While having been a member of the freediving / spearfishing community for about 3 years now I have grown by leaps and bounds. I have to credit everyone on the boards for both taking me in (actually taking me out onto the water) and for teaching me how to both respect myself physically and to respect the Sea.

While being stuck on land with dry feet for about three miserable months I started to tell stories to my non spearo friends about depths I've seen you guys reach or fish I've wrestled at depths most wouldn't believe.
The look on a lot of people's faces including my own family were ones of either shock or disbelief. How many of you have experienced the "you're so full of shit" glance or body language when you tell someone that the Mutton you shot was in 72 feet and that you did it on a breath of air?

My personal best was once 68 feet and I reached that with the Help and mentoring of Speedy and John B. They taught me to coast down once I was negative and let myself sink. Since then I've hit depths of 85+ several times. I've never tried to see just how deep I can go without a speargun in hand so I don't know if I could do 100-110 or not, I would hate myself if I hit 100 feet and saw a grouper and didn't have the gun with me to take it. I rarely spear deeper than 65 since I can't swim that far out from shore without some help. But I'll never forget that one day that I broke 65 feet !

What's your personal best? What depths do you feel comfortable at? I would say 75 is my max without having another spearo that can easily save me with me. Dive buddies are great but after you reach 65-80 feet not everyone can come down and save your ass.

I feel uncomfortable without a speargun in my hand. It's a psychological effect but I think I can go deeper with a speargun.

I'm really not concerned with going deep, there's plenty of action in shallower water. What did bother me is not being able to get to 60ft. This was my normal depth which I achieved without obstacles or thinking about it too much. It took me a while to do it again and I had doubts in the process. Getting to 60ft in the first place was much easier than reaching it again this time around, I hate it when I look back on it. It may have been due in part to our wonderful visibility here and the gentle currents.

Now at 60 I have no worries about going deeper. Past this point it's all psychological and happens on its own as you relax more and more. I draw the line for myself at 30 meters, there are more risk factors with spearfishing than with just freediving. I feel that hunting past 30m on a regular basis eventually the odds will go against me.

Right now my best is 35 feet, and that day was the only time I had been out on somebody else's boat capable of going out more than 5 miles. I am looking to get out with more freedivers and go deeper. I am really comfortable @ 30 feet now. I think it is pretty cool to look up and see all that water over your head.

When I was younger, teens and early twenties, 65 feet or so. Now probably around 30-35 feet in good vis.


Luke

my PB's are very envoromentally dependant. in the Pacific Northwest were the water temps are 46F at the surface, and you're clad in a 7mm suit and 16lb belt I max out at about 85-90'

in the clear blue waters of the redsea Draging a speargun to 100' was quite common, 120' on a good day. but then I'm wearing no belt and no suit :D

I blew my knee to peices a few years ago and 4 reconstructive surgeries later I'm just finnally getting back to the 80'+ mark at home in the northwest. eager to see what the warm clear waters of florida will let me do :D

I can only do 40, maybe 45 feet but I am still just starting freediving. Hopefully I get more practice in the near term.

I hit 30' three times in a row in an attempt to free up a stuck anchor with no mask, no fins and no weights.

I should have quit after two and not hemorrhaged my eardrum.

85' with really good vis(100'+), by myself(real smart) on a fishing trip on the pipeline last yr. Granted I'd been airing up holding on to the dive ladder for 20minutes. I was so focused on an AJ coming at me I just kept sinking, before I realized it I looked down and I was 30' off the bottom(115' of water). I squeezed off a shot and started kicking for the surface(gun was tied off to the boat with 100' of poly), man it was a long trip up. When I got about 20' from the surface I realized I had a good 30 seconds left in me. Very spooky that deep cause it's hard to tell when to head up. I don't plan on doing that again unless I've got a spotter, but like Rinaldo said, once you start going that deep there's not many out there that could get there to help if you get in trouble. I am looking forward to seeing how far I can go just for fun though:smthumbup:

I feel naked if I do not have my gun on me.
I can totally relate to your comfort levels. In South Florida we really don't need to go beyond 85 feet. The third reefline has plenty of large fish and that's in the 65-80 feet range.
I hate my suunto watch becasue I've glanced at it at depth and panicked twice, not realizing how deep I was until I looked at the watch and then panicking when the realization that I was in 72 feet and down for 1 minute sets in. The only benefit I see from the watch is the breath up timer.
I've yet to really use it and appreciate it. I've not given it a fair chance however as I've only used it on two outings and left it behind for 3.


