Best fins for spearfishing?

[Marwan]

ok lets have some opinions from the experts, which is the best spearfishing fin you would recommend:
1 - Cressi Gara 3000 LD
2 - C4 20
3 - Omer ice fins
4 - Omer bat (20, 25 or 30)?
5 - Other, your preference

the assumption is that you do some surface work and go down to a max of 15-18 meters

 

[cdavis]

My 2 cents,

Ain't no such thing as "best" Too much variability in divers and types of spearing. That said, here are some ideas.

For the money, its hard to beat the cressi's, if they fit your foot. There are much better fins available, but at much higher cost. Kind of depends on how much you are willing to pay for the extra ounce of performance. The C4s are very very nice, super efficient, and should be fine in that depth range. I wore a set of 25s for a long day and loved them above 75 ft. I had trouble with them on dives below 85, could not get enough power when very negative, might be my style of stroke. They have very high rails and this cuts your manuverability some. Assuming the 20's are softer than the 25s, the initial acceleration will be a little slow. Might be important for your spearing. I don't know anything about the omers.

You mght want to consider Specialfins. They make very good, super durable, spearo fins with angled blades. Their Kelpies, in medium or soft would probably work well for you. Fiberplastic, low rails. They make a carbon/kevlar blade called the Hybrid that is wonderful, but you need to be pretty big to get the most out of it. I'm long and skinny and would go for the soft in any of these(for me). Waterways makes a flat fiberplastic blade with high rails. I like the #2 for general freediving to 120 ft (my pb) . Waterway pricing is very good, but they are not of the quality of Specialfins, IMHO.

Good luck,

Connor

 

[sickbugs]

the specialfins hybrid look kinda stumpy and fat.. maybe its just the way the pics were taken? as is, i dont like my fins knocking together, it'd drive my insane having a wider fin !

im slowly getting used to my garas, and starting to understand why freediving fins are so great. i have the 3000's, i opted for them instead of the ld's, and while they do get a bit hard on the ankles, they work pretty good for me for freediving, it took a few weeks to get accustomed to the manouvering, ect, but im really starting to like them. when you say some surface work, how much do you mean? shore dives or boat dives? ive done 6 hour shore dives with my fins, and the last hour or so wasnt so nice on my ankles, but i can imagine that for boat dives, they would be perfect..

the ice fins look great, and from what ive read on their peformance, should be very suitable for what you seem to be looking for. i do wish that i had got them instead of the cressis, but they were not an option at the time (too bad the db shop doesnt stock omer stuff, that would be great) maybe my next fins tho

 

[Marwan]

I looked at the special fins hybrids the seem to be great i just dont know whether to go for the medium or the soft????? i think the soft will be more suitable to me needs, i am just afraid they might be too soft to go down from the surface or ascend from depth.

 

[SEDATE]

I looked at the special fins hybrids the seem to be great i just dont know whether to go for the medium or the soft????? i think the soft will be more suitable to me needs, i am just afraid they might be too soft to go down from the surface or ascend from depth.

Marvan
Too soft takes you very easly too deep but most important think is to return from bottom, i have a friend who dives for fish and use black team and says i am happy with it -hard fins but good for fish hunting,
for freediving my idea C4 is perfect and works very well and medium is
the best to transfer kicks %80 to the fins , soft maybe %60-%65 and very deep dive not works (10-15 ok), hard %90-%95(20-30m) but it is hard and makes you tired in water in a short time , from boat to dive ..it is ok
for fish hunting ,he says- diving wih black team 15-25m everyday very good fins and long life fins but says it is not good for shore hunting , hard but good for ambush/open and it is cheap or if you have money buy C4, works 15-30 or 40, medium
remember it is your life insurance :d c4 really good fins but very expensive marvan , next chose blacteam or omer bat or something else

 

[miles]

Hiya

Marwan, just a word of caution. I bought two pairs of Specialfins Hybrids a while back. The first pair snapped and i was promised a replacement pair. That was more than one and a half years ago. So almost two years later, Jyri, who was the sales manager, has left, and i've emailed the new sales manager, and still i'm waiting.......

