The water is my happy place. It keeps me sane. Sometimes I am diving deep to push the limits of my body and sometimes I am playing with light beams in a few feet of water in a magical cave. I’m just happy to be in the water, stretching those moments in between breaths to be as long as possible.
The following list is for all the dive babes and spearfishing aficionados. Whether you’re already a scuba diver that wants to get into freediving or a freediver that wants to start spearfishing, here are a few essentials to get you started or to upgrade your equipment.
If you’re a new freediver, I highly recommend a freediving course to learn how to be a safe freediver. This will also considerably help you to be a better hunter when you eventually get into spearfishing.
WOMEN'S 1.5MM or 3MM OPEN CELL WETSUIT
Wetsuits are usually worn by swimmers, divers, or surfers who swim in cold water. The water doesn’t even need to be that cold for you to want to wear a wetsuit though, when you spend a hours and hours in the water, even if the temperature is over 80 degrees, you might start getting cold at some point. Not to mention the sun shining on your back while you’re enjoying your water activities. A wetsuit provides great protection from the elements, from jellyfish stings and from feisty fish when you’re spearfishing.
WOMEN'S 1MM SMOOTHSKIN SPRING SUIT
You might also want a shorter version or ‘‘Spring Suit’’ for warm days. Springsuits are typically cut to have long arms and no legs but variations of spring suit exist. This one has long arms, it’s cheeky in the back and only covers yours torso and half back. Perfect for a warm summer swim. Again this wetsuit will protect your from the elements and provide extra comfort while looking cute. It’s a great suit for underwater mermaid photos.
CARBON FINS
Carbon fins are a great choice for open water and performance freediving. You might wonder why freediving fins are so much longer than scuba diving fins, well freediving fins are so long because longer blades displace more water per kick. This means overall you use less energy per kick. This highly efficient tweak to your fin blade length means you're able to propel yourself through the water rapidly, covering more distance using less time, oxygen and energy.
Carbon fins are extremely lightweight and offer resilience unmatched by any other material. These unique properties of carbon make it the most efficient material to construct fin blades from in terms of energy conversion and conservation.
PINK BANTAM POLE SPEAR
Once you've got the basic gear and now you’re ready to start spearfishing, catch your own food. There’s nothing more natural that hunting and eating what you’ve caught and prepared with your own breath and hands.
If you’re spearfishing in the Bahamas where spearguns are not allowed, you will have to start with a pole spear. I have the Pink Bantam Pole Spear from Neritic Diving and it’s allowed me to get many fish on sailing expeditions.
While spearfishing it is important that you wear dive gloves. Spearfishing gloves serve a number of purposes including protecting your hands from feisty fish bites or spikes, coral and other possibly harmful organisms.
The Neritic Nexus Spearfishing Gloves are cut resistant level 5, have impact resistant rubber padding on the back of the hand, superior grip, with amazing dexterity. The rubber padding offers more protection to the knuckles and to the back of your hand from fish gills and pointy rocks. A must have glove for anyone who enjoys diving or spearfishing.
Now that you’re fully equipped, you’ll want to safely carry your gear when you’re on a boat or traveling to a tropical destination. I’ve already taking this bag on many trips and it’s great because you can carry it like a duffle or a backpack and it’s not even considered an oversized baggage.
It has enough room for two divers worth off gear, it’s made of industrial moisture wicking nylon webbing that drys quickly after you finish rinsing your dive gear. - This bag is 62 linear inches, meaning it can fit as a normal sized check bag on any airline. The exterior sleeve can fit 2-3 polespears and plenty of extra injector rods or bands, plus two exterior pockets for accessories like gloves, masks, snorkels, slip tips, bungees etc.
Now enjoy the ocean and stay safe !
