Cressi-sub Gara 2000 hf or ld?

[Aerospike]

Hi to all,

the Cressi-sub Gara 2000 looks like good freediving fins, but what's the difference between the hf and the ld version? And which one is best?
Anyone using these fins?


See ya,
Aero

[tuomo]

Hfs are stiffer than ld versions. I personally like my fins, but incase you dont like very stiff fins you should propably go with lds. My hfs are a lot more stiffer than my brothers omer milleniums, which are stiff enough for most of people.
You should remember that stiffnes isnt allways a good thing in fins.

Tuomo

[Marek Stachowsk]

Hi,
Im using Gara 2000 Hf for last couple of month as my first freediving fins. They seems to be quite stiif and at begining i had some problems with that (in fact maybe this were simply general beginners problem not related to particular model fins). Now Im rather happy with them - seems to work good for me in both calssic and delphin kicks. Im using them with 2mm neoperne socks.

Best regards and Merry Christmass and Happy New Year for All of You.

Marek

[Marek Stachowsk]

Hi,
Im using Gara 2000 Hf for last couple of month as my first freediving fins. They seems to be quite stiif and at begining i had some problems with that (in fact maybe this were simply general beginners problem not related to particular model fins). Now Im rather happy with them - seems to work good for me in both calssic and delphin kicks. Im using them with 2mm neoperne socks.

Best regards and Merry Christmass and Happy New Year for All of You.

Marek

[andrsn]

aero,

i have both the LD's and the HF's. i also use the stiffer omer millenium comp's. here i have all three blades in different stiffnesses. it just all depends on what sort of spearfishing i'm going to do for deciding on which fin to use. the gara's are incredibly comfortable. the LD's are great for going of the beach and the HF's are great for drifting deep reefs. i use the omer's for big game.

although i'm going to carbon blades soon, i'll never get rid of my gara's.. i love them.

also, hanapaa has some pretty good prices on them if you're currently shopping.

later,
anderson

[Aerospike]

Thank you all for your answers

I think i'm going for the HF's, because I mostly make rather small kicks while swimming. Hanapaa is Hawaii, isn't it? I live in The Netherlands... so I think I have to search a shop here somewhere (not that easy)... Or maybe a shop in the UK. Anyone knows a good shop in The Netherlands or somewhere nearby?


Feel free ,
Aero

[andrsn]

http://www.hanapaahawaii.com/

they'll ship anywhere and their shipping costs aren't what you'd expect. i think the gara's there are $99 USD(in the states here, they're about $140 USD). if you can't find them close by, call Sterling at hanapa'a and ask him what he can do. tell him anderson sent you. great people, by the way.

~anderson

[Hennie]

My first pair of freediving fins were Gara HF because the writing up on them on the Cressi equipment page said they were used by the champions.

Oh boy did is suffer with my mini licence and my new Ferrari's.
Could not walk normal for a couple of weeks.

I think this is a huge pitfall for many beginners, starting off with the wrong equipment and sometimes too expensive for their first taste of freediving.

I trained my Gara's to the max (5xweek, pool,diving,spearfishing) and they gave me 16months before both started showing cracks were the blade goes into to foot pocket.Well i just had to replace them with new ones seeing that my legs and ankles were used to them and i wasn't planning on changing my technique trying out new fins.

They are fantastic and the footpockets are very comfortable and if you are trianed into them you will get lots of satisfaction from them.

[andrsn]

hey guys,

just noticed that diveinn is now offering the garas for $57 and $52 for the HF and LD's respectively! i paid $130 three years ago for the HF's. this seems too good to be true.

later,
anderson

[Wishbone]

LD vs HF

The answer is quite simple:
LD's are softer. It all depends on what's your physical condition and what are you going to use the fins for. I personally use the LD version since I'm only spearfishing and they can be applied for almost every situation. The advantages of the soft blade are obvious:
- You don't get tired fast - when you're on a spearfishing competition and you have to cover a huge aquatory for 5 hours that's a lot of swimming. So don't use stiff blades if you plan to be in the water for a long time - no matter how fit you are...
- The movement is smoother and more natural - that's important if you're practicing search hunt. Softer blades - less vibrations.

And if you're going to shallow reef hunt in holes or the landscape is like a maze - you don't need long blades at all. The speed and the distance are not a factor. The longer blades would just make it harder to follow the landscape and would make you more visible...

Now I'm obliged to mention one of the greatest Gara 2000 (LD or HF) disadvantages too: the durability. Lots of spearos use the Gara here and 100% of them complain (including me) that even if the fins are not heavily used, the rubber ribs holding the blade tend to crack somewhere during the 2nd year. You can still use the fin but it hampers its hydrodynamics. The other problem are the cracks that appear on the blade after heavy use. But I guess that now when the price of the Gara is much lower that's not such a big problem.

Maybe it's a good idea a thread to be created where people can report problems with equipment...

[mark9989]

I have a new pair of Cressi 2000 HF unused. Before I use them, I wanted to get some opinions. I am a mid range diver, basically new to the advance stuff. At this moment I just snorkel, lobster and dive to 50ft if I'm lucky (with regular fins). I was given these fins as a gift and am not sure if I should exchange for the more flexible ld's.
Keep this in mind though, I have new boat access, and plan to enter back into occasional scuba, and I want to become a more frequent and experianced deep free diver. I also dont spear fish at the moment, but would like to venture that way also. So with all that, which way should I head?

[andrsn]

i have both. i started out w/ the ld's but soon found the hf's were the ferrari's of the two.

now, i've hacked about 12cm's off my ld's for shallow water spearfishing/lobstering. my hf's seem like butter, so now they're my 'soft' fins(and it's just because i've developed the lower legs for them from just using them) my stiff fins are omer's millenium comps(deep diving) and my performance one's are omer's carbon pro's.

so, in my opinion, the gara hf's are a great 'all-around' fin. depending on your size/weight/h20 displacement/drag, the hf's just might be the one's for you. you sure as hell can't beat diveinn's prices on the garas so pick up the ld's as well for those shore dives.

later,
anderson

[mark9989]

Thanks for the info, I think I'll keep them. I was just a little worried they would feel like stiff wood planks. But if they are more flexible than the old rocket fins i was using, i should be ok. Those were nasty. Just looking for the universal fin....

[nobic0213]

I live in Marathon, FL and doing some dive's approx 115 ft deep, just bought the gara 2000 HF, haven't used them yet but I'm sure they will be better than the split fins I use now for shallow reef dives. My neighbors work for FWC and dive for a living and he uses 3000's and she uses 2000's. she was using other fins and coming up with a significant difference in air consumption, like 800 psi compared to his 1500 psi. She tried a friend's 2000's and the first dive with them came up with about 10 psi different than him. Less struggle = Less air comsumption!

Beth
FL KEYS!

[Trelawney]

The first set of fins I bought were Gara 2000hfs, and I've had them for over 6 years now. I cannot fault them one bit for durability. They have been beaten about on rocks season after season with no stress points or cracks developing. The foot pockets are the best I have tried so far and fit is perfect (for me) without a sock. I've taken them down to 15 meters and have had absolutely no problems finning up or down. I use Specialfins Hybrid now, but go back to the Garas for diving in shallow, really rocky areas. In my opinion, a great set of fins.