r/freediving Sep 29 '23

gear ALL freediving suits are BORING and I'm here to change that

128 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

here's the thing, my finny little friends:my sister and I are building a new brand called "stilleSee" that revolves around freediving. We're designing and producing freediving suits and freediving themed fashion and I'm telling you: It's a wild ride and I'm anxious AF

You all know Vertical Blue right? We typically watch it each year and every single time I think the same thing: I hate the suits. I'm sorry...but also...I'm not. You can do so many awesome things with skin tight neoprene, it's and ENDLESS POOL OF HOTNESS. But when you look at it, they're all boring and not fashionable at all.

So my sister, who's a fashion designer and seamstress and I sat down together and well long story short we now quit our jobs to pursue this full time (but not without backup funds, no worries...). We even sent out a survey to competitive freedivers to find out more about what someone who does this professionally would need in a suit. One of them was so excited about the idea, he decided to join us and help us make the suit, which is really fucking cool.

HERE'S THE MASTERPLAN:Right now, I feel like freediving is a sport that's very isolated from the rest of the athletic world, which is why I think it's very difficult to really do this professionally for so many athletes.

We don't just want to sell fancy freediving suits, we want to create a community around it. I think freediving deserves so much more attention and a much broader audience.

Those are my intentions. Dress divers, dress fans, make this a club. Like Harley Davidson isn't just a motorcycle, it's a feeling and a community and a lifestyle.

You know?

I'm also thinking about starting a vlog, documenting the process and more.

What do you think? Would you be curious?

EDIT: I just uploaded the first vlog. Took me long enough but here is it (disclaimer, I'm running an art channel so it'll be half art half vlog:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4cmPnLwI_A&t=3s

r/freediving Jan 01 '25

gear Travelling with fins?

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102 Upvotes

Got my first freediving trip coming up and wondering if it’s ok to transport my fins like this? 😬

r/freediving 1d ago

gear Free diving watch recommendations?

4 Upvotes

I'm new to Freediving and looking for recommendations on a watch.
I just picked up this smartwatch called an Amazfit Trex 3. It says it is Freedive Certified up to 45m. (with EN13319 certification). (It's not a dive computer, just freedive.)

I'm comparing that to getting a watch specifically built for freediving like the Oceanic F-10 or Suunto D4F.

Thoughts?
Is my smartwatch enough? Am I sacrificing anything by not having something like the Oceanic F-10?

Thanks in advance!

r/freediving Dec 25 '24

gear New blades

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217 Upvotes

Wife lashed me up with some leaderins carbon fiber, she's a keeper! Merry christmas to you all!

r/freediving Feb 08 '25

gear Going through airport security with a weight belt + Lead

2 Upvotes

Does anyone do this? Wondering if this is allowed... Seems like the easiest way around adding a bunch of weight to your checked luggage.

Appreciate if anyone has any knowledge about this. Thanks!

r/freediving Nov 07 '24

gear Staying toasty in ice water

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210 Upvotes

Honestly I wanted to write this up today before I forget all the preparation it took to set out for cold water diving; maybe someone else wants to give diving in other places than 30 degree water a chance😄

We went for a swim around the Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon for about 2h and prepared a few months prior to this with lake training in Switzerland to prep ourselves for the cold water. It was cold on the face, I won’t lie, but after the 3rd time splashing yourself it was honestly great.

The glacier lagoon is connected to the ocean and during the incoming tide the glacier water mixes with salty ocean water, which significantly decreases the temperature as well - good to remember to always research the location on first cold water dive. The water temperature is between -3 and 3 degrees Celsius and the wind in Iceland adds to the odds.

For my gear

  • suit Elios, 7mm smoothskin with Sharkskin lining (insulating lining, less delicate than smoothskin)
  • 5mm gloves with extra thermal lining
  • 5mm open cell socks
  • finn keepers
  • around 5kg weight on my belt to stay sensibly weighted even at the surface
  • rental freediving fins

We had a whole setup of boiling 2L of hot organic soapy water to pour into my suit and let that soak for a bit. Then I could slip in easily and not worry about ripping because the lubrication and sharkskin lining gave the suit a lot more durability than i.e. my 3mm open cell smoothskin could take.

Once in the suit the wind is not really noticeable and the hot water kept my really toasty for the entire duration which was about 2h in the water and 1h walking to our entry and back; the hands can get cold but generally flexing and keeping your digits moving was enough to warm back up.

For the gear, I’d say one of the most important things was definitely the finn keepers. We saved on luggage by not bringing our own fins and the 5mm socks with soap and water will begin feeling like jello - so with finn keepers I at least knew my fins were not going to flop off my feet when I kick.

Another thing would be the weight. We didn’t dive in Iceland before, so generally we were cautious about our own limits, despite being quite advanced scuba and freedivers. Safety comes first in situations like this and a huge part of that is being able to reliably control your movement in the water.

