My biggest fear freediving is to make it down to 70 feet and spear a massive fish and my mask either gets slapped off by the fish at depth or my mask cracks and fills with water. I've had three nightmares regarding this issue. By the way, I have no idea what I'd do in that situation.

Anyone else have a fear they want to share?

Rinaldo,

My suggestion is to face your fear and neutralize it. As it stands right now, it is indeed something for you to worry about because as an established fear within your mind, if you eventually have a large fish slap your face and knock your mask off at 70', .........your heart rate is going to skyrocket, you'll sprint toward the surface without pacing yourself, and risk SWB.

Why don't you do a shallow water dive to 30 or 40 feet with a buddy next to you, remove your mask and practice a smooth self-controlled ascent.

I have had my mask knocked off at depth without issue. It is all a matter of being comfortable and confident. I really think you'll get past those nightmares when you do this exercise.

:)

Rinaldo,

My suggestion is to face your fear and neutralize it. As it stands right now, it is indeed something for you to worry about because as an established fear within your mind, if you eventually have a large fish slap your face and knock your mask off at 70', .........your heart rate is going to skyrocket, you'll sprint toward the surface without pacing yourself, and risk SWB.

Why don't you do a shallow water dive to 30 or 40 feet with a buddy next to you, remove your mask and practice a smooth self-controlled ascent.

I have had my mask knocked off at depth without issue. It is all a matter of being comfortable and confident. I really think you'll get past those nightmares when you do this exercise.

:)

That's a great idea, so far it's not practical unless planned as my final dive because I wear contacts when I freedive. I haven't found a Dive shop that'll order me prescription mask lenses yet for a decent price.
Right now I'm already worried about a lenses getting washed out when I remove my mask to defog the damn thing.
I always pack an extra set of contacts though when I'm out on a boat so that a lost lense doesn't ruin an entire trip. It's not that easy to do when shorediving though.

i dont think you will ever get hit by a fish when you are freediving with a reel.

My biggest fear is getting ran over by some dumbarse weekend warrior who has no business owning/operating a boat. I've seen photos of what happens to people who have close encounters with boats while diving - it'd give anyone nightmares.

As for losing a mask while on a deep dive. When I was training with divefit I dove to about 40 ft on my way to 65ft when my instructor dove down, caught me and ripped my snorkel out of my mouth (they make you spit your snorkel). In doing-so, he flooded my mask.

I remained calm and simply aborted the dive. Only took a few puffs of air to clear it so no big deal.

My biggest fear is getting ran over by some dumbarse weekend warrior who has no business owning/operating a boat. I've seen photos of what happens to people who have close encounters with boats while diving - it'd give anyone nightmares.

As for losing a mask while on a deep dive. When I was training with divefit I dove to about 40 ft on my way to 65ft when my instructor dove down, caught me and ripped my snorkel out of my mouth (they make you spit your snorkel). In doing-so, he flooded my mask.

I remained calm and simply aborted the dive. Only took a few puffs of air to clear it so no big deal.


thats what i fear too. Ive seen boat fly by right over me when im on the bottom.

btw im taking that class sept 1. I wonder how much i will get out of it. I hunt deep already but i love the sport and i have the cash so why not! :) Whats the deepest they take you down?

Rilaldo,

You are a local in Miami, .......right? If you need a prescription mask, I have a few different models and will set you up as a favor. It is one thing if you are buying a toy like a gun, but for something that may be deemed important to your safety while diving, I feel compelled to get it to you at the price you are comfortable with. PM me if you would like to discuss it.

Jim

:)

My biggest fear is getting tangled up in mono. When in Japan, I used to do a lot of diving underneath these huge coal piers, sometimes the vis was pretty bad and you had to follow the pilings down to the bottom. Anyway, is would be pretty easy to get caught up in line that stuck to the structure. Luckily, that never happened but I was always cognizant of the mono that was down there. What did happen once was that I was making a leisurely ascent and swam straight up into a steel pipe sticking about 10' under water, cut my head through a 3mm wetsuit. Could have been a real problem... Rick

Rinaldo,

Scubastore.com has the mares X-vision mask with prescription lenses that runs about $100 total, including shipping. I use this mask and it is excellent.

thats what i fear too. Ive seen boat fly by right over me when im on the bottom.

btw im taking that class sept 1. I wonder how much i will get out of it. I hunt deep already but i love the sport and i have the cash so why not! :) Whats the deepest they take you down?

Here's a review by some of us who took the class:
http://www.spearboard.com//showthread.php?t=49013

I think my biggest fear is that, one day, a big ass sea lion will sneak up on me and grab the fish on my kui and not bite them in half, or bite and get his teeth around the mono, dragging me away wherever it goes.

