Quote:
Originally Posted by kelp princess
what's this footpocket business anyway? how does one get to see or try these on? and do most people buy their stuff online? I went to 4 shops this wknd looking for OMER Winter Millemiums and C4's etc. and not one dive shop had anything. guess i need to go to Leisure pro....????  |
Most of the popular Freediving Fins (Omer, Sporasub, Immersion, Buechet, Picasso ....) have blades that can be removed from the footpocket. The big exception being Cressi which makes 1-piece molded plastic fins.
It is also the case that many premium blade makers (C4, M-Technic, Leader Fins) don't make foot-pockets but will sell you a fin with a foot pocket made from someone else (often with the branding still on it. So the foot pocket will say Omer).
Switching out a blade is a user-serviceable activity, but if you do it too much you will stretch the rails.
Wallin's used to stock Sporasub stuff (that was 5 years ago, I don't live in the Bay area anymore.) and there were two shops in San Jose that had freediving stuff. Picasso dealer very spear-fishing oriented, and someone who carried Omer, but I don't remember the names and they were really hard for me to get to.
Many people do buy mail-order because of the difficulty in finding a shop that stocks anything.
I second some other people, a pair of plastic Cressi LDs are cheap, durable, comfortable and you won't have much buyers remorse if you decide to upgrade later. I find them to be way better for surface swimming than my Sporasubs or the Carbon fins I have tried (C4 mustangs, M-Technics Pure)