I feel uncomfortable without a speargun in my hand. It's a psychological effect but I think I can go deeper with a speargun.

I'm really not concerned with going deep, there's plenty of action in shallower water. What did bother me is not being able to get to 60ft. This was my normal depth which I achieved without obstacles or thinking about it too much. It took me a while to do it again and I had doubts in the process. Getting to 60ft in the first place was much easier than reaching it again this time around, I hate it when I look back on it. It may have been due in part to our wonderful visibility here and the gentle currents.

Now at 60 I have no worries about going deeper. Past this point it's all psychological and happens on its own as you relax more and more. I draw the line for myself at 30 meters, there are more risk factors with spearfishing than with just freediving. I feel that hunting past 30m on a regular basis eventually the odds will go against me.

My weakness is knowing the depth. When I used to wear my D3 I would check it constantly to see how deep the water was. Deepest with the D3 was about 52 ft. Now I have done 70 without knowing it. I have dove 50 and caught a lobster thinking it was around 30.

I swim all day long at 30'. But for some reason 38' is my PB. With no spotter and only three freedive trips under my belt, that's deep enough for now. PFC next April, trip is paid for and I'm counting the days...

My weakness is knowing the depth. When I used to wear my D3 I would check it constantly to see how deep the water was. Deepest with the D3 was about 52 ft. Now I have done 70 without knowing it. I have dove 50 and caught a lobster thinking it was around 30.Ditto, that is one of the reasons I will not wear anything that has the capability of telling me the depth. I was diving a few weeks ago with Oto out of Boynton, all the diving was deep, 50ft plus. At some point during the day I was getting to the bottom and when asking the guys on the boat what the depth was they told me 75 on a couple of occasions, I thought they were pulling my leg. The visibility was good BTW.

Ditto, that is one of the reasons I will not wear anything that has the capability of telling me the depth. I was diving a few weeks ago with Oto out of Boynton, all the diving was deep, 50ft plus. At some point during the day I was getting to the bottom and when asking the guys on the boat what the depth was they told me 75 on a couple of occasions, I thought they were pulling my let. The visibility was good BTW.

I'm thinking about using the watch but not on my wrist. I think curiosity gets the best of me and I end up looking at it when on the dive, I know, You predicted this would happen.
Perhaps mounting it on the gun where I won't look at it while hunting. Using it only as a 2 minute warning and then using it properly on the surface to make sure i have a proper breathe up.
Thoughts?
I'd even mount it on my ankle just to avoid the temptation of looking at it when I'm way the hell down there. Watchless I often forget I'm holding my breath.

I'm the wrong person to ask to comment on this, I refuse to use one.

I've thought about getting one of those(D3's) but I'd just ignore it and go down early anyway, which would defeat the entire reason for me to buy it. It's hard to stop dropping when you know what's down there:D I don't need anything distracting me when I'm that deep.

30ft with a wetsuit, but 100+ naked :awink:

I just started diving in February this year, and have never had any kind of real training, and my PB is 45'. I've been breaking marks in 5' or 10' increments since about 20'. I know that I could hit 50' without too much trouble. It's all about doing what you're comfortable with. I've taken guys out who did 30' on their first day with SCUBA fins.

My goal for next season is to be able to hunt at about 50'.

somewhere in the 80's last summer

My personal best was a treacherous depth of 3.7m with a dive time of 23.8 Seconds. :liar:

My personal best was a treacherous depth of 3.7m with a dive time of 23.8 Seconds. :liar:

LMAO...I love the way it was written :smthumbup:



When glancing at my watch I've been in the high 70's, but I remember one day I was with Gerald and Speedy and I kept watching them make drops, I dropped but chose not to hunt because I knew I was pushing myself at these depths, when we got back on the boat I asked how deep we were and they responded 80's-90, I was surprised to say the least, I never once hit sand, so I'd say probably in the 80's, it's scary after being down there for a bit thinking back and saying...well I've got to kick back to the surface. Either way, I haven't been diving deep in a very long time so I'm curious what I can do now.


