Best fins for shore hunting.

[Broseidon]

I'm looking to buy my first proper freedive / spearfishing fins for this summer - I don't want to spend huge amounts - I was wondering if people could give me some recommendations?

I'm not that experienced, so I'll probably be hunting in 4 - 8 m of water to begin with.

I'm 5,8", 190lbs. I lift wieghts 5 days a week so I'm pretty strong, but my cardio fitness is a little lacking.

Fin's I've been considering are:

Picasso Black Team's (I've heard these are good, but a little stiff?)

Seatec Vela's

Beachat Mundial Competitions

Cressi Gara 3000


What do people think?

 

[Coral Sniper]

I love the beachat mundial comps
and I love the cressi gara 2000 hf's

I felt the 3000's were a little stiff,but not that bad.
I dont care that much for the picasso foot pockets,I have 2 scars from them.

But I would say the gara 2000's are fantastic fin's, very tough,very comfortable.
The beachats are great but the side rails are falling apart,and may give you trouble.

I would go for the gara's 2000's

 

[hteas]

Debrovnik,
You don't include the Omer Millenium Runner or Omer Millenium black/green. Both are good fins used by many people. The Cressis don't allow changing blades to fiberglass (my preference) or carbon later, so they are somewhat limiting, but then a lot of divers like them just as they are. Another popular choice for shore diving is the Cressi 300LD. They really pay off if there are long surface swims involved since they are a little softer.

 

[Broseidon]

Debrovnik,
You don't include the Omer Millenium Runner or Omer Millenium black/green. Both are good fins used by many people. The Cressis don't allow changing blades to fiberglass (my preference) or carbon later, so they are somewhat limiting, but then a lot of divers like them just as they are. Another popular choice for shore diving is the Cressi 300LD. They really pay off if there are long surface swims involved since they are a little softer.

I was acually considering the Omer Millenium Blacks as they have a medium balse as opposed to a hard one - are they a good choice?

 

[spaghetti]

If you have a tight budget, Cressi Gara 3000 LD (the softest of Cressi longfins, a bit softer than the standard Gara 3000) or Omer Millennium Grey (the softest of Omer blades, also called Millennium "Winter" because they stay soft in very cold water too).

I've used the Omer Mill. Grey for 3 years and like them (I still keep them in the bag as a spare, just in case my "Ice" crack). The Grey are really nice fins for your depth. One negative thing of them: not very snappy when you need a sudden acceleration, but this is quite typical of any soft fins.

 

[Spear0Joe]

I notice you mentioned Seatec Velas, I own a pair and I can say from experience I have had no trouble with the foot pocket, very comfortable, the blade has a nice flex to it, not to stiff but enough power, I think I paid £60, very reasonable, they can also take abit of damage!

Joe

 

[cww180]

The new Mares Razor's are also nice!

 

[hteas]

The Omers are a good choice for most divers. They have a medium wide pocket and are high enough across the front of my feet to be quite comfortable. Overall they are a really good choice. I use the grey blades or fiberglass Specialfins, but for someone with strong legs they should be great.
Howard

 

[cmburch]

I have 11.5EEE feet and use the largest sizes. The only way is to try out the fins with a sock in the pool.

The new soft Picasso footpocket is very comfortable for me. I got some yesterday with a thinner gray blade $105 than the black teams $150. The black teams are very popular in our area. We use 4-5mm socks.

Spettons with fiberglass blades are much stiffer and the foot pockets are pretty stiff.

I tried the Mares Razor Pro yesterday and they seem nice. I wonder if Mares blades are interchangable like Picasso, Omer, Spetton, etc.

 

[Broseidon]

Thanks for all the replies guys - I've spoken to the guys at Apnea, I've decided on the Omer Millenium Blacks - the medium hardness blades, not the Competition ones.

I'll post up my thoughts as soon as I get them in the pool!

 

[Mr. X]

I love the beachat mundial comps
and I love the cressi gara 2000 hf's

I felt the 3000's were a little stiff,but not that bad.
...