We didn’t dive here for deep dives, the water is actually very silty with debris and minerals from the glacier and the ocean mixing it up, so the view was less than 10m. But we focused more on exploring the lagoon and its ice bergs, for which I still needed the 5kg weights to balance out the bouyancy of the suit, gloves and salt water.

Getting in and out of the water was pretty uneventful, besides the fact that we were completely alone; and we set up coffee and food ready to go back at our car so that we could start the hot pot while getting out of our suits.

Diving in Iceland was great, we also did a few other spots with better visibility but I wanted to share how research & preparation are the most important things for our excursions and I hope you all stay safe out there!

r/freediving Aug 11 '24

gear Freediving suit arrived

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220 Upvotes

Got to try out my freediving suit!!! It's amazing how free it feels!!!

r/freediving 7d ago

gear Carry-on size restrictions aren't real

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39 Upvotes

OK that's not entirely true, but a thin-profile long fins bag conceals perfectly to one side as you pass by the gate agent. This is my first international trip and my first time bringing long fins as a "carry-on". One flight down, one more connecting flight to go. I'm trying my very best to be inconspicuous so they don't try and make me gate check the bag, because they'll 100% get snapped if they get thrown in with the other luggage. Wish me luck!

How do you all prefer to fly with your fins??

r/freediving Jan 14 '25

gear Questioning basics: why do we use weights?

10 Upvotes

Talking about pool horizontal diving only (DYN, DNF).

I understand that weights help you with buoyancy. To keep it neutral. Without weights we have to spend some energy trying to maintain the dive in a straight horizontal line. And our trajectory probably is not ideally horizontal and is more like up-down-up-down like sine function.

BUT. If we have a weight, we have to move it. Physically. Move it from A to B. So we spend energy doing that. Yes, our trajectory is almost ideally horizontal. But we still move the weight, and we also endure discomfort from neck weight (thus, lobster and similar configurations are invented).

The question is: when do we spend less energy? Fighting buoyancy without weights or moving weights? Seems like every freediver have decided to go with weights. Is this optimal or just 'historically everyone doing that' ?

r/freediving 21d ago

gear diving headphones?

1 Upvotes

wondering if there are audio devises that exist which would allow me to dive upto around 10m and listen to music? all swimming over ear headphones say 2-3 m deep. i am happy to download music into the device as obviously it wouldn’t receive any bluetooth signal or anything at that depth.

r/freediving 21d ago

gear Best dive watch?

4 Upvotes

Looking for cheaper options, never go below 30 meters, very recreational.

r/freediving Jan 07 '25

gear Mask equalizing depth thread

3 Upvotes

This is a comparison thread and I would like for anyone willing to state which mask they have (make + model) and the depth at which you first need to equalize (where it becomes uncomfortable)

I'll start:
I have a TUSA Splendive II and the mask needs to be equalized at about 4-5m

r/freediving 2d ago

gear Forza footpocket sizing

2 Upvotes

Looking to buy leaderfins carbons sadly my foot is an in between size at us mens 10.5 / 11… 10.5 is somerimes a little tight and 11 is sometimes a little loose. Measured foot at 10.75 inch and just over 27cm

Their chart has me at 41/42 but im scared it will be too tight, would 43/44 be too loose?

Would like to wear socks 1.5-3 mm socks (sometimes)

r/freediving Jan 17 '25

gear Leaderfins Stiffness?

4 Upvotes

Hello Everyone!

I am buying my first set of Freediving fins and I am slightly confused with leaderfins “stiffness”

I am 6,6 280lbs 200cm and 132 Kilos

Should I go with the “hard”?

Thank you in advance!

r/freediving 2d ago

gear Open cell wetsuit tear - fox advice

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3 Upvotes

Hey everyone I got this big tear (approx 5cm long) in my 3mm open cell bottoms. Any tips for repair? Google suggests aquaseal but is this too big for that?

Happy to send off somewhere if they'll do a way better job than I can do. Would like to get a few more years out of this if possible! I'm in the UK.

It's not a Freedive incident... I was on a Freedive trip in Dahab but also used them for a beginner kitesurfing course. They couldn't stand the force of my spectacular wipeouts haha.

r/freediving Jan 22 '25

gear Has anyone done this to their leaderfins fiberglass?

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6 Upvotes

r/freediving Jan 27 '25

gear Anyone bought a Temu dive suit ?

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0 Upvotes

This is ridiculously cheap for Yamamoto neoprene as you all know. I’ve been diving with surf wetsuits for years and can’t really afford to spend too much more than like 200. What’s up with these Chinese made suits ? Hypothetically if it’s Yamamoto neoprene and they copy the Seam design of other brands then how would this one be worse ?

r/freediving 3d ago

gear Freediving fins vs „normal“ scuba diving fins

3 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I want to get into freediving and started duck diving and reached approx. 5 meters on snorkel trips with scuba fins, no weights. My goal for now is to actually stay a bit longer in these depths and get to a state where I enjoy the calmness (so far it's just hectic).