I've been harassed by sea lions before and, with the full protection that they've been enjoying for so many years, they only get bolder and bolder and I feel it is only a matter of time before they really hurt someone bad.

"There are only two things in this world that scare me… and one is nuclear war. The other....Carnies...Circus folk...Nomads you know… smell like cabbage. Small hands.”

"There are only two things in this world that scare me… and one is nuclear war. The other....Carnies...Circus folk...Nomads you know… smell like cabbage. Small hands.”


Well everyone knows I'm afraid of Midgets and clowns, but luckily I'll never see either out there in the ocean.

Biggest fear.

Sharks.

I'm horrified of murky water. Something about not being able to clearly see everything around me. I really don't like it.

There are some sweet icons on here. :chuck::yay::FIREdevil::2gunsfiring_v1:

Rinaldo, a person with normal vision can actually see in salt water without goggles, well enough to know which way is up. Secondly a fish is highly unlikely to knock your mask off unless you're in a tight cave and deep in it too. Then you have to worry about the bottom being stirred up and becoming disoriented, this could be a dangerous situation. I hope I didn't give you another fear to focus on. Just don't go into caves then. I do understand though that your fear is based on the eye condition. If I were you I wouldn't rest until I got the mask with corrective lenses, if it is effective.

As was already suggested, go as deep as you can go comfortably and remove the mask and snorkel. You should have even less drag ascending without them. Another exercise is simply swimming around a little and opening your eyes underwater, realizing nothing bad will happen other than a little stinging. Now this is all assuming your vision is less than %100 but not to the point that if your eyes are exposed to salt water you'll become practically blind.

My fear was sharks, it's largely gone now, this doesn't mean the sharks are gone. It's just a matter of not worrying about it. I think it comes when one starts to feel that he belongs in the water he's diving. This is why I feel plenty content diving my home waters and not seeking adventures elsewhere.

My fear now is getting run over by a boat, it is a very valid fear and on top of that it completely takes away the feeling that "these are my waters". This is conducive to not being able to relax which leads to a whole other set of problems.

Ideally one should be without fear when diving, only feeling fear/danger when something actually happens. I think I'm slowly working myself back to this condition. I think it's the only way to be able to dive deep and for a long time.

Correction, seeing the above post I remembered that murky water does it for me every time. I don't think anything will change that.

Well I don't have much experience freediving nor spearfishing. But I do have a lot of experience being in the water with contacts. When I used to play water polo, I was always afraid of getting my contacts knocked out from the physical contact. I actually found out that after a while, osmotic pressure makes the contacts very difficult to come off after being in the water for 1/2-1 hour. So more than likely you wouldn't have the contacts fall off if your mask comes off, unless you rub your eyes. And actually, don't try to take off your contacts for a while and make sure to put in drops after diving. Otherwise you risk ripping off the thin film (forgot what it's called) that protects your eye.

Another thing to think about is Lasik. I think some insurance companies will cover it, and also it's a lot cheaper nowa days. Had mine done almost 10 years ago and I'm glad I don't hafta worry about contacts or glasses.

I used to spit in my goggles when I used to swim to prevent fogging. But I found out an easier way to unfog them. What I did was that I'd leave a little bit of water in the goggles. When it fogged up, I'd look straight down and shake my head. The water will unfog the goggle. I don't see why you can't do that with a mask.

Fear is the path to the dark side.

I don't see why you can't do that with a mask.When you're descending on a fish it will blur your vision and mess up your aim.

Hey, water polo is a brutal sport on someone who is not in optimal swimming condition. I knew a Cuban polo player who was also an amazing water man in the ocean. One time we got stuck about a kilometer off shore in a catamaran after spearing. He grabbed one of the frame beams and swam the thing with me steering and the gear on top of it back to shore using Mares avanti quattros and a speedo.

Watch out guys, water polo players wear speedos :D

1st stage failure at 185, with no back up:pray:

My biggest fear is is the weather man is actually correct one time when I go diving:banghead:

My second biggest is entanglement in mono. I once found a freshly dead loggerhead at 50' that never made it back up because of mono.

My biggest fear is kind of unusual and I experienced it diving off Vancouver Island up in British Columbia. Since I am a warm water Caribbean guy, I have acclimated to very minor changes in buoyancy when descending since I usually wear a 3mm and 4lbs. of weight.

