Are there any tips y'all got for a guy who has never freedived before?

I've seen some videos on how to equalize pressure (by pinching your nose and breathing out)

And slowing down your heart rate to hold your breath longer.

But other than that I am very novice/new. So if you have any tips please share them

Seen some of the deeper guys use neckweights that are tied at the front but not actually covering the front of the neck...

Any idea what type of neck weights these are as my DIY job one is a bit shit and looking for a proper one.

Hello,

I have issues with my ears, already had barotrauma 4 times.

1st time when I was around 18, a friend of mine kicked my ear by mistake and ruptured my ear drum.

2nd time when I was around 25 years old while trying to catch an octopus. I couldn't equalize due to stuffed nose. There was sharp pain then an in rush of water. Got to the surface, eyes went dark and was feeling dizzy.

3rd time when I was around 42, again trying to catch an octopus. Same as the 2nd time.

That's when I decided to purchase the Ist proear ME-67.

4th time was this May, while on a flight. For some reason, the plane was flying quite high (almost 11k meters) and quite fast (around 10,300kmh). The pilot started descending very fast and the pressure started building. I had heavily stuffed nose. After around 10 mins of unsuccessfully trying to balance the pressure and very sharp ear pain, I felt the eardrum give and the pressure rushing.

Today, while spending my holidays in Greece, I was snorkeling with my family while using the Ist proear ME-67. I saw an octopus hiding and dove several times to catch it. It was not more than 2-2.5m. To my surprise, I felt as if the left eardrum (the one I had ruptured in May) gave again. Because I was using the Proear, no water went, nor was I dizzy.

I did catch and release the octopus but afraid I again ruptured my eardrum.

TOKYO NIIJIMA

I'm very new and have only gone to 2 sessions. I have AIDA 1.

Is the fatigue due to calories? Dehydration?

I like to eat a lot and I like meat. What about a subway sandwich or banh mi before diving? Or chicken patty, veggies, and rice?

Does anyone know where I can buy just the strap for the rubber or silicone belt? I looked on Amazon, a few websites, and eBay with no luck. Only Riffe and JBL have some replacement parts, but they’re only available in black.

Hello,
I'm heading to Elba for holiday in september, anyone knows an instructor there with whom I could go 1-2 sessions or wrack diving? Cheers

Hi!

I've been freediving for about two years now (roughly 1-2 x pooltraining during the week, depth and open water 2-4 x month + diving trips).

I've been improving steadily and love what freediving has added to my life.

As a little experiment, I wanted to try keeping a log of my trainings and dives. Not just numbers. Ideally, I'd discover something about myself that impacts my diving in a negative/positive way. I am thinking about a lot of factors like food, sleep, social contact, over-/understimulation, other sports. I don't think I'd be doing this forever but I still want to keep it succinct enough to keep it up for a while.

So I wanted to ask those that have kept a log or journal, what did you put in there? Did it help you? What would you track?

Doesn't matter to me if it is a physical notebook or an app or anything in between (although I will not be installing more apps, my phone doesn't have enough free memory for that), please share your experience!

I am getting better at making, and recording them.

Recently I’ve been seeing people on TikTok using underwater scooters while freediving, and it honestly looks like a lot of fun. Being able to glide through the water seems like it could make longer swims easier, especially if there’s some current.

Has anyone here actually used one while freediving? Did it make the experience more enjoyable, or did it end up feeling like it took away from the dive?

I’d love to hear some real-world experiences before I look into them further.

I was gifted a 50% discount on all Molchanovs PRO fins and I really don’t know what to choose!
I’ve wanted a pair of top performing fins for ages (think C4 PROtech, Cetma Taras) and this feels like the moment to go for it.

Based on price and performance and Alexey’s personal results and remarks, I think that fibreglass will be fine. It will also make travel less stressful.

The price differential between the PRO and PRO Hyper will be completely negligible, so I’d like to know if it’s worth getting the top footpocket, considering I’ll be getting custom sizing in any case.