The I hate the 60ft depths that are full of muttons, I'm all tooo comfortable there lol ;)

137 inches

I can hunt in 50', can probably go to 60-70' (I use too many moons ago), the problem I seem to run into (I think) is that I spend too little time upstairs, and even though I know this, I still seem to flaw:slap:

It is amazing how mental the whole depth thing is. I began free diving this spring, and I topped about 50'. One day my anchor got hung at 63' so I asked a bud of mine who I knew could get there to get it. He refused so off I went. I got about 10' from the wreck and slowed thinking to myself, "Holey crap it feels deep, but it's just right there". So I went for it and it was a piece of cake. Well, not really. Didn't break that barrier until just recently after attending the PF course but I didn't do it with them for we weren't able to get in the ocean during the course. I think that it is easier to reach depth when you are comfortable with the person on the surface who could save your ass. Even at 30' you should be fishing with one up one down and that is just a fact. A persons physiology changes day to day and hell, why not when you can breath up while your buddy locates the fish for you.

Even at 30' you should be fishing with one up one down and that is just a fact. A persons physiology changes day to day and hell, why not when you can breath up while your buddy locates the fish for you.

To be honest, my buddies and I don't use the one up one down until we start diving 50' +, however, I completely agree with you in that, everyday is different.

:iagree: No real exact depth, but that's around where we start watching each other, especially if it's not real clear

The deeperst Ive been was 6 inches, but was there for awhile...Wait are we talking about freediving?

80' before I'm unable to clear anymore. That's been my limitation to date. I believe I need a lower volume mask and more packing to achieve greater.

Marcus, we're not talking about muff diving, this is underwater stuff. You know like when you strap the tanks on and check the pressure gauge..

You know like when you strap the tanks on and check the pressure gauge..

so you mean the kind of diving childern and the elderly do?

(yes yes, I still don the "bitch kit" from time time too, easy on the flames guys :P )

TODAY I ROCKED A 2:45 STATIC IN THE POOL!! :woohoo: I could have gone a little bit longer but I had no spotter. I only did a breath work up for less than 5 min too. Okay, so it is not a depth milestone but I figure times count too. I have not been measuring distance but since I started timing my dynamic my best is 1:40. I need to find out how long the pool is, cause I can go across and more than halfway back. I think the pool is at least 50' across. I think. I am still trying to figure out the balance between speed and O2 conservation. the turn gets me for sure Well, form too. Today was pretty funny cause the pool dude was cleaning it, and I was doing some static, and I popped up to take a big breath and startled him:FIREdevil:. After I get done swimming laps the pool settles down pretty nice, he forgot I was even under the water right in front of him.

4 minute static here...I was under the influence though, does that count?

Well that does slow the heart rate I think... I think we can go ahead and give that one a :redcard: Okay, just kidding.

I wonder what it is about a gun in the hand that makes you guys dive deeper:confused:. I can't dive for sh*t with a gun in my hand! I get way too distracted in anticaption of fish coming through! If I want to dive deep, I need to leave the gun in the boat and have nothing to focus on. A "free mind" if you will.

My PB dive is 104'. Round trip was 1:14. My biggest problem is sinus squeeze at depths below 65'. Of course, when it comes to hunting, I have taken all of my PB fish in water less than 30'.

Where you freediving before you got into speafishing? 99.99% of the time I spend in the water is with a speargun. Being without it feels weird, like wearing board shorts under your wetsuit.

On a serious note when I dive psychologically I'm following the gun down, I understand that in reality it's not always like that.

No, I wasn't. Actually, I was never able to dive deep until I got rid of the gun. I found that out at the PFI clinic.

A few months ago I was out with a gun and shot a fish at a "hard" 50'. I was so taxed after landing that fish, that I was done hunting for the day. I spent the rest of the day just freediving. I was amazed at how much longer I could stay down and how much more relaxed I was. I did mulitple 70'+ dives (as if I were diving in 30') without the gun in my hand.

