inexperience but the newly attained ability to go to 100 ft when you could barely break 35ft before is just a hazard to most new freedivers i think

then there is the lack of experience spearfishing WHILE freediving, combined with this new deep freediving ability for which you have very little experience of after taking a class just starting out. you don't know how to balance the spearing with the deep freediving and end up dead
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Old 03-05-2014, 01:59 PM   #34
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Re: Any self taught divers?

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMackDaddy View Post
self taught, there are alot of super informative books and youtube videos on freediving as well. $800 to teach INEXPERIENCED freedivers how to get to 100+ is probably more dangerous than good. the lack of respect for the danger and inexperience but the newly attained ability to go to 100 ft when you could barely break 35ft before is just a hazard to most new freedivers i think

then there is the lack of experience freediving, combined with this new deep freediving ability for which you have very little experience of after taking a class just starting out. you don't know how to balance the spearing with the deep freediving and end up dead
This is just plain nonsense to me. Actually, pretty much everything you state is wrong.

Is there a free diving course out there that brings an unexperienced diver to 100+?

For example SSI level 1 brings you to max of 60 feet, but you pass the test with just 30 feet.
Only SSI level 3 bring you to a max of 120. They call it a specialist deep free diving course.

Very easy to understand you have never done a course.

The main reason to take a course is not depth.

IT'S SAFETY.

By the way, the guys I did the course with are spearfishing too, so it is no problem to ask one or two questions about it should one feel so.

Also, I paid less than 400$ for the SSI, that includes multiple theory, pool and open water sessions and a book.

Last edited by Bostondiver; 03-05-2014 at 05:48 PM.
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Old 03-13-2014, 06:42 PM   #35
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Re: Any self taught divers?

I am self taught in freediving, won some events last year our nationals meet--this is not much of a brag, US freediving unfortunately being what it is--and I have one corny apnea Guinness World Record. But I do know that I spend more time on research/reading, training, and self experimentation than most instructors I know. To my knowledge many current and past world record holders are 'self taught' in this way as well, although most of them started long before freediving classes were a thing. One caveat is that I have swam in the ocean since infancy and I swam competitively for 11 years, alongside and coached by Olympians, so I am certainly not entirely 'self taught' as a swimmer.

Kinda funny thing is I'm largely self taught as a spearfisherman, mostly just picked things up from stories, my own experience, reading spearboard and the odd bits advice from the wise old farts; with my swimming/freediving background I was hunting at 90' in my first six months of spearing. I've said it before though that if I had kids who wanted to freedive I'd get them involved in a class and likely insist they spend some time on a swim team before taking them out to hunt in the ocean.

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The problem with using a plus oximeter is that if you hyperventilate CO attaches to your red blood cells and fools the pulse ox. All the pulse ox does is measure how full the red blood cell is not how much oxygen it is carrying. People who die of CO poisoning can have pulse oximetry readings in the 90s and be suffocating due to lack of oxygen.
Not to bash but I don't see what you are describing as any kind of problem with a pulse oxy meter, whatsoever. I'm genuinely curious: I am not aware of any freediver EVER to date dying of CO2 poisoning under any circumstance--training or competing (including cases of extreme hyperventilation which is no longer practiced by top level divers). Please provide literature or case studies, if you have them. The only mention I have ever gotten of CO2 poisoning in a freediving context was very specialized: I was told by Goran (who has the pure O2 GWR at 22+ mins) that for that record CO2 was by far the only limiting factor, not O2... CO2 black-out is a very big deal--unlike hypoxic BO (SWB) you don't start breathing again on your own once brought to the surface.

Quote:
Originally Posted by flamencoguru View Post
To get to spearfish at 140ft (or whatever depth one is looking to do) you HAVE to be able to freedive. (unless you live in the Bahamas or Keys where you can spear nice fish in 10ft of water... that's not the case in most places in the world). Spearfishing is about hunting, not freediving. Freediving is one of the necessary tools to be able to spearfish.

... the prize should always be to go home. The fish should be the bonus.

I think Specific spearfishing classes should cater to the actual hunting techniques, specie recognition and behavior, gun safety and gear. Freediving is freediving.
For once I kinda agree with Errol on something. I don't claim to be the safest diver anyway but a lot of my dive profiles freak out experienced spearos, but I feel like I approach it different than a lot guys who are really 'on the hunt'. I am diving first and foremost. Shooting fish down there is kinda incidental and it certainly helps to be a strong diver who's at home in the ocean.

However, I gotta agree with Kyle about spearfishing classes and disagree with Errol on that. If they were about hunting techniques, gun safety/gear, specie recognition... If that was the 'spearfishing class' I'd feel kinda ripped off. I think a more effective class for spearos would actually cover training. This seems to be a failing of ALL freediving classes: They don't address training, likely for very obvious financial and liability reasons. The guys that come out of there have better safety and make some gains with the support and encouragement of the teacher while in the class but once they're out they seem to have no idea what to do to get better. They all want to hunt at XXX feet but it's news to them that it takes training....
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Old 03-14-2014, 06:34 PM   #36
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Cool Re: Any self taught divers?

No I have never taken a course nor Have I ever dived with a buddy, for the last 38 years. Experience is a teacher as well, there is lots of information out there in forums such as this. Most of the advertising from the freediving clinics I think is aimed at folks who want to go really deep and be really safe while they do it, fair enough. Spearfishing or photography is a solitary pursuit often performed in water less than 40 feet deep. Each diver, as the years go by learns about his or her abilities and I think can adjust to the situations that develop. Sometimes I think about an intermediate course because I still use valsalva and the idea of another technique that is perhaps more efficient appeals--but valsalva gets me to 70 feet, so is it really necessary to pay all the money, travel etc for a few more feet of depth--I don't think so.
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Old 07-27-2014, 02:19 PM   #37
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Re: Any self taught divers?

I agree that freediving courses are for safety. Being a FF/paramedic i see lots of accidents that could be avoided ,but what percent of the deaths have done freediving courses? I have never done one would like to ,but the money is steep in this economy. Ive never heard of a freediving course that could prevent shallow water blackout. If so let me know and ill give them all my money. It teaches you how to minimize the chances. I had 2 friends very experienced one took the course and could dive over 100' easy and him and his brother blacked out. People just need to dive smart ,listen to their body, dont push themselves too the breaking point and use a partner. That would negate some of the deaths. On another note when will people learn to actually drive boats. People think they do, look at july 4, 2014 in biscayne bay 4 dead 1 in coma from boating accident.
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Old 07-27-2014, 03:35 PM   #38
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Re: Any self taught divers?

no classes for freedive or scuba

I did watch part of naui dvd though
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Old 07-28-2014, 12:16 PM   #39
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Re: Any self taught divers?

I have never taken a freediving course but once Im back in Florida me and my youngest son will be taking the courses.Im a lazy spearfisherman and have never freedived past 60 ft or held my breath past 2 minutes.Never really pushed the envelope diving which is usually the problem with the young guys that think they are bulletproof.
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Old 07-28-2014, 01:25 PM   #40
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Re: Any self taught divers?

16 and self taught ... need some breath hold classes though
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