COLD WATER FREEDIVING 101 (Tips & Tricks)
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- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- COLD WATER FREEDIVING 101 (Tips & Tricks)
How to stay warm while freediving in Canada? That's a bit of a loaded question... Getting cold is inevitable so the goal in the winter is to buy as much time as possible before enough is enough. I suffer from Raynaud's syndrome so if I can do it, anyone can. In this video I'm going to go over various ways to prolong your diving as long as you can to make it all worth while.
Daniel Mann on Smooth Wetsuits:
• Wetsuits for Spearfish...
Your winter freediving equipment needs right here:
www.divingsports.com
Music:
Ketsa - The Duel
Ketsa - No Wing
Ketsa - Blue True
Ketsa - Where The Sun Set
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Happy Diving!
- Chris
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Here are 3 other suggestions to add to this encyclopedic video:
1. Do 10-20 minutes of in water, in wetsuit HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). I do this by ditching most of my diving gear and hanging vertically in the water and then flutter kick and scull with my hands to try and raise myself out of the water. I've used this to comfortably freedive in a 3mm wetsuit for 60 min in 8C water and 30 min in 4C water.
2. Fold your arms along the sides of your body like a bird. This reduces your surface area and covers the sides of your body where your lungs are close to the surface. I do this sometimes to eek out a couple more dives before shivering sets it.
3. Depending upon how well your hood fits it can help to swim on your back and prevent cold water streaming in the sides. I spend about 1.25 hours, 3X a week, 12 months of the year in the ocean and come Winter I am frequently using this technique.
Dude that's awesome! Cheers, thanks for adding me to the mix! My friend Heather also suggested bringing a thermos of carrot ginger soup along. I'd imagine that would taste pretty damn good after a cold dive!
Thank you!!! Im a freediver from Hawaii moving to Oregon and im so excited to get into cold water diving!
That's awesome! All the best in your cold water journey! Hope that vid helped haha.
I love winter diving. So exhilarating and great viz.
I agree. Something about being in the ocean while everyone is warm at home makes you feel alive.
I was shivering just watching. I'd add that Timmies donuts can help build up your own blubber too
Haha that was the bioprene reference at the end. But I'm sure there is some truth to that!
This is one of the most informative, helpful and honest diving videos that I have ever seen, and I have exactly 50 years of diving experience. Thanks for creating quite a good number of exceptional videos.
No way? Amazing man thanks for sharing that with me. 50 years, you must have seen a lot. Good and bad I'm sure... Happy to know you enjoy the content. I'm all for sharing what I know and I'm all ears when it comes to taking in new information. Thanks for the comment!
Hi bill. I posted a picture on chris’ facebook post of this video. It’s made with PVC THREE WAY BRANCH from lee valley and Carlon 3/4 inch schedule 40 heavy wall PVC rigid conduit from Lowes. The wall is a QSR ZIPPER FROM Lowes. I put a drying rack and dehumidifier inside and suit dries in a few hours.
I love winter diving. I don’t have anywhere inside to dry my wetsuit gear in the winter so we built a wet suit dryer that goes in our shed. It is magic. It’s made of pvc pipe and zippered plastic with a dehumidifier inside.
Engineering at its finest! I'll have to take some notes!
Sounds great, post a pic?
THANK YOU!!!
My pleasure!
Awesome videos man! Looking to get started myself doing underwater photography. Tips helped a ton🤙🏻
Cheers man, happy to have some feedback. Good luck with the journey. Lots of beautiful sights to be shared with the world!
Awesome video, very informative! And where I will direct anyone who askes me about cold water diving and gear, as I think I am the wrong person to ask about the cold 😂
Haha thanks! And for sure. You're a machine!
you are amazing thank you! great points :) this winter is going to be amazing !!
Haha thanks man and I totally agree. Bring on that winter vis!
You've been a video posting machine lately! All excellent stuff as always. 🔥
Haha thanks man! Drifting away from my typical content but I like making the educational videos too!
Great video as always buddy. Thanks for the shout out.
No worries at all man!
I can see my cottage in your video. Excellent!
Haha no way. Up the Indian arm?
@@PNWSamson yes, helga bay.
@@PNWSamson I really enjoyed your dive behind croker island.
Wow, what an edit! Nicely done, it looks so professional. It must have taken a lot of work and time to put this together.
Thanks man! It went surprisingly quick. Just wrote down a few tips on a sheet of paper, chatted em out while at the beach, trimmed down the talking and found some old footage and downloaded some from canva to go over me talking. Roughly 4 hours of work give/take? Happy you liked it man, feel free to share up your ideas too!!
Thanks for the informative video Chris! I’m hoping to get all my free diving gear from diving sports sometime in the next month or so. I’m 18 and my mom won’t let me start freediving until I have put in many hours swimming laps at the pool. It’s for her peace of mind. I can understand that, but the funny thing is that I already have my scuba diving certification and I’ve also spent many hours in the summer months snorkeling/diving for bottles and crabs. But there’s not really anything I can do about it, she’s made up her mind, and I will just have to go along with it. At least now thanks to you, I know how to prepare for diving in the winter
Awesome dude! And that's not a bad idea. Swimming and diving definitely go hand and hand. Can't be too careful/cautious that's for sure. Happy to help!
