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Old 04-05-2012, 07:00 PM   #1
GoproTheron
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How Much Deeper Can i Dive With freediving fins and proper gear?

Moderator's Edit: This thread was moved from General Freediving to the Safety section.

GoproTheron was killed in a freediving accident five weeks after starting this thread.


I recently bought a new pair of cressi gara 3000ld freediving fins, along with atomic aquatics frameless mask, rubber weight belt, new weights, and Spetton hexskin 1.5mm wetsuit,

I'm a pretty avid free diver and spearo, and without weighs, wetsuit, and just a cheep pair of short mares scuba diving fins, i can dive about 80ft.

i don't use the mouth fill technique, nor am i acquainted with the frenzel maneuver. i just simply dive... equalizing by pinching my nose. i know this might be dangerous. My static apnea breath hold is also 4 minutes.

the actual question: How much deeper can i expect to dive with my new free diving gear? or will it be to dangerous for me to try and go deeper without using the mouth fill technique?

Thanks for any reply's!
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Last edited by jfjf; 06-29-2012 at 05:51 PM.
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Old 04-05-2012, 08:27 PM   #2
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Re: How Much Deeper Can i Dive With freediving fins and proper gear?

Check this out
http://freediveuk.wordpress.com/2012...he-mouth-fill/
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Old 04-05-2012, 09:34 PM   #3
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Re: How Much Deeper Can i Dive With freediving fins and proper gear?

thanks bry! i took at that page yesterday! tons of very useful information.
although it says i need to know the frenzel maneuver 100% before i try the mouthful. lets just say i have tried and tried the frenzel to no avail. i just don't know what to do and how to do it.
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Old 04-06-2012, 10:34 AM   #4
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Re: How Much Deeper Can i Dive With freediving fins and proper gear?

if you want to learn to frenzel correctly and do a mouthfill , you should take a course. It is a little tricky, at first. You can learn on shallow dives with a partial exhale. It is easier for some than others. You probably don't need to use it though, until you get deeper.
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Old 04-06-2012, 02:38 PM   #5
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Re: How Much Deeper Can i Dive With freediving fins and proper gear?

You are a good diver, evidently, now you may try to become a "safer" diver....
May I suggest a course with FII ( Martin Stepanek's organization ) You'll learn to be safer and even deeper.
Check their web site, I am sure there is a guy in Bahamas doing those. Or elese, West Palm beach or Pompano beach
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Old 04-06-2012, 03:39 PM   #6
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Re: How Much Deeper Can i Dive With freediving fins and proper gear?

Richard Binstock is the FII instructor on Nassau. He's a great instructor and will take you spearfishing, too.

If you're diving to 80' already, my guess is that you're already doing Frenzel, or at least some form of it. Richard can help you with that. The true mouthfill is an advanced technique that is used by many when diving deep. It's not the same as simply pulling air up and into your mouth to equalize with, although that is a part of it.
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Old 04-06-2012, 07:24 PM   #7
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Re: How Much Deeper Can i Dive With freediving fins and proper gear?

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Originally Posted by nyspear View Post
Richard Binstock is the FII instructor on Nassau. He's a great instructor and will take you spearfishing, too.

If you're diving to 80' already, my guess is that you're already doing Frenzel, or at least some form of it. Richard can help you with that. The true mouthfill is an advanced technique that is used by many when diving deep. It's not the same as simply pulling air up and into your mouth to equalize with, although that is a part of it.
Richard is an amazing freediver!! Can't say enough good things about how well he teaches the FII course! Well worth the time and money!
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Old 04-06-2012, 08:30 PM   #8
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Re: How Much Deeper Can i Dive With freediving fins and proper gear?

Thanks for the info! i got my equipment today, and tested it out in deans blue hole, I got several 70' dives in and managed to get a maximum of about 85' although i think i can do better. The current was strong and it was murky, so i wasn't fully relaxed. i also tried learning the frenzel off the internet and tried that out. It helped, but i not sure if I'm doing it right? i also don't want to push myself to far as to cause a shallow water blackout! but on the positive side my gear works great, and i love the cressi garas! i also tested out some weights, and i set it to neutral buoyancy at 25ft with a 1.5mm suit. To deep?

There is a Vertical Blue team on the island, I'm sure they do freediving courses, and i think im gonna try it out, what price am i looking to spend for a Freediving course?
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Old 04-09-2012, 04:21 PM   #9
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Re: How Much Deeper Can i Dive With freediving fins and proper gear?

does anyone know ho much Richard Binstock would charge for an intermediate freediving course?
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Old 04-09-2012, 04:41 PM   #10
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Re: How Much Deeper Can i Dive With freediving fins and proper gear?

One of the most important aspects of freediving is what you do after resurfacing from a deep dive or from a long bottom time. When you surface, do you hook breath or do you have proper recovery time technique. Thats what your going to learn from PFI or FII. It only takes one good screw up to ruin your day. Freediving is one sport that can get more dangerous as you get better at it.

