[Old Man Dave]

Hi Sunfish. There are a few threads currently running about fins. I have never tried the beuchats but have tried plastic, fibreglass and carbon blades within the last couple of years.

I found that generally what I knew anacdotally was true. Plastic blades are the softest and suit surface swimming, GRP a little harder work on the surface but better at depth and the carbons more so yet. However that said at the relatively shallow depths i worK (less than 10 metres) but with long surface swims often in heavy currents I found all the blade types performed okay. I am however pretty water fit as I do a lot of hours per year diving, although I do no other training.

For me the plastic blades were a good choice although the softest GRP were as good. The plastic blades like the Gara 2000 were not as good as the later 3000LD (Long Distance) and all the plastic blades suffered from a short life - they cracked. I was about to buy some Waterway GRP blades when along came the Omer Ice 3's. With a 3 year guarantee and a new clear plastic blade they performed for me better than any other fin.

With regard to footpockets I've tried a few. I find the Omer ones fit my feet the best but that's one thing everyones got to try for themselves. One thing I noticed was that a footpocket for a carbon (or any "stiff" blade) had to be tighter than for a soft plastic blade. My very comfy Omer footpockets feel great with the Ice blades but when I slotted in carbon blades they felt very loose. The carbons apply more force to the footpocket and this was disconcerting on long swims.

From your posts I get the impression you dive deeper than me and do less surface swimming. Depending on your fitness level I would have thought softish GRP blades would suit you. However I can't stress enough how good the Ice fins are although for deep dives I admit they may be a little less punchy than the ideal. They are however very forgiving and at the moment I rate them the best UK spearfishing fin.

Cheers

Dave