Wish I'd seen this 3 years ago haha. Only thing I would add is you can bring hot water in a insulated water bottle and pour it in your gloves and socks before you put them on. Also you can use the "pee" water off an outboard on a boat dive for the same purpose. If you know a good pair of 7mm smooth skin socks I'd love to know what they are, haven't been able to find anything good. Tried the Seac ones I think and they fell apart really fast.
Totally. Hot water/hot wetsuit lube is a game changer. Hot water in a thermos to dump in mid dive would be awesome too. The outboard exhaust water I've seen done in the past as well. My friend Fred rigged up an extension hose so we could bring the hot water right to us. Sweet idea but unfortunately it was cold after it passed down the line. Those 7mm open cell Spetton booties are the best ones I've had yet. I find all booties and gloves fall apart fairly quickly though. My new set I'm going to put some marine sealant on the bottom and hopefully make them more durable. If you can find kevlar 5mm open cell it's worth the extra money for the durability.
Great video man! I'm starting to get that diving itch but its also just been sleeting on and off for a week! Hard to juggle those pros and cons but your video has convinced me to go spear some flounder this weekend!
Last year I went for a mid November dive for my birthday and I brought one of those large yeti jugs full of hot water as a tea refresher. Poured that down the neck of my suit when I got out of the water and it was great!
I'd also be interested to know what you use for gloves. I've been having a heck of a time finding good warm gloves without have to go 7mm and sacrifice dexterity. I do alot of walking from the beach to the water so I gotta go with booties and bungie strap fins, which usually ends up being the thing that eventually takes me out of the water on November-March dives. Someday I'll pony up the cash for a good pair of full foot fins!
If you're freediving you'll want a foot pocket and some booties. The bungie strap fins are more for scuba. You'll lose some efficiency. Not a big deal but something to consider. I have a smaller and larger set of foot pockets and I'll switch them out depending on the season. 7mm booties are pretty thick so I need the larger pocket. If you're walking lots I'd suggest just throwing your booties on before you jump in or wear a set of crocks. You can buy cheap knock off ones at Walmart or a pair of those native shoes would also work great. As for gloves, I've only used 5mm. The NW diver Kevlar open cell are awesome. My dad's friend hooked em up, they were probably expensive but they also lasted me 3 seasons. I've yet to try the beauchat lobster claw 5mm open cell but I think they will be perfect. A little expensive but if it buys you an extra hour each dive they pay for themselves!
Great Tips Chris!
Thanks man!
Awesome vid man!
Thanks bro!
Thanks for this informative video! I'm a beginning freediver in WA state, so kinda your neck of the woods. Got a question - I'm a lifelong surfer so am used to being in the water around here year-round. Surf wetsuits for these temps are around 5/4mm and constructed a bit differently. Any reason that wouldn't work for diving? At least for my beginning stage? Thanks, and you've got a new subscriber!
Cheers, happy to help! There are a few reasons they would not work. Flexibility is one issue. Freediving suits are very streamlined and facilitate inhalation and exhalation without restriction. Surf suits are made with different neoprene than freediving suits. Freediving wetsuits are designed to go to depth so the neoprene is resistant to compression. If you bring a surf suit to depth, the neoprene will be damaged due to the pressure. Also, when you are surfing you are very active and generating body heat. While freediving, you're laying motionless and trying to slow down your heart rate. You'd get extremely cold doing that in a surf suit. In the summer in a warm Bay you'd get away with a surf suit, but you'd be extremely limited in the open ocean or at any depth.
@@PNWSamson Thanks for the info! That's kinda what I thought. I'll be looking to invest in a proper suit soon. Cheers
Great Video Chris, What do you generally use for suite lube?
Thanks! I use the live clean brand hair conditioner. Eco-friendly and doesn't agitate the skin. Soft on the neoprene too. Just a bit in a bottle mixed with water.
🙂
🤙
Hey there - I am free diving in the Gulf Islands and having trouble finding where I can get open-cell globes, as my bare 7mm crabs aren't keeping my hands warm, as I have Raynaud syndrome like you. Can you tell me what brand and where you got your open cells? Need to try out a pair this winter as the water is so clear right now, but my hands get cold too fast.
I haven't tried them yet but the Beuachat 3 finger gloves look awesome. Divingsports sells them. In thinking they will be warmer than my last gloves. I was using a brand called NW Diver. They were made from Kevlar and only 5mm. I've yet to use 7mm gloves but open call 5mm should do the trick! You can call divingsports for advice too.
Do you use a wetsuit with a smooth skin interior or exterior? Without the nylon
Open cell interior is the only way to go. Smooth cell exterior wick away moisture but are fragile. Good for boat dives but they can get destroyed climbing around on rocks. Most people, including me, dive with a open cell interior but lined exterior.
@@PNWSamson Awesome thanks. I’ll probably go with that because the majority of my dives will be from shore. I appreciate the time you take to respond to all my comments and questions
Great spot near Horseshoe Bay?
Most of that footage was from the Indian arm. Up around Crocker island. Beautiful area!
@@PNWSamson oh ok