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Old 04-09-2012, 05:48 PM   #11
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Re: How Much Deeper Can i Dive With freediving fins and proper gear?

you are already hitting some solid depths! as everyone else has said though, i would definitely take a course. i did PFI, and the little tips helped a ton, the safety was huge, but the biggest thing was learning about how everything in your body works and that even though you feel like you need air you don't. having 15 other people there who all know how to revive you if you black out helped me push myself further than i would normally
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Old 04-09-2012, 10:21 PM   #12
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Re: How Much Deeper Can i Dive With freediving fins and proper gear?

yes usually if i dive to 80ft or more ill take 5 minute intervals between dives to recuperate. most of my knowledge has been from trial and error and also the internet my main reason i want to take a freediving course is to be safer, dive deeper, and learn proper techniques (frenzel maneuver) im also a avid spearo and want to be able to stay down at 30ft for a long time and stalk out fish, and also do the occasional 100ft dive. I'm just very paranoid of shallow water black out, because i haven't been taught proper safety, i also hyperventilate on the surface witch can cause a grater risk of SWB, but to me that seems as if it's the only way i can dive deep. i think vertical blue on the island charge $550 for an intermediate freediving course. is that a regular price?
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Old 04-10-2012, 12:06 AM   #13
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Re: How Much Deeper Can i Dive With freediving fins and proper gear?

Quote:
Originally Posted by GoproTheron View Post
yes usually if i dive to 80ft or more ill take 5 minute intervals between dives to recuperate. most of my knowledge has been from trial and error and also the internet my main reason i want to take a freediving course is to be safer, dive deeper, and learn proper techniques (frenzel maneuver) im also a avid spearo and want to be able to stay down at 30ft for a long time and stalk out fish, and also do the occasional 100ft dive. I'm just very paranoid of shallow water black out, because i haven't been taught proper safety, i also hyperventilate on the surface witch can cause a grater risk of SWB, but to me that seems as if it's the only way i can dive deep. i think vertical blue on the island charge $550 for an intermediate freediving course. is that a regular price?
Try this book...

http://www.boatseafari.com/OceanPublications.htm
manual fo freediving --underwater on a single breath

I used to huff and puff on the surface and one day I almost freaking died out there. The book goes into detail about how that happens... basically the CO2in your blood drops down so low you don't feel like you need to breathe, until you pass out.

Umberto advocates against using the "old school" hyperventilation technique, which he says was proven to be ineffective anyway, to relaxation and self control.
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Old 04-10-2012, 05:46 PM   #14
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Re: How Much Deeper Can i Dive With freediving fins and proper gear?

definitely the more you know about it, the more comfortable you will be out there. i do 5 or 6 quick breaths before i dive which helps a lot...kind of a mini hyperventalation i guess
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Old 04-11-2012, 05:34 AM   #15
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Smile Re: How Much Deeper Can i Dive With freediving fins and proper gear?

Hi Everyone...

Firstly id like to introduce myself. My name is Ian and im an AIDA master freediving intructor. I own and operate Freedive UK, the blog and website which someone refered to early in this thread. Thanks for the link!
Can i just address some of the issues and ideas which are bouncing around in this thread?
Firstly... equalisation.
The frenzel is an easy move to master but it can be confusing to new or inexperienced divers. Can i refer you to my instruction on the frenzel....

http://freediveuk.wordpress.com/2011...ginners-guide/

The main thing to take from this is always practice with empty lungs. If you hear a puff of air come out of your nose when yu are practising... with nothing in your lungs... then you basically have to be doing the frenzel.

Secondly.... Hyperventilation!
Any type of hyperventilation is bad! really bad! Why?.....
It causes the 02 molecules in the blood to bond too strongly to the Hemoglobin, not allowing it to release in to the muscle and organs. It also raises the heartrate. The reason some divers hyperventilate is that it tricks the body in to thinking it has more air as it scrubs the blood of C02.

Now...... To refer to 'iamasalmon's post...C02 does not reduce when you dive... it increases! It is this increase which triggers the need to breathe. So when we hyperventilate we trick the body by getting rid of that trigger allowing us to apparently stay under for longer, but in reality our body is still using the 02 at the same rate so we can possibly push it too far and then we enter the realm of SWB.

So to all those who hyperventilate before a dive.... STOP. Dont be a statistic! Yes your dives may feel easier but they are much more dangerous. This includes 'merMAN' with the 5-6 quick breaths... this is also a dangerous move.

Sorry, i dont like to preach but its important that you know the facts.

I outlined the breath up procedure in this post.

http://freediveuk.wordpress.com/2012...r-of-the-deep/

My suggestion is to enrol on an accredited freediving course.
ANY questions... please feel free to ask.
Dive safe!
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