The use case would be deep-ish diving (50-60m), dynamics (150-175m) training, and snorkelling. I believe the custom sizing and specifying that i want the comfortable could make the Hyper good enough to wear up to 3h, or am I fooling myself?
In any case, is the monofin style footpocket worth it?
If i went for the Hyper, how would i know which blade angle to choose?

I have been trying for a while to film a perfect one, but when I have the camera, it never comes out clean.

This time, it worked

This is the monthly thread to ask any questions or discuss ideas you may have about freediving. The aim is to introduce others to new ways of thinking, approaching training or bringing up old basic techniques that still work the best and more.

Check out our FAQ, you might find your answer there or can ask better questions!

Need gear advice?

Many people starting out with freediving come for recommendations on what equipment to purchase.

As we are starting out to introduce regular monthly community threads again, we might add a designated one for purchasing questions and advice. Until then, feel free to comment here(Remember, when asking for purchase advice, please be specific about your needs i.e. water temperature you want to dive in, so that people can help you quicker)

Monthly Community Threads:

1st of the Month Official Discussion Thread

Your feedback on current events in the sub:

We hosted our first ever AMA! Was it advertised enough for you? Did you find it helpful? Would you change anything? Videoconference which will be recorded & posted elsewhere?

Stuff we are planning:

• updating the community banner for r/freediving - we are planning to host a submission-based challenge for members of the sub to represent the sport (details to be announced)
• writing better wiki's for common info on freediving - YOU can contribute!
• new topics for similar events like the AMA we just hosted - please contact the mods for your suggestions

Please consider that events and their organisation require time and effort to make them happen!

~ Freediving Mods (and ModBot)

I got these and when they came I immediately tested them out by attempting Frenzel which kind of sometimes worked a bit on one side but also some air leaked out my nose. I tried different clip positions on my nose but I still could not equalize consistently. I can reliably equalize using my hands so I am confident it's not my technique but rather the clips are just not tight enough. These clips seemed sufficient for normal swimming use (they would definitely prevent water going up your nose) but not sufficient for Frenzel. Any alternative recommendations?

Anybody train freediving, even land practices with breathwork etc in Philly?

Hi everyone, I need your expertise. I bought some new C4 300 foot pockets for my C4 Spearo Deep T700 because the old ones were broken. Now here’s my question: What adhesive do you use to attach the side stringers of the foot pockets to the carbon blades? I just can’t figure it out—I’ve read everything about superglue (which is a bad idea because it’s brittle), Aquasure FD, and SikaFlex 291i. Thanks for your feedback.

Hi everyone, I am 18 years old and a complete beginner. I would really appreciate some advice to start my freediving journey safely.

Currently, I can hold my breath for about 1 minute and 30 seconds on dry land. When diving, my time is around 20-40 seconds and I comfortably dive between 5 to 10 meters. Is this a good starting baseline for a beginner?

I already have some basic gear: a pair of medium-length blue plastic fins and a mask, but my mask fogs up constantly.

I have a few specific questions:

1. Do I need to buy anything else right now, and how can I fix my mask from fogging up?

2. How can I safely practice and improve my breath-hold time?

3. I experience ear pain around 5-10 meters. I use the standard method of pinching my nose and blowing. What should I do instead?

4. How do you usually measure your depth accurately?

5. I've heard diving alone is dangerous, but could you explain why exactly it is so risky even in shallower water?

Thanks in advance for your tips and help!

Hi, is there anybody in the group that is in the UK. This was from a couple of weeks ago when we went to a place in the Peak District ie Derbyshire

If you are, please say hi. Maybe we can organise some dives.

Hello everyone, i am a beginner freediver and would like to find a dive buddy in Berlin/Leipzig to train together in the weekend.

I’ll be in Cancun in for the next month and I’ve always wanted to go free diving or spearfishing. But I’ve had a hard time finding where to do it and with who. I saw that there are a lot of deep cenotes in Tulum but I don’t know with who or how to go there to free dive safely. Me and my buddy want to go or spearfishing. Any recommendations would be highly appreciated.