The Caribbean Spiny Lobster season will close in:

review

  • Omer Umberto Pelizzari Freediving Mask UP-M1

    This review is actually long overdue as I've had this mask for well over a year now and I honestly don't know why I hadn't done it before now. After trying multiple masks over several years (and several hundred dollars), some were good (Mystic, Star, Nano), and some were bad (Zero Cubed). Before this, I had actually decided upon the Cressi Nano as "the one". I thoroughly enjoyed the fit and volume of the Nano, but there were a couple of VERY minor issues with the fit. I'm convinced that the issue has more to do with my face than the masks, but it was still enough to keep me looking for the perfect, or at least the next best fit. A couple of years ago at the Blue Wild Expo, I saw and got to try on a pre-production sample of the soon to be released Omer UP-M1 freediving mask. I immediately noticed the softness of the silicone skirt, how it conformed to my face and sealed instantly, even with a dry fit.

  • Cressi Nano Freediving Mask

    After trying and being disappointed by the Omer Zero Cubed mask last year, I picked up a couple of other masks (Mares Star and Sporasub Mystic) that fit fairly well and did not disappoint, but were not the perfect fit I've been looking for in a low volume freediving mask so I didn't feel overly compelled to write a spearview about them. In defense of these masks, they are both low volume masks that are relatively inexpensive so for the money they are great purchases. Of these two, the Sporasub Mystic is the more comfortable of the two thanks to its softer body and skirt composition. So if you're looking for a relative bargain because you don't want to lay out $80-$110 for one of the newer ultra low volume masks, I would highly recommend the Sporasub Mystic.

  • Omer Zero Cubed Freediving Mask

    The summer had been busier than I would have liked this year and I honestly hadn't had as many opportunities to post much less given much thought to writing a new SpearView, but after having time to really reconsider, I realized that I had actually had multiple opportunities to try out new equipment this year (not all of it successfully). Further to that point, when I took the PFI Freediver course back in March I had decided to invest in a new mask and ended up deciding on the Omer Zero Cubed freediving mask. In trying on and discussing options at the dive shop, the guys at Austin's had made it pretty clear that the mask  had not been a good fit for many of their customers. But after trying the mask on, I thought (or hoped) that I was one of those fortunate few.

  • PFI Level One (FreeDiver) Course Review

    PFI-LogoBack in March of 2010 I enrolled in and completed the FII Level One freediving course. I was extremely happy with the course content and the outcome (check out the SpearView). Unfortunately for me, I'm not a professional freediver, so as with many people, life gets in the way and complicated which in turn keeps you from building a true regimen that reinforces all the good behavior learned in the course. Needless to say, I forgot some of the basics, fell back into many of my old bad habits and my diving suffered as a result. I had been considering taking a refresher course for more than a year but hadn't had a chance to commit to it (like I said, life... complicated). Luckily for me, my wife is a Living Social member and a coupon came up in December for a super low rate on the comparable Freediver Level Course from Performance Freediving (PFI) being conducted at a local dive shop (Vortex Freediving), so my Christmas stocking was lined with a coupon for the class. 

  • Oculus R5 GoPro Flat Lens Case

    phoca thumb m OculusR5-1Hot on the heels of my review of the GoPro Hero2, I felt I would be remiss if I didn't follow up with a review of the case that resolves the one (and only one in my opinion) flaw in the Hero2 design, it's underwater focus (or lack thereof) flaw.  You see, as I wrote about in the Hero2 review the curved lens on the stock case creates a focus fallacy when shooting underwater. It's fairly common knowledge now, so if you want to read about it, you can check out my other review (so I dont rehash it here) but this case is an easy (though not necessarily cheap) fix for the issue along with an enhancement not found on other solutions.

  • GoPro Hero2

    phoca thumb m Hero2-1I finally jumped on the HD bandwagon and bought myself a Hero2 HD digital camera by GoPro. These little beauties have been around for quite a while now so hearing about them isn't exactly news. But since I finally got around to purchasing one for myself and it happens to be that the Hero2 is the biggest leap in performance that they've given these cameras since their launch, I figured I would put in my 2 cents worth.

