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**freedivernd** · 08-05-2003, 02:58 PM,

The last month or so when I've been freediving I've been leaving the weights on shore or in the boat.. actually getting to like it.. doesn't seem to be limiting me on depth and the ascent is pure pleasure (coasting and actually movin' pretty good) from about -20' on up. I've normally worn between 2 and 4lbs with the 3mil.. but 4 gets to be a lot of work at the surface. I didn't test it but I think I'm probably nuetral at about -45 to -50' (3mil suit, no weights) or so but I can still easily cruise at -20 to -30... o.k. maybe not so easily at -20 but -30 hasn't been to much trouble. I noticed in a pic on another site.. ah 'hem.. wiscuba.. that someone had on at least 6lbs.. maybe a 5 or 7 mil? Question.. For your deep diving, where do you like to be nuetral? With the 2lbs/3mil I was nuetral right around -40' but I'm liking this exertion free ride to the surface a lot.
Fred

Freedive WI · 08-05-2003, 05:49 PM,

It depends upon what suit I have on and where I am diving.

In shallow water spearfishing, max depth around 15'-20', with a full 6mm suit I wear at least 22 pounds. This makes it much easier to lay and the bottom and wait for dinner to come swimming on by. ;D

If I use that same suit for freediving the wrecks on Lake Michigan I will drop that weight down to 10 pounds for wrecks in the 60'-70' range. When I dive wrecks in the 80'-90' range I will only wear about 8 pounds. If I dive that suit with my scooter I will wear no weights at all.

Last weekend we were up at Wazee doing some 100'-105' freedives (I emailed you but got no response :'() and I was only wearing my 3mm farmer John suit. I wore 6 pounds for most of the diving, but dropped to 4 pounds on the deeper stuff.

My buddy, Ted, Likes to go heavy. He would rather push a little extra weight up from depth than have to struggle on the way down.

I have read the Herbert "The Flying Fish" Nitch likes to weight himself a bit heavy for his attempts, but he is wearing a monofin which makes it much easier to swim UP than with bi-fins. I guess it must work for him since he is doing close to 300' in constant ballast dives.

I have been looking into one of those ELIOS wetsuits, like you have, and will probably just go with a high-waisted model. I think that would allow me to drop a bit more weight if I wanted to. Using no wieght at all would be fun with a rope to use for free-immersion.

Jon

**freedivernd** · 08-05-2003, 08:43 PM,

So, aside from the amount of weight, do you know where you are nuetrally bouyant?
Fred

Freedive WI · 08-05-2003, 09:09 PM,

Depends on what I am doing.

Shallow spearfishing I am neutral at about 8'-10'.

For deeper stuff I try and be neutral at 33'.

Jon

LKunze · (This post was last modified: 08-06-2003, 08:42 AM by LKunze.)

Jon, isn't it a bit chilly at 105 ft in a 3 mil? I suppose since you're not down long not to mention the warmer thermalclines on the way back up that it brings some relief. How many dives do you do to that depth in a day? I'd imagine it's gotta be a bit tiring.

Freedive WI · 08-06-2003, 12:55 PM,

The surface water is nice and warm so you get to warm-up in between dives. Lake Michigan had been cold top to bottom so I have been wearing a 6mm suit for diving there. Since the surface water is also cold I need to have a thicker suit on so that I don't freeze out in 45 minutes. 8)

I am not sure how many dives I made on Sunday. I know that it was more than 100. We go back and forth between deep and shallow. We would use the deep lines when the other scuba divers cleared off of them for a while. Then, we would move to other places when the classes came back out and needed them again.

There is a world record freediver from Canada who has been talking about doing some pretty extreme dives in cold water with little, or no, wetsuit on. He has a theory that you can snap the mammalian dive reflex into play faster by using controlled hypothermia. Last year he did a dive in 39 degree water using nothing but a face mask! :o No fins, no wetsuit, and he made it down to 100' and back without a problem. He is now experimenting with doing deeper dives, over 200', with just the top half of wetsuit on. His theory is that the cold water on the legs will slow the body down more and shunt more blood up the heart and brain. HE has some pretty extreme ideas, but I have had the privelage of diving with him and he has the records to back it up.

As for me, I am not willing to try anything so harsh just yet. Wink

I stay toasty warm in a 3mm suit when the surface temps are warm. Wazee was 73 degrees down to about 24' and I was way TOO warm in my 3mm suit in that temp. It actually felt quite refreshing to get down into some colder water. After a while we started pulling our hoods and gloves off so that we wouldn't overheat in the shallows. At the end of the day, after spending a good 4-5 hours in the water, we rinsed out our suits and did some freediving in our swimingsuits to cool off a little bit.

BTW: a freediving wetsuit cannot be compared to a scuba wetsuit. Freediving suits are MUCH warmer and easier to move around in. They also require less weight since they are unlined on the inside.

Jon

**freedivernd** · 08-06-2003, 02:05 PM,

Quote from Jon "I am not sure how many dives I made on Sunday. I know that it was more than 100. "
it sounds like a lot of dives but it's easy to get in over 100 dives... I was diving/snorkeling for 3 1/2 hours on sunday and not pushing the dives much (snorkel touring with my wife some of the time) but still had 84 dives logged...and during a couple hour session of deeper dives it's not unusual to log close to 75 dives without even realizing it, especially if they're almost all under a minute, as mine tend to be...That's what I really like about the Mosquito and the D3.. when I surface, I check the dive time, monitor the surface time.. when surface time is double the dive time I'm off for the bottom again... And right about the warmth of a freediving suit compared to a scuba wetsuit.
Fred
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scott · (This post was last modified: 08-06-2003, 02:34 PM by scott.)

What is the difference between freediving and scuba wetsuits? If they're warmer and easier to use, why don't all scuba divers use them? Maybe it's the same reason that most people start with a BC, then switch to BP/Wings. After making that switch, I still can't figure out the reasoning behind starting with a BC, other than that's all that the dive shop I bought it from sold. Smile

Freedive WI · 08-06-2003, 02:35 PM,

Sounds similar to what I do. I always make my surface interval twice of what my bottom time is on deep dives. For shallow spearfishing sutff my surface intervals may be less than my bottom time, just enough time to catch my breath and dive again.

I don't have the interface for my D3, so I can't look at each dive in-depth. I do know that once you get to 99 it starts to count over again from 1, instead of reading 100 or more.

Jon

**freedivernd** · 08-06-2003, 04:43 PM,

Here's a pic of my 5mil unlined...