I want to clarify something. I said that without a gun in my hand it feels weird and is disconcerting as far as the dive. But that's not to say I can dive deeper with a gun, I just never dive without it. Concerning the physiology, holding the gun is not the same as holding a weight that aids in diving, so there's probably no advantage there.

As far as doing it a few times to see if I could go deeper without a gun, maybe I'll find out that it's true for me too but what would happen if I get there and there's a nice fish?? I'd be eating myself!

I like what you said about the time when you got taxed after landing a fish. There have been fish that did that to me due to one reason or another (never to the extent of stopping hunting for the day though :)), not necessarily very deep or very big fish. I just never heard anyone mentioning this.

Actually, it was the fish in my avatar. I shot the fish on top of a pinnacle at 55'. The fish was a bit further out that I thought it was and I hit the fish low.:banghead: Not a very fatal shot at all. The fish on that particular spot are very well know for being "tackle busters" They fight like fish twice their size in other areas. I had a reel on the gun so all I had to hold on to was a 1.8mm line. We had just spent over an hour coming to the spot in a 17' whaler and getting the crap pounded out of us. My legs were already like jello when I got in.

After shooting that fish and trying to keep it from wrapping up in the pinnacle, my legs almost gave out on that fight, I decided it would probably be a "good idea" if I just took it easy the rest of the day. OK, I'm a puss:redcard:

This being the freedive section and all, does anyone here practice any other disciplines of freediving? I've gotten quite close to 100m dynamic no fins and I'm planning on breaking 100ft CNF this week. Anyone else?

I have talked about doing this few times with some of the guys I dive with. Of course shooting fish always seems to get in the way:2gunsfiring_v1:

pb dive is 106 with a 55 second round trip. I was having trouble getting any more air to clear around 90ft but i managed to get a bit further.

110ft at 1:45 but I like to hold my breath for over 2min in 30ft of water. Its more fun to hang out than just touch and go.

1min 38sec @ 136ft

2min 5sec @ 70ft

1min 38sec @ 136ft

2min 5sec @ 70ft

I can attest to your PBs as I've dove with you.
Honestly guys, Greekdiver has some serious skills... especially with that sooped up pneumatic he's got.

One thing that really helps is knowing that you've got someone watching your back. It's MUCH easier to extend your times and depths that way (mentally).

Rinaldo, I've dove with you as well... and I can tell you flat out that you'd have no problem diving to 100ft. Matter of fact, most people in here would have no problem doing it. It's just a mental thing, coupled with proper technique.

That being said, my PB is 1:45 @ 100ft.
I'm looking to extend that 1ATM by the Spring if I can find time. Reason being, I'm headed to Central America (costa, panama, cabo) in the Spring and want to hit the Tuna hard.

Other than that... learning to control the dreaded 60ft contractions and extend my 2ATM bottom times is a more practical spearo goal.

Man, read everything that you can about the subject of freediving, listen to all these folks talking back and forth, practice what you take from all your studies, get in the water and do zero statics in the pool without a spotter. That would be Russian roulette. You want to hold your breath by yourself then you should do it dry. That includes diving to depth and holding your breath by yourself. All it takes is that one fish that causes you to be distracted and the next thing you know you just fade to nothing and this could happen after your first gasp of air. 90 percent of blackouts happen on the surface, 9 percent above 16' and .9 percent below 16'. Before you try and kill yourself it is probably a good idea to know these stats. From what I have seen and experianced I would be willing to bet that most freediving deaths, besides freak occurances, could have been prevented if proper supervision would have been present. This was pretty much the first rule of freediving according to the folks who teach diving deep on a breath of air. Damn, I sound like my father but I tell the truth. If your getting in to this sport find a buddy who wants to do it with you. It is extremely easy unless your friends are lame and if so, there are a ton of folks you can hook up with at your local dive shop, or here. By the way, streching is great for freediving and dont forget the most important muscle for us, the diaphram.

my PBs are as follows, I've never taken a class so this is all while spearfishing,

deepest speared fish, a hog at 82'

longest dive: 2:30 at 65'

best grouper, 25# gag

best mutton, 8#s in 55'

best hog, 6# in 75'

And all that before your watch broke :D

After shooting that fish and trying to keep it from wrapping up in the pinnacle, my legs almost gave out on that fightJohn, I'm guessing you were using a reel?

