Beauchat Elite fins

[sunfish]

About 5 years ago I bought a pair of these fins and recently replaced the footpockets as I like the fins. Has anyone else used these fins?
They don't seem to be made anymore. I've only ever used these and Cressi 2000HF.
I was wondering how the Beauchats compere to other freediving fins, particularly fibreglass, carbons, and hybrids, in stiffness? Would they be considered hard, medium or soft?
When I bought them, Beauchat classed competitions as their lightest blade, Elites as a stiff blade and presumably their carbons as the stiffest.

[sunfish]

Cressis were/are OK but I have to wear fin keepers with them as heels are low and pockets are soft and my feet are sort of between their sizes.

[sunfish]

Incidentally, both footpockets on the Beauchats eventually split in the same place. Straight down the front, exactly where you'de cut them to add laces like shoelaces.

[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

[sunfish]

Thanks for the reply Dave. Most of my diving is in the 30 to 40ft range though I do go deeper occasionally. The plastic in the Elites is springier than that in the Garas. I cut my hand on it while changing the footpockets. I suspect there may be glassfibre in it.
The Cressis are OK for stiffness but they feel slow to respond compared to the Beauchats. I think fibreglass blades are what I need to try next.
I used to do a lot of surface swimming before I bought the kayak but do little since. The beauchats are ok on the surface and i manage fine with the cressis too, by rolling my body a little to keep them from splashing.
On the subject of cracking, I've just checked and found that I bought the Beauchats in 2001 and the blades are still fine! The pockets started to split after 3 or 4 seasons.