What do you prefer to wear while free diving?

[Orihimef]

I find that having air in my lungs buoys me up. I can't even go below the surface without fins unless I let air out. The feeling of "needing to breathe" is actually caused by CO2 buildup, not by using up oxygen. My underwater time is so short that it makes no real difference letting the air out. If I trained for longer submergence, I might learn differently.

I more meant because I'm a woman, not just the air in my lungs will make buoyant lol. I do know about the CO2 build up stuff though, I really feel it in my chest after about 2 minutes of being underwater.

 

[David Wilson]

As a vintage snorkeller, I have swum clothed in the above mid-twentieth-century full-length drysuit, a So Lo Marx Skooba-"totes". This suit requires a little practice to don, vent and seal it properly, but it fulfilled its function perfectly well in keeping me dry and warm in the cold waters of the North Sea just as much as it did for skin and scuba divers operating from the late 1950s to the mid 1960s.

Since snorkelling is largely a surface activity with occasional forays beneath the waves, British cold-water snorkellers nowadays have been known to don drysuits when swimming with marine wildlife off the North East coast of England.

 

[Celt]

My advice is contact Stefano at Elios Sub

 

[Nemrod]

I more meant because I'm a woman, not just the air in my lungs will make buoyant lol. I do know about the CO2 build up stuff though, I really feel it in my chest after about 2 minutes of being underwater.

I am going to suggest that you take some training in breath hold diving, either a course or get mentored by some experienced free divers.

 

[arew+4]

I am going to suggest that you take some training in breath hold diving, either a course or get mentored by some experienced free divers.

Also, while there are people who swim alone, and scuba divers that are solo certified and dive alone, you should never free dive alone. Two minutes of holding your breathe is a relatively long time, and if you are hyperventilating between dives you are at a serious risk for a "shallow water blackout". Take some lessons, get a mentor and a buddy.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

We used to do a lot of freediving in Northern California for abalone harvesting. There is a law that you can only take abalone while breath hold diving. They closed abalone now for 7 years because of environmental catastrophe with kelp bed collapse and the purple urchin problem, but some people still freedive to spear fish since it’s a very effective method if you are skilled.
The water is 47 to 53 degrees so wearing a 7mm beaver tail suit with attached hood is mandatory. Although, there was dive club years ago that had a friendly hazing ritual that a new member in order to gain ultimate respect from the regals needed to dive naked in 50 degree water and pull four legal abalone. The only thing they were allowed to have on was fins, mask, and a snorkel. Just to be clear, I never took part! I wasn’t even a member of that particular club.
But a john/jacket style 7mm suit with gloves and neoprene socks and using long freedive blades is the norm.
Many of those suits are skin-in and need to be lubed up to be able to slide into. They are extremely comfortable and warm and we can spend hours out in the cold water. There are many people who choose to freedive here because air fills are hard to obtain and because freediving gives you so much freedom (if you’re good).
Getting good just comes with experience. You just have to do it a lot and before you realize it you’re doing deep freedives staying for a minute and a half (my safety limit) or more. It’s a very natural way for humans to dive.

 

[scrane]

In tropical waters all you need is your bathing suit and a belt with ~5lb of lead. Steer clear of entanglements and don't stick your hands into dark holes. You're more likely to die crossing the street than free diving if you use your head.

 

[tarponchik]

The freedivers I've seen in Hawaii were all in wetsuits, except from one particular group. This group, which I've seen many times in Honaunau or Ke'ei, consists of one guy with long hair who has only shorts on (he is the coach of the group, I believe) and about 5 Asian girls who wear sort of long semi-transparent gowns, lilac or pale pink in color. I've no idea why they wear such "uniforms"; however, these people do not look cold despite lacking wetsuits.

 

[Orihimef]

Also, while there are people who swim alone, and scuba divers that are solo certified and dive alone, you should never free dive alone. Two minutes of holding your breathe is a relatively long time, and if you are hyperventilating between dives you are at a serious risk for a "shallow water blackout". Take some lessons, get a mentor and a buddy.

Yes I definitely don't free dive alone for that reason. I free dive with my older brother, and we stay together. Yes two minutes of going without air is pretty long, I'm trying to get to three minutes if I can. My brother told me not to push myself too much and end up gasping underwater, cause that will make me drown.

 

[Angelo Farina]

Yes I definitely don't free dive alone for that reason. I free dive with my older brother, and we stay together. Yes two minutes of going without air is pretty long, I'm trying to get to three minutes if I can. My brother told me not to push myself too much and end up gasping underwater, cause that will make me drown.

As already explained, "gasping" (technically they are diaphragm contractions) is triggered by CO2 accumulation. This can be reduced or fully suppressed with hyperventilation, which indeed is a quite dangerous technique, as removing this alarm signal, you can pass out without warning.
It happened twice to me in the diving pool, and after that I gave up with hyperventilation.
A free diver should train to resist to the urge of breathing, locking the glottis.
So, even if you pass out, you do not drown, and your buddy can revive you.
However it is better to avoid passing out...
And in the end, I did choose to avoid entirely the risk, switching to scuba diving almost entirely.
Free diving is really nice and satisfying, but the risk/benefit ratio is too high.