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cressi gara or salvimar turn 151..

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

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Jul 3, 2020
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hi all, first post in here.
need some freediving fins.
undecided whether to go for the cressi gara soft (grey) fins... or the salvimar turn 151.
i think these are both in an approx 100 euro budget...
i know the cressi are a safe bet, and have been recommended by almost everyone.. but me being me...
was wondering about the salvimar, if anyone has used.. how did they find them. curious to try as they are ultra soft / flexible and ...kinda got my attention more.

any input is appreciated, thanks in advance.
 

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I can't say anything about other fins than mine, cause so far my Leaderfins fiberglass in Pathos pockets (first fins) are going hard, taking lots of abuse spearfishing around pretty sharp rocks. The combo was about 150 euro.

About the stiffness, again I don't have any comparison, and brands vary enourmously within the same 'stiffness', but while the Medium leaderfins felt a little stiff at first (untrained ankles/legs), now that I did my share of spearing in current I wouldn't go any softer. Now how soft/stiff are LF-Medium...? Too hard will feel like wooden planks, too soft will not allow you to fight nature when you have to.

For brands, I searched around for a long time before finding the Pathos pockets. Cressi was way too narrow, Beuchat was just plain weird for my feet, Decathlon felt alien as well, SEAC felt good but I was too much inbetween sizes. Pathos was that *perfect fit* I was looking for, but they either come with $$$-carbon, or without blades, hence the Leaderfins blades.

To make my always-long chatter short: the most important imho is the fit of the footpocket. Only after that you should look at the stiffness as your legs wil adapt, and last is the material.
 
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Between those two, I would get the Salvimars. Because later on, you can change the blades with some carbon fiber or composite. As Leander said, make sure that the footpockets fit you well. It is a nightmare to swim with uncomfortable footpockets all day long.
 
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Between those two, I would get the Salvimars. Because later on, you can change the blades with some carbon fiber or composite. As Leander said, make sure that the footpockets fit you well. It is a nightmare to swim with uncomfortable footpockets all day long.


thanks, both of you.. ;)
 
Yep, those Cressis are very narrow. So if you have wide feet, like I do, you’ll be in trouble. I got cramps from them and since then, I treat foot pockets like masks and snorkels - don’t buy anything I haven’t tried on...


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I treat foot pockets like masks and snorkels [and suits, gloves, gun handles, knives... Basically everything in freediving/spearfishing.] - don’t buy anything I haven’t tried on...
Quoted as it doesn't hurt to be said twice in one thread. Also added some missing parts to it. :)

Pathos lists the inside measurements of their footpockets. Afaik they are the only ones doing that. Querying manufacturers for dimensions yields less results than searching for pink elephants on Antarctica. I still think for footpockets it would be a nice community effort to generate an inner-dimensions & fits-like list. Who knows, someday...
 
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Leaderfins are nice and well priced too. Give a look at them. They now have new footpockets that are very well designed.
 
Quoted as it doesn't hurt to be said twice in one thread. Also added some missing parts to it. :)

Pathos lists the inside measurements of their footpockets. Afaik they are the only ones doing that. Querying manufacturers for dimensions yields less results than searching for pink elephants on Antarctica. I still think for footpockets it would be a nice community effort to generate an inner-dimensions & fits-like list. Who knows, someday...

Yeah, I have actually used Pathos on my latest three sets of fins and they suit me well.
I used to have a list of foot pocket brands ordered from most narrow to widest - think I found it on an old thread here or somewhere else. Will try to look for it and repost if I find it.


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