DIAPHRAGM


Ok guys, heres my question, what do I do to improve or work on my diaphragm????


Rather than look it up myself, I figured it'd be easier to hit y'all up with the question and see the responses I get.

Thanks.

DIAPHRAGM


Ok guys, heres my question, what do I do to improve or work on my diaphragm????You suck on something real hard and long. I mean you do it with gusto and for a long duration.

And all that before your watch broke :D



funny you should mention that, since my watch broke, I only use the timer down feature to measure surf intervals so since then I have really no idea how long or deep I'm diving, however, I shoot 50% more fish now than I did before as I'm no longer screwing around with dive times, it's all business now, get down, shoot something, come up.

I'm not even going to get a replacement watch, the timer down for surf times is all need :toast:

DIAPHRAGM


Ok guys, heres my question, what do I do to improve or work on my diaphragm????


Rather than look it up myself, I figured it'd be easier to hit y'all up with the question and see the responses I get.

Thanks.

practice enduring contractions by doing dry statics, when they come you'll know it, then work up your endurance by going another min or so after they've started.

Thank you Oto, much appreciated.

You suck on something real hard and long. I mean you do it with gusto and for a long duration.

F*ck that, looks like I'm quitting anything freediving related if I have to suck on something thats real hard and long.

I guess this is the perfect sport for you huh Dan?


Ahhhh... I miss the smart ass comments, however bro, save them for the PM's, I want my questions to be seriously answered.

funny you should mention that, since my watch broke, I only use the timer down feature to measure surf intervals so since then I have really no idea how long or deep I'm diving, however, I shoot 50% more fish now than I did before as I'm no longer screwing around with dive times, it's all business now, get down, shoot something, come up.

I'm not even going to get a replacement watch, the timer down for surf times is all need :toast:I'm not trying to make myself look smart, rather it's a nice confirmation for me. Do you understand now why I was arguing about this on spearboard.

Oh and it's nice that you can shoot 2 fish now instead of one :DAhhhh... I miss the smart ass comments, however bro, save them for the PM's, I want my questions to be seriously answered.Oscar stop whining, I just meant you should use this breather trainer. http://cgi.ebay.com/SPORTS-BREATHER-TRAINER-XERCISR-TENNIS-LUNG-POWER_W0QQitemZ110185477769QQihZ001QQcategoryZ8305 2QQcmdZViewItem There's one shaped like a snorkel too for divers.

http://i10.ebayimg.com/04/i/04/64/59/c6_1_sbl.JPG

Funny you didn't post that with your initial response.

Thanks though.

Funny you didn't post that with your initial response.

Thanks though.It's a work in progress.. I wouldn't use that particular model though. There's a better one that's suite to the diving you do here, Ft. Lauderdale and key west, it has adjustable tension levels. Let me see if I can find the pic.

It's a work in progress.. I wouldn't use that particular model though. There's a better one that's suite to the diving you do here, Ft. Lauderdale and key west, it has adjustable tension levels. Let me see if I can find the pic.

I think I know what you're talking about, the factory is local. I forget where I've seen there ads, but its about the same price as the product on the link that you sent me.

I think I know what you're talking about, the factory is local. I forget where I've seen there ads, but its about the same price as the product on the link that you sent me.Found it. I know price will not be an issue considering the benefits of using it.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s170/da4095/BreatherTrainer.jpg

omg... (NO REACTION)...... you literally stunned me when I saw this lol..



lmao, how do you come up with this sh*t?

:rofl: That's funny, I don't care who you are:rofl:

The hilarious thing is that he turns ANYTHING into something funny...

Give him ANYTHING, he'll photoshop it and make it into something. I think one of my favorites is Tony as the Astronaut with that tiny grouper.

