Keeping warm when free diving

If you talk to any experienced Free Diver, they will tell you that one of the most important things about being able to dive deep into the water is staying warm. The temperature of your body plays a massive role in how much oxygen is used up when you swim around, which in turn plays a massive role in how far you can swim down. If you are freezing cold then you will use a lot of oxygen getting down to even 10 metres, meaning you have to come up soon after that. However, if you are wearing a Spearfishing Wetsuit and you are warm, you can relax and dive down slower. Your body uses less oxygen, meaning you can dive down deeper and swim for longer without coming up for a breath. It is amazing how you forget about holding your breath when you are Speargun Fishing and closing in on a fish (although this can be dangerous!)

The only way to keep warm when Free Diving is to purchase a wetsuit. Free Diving Wetsuits tend to be less thick, to allow for maximum movement. People who SCUBA dive tend to have thick wetsuits because they don't move around so much. You virtually sink and then paddle around a bit at the bottom, and then come back up. Free Diving is a much more active sport, meaning you don't need such a thick wetsuit to keep you warm. The physical movement does more than enough to keep you warm. In general, a 3mm open cell wetsuit is what most people who spear fish use.

Scuba divers often use 5 – 7mm wetsuits. On top of this, having the right wetsuit will make a massive difference. The fit of a wetsuit plays a big role in terms of how warm that you stay. A wetsuit that has loose spots around your body will make you colder, but then you don't want the Spearfishing Wetsuits so tight that it is hard to put on or to move around in!

Author: Kyle Inglarda

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/outdoor-sports-articles/keeping-warm-when-free-diving-3800843.html