Here is my straight forward and simple gear suggestions for anyone looking to get into spearfishing or freediving. To start with, you could spend around $500 or $5000 just getting all the correct gear together. My suggestion is to forget the price and really focus on comfort and the quality of the gear you are purchasing. Remember, just because its expensive doesn’t mean it good quality or better than another item. The freediving and spearfishing industry has a habit of getting their gear made at the same place in Asia and putting their own logo on it while charging more than another brand made in the same factory.
1. Mask, any mask that has low volume and fits your face. Fitting your face is the main priority. Any snorkel will do. Recommend Omer, Neptonics, Mako, etc. There’s a ton of good brands. Again, fitting the face is the most important second would be the volume. Don’t forget to burn inside the lens to remove the factory coating and prevent fogging. Cost: Usually around $60.
2. Fins, if you’re looking for a high-performance fin, you got to go with carbon fiber but along with that comes a high price. Do I think you need carbon fins? No. Do they help and add to your diving experience? Yes. But when you are starting out you don’t know the difference anyways. I dove plastic fins for the first 15 years I began diving and had a great time. Plastic freediving fins will cost you around $100. Low end carbon fiber fins are around $300. I have a pair of Leader fins that I bought for $325 and they get the job done. Higher end fins will cost $500-$1000. Alchemy, Cetma, DiveR, Penetrator, Omer.
3. Wetsuit, like surfing, any suit that is comfortable and keeps you warm. There’s open cell and close cell suits. Freediving uses open cell they tend to be warmer and more flexible but they are not as durable and can tear easily. They are also a pain in the butt to put on. Open cell suits require so type of lubrication due to the bare rubber on the inside that sticks to your skin. Close cell suits are your traditional surf wetsuits. They are not as flexible and have a liner on the inside that make getting in and out of them fairly easy. They are more durable but may not be as warm as an open cell. All of these suits you can get for around $300. I would recommend going to try one on before purchasing online unless you can do a custom order to get it to fit you exactly.
4. Network/shop, if you are local in San Diego, you could stop by Just Get Wet store in Mission Beach. The team there is extremely friendly and knowledgeable. Additionally, they dive every Sunday from La Jolla Shores. A very good group of guys and girls.
Also, if you go to purchase from www.neptonics.com I can get you 10% off and yes, I do make 5% of whatever you purchase. Use the code Spearfactor10 at check out. I don’t really care about that except that the website is a one stop shop and can give you an idea of what you were looking for without throwing at you 10 different brands of one item.
