Advice on C4 fins please

[Walrus]

Hi all,

I would really apreciate some advice with regards to C4 fins.
Don't know if many of you out there would have them or know much about them....

I've contacted the company and got a price list. They list the Falcon 40's for 185 Euro, and the Falcon 80's for 225 Euro.
This probably doesn't include shipping but still seems like a really good price, specially since these are the best Bi fins you can get.

I'm not sure if this is just the blades, or the whole fins. I suspect it's just the blades.
Question is, I've heard people using Omer footpockets. How do they assemble ?
Do they require gluing ?
Are they the only footpockets that will work with the blades ?

I'm currently training to do dives beyond the 50m mark, and am hoping to go to the AIDA cup in Hawaii at the end of october.

I am 190cm tall, 84 kg, quite fit and have reasonably strong legs. What would be the better choice in fin, The Falcon 40 (Same at Bret Lemaster used for his record dive) or the Falcon 80 as used by Umberto ?

I'm leaning towards the 40's as they are cheaper, and I don't know if the 80's would be trickier to use since they are so long.

Thanks heaps in advance,

Walter

 

[Bill]

Walter
The C4carbon.com site listed foot pockets for 31 Euros when I looked last or the new Sporasub pockets work fine for me with a small modification and no glue. The only source I could find for Omer pockets wants 150 Euro equivalent.
I haven't tried the 80's but, your feeling about them is matched by at least one person who has. Evaluation is very tricky. In the last year, I used 8 different fins and they all require a little different kick. The Beuchat fin, for example, took a dozen sessions before I got it working right but, it does feel a little better than the C4 when I start back up (might be the fit).
I can almost guarentee that you'll like the C4's but, I really wonder, if I put the new Sporasub on your left foot and the 40 on your right .......
Sometimes the testing is as much fun as the -50M. If you get the 80's and they don't work, you can leave them here in Kona next Nov. Let's see, 200 greenbacks and a six pack of Touheys, final offer.

best wishes
Bill

 

[Erik]

Stiff

Hey Wal,
I've never used them myself, but a friend of mine who was using my Spora Radicals, and is now diving 50 metres, needs a better fin. Kirk Krack, who has used all the fins, told him to get the Falcon 40 blades. My friend is a big guy (220lbs), swims fast, and bends those Radicals like wet noodles, so the stiff 40 will do the job apparently. He has Spora footpockets, which will accommodate the C4 blades.
However, we (me, Eric, Peter) may have him talked into a carbon monofin.....and I would be very happy to help talk you into it too
Seriously, I was saying to Eric and Peter last week that, despite having FOD (freediving obsessive disorder), I have fallen deeper in love with freediving since using a mono for the last 4 months or so. Even ignoring the fact that the records are held by mono-divers, the feeling once it "clicks" is indescribable.
Not that I'm trying to convert you or anything
Erik Y.

 

[Kimmo]

Hi Walrus,

I have used old Falcon 25, old Falcon 80, new Falcon 30 and Falcon 40. For the deep dives Falcon 80 is the best choise (this is only my humble opinion). For the dynamic it is F30 or F40 which depend on your kick power (for my opinion F40 is really stiff so it takes lot of energy and wastes lot of oxygen while kicking!). F80 is longer so it needs normally little bit differend kind of kicks compared to F25, F30 and F40.
For the footpockets Omer Millenium is quite good (I have these) as well as SporaSub footpocket is almost the old standard ;-) My Omer footpockets were quite cheap anyway (about 34 Eur, you can ask: wasser.spielen@tmi.inet.fi. Remember this guy forgets always to give screws and other tiny things with the footpockets ;-). I have tested footpockets with and without glue (SikaFlex is ok) and for me, with the Omer footpockets, it is better with the "glue".

Best rgds,

- kimmo

 

[Walrus]

Thanks heaps Bill, Erik & Kimmo.

Now I'm still not sure to got with the 80's or 40's
Oh well, I'm sure there both really good.

Bill if I get the 80's, and see you in Hawaii, I'll let you have a go

Erik, I am planning to buy a mono at some stage, it's just I need to stick what is working for me in the short term.
I love the monofin, I've been training with a finswimming club for about 2 months and really enjoy it. I even went in a comp and set a OZ record for my age group over the 25m sprint. I love the speed & the feel of the movement.

I have tried one out in the ocean and did a few dives past the 20m mark. I found the balance, and trying to stay vertical on the decent to be a bit tricky, coming up was pretty cool !

I have been lending a fiberglass mono from the club, and the footpockets don't fit well. I was planning on buying one of these NZ made fiberglass mono's but I'm still a bit woried about the footpockets. (Think they were using Water ways foot pockets, but now using Mat-mas)

So long term, I will get a mono and plan to do depth training with this as well. Once I get confident, and start diving at least as well as with Bi-fins, then I may consider using one in a comp. I'm keen to use for fun freediving too !


Cheers,
Wal

 

[Walrus]

Hi all,

I'm just wondering if there is any logic in considering the the C4 80's might be better suited to a taller diver ?
(80's are the longest diving fin available, longer then 40's )

I'm just thinking Brett Lemaster using the 40's, is he more of average height, I'm not sure ?
Compared to Umberto, fairly tall who uses the 80's.

Just thinking with longer legs, a natural kick cycle would be wider & the 80's would require a wider kick.....

Any hypotheticals welcome !


Sorry I'm still trying to decide between the 40's & 80's, and I want to order soon so I can do some training. :duh

Cheers,
Wal

 

[welwichia]

hi Wal,

just wondering what you did decide in the end as i am currently facing the same "dilema" - 40 vs 80

 

[immerlustig]

hi

radicals: soft noodles, yeah erik, my point, exactly.

i had the opportunity to try the c4 40'2 and 80's and the feeling of the 80's is quite different. i love the final snap when the tip of the blade whips back and the whole feeling of that long blade moving through the water. extremely wicked!
haven't done comparisons in efficiency on any deep dives really, but for me that's not the point.

for me it's the 80's and i'm going to order some. as soon as my bank stops boycotting my money requests.

cheers

roland

 

[alastair]

I have the Falcon 40s as I wanted to use them for more than pure apnea. I got the 25 version because EVERYBODY here uses them, and EVERYBODY recommended against the stiffer versions unless you're "superhumanly fit".

My mate was training to be an Apnea Academy instructor with the middle stiffness and Umberto told him that he was using too much effort. He swapped to the 25s and apparently it was better. But then AA is all about sloooow, relaaaaaaax, eeeeeeasy, and if your style calls for more speed then the 25s are probably a bit soft. Honestly I haven't tried the stiffer versions myself.

I talked to C4 (they were at a comp selling blades) and they said that the 80 was as soft as the 40-25, but that it offered significantly more performance.

BTW you can probably source the blades at less than RRP elsewhere, but not by much (mine were 180 fully assembled with Spora footpockets), and it's nice buying from the factory I think.