For this BC trip I wore an Elios 6mm and 16lbs. of weight and of course the change in bouyancy going to depth is much greater (all the California guys are going, ..."Well Duh, Jim"). On this one particular dive I found myself sinking unusually fast as I looked at the wall next to me. I started kicking back to the surface, looked at the wall next to me as a gauge, and could see and feel that as I was still descending. I had dove down in an area that had a cold water down draft!!!! I was being pushed downward by a vertical current. I grabbed the wall and did a little "free immersion" with my hands while kicking till I ascended to a shallow depth and then the surface.

My buddy and I weren't watching for each other, .......hell we were watching for lingcod! I can still picture in my mind and feel that dive today. My biggest fear is getting helplessly sucked down deeper and deeper while trying to kick and claw my way to the surface........

I didn't know a vertical current was possible. It's like a bad dream I had of sinking in "heavy" water and not being able to make upward progress finning. I guess you didn't feel the need to drop the weight belt Jim.

I didn't know a vertical current was possible. It's like a bad dream I had of sinking in "heavy" water and not being able to make upward progress finning. I guess you didn't feel the need to drop the weight belt Jim.

Eric (Freedro) has a pretty scary account of a downcurrent he got caught in while spearfishing in Mexico.

The lead wasn't mine because I didn't want to travel and fly with it. Even though it was borrowed, I was prepared to drop it if the moment came!

Homo freedivers....

dude...GR when did you start wearing a hat that was not red?:ezpi_wink1:

Meats gazers.:slap:

My biggest fear is Mermaids, lockness monster, and moby dick. They could ruin your day. Sometimes I fear having really bad diahrea down at 100ft. Sometimes meeting a GWS or Tiger while freediving deep.

Biggest fear for me, freediving rigs in the Gulf is entanglement. Either by mono on a rig, or shooting line.

My biggest fear is when your all suited up got your wetsuit on and all of a sudden you feel that urge to POO, and your just wondering shit, where can i go. So you start looking for shallow spots to drop your gear because your shorediving, but the current is kicking. That's my biggest fear, having to POOP in cold and ripping current while trying to take off all that gear in the water.

My biggest fear is when your all suited up got your wetsuit on and all of a sudden you feel that urge to POO, and your just wondering shit, where can i go. So you start looking for shallow spots to drop your gear because your shorediving, but the current is kicking. That's my biggest fear, having to POOP in cold and ripping current while trying to take off all that gear in the water.

That you Prayot? If so, you'd better watch out as I hear Okie has candiru wannabees that go up the other pipe:bounce:. You're face will be like this:pissed:

My biggest fear is when your all suited up got your wetsuit on and all of a sudden you feel that urge to POO, and your just wondering shit, where can i go. So you start looking for shallow spots to drop your gear because your shorediving, but the current is kicking. That's my biggest fear, having to POOP in cold and ripping current while trying to take off all that gear in the water.

Just, um, .... :

(warning - WarHammer Maneuver)

http://www.mnscuba.com/yabbse/index.php?PHPSESSID=7a8588f2ad76ddd091e51f8eef20b3 3f&action=dlattach;topic=586.0;id=21;image

My biggest fear is when your all suited up got your wetsuit on and all of a sudden you feel that urge to POO, and your just wondering shit, where can i go. So you start looking for shallow spots to drop your gear because your shorediving, but the current is kicking. That's my biggest fear, having to POOP in cold and ripping current while trying to take off all that gear in the water.

You can always do what this guy does :rofl: Good thing the urge comes while still on land.

1st stage failure at 185, with no back up:pray:

:confused: When do you use that freediving?

Just, um, .... :

(warning - WarHammer Maneuver)

http://www.mnscuba.com/yabbse/index.php?PHPSESSID=7a8588f2ad76ddd091e51f8eef20b3 3f&action=dlattach;topic=586.0;id=21;image

A small part of me just died.:eek:

A small part of me just died.:eek:

:moon:

HAHAH that was funny

The WarHammer, that's exactly why I picked up the two-piece Riffe suit last year!

The WarHammer, that's exactly why I picked up the two-piece Riffe suit last year!

Freediving at the same stretch of beach as magnum166 would, then, be my current greatest fear. :2gunsfiring_v1:

:rofl:

The WarHammer Maneuver: every underwater forum must, in its history, have had at least one thread that includes its members to such ... "bountiful ocean goodness" ... to be fully indoctrinated as a successful underwater 'board.

Be sure to save the picture for future use.

yeah it's me, it's just more natural going #2 in the water. the way it floats up and drifts off to feed the fish.

I guess my biggest fear is getting tangled in shooting line while trying to get a grouper out of a hole at 75 ft in 10 ft viz. Which has actually happened to me..

