When leaving hanging, do you hang your long johns from the shoulders or have it slung over from the middle? I just got a polosub suit and since theres no nylon on the inside or outside, i dont quite feel comfortable hanging it from the shoulders. But then again ive never been a fan of hanging from the middle
I just sling mine over the middle but I also rotate it during drying so it's not sitting on one point for the whole duration. What you can do is alternatively use a drying rack, the biggest thing for open cell/smoothskin combos is to keep it out of direct sunlight as that can very easily deteriorate them
In Complete agreement re. avoiding UV rays from open sunshine. I hang mine on a cloth horse (drying rack) indoors or out at the back on a wide spread rotary airer (some sort of an "umbrella" contraption) but only when it's cloudy - which here in Ireland is ... most of the time
You're forgot the baby powder . You have to massage it from the inside with a little bit of baby powder .So that the suit does not stick to the inside. I really recommended
definitely good idea for long term storage. i mainly just focus on getting it very dry inside before storing and if i have the place leaving it in a sealed box with silica packs haven't had an issue yet
@@Jackhatfieldfreediver In the past years, I remember that I bought a Polo Sub smooth skin spearfishing wetsuit, the thickness of the suit was 7 mm. When summer approached, I washed it and cleaned it like you did, dried it well, and stored it like you said. When the winter come again, I took it out and found it stuck on the inside. The suit was completely damaged from the inside and was no longer usable, so I threw it away, and it was a great loss for me. An old-school spearo advised me to use baby powder and since then I have not had any problems at all
Ah that sucks, especially when you are usually only pulling the suit out of storage when you need it to find damage. Might add a few notes about it for some additional advice, as I said never had it happen for mine and I'm usually storing my winter gear for 7-8 months
Are the cross waves always going to be there forever at the entry and exit or is it dependent on swell? And also, how do you find the exact spot you entered, when exiting, do you look for landmarks etc
All depends on swell direction, say its coming in hard east or a really heavy southerly this platform would be a no go. Its a little bit of memory when jumping in so you remember the ledge sometimes a common landmark, boulder on the rock or even leaving a bag on the rocks helps
@@Jackhatfieldfreediver Is it normal to feel sort of fatigued after 1 hr 30 mins of spearing, and would attatching a powerade bottle to my float help reduce fatigue and replace electrolytes? 😂And also, when do you spot a set that is right to hop back onto a rock and how would you time it?
Hydration is important and not only helps your stamina but also affects your breath hold time. Having something to keep your fluids up is always good. Also a good tip is to take magnesium to help with cramping. Watching for the right wave is just timing if it's a big day and the sets are making the exit risky I'll wait for the lull in between and opposite if I need the height to get back up. Also working together with your dive buddy can make tricky exits alot easier
looking to build your own setup? get started with your anchor \/\/\/\/ BUY HERE amzn.to/3WteAEg Step by Step guide - www.oceaninstinct.com.au/blog/how-to-anchor-your-freediving-float Learn to freedive - www.oceaninstinct.com.au/stageafreediver
As mentioned this 230g cooper anchor i use handles most light/mid currents well around where i dive in sydney. all depends on where you are diving as tidal changes can be very large in some regions. There is a larger 1kg version of this anchor that is rated for use with small boats which would have a bit more holding power if you have to deal with heavier currents and surge
Cool setup. Understanding how it works seems actually quite straightforward. 👍🏻 Unfortunately, in the foreseeable future I'll have to keep bulk and weight down for travel/transport so needing two buoys/floats is out of the question. 😕 I love your solution with the cooper-anchor and chain. So far I've been using "sandbags" originally intended to weight down AV-equipment. They ship empty which makes them great for transport. Using pebbles instead of sand is more convenient. But my float has been dragging with currents and the line was rarely vertical in those conditions. Moving it, positioning it, etc. has been the biggest energy drain in my dive sessions. For me, the standard float setup has really been disappointing so far, almost a safety hazard. But after this video I really need to try yours... ☺
