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buying my first CF fins...need advice please

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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J

Joe7

New Member
Apr 15, 2013
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Hi..i would like to buy my 1st CF fins, i used to dive with a plastic fins before but now, i would like to invest in a good quality CF fins to improve my diving performance..normally, i used to dive less than 20metres and most of the times i'll be around 5~10metres. what stiffness is suitable for me, i'm planning to buy a Specialfins Hybrid fins. Is soft fins is ok for me? my height is 173cm and 78f kg of weight. is CF fins is ok for beginner like me?
Thanks in advance for any of your help.

 
I recently purchased a Moana fins, and am delighted with them.

Moana Waterman | Free Diving Carbon Fins

They are my first carbon fiber fins, so I have no personal basis for comparison, but a lot of people who have used other brands say that they are the best. They have become so popular in California that the manufacturer was out of stock until recently.

I bought the medium stiffness, and they are probably appropriate for your style of diving. If you were diving to 30 meters and were very large, then you might want the medium stiff, but the medium should do fine for you. I weigh about 90 kg and so far have taken the fins to about 15 meters, and they have plenty of power to get me off the bottom.

The manufacturer, JD Neiman, will be glad to discuss your needs with you. Send him an email.
 
Thanks bill for the advice,any other suggenstions from other members?
 
Go with soft to medium on the hybrids. I have medium fiberglass blades from SpecialFins and really like them. I ahve tried hybrids once. The stiff hybrids slowed down both of us who tried them. Surface swimming was the real problem, but they work well enough for depth.
The other thing to consider is the footpockets you will use. Omer Milleniums and Picasso pockets tend to have rigid side ribs. These stiffen up any blade. My SpecialFins are in Dessault pockets, which are pretty much middle of the road for stiffness.
 
Thanks for the reply..i'm planning to take soft or medium, in omer stigray footpocket..but still not sure which stiffness will suit me in my diving style. I love to dive for in a long time(3-4hours), do you think soft is ok for me for my diving style as some of my friend suggest this.
 
I apologize for missing the point. If I had read more carefully, I would have seen that you were not looking for a recommendation for CF fins. You have already picked SpecialFin hybrid fins, and its just a matter of which stiffness.
 
I've used them in med stiffness in Omer Stingray pockets and they only really bend after the tendons, on the stingray.

I think they'd be great in med on a footpocket with softer tendons than the stingray - AKA most!
 
Having never been close to a pair of Stingrays, I can't respond. My old Omer Milleniums are rigid out to the tip of the ribs, so even soft blades would not bend much until that point.
They were never a real problem with the medium SpecialFins BWS blades, but changing to the Dessault footpockets where they live now did make them friendlier.
 
Last Friday I dove with a guy who had Omer Skorpio CF blades in Omer pockets. If there are various Omer pockets, I'm afraid I don't know which one he had.

But anyway, when he got back to the boat at our last stop, I loaned him my Moana blades in Pathos pockets. He dropped to the 45 foot bottom twice and said he couldn't believe the difference. He said he was going to try to sell the Omers so he could buy the Moanas.
 
Joe7 said:
is CF fins is ok for beginner like me?
Click to expand...

I really wouldn't worry about CF fins if you're mainly diving 5-10m. I'm sure there are worse things to spend money on and they certainly won't make you worse, but in my opinion they're mostly an expensive placebo. If it was me I'd be spending the cash on a good suit and/or diving opportunities.
 
If you swim long distances, I would for sure go for CF fins but soft. Have look leaderfins? Very good unexpensive fins.
 
I just want to second Mullins' advice. Plastic fins are so good now, as well as less expensive and more durable. I have a pair of Mares Razor. They are working great for the depths I am diving to right now (up to 40m). I have heard of people diving to 70m with standard plastic fins.I also have a pair of CF, but they are currently sitting on a shelf in wait for more depth (when I get the time to train). Your money are better spent on other stuff, as Mullins points out.
 
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You will notice how good CF fins are when you are wearing them for a month and change back to plastic.
 
Anybody here is using a soft fins ?doesn't matter what the fins is made, plastic, f/glass or carbon..
can you please share your experience with it?what is your diving style, your weight/ height as i believe it'll help me to estimate the fin performance.
will it troubles me if i want to go deeper in the next time and waste my energy during dive, as i believe i'll need to do more kicks with the soft fin compared to the stiffer fin.
Thanks
 
I just bought my first carbon fins, the c4 falcons. If you look at the reviews on the Internet you will c that they are really loved praised. They are a bit pricey but if you ask me they are totally worth it. Using carbon is a big difference compared to plastic ( that's my personal opinion). I'm 187 weight 83 kilos. I bought my c4's with 30 stiffness. They have 25-30 and 40 in stiffness. I barely feel them when I swim.

But there are also other great carbon fins out there. Just be sure you pic a fin that's compatible with a good foot pocket that fits your foot.

Good luck.


Best regards Youbuur
--------------------------------------------
Check out my freediving channel on youtube. Tutorials on freediving and gear reviews

[ame]http://youtu.be/SpViW1mX8Ak[/ame]
 
You might want to pay attention to what Mullins is saying. he is a multiple world record holder, and deep spreafisherman. He did some fin tests a ffew years ago that are of some interest
http://forums.deeperblue.com/general-freediving/75390-cheap-fins-expensive.html
Following his lead, I have been using soft-medium fins, and have had no trouble getting back from 40 m.
Currently I use Imersion carbons. The reasons I do are:
1)they fit really well, so I can get them on even in the middle of winter
2) they don't change stiffness when cold (a problem with plastic blades in really cold water)
Otherwise I'd be using my backups: Mako plastic blades in Dessault pockets.
 
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