Blue Water Special (special fins)

[strangelove]

I need some input about this issue, my friend from Brazil just broke his special fin blue water special, he is quite puzzled about the way it broke, he was just swimming on the surface when the blade snapped.
The blades are 4 years old - bought at end of 2006 but still in very good condition (besides being broke !).
What do you think about the location of the breakage is normal, or do I need to raise something with special fins.

 

[hteas]

Strangelove,

Did he push of the bottom a lot with the tips of the blades bent underneath?

The location of the break at the screws makes me think of really heavy pressure there.

I don't use mine much, but have seen no stress anywhere on the blades. Just scrapes all over them. I never push off, but swim foreward and then up.

 

[strangelove]

Howard

My friend was the one diving with it, I am not sure how tough he was, but the blade have less scratches then yours. I was wondering maybe the blade was cracked in the factory when they drilled the holes from the screws.

Do you think I should mail some kind of complain to special fins ?

Funny thing is he has also a pair of C4/30, the fiber glass fins broke before the carbon fiber. He is way tougher on the C4.

 

[cdavis]

Assuming the side rails were on the blade, its hard to see how enough force could have been put on the blade to break it there if the blade had nothing wrong with it. I'd talk to Specialfins. They have always been extremely good about standing behind their products.

 

[hteas]

I think you are right. Send SpecialFins the photo and see what they say. Mention my pair of BWs, your two pairs of hybrids, and Dirk's two pairs of BWs as evidence that we use their stuff. Maybe it will help.

 

[cdavis]

Jon, unirdna, me, must be 6 or 7 sets of Specialfin Blades.

 

[Jon]

I've only owned their monofins and had horrible luck trying to get them to cover anything under warranty- I have a whole thread about it on here somewhere.:head

I've been much harsher on my C4's- as they can take much more abuse than any of the Specialfins blades that I have seen. My advice is to contact them about a warranty replacement, but then buy a pair of Waterway's, or C4's, when they blow you off. :head

That may sound harsh, but that's just been my experience with them.

Jon

 

[strangelove]

I've sent them an email, I've had no reply yet. This one is out of warranty the warranty is just for the first year. This blade is 4 years old. I will let you all know.

 

[unirdna]

Juri is the man we did our business with. But, that was 5-6 years ago... I think he left the company a few years back. I own two pair of their fiber-plastic resin blades - one of the sets was one of the first ever shipped to the states. The blades don't even have any color or decals - plain white - and still my favorite. Set in sporasub pockets, there is no other fin that comes close (for me and my dolphin and frog kicking, spearo style).

The only issue I've ever had was when a tip of one of the fins got crused by the airline. I still don't know how they managed that, as it would have taken a ridiculous amount of force for them to crush the fin the way they did. But, an epoxy patch job made that fin as good as new. And it has held up (3-4 years) since that incident.

 

[strangelove]

Thanks for the reply, I've had no answer from special fins, so Jon was right once again.

I am sure the blades are high quality, hteas, has his for many years, that is what made me think about a factory problem, but based on their response (none), they don't give a penny about costumer satisfaction.

Interesting, my medium hybrid were damage the same way, the tip broke off, from airline miss handling.

 

[strangelove]

Happy ending on this one Special Fins sent me a new blade. I only payed for the shipping.

 

[sunfish]

Good for Specialfins. That's restored my faith in them. I use Specialfins blades all the time at the moment.(Hybrid pro medium/hard).

 

[strangelove]

Yes that was great

The medium hybrid is my favority fin.

 

[hteas]

Hopefully making that decision will get some new SpecialFins orders.

Despite using carbons (because of the fit of the Imersion footpocket) I remain attached to my SpecialFins BW specials after 5 years.They are the best option for almost everything.