Spending that kind of money on fins, you'd expect better service.

Rather look at the c4's from a REPUTABLE dealer!!!

Regards
miles

 

[Marwan]

I think there has been consesus on jyri , iread some similar comments on another forum (now that i think about, i think you were the one who wrote those comments ) , hopefully the new guy is bit more helpful, the thing is i tried the c4 20's last weekend, didnt really get that WOW feeling, its probably me, they are supposed to be the best fins, funny i couldnt feel it, i guess people differ.

 

[Jon]

I've gotten excellent service from Jyri and his replacement- Martin. I am not denying anyone elses problems, but they have taken very good care of me with my monofins over the past few years.

On the bi-fins.

I have used, and didn't like the BAT fins- no blade angle and makes it tough for surface swimming. I also dislike the Specialfins Classic's for the same reason.

The Hybrids ARE shorter and wider than the Pro's. I found myself hitting them together as I swam with them and prefer a Kelpie or a Pro to the Hybrid shape.

I found the Cressi's to be nice if I was barefoot, and not so nice If I wore any kind of a wetsuit sock- which I always need around here.

I own a pair of Picasso Black teams, they were my main fins before I switched to carbon, and you can really beat on them. I will say that they change stiffness, quite a bit, depending upon the temperature. They are much softer down in the islands than under the ice.

I've never used a pair of OMER ICE fins, but I think they sound pretty darn cool and if I didn't have so many fins already I would certainly buy a pair.

I own several pair of C4's and they are my current favorite for bi-fins. I have found softer to be better, and thus prefer my 80's over my 40's and am thinking of side-lining my 30's in favor of the pair of VTR 25's that I recently bought. The side rails DO get in the way for frog kicking and sculling, but work great for coming up from depth. They all have a nice blade angles to them and surface swimming isn't a problem- even in the 40's. They do cost more, but come with a two year warranty if bought in the US.

just my $0.02- which isn't worth much these days since the dollar is getting its A$$ kicked by the Euro. :crutch

Jon

 

[Marwan]

wow,
i thought i was the only nut case with many fins, my wife will have to read this post to feel better about me , i too have th omer bat 30s and though they are good fins they dont feel comfortable for surface swimming, i never knew hat that the c4 80's were the softest, i thought they were the most rigid, as the number increases so does the softness? that could make sense, when i tried the c4 25's they felt rigid, which i thought strange (thinking it was the softest version).
i agree the ice fins look cool, but in my quest for the ultimate fin, i am looking at specialfins at the moment, those hybrids are depriving me from sleep at the moment. it seems also the kelies are getting very good reviews, which ones did you try jon, soft medium or hard?
cheers

 

[gabe13]

Just bought a pair of Kelpie hard and Bluewater mediums from specialfins , I had that same dilemma myself but decided to get those two pairs for about the same price as ine pair of hybrids. I was very impressed with the service so far, just having to wait about a week and a half so I can try them on a trip to Hawaii rofl , will let you know how they work out for me after.

 

[Marwan]

i already ordered medium hybrids, i hope they end my quest for the ultimate fin. martin has been very helpful, if you check the website they only had the hybrids in hard or exhard, but he said they could make them in soft or medium tooo, i ended with buying the medium.

 

[SEDATE]

i already ordered medium hybrids, i hope they end my quest for the ultimate fin. martin has been very helpful, if you check the website they only had the hybrids in hard or exhard, but he said they could make them in soft or medium tooo, i ended with buying the medium.

Give us PERFORMANCE İNFO after use it marvan :crutch

Ciao

 

[Spaniard]

A word of caution about using carbon fins for spearfishing; if you are doing a lot of aspetto in rocky areas the fins can get smashed up so a hybrid/technopolymer blade might be a cheaper option in the long run

 

[Jon]

I've used the Medium's and the Hard's. I prefer the Medium's.