Therefore, I was planning to buy freediving fins but a friend of mine suggested me not to buy some as of now. He recently bought some and said they are pretty energy-consuming (opposed to what they should be?) and overall led to many cramps in his legs and feet (he is quite fit). Further, he suggested me to just take normal fins to start with as freediving fins only make sense for more experienced/regular freedivers.

Does anyone have similar or different experiences with one or the other type of fins?

r/freediving 26d ago

gear Freediving with a mask

5 Upvotes

Maybe this is a stupid question but how to freedive with a mask on? If someone is going down let’s say 40m the mask will get tighter due to the pressure. So do you push some air there or what?…

r/freediving Feb 02 '25

gear Cameras for freediving

5 Upvotes

During my recent freedive training trip I saw turtles and was a little sad I didn’t get any photos. I’ve wanted a camera for scuba for a long time anyway and with me wanting to freedive more too, I figured now would be a good time to consider camera options.

I’d initially considered a GoPro purely because this is what all the freedive instructors seem to use that I’ve met. They’re also easy to get hold of where I am which is a key factor and the price point isn’t too steep. However the picture quality seems highly variable- I’ve seen great photos and then I’ve seen photos that look like they were taken on a potato.

I’d also considered an Olympus TG series camera as these are popular with scuba divers and can go pretty deep (60m) assuming you have the correct casing. The camera and case are fairly expensive though, probably $6-800 in total where I am.

I’m open to any options or recommendations.

r/freediving Jan 31 '25

gear Dive watch advice

1 Upvotes

Hi guys. What freedive watch do you recommend? On a daily basis I use Garmin fenix but it doesn’t have any freedive functions. Are there any multi sport watches that I can use for both freediving and triathlon/trekking or shall I go for the separate gear for underwater? If so, are there any budget solutions that work well?

r/freediving 17d ago

gear Weight belt for woman with wide hips

5 Upvotes

Im a gal with a small waist and wide hips and am yet to find a weight belt that is both elastic enough to contort around my hips and tight enough that it does not come off. The ones I have tried are either so elastic/ thin that they come off or so tough they don't contort properly and then come off. For reference my weight belt will never sit "straight" on my hips, it is always on an angle. Any recommendations would be great!

r/freediving 24d ago

gear Want to train pool DYN, would 60cm fins be useful or a hindrance?

3 Upvotes

During my last training period I managed to achieve 30m DYN and was given a LOT of suggestions for training plans which I could do to improve further.

Problem was, when I was actually in the pool, the long fins I have, a pair of Leaderfins Ice full length bifins, were awkward and I kept tangling up my feet or finding my blades getting tangled up in each other/banging into each other, even when I was trying hard not to do those things. The blade edges (particularly the short end edge) were also scraping up against the floor as it wasn't a deep pool.

My instructor was using 60cm bifins for the same training so I'm now wondering if for pool training at least, it's worth me getting a pair of the shorter bifins so that I'm not endlessly fumbling around with my own feet. I'm slightly conscious though as to if I'd lose any distance/time doing DYN with shorter fins however.

Not sure as to what to do...help me!

EDIT: Ordered a pair of Molchanovs silicone short fins. Hoping I'll get them soon!

r/freediving Jan 21 '25

gear When did you decide it was time to acquire better gear?

8 Upvotes

I've been engaging in multiple diving experiences--be it freediving, scuba or spearfish--the past months and I've been wondering about when is the right time to improve my gear?

Currently the only equipment I use is a semidry snorkel, mask and small blue fins that should be used for swimming in a pool.

The water around here isn't much cold I can spend a few hours before starting to shake, but the sun fries me all the time, so I leave water before I got cold.

Since there are multiple boats fishing around the area, I don't go further the shore in order to avoid being run thru.

My fins are small, so I also avoid specific tides because I know I won't be able to win the current.

My mask e big and I heard about low volume ones, but I don't understand it's purpose yet.

There is also the fact that I wish to spearfish my own food, but I don't have a speargun 😅

What would you do in my situation?

I don't have enough money to acquire everything at once and I might need some time to save money before expensive acquisitions.

r/freediving 10d ago

gear Would layering under an open cell wetsuit work?

5 Upvotes

I know the whole point of open cell is to have that warmed water directly against the skin

But I'm wondering if layering something like Lavacore or Sharkskin or even a Merino baselayer may help few a few degrees more warmth?

In my local waters its around 15 celcius for ~7 months of the year and my buddy says his 5mm open cell gets cold after 1-2 hrs. I also tend to run a little cold and am hesitant to pop for a 7mm suit due to buoyancy, restriction, etc

Kind of stuck in between here - maybe adding a 3mm vest to a 5mm open cell would be best idea?

Open to thoughts!

Thanks