Freediving?

[nate2351]

Aside from cycling does anyone here on the Salon also practice freediving? For some reason beyond me I've been wanted to get into this sport more and more every year. If anyone else does it I'd be interested in hearing about your experiences.

[donevwil]

Not me, no where, no how, but I've got a two good friends whose lives revolve around abalone diving. I eat like a king while they regale with tales of their adventures. The experience is clearly intoxicating and they truly worship the experience, every time, every year.

That said they've both lost friends on dives.

Follow your dreams, but please be cautious !

[Badonkadonk]

i did this in college a lot while doing "marine biology" for a semester in the Turks and Caicos
this is a super dangerous sport that relies on practicing breath holding and total relaxation, and then having the right equipment. i wouldn't do it anymore even close to how i used to. dying 6 ft under the surface from shallow water blackout sounds like no fun.

bottom line, if you have good cardio you need to have the right equipment (low volume mask, free diving fins, weight belt, etc.). get yourself ever so mildly negatively bouyant at surface, slow your breathing and heart down, take some big breaths and then invert and kick a little a drop like a fucking rock to the sea floor. deepest i ever got was prob 50 ft or so, and as gorgeous and silent as it was it was scary as hell. good luck, BE SAFE!

[jclay]

Aside from cycling does anyone here on the Salon also practice freediving? For some reason beyond me I've been wanted to get into this sport more and more every year. If anyone else does it I'd be interested in hearing about your experiences.

In my 20s I did a fair bit of Florida cave diving on scuba and could free dive to 70 feet (which is nothing in terms of what the serious folks do). Both were stupid. Cave diving is insanity and a great way to have an awful death. A free diving death would at least be quick. I had no free diving training, I'm not sure it existed 40 years ago, I just thought it would be neat to see how deep I could go. I was in fantastic condition, ignorant and very lucky. If you insist on doing it I hope you'll get boatloads of instruction and be a stickler for whatever the safety protocols are, but I really hope you will find other ways to enjoy life. Having had a few close calls in some caves (I know it's not free diving but, close enough for this discussion) I can tell you it (either form of diving) really isn't worth it; that's obviously my personal opinion and some would see it differently. I've been shot at and that doesn't even move the needle off the pin compared to being temporarily lost and not knowing up from down or any other direction. Zero comparison. Losing your life to see how deep you can descend in water isn't worth it. Though it'd be a quick death I think you'd have a few moments to wish you were topside, breathing air, with the ones you love. You really don't want to experience that feeling. Trust me.