Found it. I know price will not be an issue considering the benefits of using it.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s170/da4095/BreatherTrainer.jpg

HAHAHAHA :rofl:

One bud of mine would do dry statics and talk how the last time he looked at his watch it said 6:45. Then he blacked out and when he came to he had 7min. So I guess what I am saying is that the best really push themselves. I would also agree that trying to hold your breath and not giving into to contractions for as long as possible helps.

numbe1stunner- Diaphragm stretch considered by the pros is as follows; sit on your knees exhale all your air and squeeze down to your knees which really gets it out of your lungs. Hold it, come up and do reverse packs which is a trick in it self. If you don't know the reverse pack do the following; close your mouth and make the noise you would make to call a grouper at depth...you should feel your cheeks fill....blow that out and close your mouth again...perform the grouper call again until you actually feel air being drawn from your lungs and it should literally pull your diaphragm up into your chest cavity. This is how you stretch the diaphragm and is considered by the pros to be the most important stretch you can do as a freediver. I hope that helps..

Breathless-My buddy was doing 5:00min statics in the pool, with me beside him, but he samba'd each time and if had not been there he would have drown. You are right, being able to withstand the contractions definitely helps your time which brings me back to the diaphragm. From what I understand, there are two triggers that cause the contractions, the build up of CO2 which you really cant control unless you purge yourself and the tiny neuron receptors in the diaphragm which fire off when the lungs exhale and pull the diaphragm up. Doing the stretch actually kills two fish with one shaft don't you think......

my best but not deepest dive ever was probably 2:12 dive to exactly 90 ft. also shot a mutton in 91ft with a 1:50 dive time. i need to train everyday again...damn college.

So contractions are the urge to exhale?
I'm at 69 feet laying on the bottom and I'm feeling this crazy urge to Exhale and then to inhale. It scares the shit out of me because I'm almost certain that if I accidentally exhaled that deep I would certainly die.

Are those contractions? Or are they some muscle spasm that I'm not paying attention to because I'm having this urge to kill myself? Also, a lot of people hold their nose to clear, I don't, in fact my body self regulates, I don't even think about relieving pressure my nose and ears coordinate on their own. Now sometimes I've already felt the pressure relief and I'm fine on the bottom and then all of a sudden my nose blows the tinniest amount of air into my mask I guess to relieve mask squeeze, Now I'm scared it's killing my bottom time. So I find myself acting retarded, already having cleared and holding my nose to prevent it from automatically blowing out a bit to relieve mask squeeze... Is this normal?



Just want to be on the same page as everyone.
Be safe !

my best but not deepest dive ever was probably 2:12 dive to exactly 90 ft. also shot a mutton in 91ft with a 1:50 dive time. i need to train everyday again...damn college.

Thats pretty sick :smnotworthy:

I haven't reached the situation where I could hunt at those depths, I'd say 50's or 60's is the deepest that I'd hunt at. I wouldn't risk shooting anything deeper, maybe for lack of confidence in my abilities idk...

I do like however, to simply dive to those depths, what fascinates me, and I don't give myself credit for it is that you have to go DOWN, and then you also have to come up...some people don't realize the distances that they are swimming on one breath load of air.

90ft up and down is 180ft....if you measure that out on land, its amazing that a human being is capable of that, yet we all do it on the regular. Well, if I'm lucky, once in a blue moon I'll ever hit those depths ;)

RINALDO: I love how the depth you put was "69ft", you couldn't round it up to 70? lmao :lol: :rofl: :toast:

I hit a personal best this weekend of 73 feet with a total dive time of 1:01. I dove on a pretty good sized sweet lips, and by the time I got the shot off and headed for the surface I was already that deep. It happened fast. I hit the shot, but it hit right behind the eyes a little high, and the fish shook off. I was pissed. At least I got something out of it. A PB!

I have reached 105' and 103' a couple of times. This was done to retrive gear and was done without a gun in my hand at least one way. (long story)

As you all know I use the Mosquito have been for 6 years now. I rarely look at my depth while I am submerged. I review the data on the surface as I prepare for the next dive. The real value I get from the watch is the fact it monitors my surface time. So many times, I have felt like Im good to go for the next dive and looked at my watch and it said only 1:15 or 1:07. For me to maximize my bottom time it needs to be reading somewhere between 3-4 minutes. At 1 minute is when your heart begins to rest and you feel normal. This is not the time to go -without the watch my dives would be shorter.

