Hi t-m-d,
I have the Leaderfins Freediving with wings mono in soft stiffness. This is the first mono I have bought and like Monofin Diva stated, I'm quite happy with it. I bought it from Ivan (Astruven) and he was great to deal with.
I have tried a mono without an angled blade and the angle on mine makes swimming (especially) on the surface easier and more comfortable. The OMER pockets are great, work well, and they're extremely comfortable. You can wear them for hours on end in the ocean. If you can, make sure you try some OMER pockets somewhere first to determine the right size for a good, snug, but not too tight fit. For example, I have a US 9 foot, and wear a 40-42 (US 7-9) pocket and my three longest toes peek out of the front of the pocket.
True, your foot won't be as snug in an OMER pocket as it would be in an open-heel mono, but the OMER is more comfortable and you can help fill out the extra "dead space" by wearing socks (I wear 2mm socks).
I chose the soft stiffness as I personally don't like hard fins and I'm not that big of a guy - 140lbs, 5' 7". So far I don't have any problems getting back up from depth - still working on refining the technique though!
The wings seem to stabilize the fin, especially for dynamics in the pool. It does add weight to the fin, but I don't notice the weight in the ocean.
Hope this makes sense, good luck with your purchase.