Jon

 

[Mark Laboccetta]

Keep in mind that there are three classes of fins and they incrementally go up in cost.

Plastic/polymer/thremo plastic for example in Omer fins that translates to Millenium/Millenium Runner/ICE They range in price from $100 to $200
Two-three year guarantee is normal on the blades.

Fiberglass - BAT 25's, Bat 30's, BAt 40's. Our best selling Bat's are the 25's because they are flexible and perform much better than plastic, similar to the ICE for anyone going 30-60ft regularly 2 year guarantee

Carbon fiber - C4's and Omer Rekord 3's. C4 has been the standard in the industry for the best carbon fiber fin the last 5 years. If you want the lightest and comfortable and at the same time fin that will push the most C4 30's are great. The Omer Rekord 3's are the same. I've been wearing these the last 6 months and actually like them more than my 30's. The C4 40's feel better for deeper spearfishing in 80' plus but hurt my ankles for all around spearfishing. All these fins are backed for two years too, except for abuse or negligence.
These companies have been making freediving/spearfishing fins for 20 years so they have built pretty good track records.

Mark

 

[spaghetti]

quality is quality, no doubt, and for example c4's are a fantastic quality product. But for me the best doesn't exist as an absolute category: it's related to everyone's needs, environments and situations.
I have 3 fin sets, and each of them is the "best" in different situations:
-Cressi rondine freefrog for shallow spearing in rocky environments (they're very short and very cheap, easy to enter water and crawling among rocks, not a big waste if they get broken: in facts they're very scratchy after hard duty)
-omer millennium grey blade for depth till 12, 15 meters, pretty cheap blades and very scratchy too (I appreciate them much).
-omer rekord 3 for deeper than 15meters: blades are still almost new, just because my old eardrums and nose are "scratchy" too.

 

[panosb]

Hallo Guys,

I am surprised noone mentionted C4 mustangs! I owned more than 10 pairs of various fins the last 15yrs and i believe the mustangs are simply the best bifins around. I understand that not all people are the same but the mustangs are something revolutionary that can fit to anyone! I own a pair of 25's spearfishing version and i love them. Thanx to them i can stay at sea twice longer, i dont get tired from surface swimming at all and my injured knees (from the stiff OMER carbon blades(the 1st version 7-8 yrs ago)) do not irritate me any more! Smooth movement, no hitting with each other! Using the mustangs made the movement of my legs come out naturally!


regards

Panos

 

[Mark Laboccetta]

C4 Mustangs are so new that you are probably one of the few people in the world who has actually worn a pair long enough to be able to judge them.

I have been wearing them for two months now,a sample pair of Mustang 40's 47-48, and I'm still trying to become one with the fin. It isn't a clear winner in my mind yet compared to the other C4's or the Omer Rekord 3's. I am impressed with the quality of the fin and the uniqueness of the footpockets and I would say for 30 meter dives its better than the Rekord 3's and the C4 30's because naturally as the 40 is a stiffer fin its ideal to get off the bottom when you're very negative, however my spearfishing is mostly in the 50-90ft range and it's there that I'm really trying to come to terms with the differences between the fins. It has such a different feel alltogether.

Mark

 

[strangelove]

-Cressi rondine freefrog for shallow spearing in rocky environments (they're very short and very cheap, easy to enter water and crawling among rocks, not a big waste if they get broken: in facts they're very scratchy after hard duty)

This is a very good advice, long fins are often a liability when diving in shallow tight places.

 

[spaghetti]

This is a very good advice, long fins are often a liability when diving in shallow tight places.

That's for sure what I mean, and thanks for rating me "good".:inlove
But let's specify, for novices who could be reading, that if a guys plans to dive any deeper than 7 or 8 meters, he needs longfins also for safety issues: short fins don't give enough "kick" if a guy needs to take off from a deep bottom to surface quickly.