  • Riffe N.F. Horizontal Reel

    I realized recently that I had overlooked the fact that I had purchased and used some new SpearGear at the beginning of the Summer of 2011 and hadn't gotten around to posting about it (here or in SpearGear). This article is going to be one that definitely crosses over between SpearViews and SpearGear because of the fact that I do own it but I definitely think it's worthy of a review as well. In the end, SpearViews won the coin toss deciding where I would put the article (especially after I read it and realized it was totally SpearViews content).

  • Hawaiian Sling by HawaiianSling.net

    Over the 4th of July holiday I was able to break in my hawaiian sling made by HawaiianSling.net (Ray Uppstrom). I had purchased this quite some time ago in preparation for a trip to the Bahamas and I finally got to try it out in the waters around Cat Cay, South Bimini. This isn't your normal hawaiian sling. The design is completely unique and interesting in its approach compared to traditional slings. This sling is much more akin to a bow and arrow than it is to a regular sling and it looks like a laser gun from Star Wars to boot.

  • FreeDivers USA Spring Steel Euro Shaft

    This year at The Blue Wild I was fortunate enough to meet Mike Hickey. I know of Mike from his appearances on Speargun Hunter on the Outdoor Channel with Sheri Daye. Mike was orginally a guest on the show and in later seasons participated as an underwater videographer. Mike is the USA distributor for FreeDivers (FreeDivers USA) spearfishing equipment. I came across his booth and after a great conversation about spearfishing, we started discussing the rising cost of spearshafts specifically. Mike pointed out his Euro style shafts made of a coated (a secret recipe of the manufacturer) spring steel and mentioned that they sell for a fraction of the cost of their spring stainless counterparts from other manufacturers.

  • 4th Annual Blue Wild - June 5-6, 2010

    This past weekend, I finally got to go to The Blue Wild dive expo. After 3 years of everybody telling me about it and not being around to get to go to it, the stars finally aligned and I was able to check it out. Unfortunately, it meant missing out on 5-10mph winds and less than 1' seas inside the reef, but there were other reasons I couldn't get out this weekend, so I figured I would take advantage to check it out and possibly win something from the raffle to boot (I won't keep you in suspense, I didn't)!

  • FII Level 1 Freediving Course

    Over the weekend of March 27th & 28th I took the Level 1 Freediving course offered by FII (Freediving Instructors International) at their Headquarters in Pompano Beach FL. FII was started by Martin Stepanek, a multiple time freediving world record holder. The Level 1 curriculum is taught over a 2 day course. The first day is classroom and pool based and spans almost 9 hours. This course is designed for beginning freedivers and is supposed to get novice divers to a depth of 66 feet.

  • September 2008 - New Euro 120

    I finally bit the bullet and decided to sell my No-Ka-Oi. It had gotten next to no use in the time I had owned it and it seemed a shame to have it just sit there so I Ebay'd it. With the funds from that sale, I invested in a gun that is a little more multi-purpose (at least that is how I convinced myself to get it :). I was extremely torn among 3 choices. I was considering the Euro 120, 120x and 130. After a couple of weeks of deliberation and a lot of flip-flopping, I decided on the Euro 120. Although I was extremely tempted to get the 130 and the price difference really wasn't a big factor, I decided I would be much more likely to use the 120.

    I went for the 120 vs the 120x because from what I could see, the 120x stock is the exact same stock as the 130, with the trigger housing in a different position so it can hold a longer shaft and have more sling stretch. The stock for the 120x and 130 is also quite a bit blockier and heavier than the 120 (and shorter Euro's), so I felt the handling of the 120 would be nicer too. When all was said and done, I figured if I really wanted the 130 one day, I would just splurge and get it.

    Now I need to get a new reel for my new gun... :)

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