If your buddy diving with 1 other person unless you overlap your surface times, the time on the surface is not enough between divers. Now if you buddy dive using 3 divers then your getting closer with perhaps a 30 sec overlap on the surface to meeting the 3-4 min surface time.

Bragging about depths doesn't necessarly get you more fish. Good fish can be caugh on the reef in shallow water. I have shot a 10 lb hog in 12 ft of water. Anyone trying to go deeper instead of improving their hunting skills on the reef is missing the point. Knowing where to hunt and how to hunt each species will get fish in the cooler. Even being able to dive 80 ft and lay in the sand for 2 min. still doesnt mean you'll fill a cooler.

Rinaldo those contractions are signals to get your butt up! After diving for a while I have them less now but they are still good reminders. Insure when you reach your target depth that you equalize the last time this will ease the comfort somewhat. Also after I submerge decending I swallow the the air in my mouth to releave the pressure and relax my mouth muscles.

John,
Thank you.
So don't ignore these Urges? If I ignore the contractions just 30 seconds longer or 15 seconds can't I slowly improve my down time by teaching my body or conditioning my body to relax and understand that I'm ok?

I used to be able to do 2:37 (My suunto said so, not sure how accurate that is) down time and some guys told me that was amazing for my level of experience, 65 feet was my comfort depth i think after 40 feet I don't really kick to get down I glide and thus it's not much different than 40 feet. I've done longer a couple times but in 35-45 feet.

After being grounded 6 months and not going every weekend once if not twice my down time is closer to 1 minute. I pushed myself on a few dives to do 1:32 and one time when I focused on that big Hog I did 1:45 I think it was because I wasn't concentrating on my bottom time and I was focusing on the shot and because I had stretched the diaphragm as the day went on.

If I try and relax and lay motionless on the bottom I can get more bottom time as well, gliding down once I become negative I maximize my bottom time as well. Lately I've been dropping down on fish more often than I'm used to and I have started to swim and kick more down on the bottom. I will try laying still more.

John, When are we going out together?
Rinaldo

I have reached 105' and 103' a couple of times. This was done to retrive gear and was done without a gun in my hand at least one way. (long story)

As you all know I use the Mosquito have been for 6 years now. I rarely look at my depth while I am submerged. I review the data on the surface as I prepare for the next dive. The real value I get from the watch is the fact it monitors my surface time. So many times, I have felt like Im good to go for the next dive and looked at my watch and it said only 1:15 or 1:07. For me to maximize my bottom time it needs to be reading somewhere between 3-4 minutes. At 1 minute is when your heart begins to rest and you feel normal. This is not the time to go -without the watch my dives would be shorter.

If your buddy diving with 1 other person unless you overlap your surface times, the time on the surface is not enough between divers. Now if you buddy dive using 3 divers then your getting closer with perhaps a 30 sec overlap on the surface to meeting the 3-4 min surface time.

Bragging about depths doesn't necessarly get you more fish. Good fish can be caugh on the reef in shallow water. I have shot a 10 lb hog in 12 ft of water. Anyone trying to go deeper instead of improving their hunting skills on the reef is missing the point. Knowing where to hunt and how to hunt each species will get fish in the cooler. Even being able to dive 80 ft and lay in the sand for 2 min. still doesnt mean you'll fill a cooler.

Rinaldo those contractions are signals to get your butt up! After diving for a while I have them less now but they are still good reminders. Insure when you reach your target depth that you equalize the last time this will ease the comfort somewhat. Also after I submerge decending I swallow the the air in my mouth to releave the pressure and relax my mouth muscles.

My personal best freediving is currently 32ft with a gun...

I know I can hit 50ft no problem and squeeze off a shot before coming back to the world. But now im scuba more than Freediving so im not concerned about going mega deep. Im fine where im at, anything deeper than 40ft or so will get a tank so I can stay for 30 minutes or so.