I've been using Beauchat Mundial Competition fins for several years, because they were a good price. I've been pleasantly surprised by how comfortable and hard wearing they've been. They are quite long & quite wide -- my first really big fins, they took a little getting used to. I've also used all manner of paints on them, surprised they have stood up to it. Good value, surprisingly tough (with my weight belt on, I weight 250lbs).

As Spaghetti said, the Cressi LD fins seem to be the ones some spearo go for.

I'm tempted to for transparent fins, such as the Omer Ice, next time round, if the price falls back to or below their original price (seemed to keep rising for a while). Then I won't have to bother with the paint anymore

BTW hteas, what do you like about fibre glass blades (vs. plastic or carbon)? Are they available for Beuchat foot pockets (in camo)?

 

[nz676]

i also have the Beauchat Mundial Competition and there a really decent fin comfortable for bigger feet,relativly good for wear and tear i have been hunting around really rough reefs in high current and they have stood up pretty well

 

[Coral Sniper]

The beauchat fin has a hard like plastic(seems more plastic then rubber) that the foot pocket rails are made out of, it seems to not have a very good memory compared to rubber,you know what I mean?

But man,they are comfortable!

And it may not be a big deal if you just clip those supports a little shorter were the plastic is thicker.

 

[hteas]

Mr. X,

The fiberglass blades have at least 4 things going for them:

1) They have a great snap you can feel on each kick (like driving a sports car instead of the family sedan).
2) progressive stiffness: it is easy, through varying the number of layers of glass on different parts of the blade, to give a soft tip for sneaking up on fish and still be stiff enough near the footpocket that I can't overpower them when heading for the surface3) they are a lot tougher than carbon fiber blades.
4) they don't stiffen up in cold water.

The down side is that the snap doesn't really translate into better performance (discussed by Mullins in the thread on cheap vs expensive fins), it just feels like it, and they cost more.

BTW: The SpecialFins BW special medium blades are on sale at SpecialFins right now for 99 euros, a really great deal.

I have heard the Beuchat footpockets are different from my Dessaults and Omers. if you got a pair and they didn't fit initially, you could probably glue them in like I did with my old Picassos (3-M 5200 marine adhesive).

Howard

 

[willloomy]

I love my Cressi gara hf's. i have used other more expensive fins and found them not any better at all. if your fins are going to take a beating i would recommend them alot. I beat mine up on the reef and they are still great.

 

[cww180]

I've been using Beauchat Mundial Competition fins for several years, because they were a good price. I've been pleasantly surprised by how comfortable and hard wearing they've been. They are quite long & quite wide -- my first really big fins, they took a little getting used to. I've also used all manner of paints on them, surprised they have stood up to it. Good value, surprisingly tough (with my weight belt on, I weight 250lbs).

As Spaghetti said, the Cressi LD fins seem to be the ones some spearo go for.

I'm tempted to for transparent fins, such as the Omer Ice, next time round, if the price falls back to or below their original price (seemed to keep rising for a while). Then I won't have to bother with the paint anymore

BTW hteas, what do you like about fibre glass blades (vs. plastic or carbon)? Are they available for Beuchat foot pockets (in camo)?

I'm not hteas but what I like better is the durability of the fiberglass a properly graduated/taped one anyways like the DiveR blades and the performance is very similar to carbons.

 

[Lazuli]

I was lucky enough to get my hands on a pair of CRESSI 2000 LD last summer. It seems these fins are no longer made. Its a real shame as I would recommend these to anyone as a first-time long fin. Sturdy, comfortable and non-tiring.

 

[LunkerBuster]

gara 2000's

they are great for their durability as well as the thrust they generate..it took me a while to get used to finning on the surface with them as they are stiff, but now I can easily swim out to a reef .5 - 1 miles from shore and hunt and swim in with no problems

 

[podge]

Get yourself a set of Captain Nemo’s in medium stiffness number 3 mate; you’ll never need another set of fins once you’ve got them, Bullet proof.
http://www.finswimworld.com/spearfishing/nemo_fin.htm

 

[Broseidon]

Get yourself a set of Captain Nemo’s in medium stiffness number 3 mate; you’ll never need another set of fins once you’ve got them, Bullet proof.
http://www.finswimworld.com/spearfishing/nemo_fin.htm

Any idea of price?