How much Weight do I need?

Take a freedive class and bring your brothers/dive buddies with you. I recently took a class after 1-2 years of diving experience and it was still 110% worth it.

Start with about 10% of your body weight on your belt at first. It's better to be under-weighted than over-weighted especially when you are learning.

A good weight test is to exhale completely when floating in a vertical position. If your snorkel goes under you have too much weight. An experienced dive buddy or instructor will do this test in the water with you.

Best class would include class room/pool instruction followed by some open ocean sessions. I'd stick with just recreational snorkeling/ diving until you get the hang of buoyancy, mask clearing equalizing your ears, getting used to the ocean currents and surge, entriing and exiting the surf etc. Then go ahead and add in a spear gun. Don't be in a hurry. The last thing you need is a bunch of gear to deal with first trip in the ocean.  I've rescued many a diver who took on more then their experience allowed. I recall one particular case of a very frantic diver who thought they had jettisoned their weight belt but it was hung on the Rambo knife they had strapped to their calf.  Simple things like that kill people.

Be safe I want to see you on the water having a good time. Risk can only be minimized thru education and experience.

Best class would include class room/pool instruction followed by some open ocean sessions. I'd stick with just recreational snorkeling/ diving until you get the hang of buoyancy, mask clearing equalizing your ears, getting used to the ocean currents and surge, entriing and exiting the surf etc. Then go ahead and add in a spear gun. Don't be in a hurry. The last thing you need is a bunch of gear to deal with first trip in the ocean.  I've rescued many a diver who took on more then their experience allowed. I recall one particular case of a very frantic diver who thought they had jettisoned their weight belt but it was hung on the Rambo knife they had strapped to their calf.  Simple things like that kill people.

Be safe I want to see you on the water having a good time. Risk can only be minimized thru education and experience.

Good advice. I never start a new diver with a gun or anything they can get entangled with. If I want a new diver to shoot a fish I'll hand him the gun and stay behind him. Many spearo's get shot accidentally by their dive buddies. I actually think people should start with a poor spear, it's less of a hazard and it teaches them to be better hunters.

Best class would include class room/pool instruction followed by some open ocean sessions. I'd stick with just recreational snorkeling/ diving until you get the hang of buoyancy, mask clearing equalizing your ears, getting used to the ocean currents and surge, entriing and exiting the surf etc. Then go ahead and add in a spear gun. Don't be in a hurry. The last thing you need is a bunch of gear to deal with first trip in the ocean.  I've rescued many a diver who took on more then their experience allowed. I recall one particular case of a very frantic diver who thought they had jettisoned their weight belt but it was hung on the Rambo knife they had strapped to their calf.  Simple things like that kill people.

Be safe I want to see you on the water having a good time. Risk can only be minimized thru education and experience.

Yes of course my dad knowing I have 2 brothers does not trust us with the gun our neighbor gave us so we are using a polespear which is still really fun!
Good advice. I never start a new diver with a gun or anything they can get entangled with. If I want a new diver to shoot a fish I'll hand him the gun and stay behind him. Many spearo's get shot accidentally by their dive buddies. I actually think people should start with a poor spear, it's less of a hazard and it teaches them to be better hunters.

Plus, you can always decrease buoyancy by taking a smaller breath (and only when taking a quick drop in really shallow water).  There's no easy way to increase buoyancy on the fly.

While it is possible to decrease your buoyancy by taking a smaller breath this is quite possibly the worst advice I have ever seen anyone give a diver, novice or otherwise. It's right up there with exhaling underwater to stop the urge to breathe and packing rocks inside your wetsuit if you forget your weight belt.

Jjjjeremy, please try not to kill the rookies.

Yeah, that's worth a chastising.  I'll add an additional qualification that I've only ever done it, and would only ever do it, in water less than 10' when I can't get my fins underwater before I'm on the bottom.  And by less than a full breath I meant around 90% of max.