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Chasingame · 06-19-2008, 07:33 PM,

I've been thinking about spearfishing for quite a few years now, but have no freediving knowledge or equipment. I'd be guessing, but I'm sure I could hold my breath for a good solid 20 seconds on a good day. Don't be jealous! No really, I'm looking to get back in shape and start doing things like this. All I really have for equipment are a scuba mask/snorkel, 7 mil wetsuit, and TwinJets/boots, so I don't have anything geared towards freediving. Any suggestions on where to start-equipment, locations, dive buddies, etc.

**freedivernd** · 06-20-2008, 07:29 AM,

Hi, welcome to the board.
Well, you're definitely going to need a speargun.. and they come in all sizes and shapes. For the water around here, the shorter ones are the best.. up to the 75mm guns. Anything longer gets more difficult to move in the water and rarely where you hunt will the visibility make using a longer gun feasible. I really like the pneumatic guns but some prefer the band guns.. both have their advantages/disadvantages. I use a modified mares sten mini-mini and a modified mares cyrano 750 exclusively now, both pneumatic guns.

With that 7mm wetsuit you'll need plenty of weight.. and 7mm is too much suit for the summer, unless you're deep and using tanks. For the spearfishing your other equipment will be fine to start out with. You might want to consider different fins (full foot) and neoprene socks in the future.. and maybe upgrade the mask to a lower volume but still with a wide view. Specific freediving equipment is a different story.

Chasingame · 06-20-2008, 02:18 PM,

I guess I'm worried more about the actual freediving itself. I'm thinking that it would be nice to try it out with some knowledgeable people before I start spending any money on equipment. My thoughts are that most people can hit bottom in 10'-20' and head back up, but my goals are to be able to reach deeper depths than that, so my main concern is safety and finding people to dive with that know what they're doing.

**freedivernd** · (This post was last modified: 06-22-2008, 09:51 PM by freedivernd.)

it's a good idea if your going to be freediving to go with someone who is knowledgeable in the safety aspects of it for sure. A person can black out like nothing. How deep are you thinking you want to get to? Most all the spearfishing around here is in shallow water... I don't think I was deeper than 10' this past weekend.

Chasingame · 06-23-2008, 03:48 PM,

I'm pretty sure that most hunting is done in the top 30' or so, but I'm looking to just learn how to freedive for now, so maybe down to 30' or 40' max for now. If I can accomplish that, then I'd like to start spearfishing. Small steps first, maybe if I like it enough then my overall goal would move to 80'-100' someday, but that's looking a little too far into the future right now. I already know I'm gonna' probably have to travel to hook up with a freedive group because I live in the southeast metro area. The main thing that I need to do is find some accomplished dive buddies to go with. I'd also have to rent or buy a belt and weights, and I can rent a 3 or 5 mil suit if I have to. Right now my weekends are booked until after the 4th of July. If you could give me advice on finding freedive buddies, events, locations, dates, etc., that would be great.

**freedivernd** · 06-23-2008, 06:58 PM,

I know at the site there is a lot of wisconsin freedivers/spearos.. I think they're planning a bit of a get together around the weekend of the 19th of July at lake wazee at Black River Falls, Wisconsin. We used to do an annual freedive-a-palooza there but it got to big to keep everyone safe, so they're trying again to setup just a camping/freediving weekend with everyone on their own.. That might be a good weekend to get with some experienced freedivers. Probably be a good opportunity to try out some equipment, and learn what is good or bad. I used to get there every year but with a spearo tournament in S.D. the next weekend it's just too much driving to do both. Check out too. I think a lot of the freedivers from wisconsin are on that site too. Do a search for Wazee on the db site and you should be able to find out more.

Chasingame · 06-23-2008, 10:29 PM,

Thanks for the info. If I can get the ball rollin' on this, maybe I'll try for some wallees over there in ND someday.