Best carbon fins in the market for freediving?

[Yile Gao]

I have been thinking about purchasing a new pair of carbon fins. I have been looking at Carbonio GFT Aero/Alpha, Cetma Composite (Mantra), Blacktech (Competition CWT), Alchemy (V2 or V3), Trygons (Subgear/ScubaPro one, which is 50% retail), Majestic (short on supply) and Mtechnic (also short on supply). I have been diving around 25-40 meter range, about 75kg and 181 cm tall. I have used Leaderfin Pure Carbon (medium) in the past but found them to be stiffer than I expected.

Do you have any thoughts on how to narrow the above list down to perhaps two to three? Thanks.

 

[ledo2]

In that range add Alemanni and Molchanovs fins to the list. And XT diving Vasilious [emoji28]

 

[SubSub]

The Pathos Abyss outclassed the others in the Apneapassion 2016 carbon fin super test

https://www.apneapassion.com/equipment/dossier-and-xrays/pathos-abyss-fins-the-ultralight/

The yanks are raving in unison about the Moans Waterman fins. Not very common in Europe, but I know these guys have them.

http://shop.deepbluesub.com/IT/index.aspx

 

[Nathan Vinski]

I've tried or at least held/flexed all of the above mentioned fins (except the majestic), and I have some thoughts..

-On the top of the list I would put at a relative tie (Alchemy V3 and Cetma "Prana") Both of these fins have a very nice feel though the soft-medium stiffnesses and aren't overly snappy which is actually a common problem with most carbon fins. The deciding factor would be ankle flexibility as the alchemy's have a 21 deg angle and the cetma's have a 33 deg angle. For me the 33 deg was way too much as my foot flexes to parallel with my shin bone quite easily so I went with Alchemy.

-Cetma mantra are also very nice (I had the same problem with the 33 deg angle as with Cetma prana) but I do feel like they are slightly too long for the particular stiffness gradients used in the blade.

- The allemani fins were actually my second choice in terms of the feel of the blade (fiberglass is underrated) but they are stupidly long and require a really weird feeling kick..

- Molchanov's (proteuse is the actual brand making them) makes an alright carbon blade although it somehow manages to feel too stiff, and too soft at the same time. Build quality also seems to be sacrificed as rails seem to either tear of unglue based on what ive seen. (I haven't had a chance to try them but I've heard lots of good things about the fiberglass blades molchanovs now produces and considering their excellent use of fiber in monofins it makes sense).

-Trygons: Although I owned a pair for 4 years they actually feel pretty bad when I put them on every now and again. They are super stiff and the foot pocket is really uncomfortable.. unless you have a super narrow foot. The only "effort level" they are suited for is sprinting, so if depth diving for fastest time ever happens i'll take them back out. (again, the fiberglass sandwhich trygons have a nicer feel to them but have the same foot pocket issue)

-The others (blacktech, mTechniq, and CarboninoGFT) are all, in their own ways, in the extreme centre of generic. They don;t have any particular problems but I don't see anything that makes them stand out either. Carbonino are nice and soft, but are slightly too long for the flex profile, and the other two are just "regular". Maybe the safest bet as they won't feel overly different to leaderfins but you can get a softer stiffness..

 

[Nathan Vinski]

Update. I got to play with a pair of fibreglass molchanovs today and I would put them at the top in terms of the Quality for price.

They were mediums which are too stiff for my liking but they felt really nice. Good stiffness gradients, quite light for fibre, and with a good relaxed/smooth SnapBack.

 

[Yile Gao]

Update. I got to play with a pair of fibreglass molchanovs today and I would put them at the top in terms of the Quality for price.

They were mediums which are too stiff for my liking but they felt really nice. Good stiffness gradients, quite light for fibre, and with a good relaxed/smooth SnapBack.

Thanks Nathan. Any idea on how good are the XT Diving Pro fins compared to other premium Greek brands?