Looking for some new markets to open up to you ? I consider your price reductions without compromising quality to be your best avenue to new markets, your current fins to my eye are the equal of anything out there aesthetically , stick these photos of the pilot on your website as they look substantially better then the prototype pilot photos.
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Extreme Dolfinism G2
- Thread starterREVAN
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
, There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
@Chipswim
The story needs to include enough details that the reader can follow the journey of how you made the transition of having a bad introduction to monofins, to making a decision to purchase a Leaderfin (and what you actually purchased, as Leaderfins makes several types of monofin). Why a Leaderfin, and not a WaterWay or other? Pictures are always a nice addition.
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If anyone has a story they would like to share on how they came to purchase their first monofin, how that worked out and how their monofin choices have evolved over time, I think this would be appreciated and enjoyed.
The story needs to include enough details that the reader can follow the journey of how you made the transition of having a bad introduction to monofins, to making a decision to purchase a Leaderfin (and what you actually purchased, as Leaderfins makes several types of monofin). Why a Leaderfin, and not a WaterWay or other? Pictures are always a nice addition.
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If anyone has a story they would like to share on how they came to purchase their first monofin, how that worked out and how their monofin choices have evolved over time, I think this would be appreciated and enjoyed.
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The Pilot2 is very similar to the Pilot. The main difference, to my eye, is that the Pilot is anodized and the Pilot2 prototype is not. To you, what looks substantially better about the Pilot2? Is it the color choice for the anodizing on the Pilot, or is it the different shoe choice on the Pilot2?
I see... The story you'd like is the interface with the industry.... After the dolphin thing I thought I'd have to make something better than the Finis I had tried. Looking into it I found there was a highly developed sport of mono fin racing mostly in eastern europe. I saw one of those videos where the racers dive from the blocks and create a tidal wave before the group heading down the pool then flip turn and head back like no one I'd ever seen or even imagined. There was a photo of one of them holding a Leader racing style monofin. That's what I wanted.... To swim like that! There was a phone number for a leader rep in Florida. Called him. He was so nice and encouraging and full of fascinating details. I wanted whatever he thought would be the best. Also ordered a set of their long fins. The order was to be filled by hand making one for me... I think in Croatia? It took six months to come which crept by incredibly slowly. Enjoyed a couple more conversations with him reassuring me it was in the process then on the way.
Everyone in here knows how thrilled I was when it finally came. It was gorgeous! So potent looking I thought and the details of my name and country flag boldly displayed on the surface made me feel like I was a pro or at least mistaken for a pro before I even put it on! It seemed to forgive or erase a lot of my swimming inefficiencies. I did swim more like a dolphin. Since then I've felt under equipped...almost naked if I don't have a nice monofin to swim with..... Then Deeper Blue opened access to the other enthusiasts and their applications.
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So, in a way, it sounds like your impetus was the video of the finswimmers. Can we then correlate your monofin enthusiasm to the online creation of YouTube and the sharing of videos/information without boarders? Without YouTube, might you still be swimming the crawl stroke?...
Can anyone else trace their initial interest in monofins back to YouTube?
Pilot2 Update - I've settled the design for the Pilot2 monofin with the Look cycling shoe interface, and I've started the process of making a few initial beta test units.
Pilot2 Update - I've settled the design for the Pilot2 monofin with the Look cycling shoe interface, and I've started the process of making a few initial beta test units.
In my case it was a photo of a freediver in the British Freediving Association's magazine back in the late 90's which I picked up from their stand at the London Dive Show. I was captivated both by the simplicity of freediving, in stark contrast to all the technical shmechnicals of scuba all around me and the monofin, well it just looked right... you know what I mean?
In spite of that it still took me another 10 years or so before I took up freediving and I've always wanted a monofin. With a following wind my thirst will soon be slaked.
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@divebike
Haven't heard from you regarding your opinion on the look of the Pilot vs. the Pilot2. I'm interested to know your opinions.
Yea sorry, I was asking myself at the time I wrote it why these images look cooler to me , I knew they were pretty much the same design, I hadn't looked back at your site to check the exact differences, it might be partly the supersized images and background display the fin better, but I think it must mostly be the bare metal look, in real life side by side I might find them equally impressive looks wise but I remember coming across the pilot on your website and not having my socks blown off , you know , nice fin cheaper as well ,all good , but not really any spectacular looking images. An anodised surface is very professional looking up close, in your images on your site even though I expected it was aluminium the pilot looked a little cheaper and weaker looking in the images shown ,the aluminium parts looked like they might have been plastic , the orca photos you've shared on this site have been equally impressive, now we're only talking aesthetics and impressions here but you know they matter. I'm guessing your anodising those parts for corrosion resistance, the fin definitely looks better in the anodised colour however.
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What colors of anodizing do you folks think would look most impressive on the Pilot? I've been using the two-tone black and gold, because I thought it was the best looking gender neutral color combination that has something bright and visible from the surface by reflected light on both the top and bottom of the fin. Other colors generally available at the anodizing shop are white/silver, blue and red.
The fin blades will be black.
The fin blades will be black.
I've not seen recent examples of the reds and blues but my recollection is that anodizing in those colours doesn't come off as well as black or silver. As far as the silver/white goes if it is similar to the Alodine, in that it shoes-up the swirly buffing of the aluminium underneath then I wouldn't like that. The gold looks good in the original product shots.
In short; I'd go with either all black or the black and gold. If I was pushed towards a colour then I'd say blue.
You don't have any pictures of swatch samples or a website that shoes them, do you?
Question... seeing as there's been some discussion of spearfishing with monofins on this thread, would flashy gold or silver/white be a nuisance for spearfishing?
Thats a good question. Maybe Cdavis has an educated opinion on that. It is possible it could attract the fishes, like a flashy lewer.
I have this vision now of irate spearos with no fish in site because their sparkly monofin has attracted all of them, in a cloud around their fin, behind the diver!
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Thank you Philip for this idea! I'll kickstart the first rearview mirror for monofinning/spearfishing, and then become filthy rich. [emoji16]
Both you and Chipswim seem to have been attracted to monofins from videos of finswimmers racing. I find that to be significant. The races are visually stunning to watch.
I'd like to know if anyone was originally attracted to monofins from seeing them in freediving videos. If so, what did the video show to make it visually impressive? What do people think of some of my DOL-Fin Orca and X-20 videos? Do any of them have what it takes to get that interest level up? What would make them more invigorating?
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On another subject, I did my final swim test with the Pilot2 before completing the initial beta test units for the crowdfunding supporters. All the parts are already cut, and I bent and completed the baseline production prototype to calibrate the metal brake for repeatable bending operations. Tomorrow, I will complete the bending operations on the other frames and they will be ready for anodizing.
The test swim felt very good and I'm really liking the Pilot2. This monofin is going to be a very good combination of affordability, comfort, performance and utility. I've made some nice structural improvements over the first Pilot design from last summer, improvements that were enabled from the Look interface of the shoes. This fin is good enough that I think I'm going to make Pilot2 a regular product. If all goes well, it should be available sometime this Spring.