Bi-Fin blade stiffness for DEEP SPEAROS

[fishimani]

I have been reading endless articles and the usual blah blah about fins. Everyone seems to have thier personal preference for which fins are the best but i would love some information on the truth behind blade stiffness vs muscular power. It would make sense that conditioned muscles + stiff fins = more speed and power. I have been doing some reading on the fin comparison threads and heard that this is not necessarily the case.

I am looking to purchase fins which are rugged enough for a shore diver breaking surf, swimming out for 2km+ to reach the destination and drag fish that are in excess of 15kg from 30m+ ......i have just cracked my cressi gara professionals and i need to step up to a very high performance fin. Any useful information would be appreciated.

 

[Mark Lamont]

mmmmmmmm.... Where to start? Forget the blade stiffness and all of that other stuff. Try modifying your kick style. I'm reading into your thread that you are fit and in shape, maybe a muscle guy? What we playfully call a gorilla.
While testing the prototypes to the Seawing fin and as many other fins as we could buy and find, we rented a pool in Long Beach and invited the "Test Dive Team" to try many different fins under controled conditions. All were seasoned divers with varing experiances. We had two muscleheads, one thin diver with a kick in which he pulled his heel forward, one semi normal free diver and one female. All fins were put through a force test, speed, effciency and subjective testing.
What we all learned is that the female was by far the fastest swimmer with any fin! After review of the videos we saw why. She was the smoothest most graceful swimmer with the shortest kick undulation. When the others on the team repeated the same test modifying their technique tremendous gains were made by each. The long blade stiffness of one fin and the most flexible long fins were so different but stiffer was painful and flexibility was more comfortable.
In short try comfortable and efficient fins with a modification of your personal style. move your hips.

 

[chrismar]

Yep, stiff fins are best suited to people who are doing it wrong. Best fins I've used are the Trygons soft, normal length. Very good for surface swimming and I've had good results deep diving in them down to 65m. I don't see any benefit for myself with stiffer fins and these are the softest fins I've ever found.

 

[hteas]

I recently did a set of tests with a bunch of fins and 5 divers. What came out of it, after all the dust settled, was that there wasn't much difference. My Picasso Black Teams were not much slower than my E-carbons, but they definitely hurt my legs and feet more, especially on the 400 m surface swim. Seems to be a common result from divers who stop and play with the alternatives. Dave Mullin's decision to stick with cressi 3000 LDs is a great example. Especially with the macho marketing from some manufacturers, divers keep buying stiff fins, but most divers do best with a medium soft blade and good technique.

 

[fishimani]

I suppose i am a bit of a meathead....:head but i sure love spearing and i guess thats the base of my question. Thank you for the very helpful input. (I was totally humbled by the nonchalant 65 meter remark as well) makes me feel like a bit of an infant.

A modified kicking style is what i will work on. I have been wanting to take the PFI class or a similar one for some time now. I feel that it will help me get deeper more safely since i have pretty much no classroom knowledge of diving, only trial and error (which can be a bit risky in spearfishing). Long comment short, i plan on buying medium/soft fins...

any suggestion for those of us who dont want to break the piggy bank??? (not cressi please, actually riffe proved to be crap as well and omer footpockets are absolutely agonizing....so anything but that)

I must sound like a princess....sorry...just picky. Thanks!!!

p.s. somehow i feel like i am talking to some diving legends here.

 

[Marwan]

For a 2km swim out you almost require soft fins...i would imagine anything stiff would just be a pain for a 2km swim especially if you encounter a bit of surf...after testing many fins for spearfishing, i boiled it down to 2 options, one is cheap for everyday type dives, the other obe more expensive, less comfortable for the long swims (but still ok) and really shines in the deeper stuff.. the first is the omer ice fins...the more expensive ones are the Specialfins hybrid (medium stiffness)...if you dont like the omer pockets, you can just buy the blades from specialfins and fit to the pocket you like..

 

[Mark Lamont]

I just read a thread in DB about some carbon fiber fins that are relatively inexpensive from a little know company. One of the repliers had bought them and liked them quite well. He likes a soft comfortable fin and bought the medium soft fins.
Sorry I can't remember the name of the fin company.
Hey, I found it. The company is called Leaderfins and the thread is http://forums.deeperblue.com/freediving-equipment/85924-leaderfins.html