Being a California queer boy and able to shoot good sized game fish while breathing through my snorkel on the surface, I love taking trips down to Mexico's Sea of Cortez hunting grouper and pargo. On one trip, diving a string of islands in the northern part of the cortez, I lined up on what I thought was a perfect head shot on this stupid little 15lb Cabrilla (leopard grouper) but right when I pulled the trigger the little bugger moved and my shaft went right through the bottom lip of the fish. The fish bolted down into a hole 3 times smaller then the it's body and proceeded to tangle around rocks inside. After doing a couple dives on it and assessing the situation, I called over a buddy of mine to help spot me while I tried to free the fish. After a couple of dives trying to go through other wholes in the cave and eventually getting the fish to a part where I could grab it I did a dive got the fish out but not before it went bizzerk wrapping my legs, my arm and then trying to go back into the hole. Luckily my buddy was diving down to check the situation out, saw the fish, and grabbed it before it hauled ass back to the cave. Alas, if that were a 50lb grouper and not a 15lber I might not have been so lucky. That is my fear, and why I will only take totally awesomely rad kill shots on grouper and pargo from now on.

Intersting story and to be learned from.

I guess my biggest fear is getting tangled in shooting line while trying to get a grouper out of a hole at 75 ft in 10 ft viz. Which has actually happened to me..

Being a California queer boy and able to shoot good sized game fish while breathing through my snorkel on the surface, I love taking trips down to Mexico's Sea of Cortez hunting grouper and pargo. On one trip, diving a string of islands in the northern part of the cortez, I lined up on what I thought was a perfect head shot on this stupid little 15lb Cabrilla (leopard grouper) but right when I pulled the trigger the little bugger moved and my shaft went right through the bottom lip of the fish. The fish bolted down into a hole 3 times smaller then the it's body and proceeded to tangle around rocks inside. After doing a couple dives on it and assessing the situation, I called over a buddy of mine to help spot me while I tried to free the fish. After a couple of dives trying to go through other wholes in the cave and eventually getting the fish to a part where I could grab it I did a dive got the fish out but not before it went bizzerk wrapping my legs, my arm and then trying to go back into the hole. Luckily my buddy was diving down to check the situation out, saw the fish, and grabbed it before it hauled ass back to the cave. Alas, if that were a 50lb grouper and not a 15lber I might not have been so lucky. That is my fear, and why I will only take totally awesomely rad kill shots on grouper and pargo from now on.


Scary stuff.
I'm afraid of getting stuck under a ledge chasing a large Lobster or a speared Grouper.
When I was really young, 8-9 I was swimming with my dad off Walker's cay and he had descended on a large grouper he had impaled with a hawaiin sling shaft. The grouper had taken off and found a nice ledge to hide under in about 55 feet of water. My father took the second shaft (I carried another sling w/shaft, I was basically his munitions specialist, I was too young to shoot much other than a yellowtail or grunt) and he went down to spear the large grouper. It was the biggest I've ever seen to that date and I still don't recall ever seeing one larger taken with just a sling. He shot the grouper again and reached in to grab him. He was pulled into the hole and all I could see were his massive calves and fins sticking out from under the ledge. he must have been down there for a minute and a half and I was beginnign to panic. I couldn't even imagine trying to go down and free him from his trap.

Luckily he came loose, covered in cuts and scraped all over, he surfaced with the 67 pound grouper no less ! Took two shafts and it nearly killed my father, but he landed him. I've been afraid of reaching or going into any ledge since.
It happened one other time when my father landed a nearly 3 foot Spiny lobster in Abaco. Fed 12 people. Lobster linguine ... delicious.

Sharks and murky water.

Scott

Mono, hands down...........

Shallow water blackout without a buddy nearby. I think about it when I look up from a deep dive and don't see anyone. I am as careful as any person could be, but you just never know- and that is the scary part...

Having an even bigger Tiger Shark then the last one charge me head on again.

i dont think you will ever get hit by a fish when you are freediving with a reel.

Think again...
While it wasn't the first time or nearly the deepest it was one of the gnarliest little episodes of losing my mask at depth.
While diving the Crane Wreck which so many West Coast divers are familiar with, I shot a grouper underneath with my reel gun and while trying to get him out he slapped my face and then as i turned to get out of the wreck and away from the line of the franticly swimming fish I knocked my mask off.
My breath was already gone and the shock of water in my nose and the unfamilar pressure change on my face was shocking. With the line all over the place and my mask around my neck I banged my way up and through the wreck to the surface above.
It sucked.
Its such a shallow dive and so familiar but with no mask or air it is a completely different story. Just goes to show the best thing we can do is dive with a buddy and watch out for each other.
One wrap of line or a harder smack on the head and it would have been a differrent story.

My worst fear is losing one of my friends while diving and having to live with that the rest of my life.