A Freediver's Christmas Bleg
Posted By Nicolas Danan on 12 December 2005
To close on this, I would say there are a lot of good manufacturers of wetsuits out there. Two caveats for the emptor: don’t go cheap, and don’t go with a company that barely asks you any questions on your diving before they sell you on their products.
Monofinwise, there are more and more possibilities coming out every year,which is becoming more and more confusing. When it comes down to it, I can’t wait for the day monofin manufacturers will host demo days like in the snowboard industry, where you can try before you buy.
As for now, I’d say a good ole Model 1 “Competitor” from Waterways is the best bang you can get for your buck. Mat Mas and Guidone make good blades and as I am writing this article I am realizing how much their websites have improved for us English speakers. Also, all the “Wing” design and the angled foot pocket that we've seen over the past years (coming for the most part from Russian designs) are very interesting since they're supposed to reduce shimming and give more efficiency to the stroke. I haven’t had a chance to try them as of yet. Quick words of advice on monofin foot pockets: if they feel like loose, comfy slippers, forget about it. I'm one of the firm believers that bifin foot pockets do not belong in Monofinland: they're comfy but not efficient. For those of you who stereofin out there, I'm sure you'll find more pertinent info on the forums since my bifins haven’t been used for years.
Masks: From Liquidvision fluid goggles that only a few privileged divers can afford, to the now-popular Sphera from Aqualung, and Minima from Cressi the possibilities are endless. If you have endless questions, DB forums once again are the source on the matter!
Computers: The D3 from Suunto has become a freediver’s trademark. The Suunto Stinger and D9 along with the Mares Nemo are possibilities, but the D3 to my knowledge has the lowest sample rate of them all. I once again bugged the Suunto team at DEMA this year to plead the freediving case “Get us a D3 with a Heart monitor for Neptune's sake!” and Mac-compatible software. Well, guess what? What we needed less is coming: the Mac software. The D3 heart monitor computer will not see the the light of day in 2006.
Eric Fattah has made a really high-end, custom product, the F1, which I believe the Performance team is diving with these days.
Gadgets: I am a geek, let it be known. Two of my favorites this year (that I got to try out) are the underwater Ipod housing from H2O audio and the Glo-Toob. Yup.
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