Hey thanks for the comment, yeah travelling with even an extra rope and float is a pain. another alternative is swapping out the second full sized float for a small inflatable spearfishing float as well as finding an even smaller diameter rope and then storing the anchor line in your main buoy. means a little more fiddling for setup but could help a bit with the weight even taking out the chain it could probably still work in light current areas as the bottom weight helps keep the anchor pulling horizontally The sand bags are a great idea for a travel setup, i have a buddy that does something similar
@@Jackhatfieldfreediver Well, good news. I got a local freediver at my next dive location interested in your setup and he's happy because it needs fewer weights. I'll just conveniently "forget" my own float at home. Problem solved. 😜
Hey Jack, nice videos explaining how to set up a buoy. I’m just about to get my first buoy and got some static rope laying around. The kind of rope used for abseiling, it stretches around 5/10% still a bit but not as much as a climbing rope. Have you got any tips for marking stretchy ropes? Cheers
While it is not ideal it will still be suitable for use all depends on how deep you plan to go with it as the deep you go the further it could potentially stretch. instead of the method used in my video another way to do it is to soak the rope for a day then take it somewhere with enough space for the full length of the rope. the idea is to pull out the stretch and make marks while its under full tension hang one end from a pulley (either a wheel or simple a carabineer ) with a heavy weight attached. try at least double your bottom weight amount then take the other end and either tie it off to an anchor point in reach or alternatively attach to a car towball and slowly bring it up to tension, some have also used ratchet straps to achieve this. The weight should always be off the ground when the tension is on. Let it stretch for a bit and dry off then you can measure and make your marks. this will get you something fairly accurate to work with but i still would prefer to use a more static line ( <4%) for anything deeper than 40m
I do find it slows it down for sure. however having that extra grip from the thicker cord has changed the world for me when I'm wearing my thicker winter gloves.
A note for viewers: Jack has the rope wrapped in the left-to-right direction starting from the business end and working down toward the band. This is meant for right-handed shooters because it aligns with the fingers of a right-handed grip. Make sure you’re not wrapping right-to-left unless you want a left-handed grip! Also, when I did mine I super-glued the rope to the pole after wrapping it and spacing where I wanted. This made sure the wraps stayed in place when I slid the shrink wrap over the top. Perhaps it keeps them from moving over time with repeated use as well. Great vid Jack!
Cheers for the comment, great bit of advice. Grip still going well on mine, hasn't shifted from its original set however it's also not a regular bit of kit but will probably have to replace the grip sometime next year as there's a few nicks taken out by the reef.
Can get hydrochloric acid from the hardware store, it's usually used for tidying up paving and brick work. Goes without saying, wear the correct PPE for acid
hey cheers. currently for shore diving in sydney since most of my hunting depth will be no deeper than 16m i usually have a 25m rope. it's a braided nylon ski rope works really well for small and large fish. Always have extra line relative to your max depth so you dont have to drag your float along the surface as much when going deeper
Good question, I was a sceptic with the design at first, used to have the sub11D knife but that sheath is useless if the rubber breaks. This one I find holds it in great. Just wedges into the sheath with a little pressure. Also I really like that it's a low profile on my leg
The pole I use is made of metal and has a pretty smooth surface that made it really hard to hold at full load without a grip. Really depends on how strong the tension is on your band. Plastic/fiberglass Poles in general come with a fairly light band so if it's easy to hold then no need for a grip
Thanks for sharing this. I was thinking about to do the same to my hand spear as well, but didn't realise rope with a heat shrink is the perfect way of doing it.
Just make sure you wear a good dust mask for when your are sanding/dremel them, ideally working with it wet will help reduce dust too. The dust can be real bad for the lungs
Just got my bottom plate so I gonna make this now. I will not use sipties and knots for the bottom line tough I will braid the rope in to it self to make a more permanent loop.
@@Jackhatfieldfreediver yea I like that attitude. If it works it works. Makes everything simple and easy. Going to my boathouse now soon to finish up the line. I am unsure how long to make it tough. I can now dive to 12-15m and need some room for improvement. So I think to make it 30-40m. What length is practical for a beginner line?
