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Extreme Dolfinism

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.
Azapa doesn't know it yet, but,for a duel in the Bahamas, my sling is much more effective than a pole spear.
Did an hours worth of testing today, switching back and forth from bifins to the x18. I don't think I'll be going back to bifins.

Connor

The shoes tighten down pretty well, and 5 mil socks would fill a lot of space. The power transfer is quite good, but the shoes do need to be snug.
 
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conner, azapa-Hope you guys get some dolphins. It should be amazing to swim with them with the dol- fin
 
azapa said:
Ron
... Can I buy *any* cycle shoes my size and just clip in? Are there recommended makes or styles?
Click to expand...

I use the RT-32 or WR-35 shoes from Shimano. Connor's X-18 Alpha prototype fin is not as refined as the X-20 and was only checked out for sizes 42 to 45. It is probably okay for interfacing to any of the Shimano sizes, but that is an un-validated guess.

Instead of fighting over one fin, you could order an X-20 for yourself. Then you could both swim together :duh
 
Brilliant solution! then I get to try the x20. . . . . . . Do we fight over who gets the x20?

But then...... its a very small boat, where the heck would I store both fins????
 
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Ron check out the "new" powerbreather on gizmag.com, looks alot like your idea hint hint.
 
It looks similar to my loop snorkel, but the function of this Powerbreather device is different. Powerbreather looks to be a one way flow system, so not sure how well it will purge when you get water in it.
 
I've been meaning to make a video to show people how they can make their own loop snorkel but haven't gotten around to doing it yet. It is hand made at present and not very conducive to me trying to sell as a product. However, I could afford to make a few if people are interested in it. My guess is about $65 on the price to carve out and make the snorkel for someone. If anyone is interested, let me know.

Ron
 
I just finished editing and uploading a new video from Hawaii. This is an edit of footage shot from Sunday freediving practice here on the big island. Each Sunday, the local divers meet to dive together, train and socialize. It is enormous fun and they are very welcoming to visiting freedivers, both domestic and foreign.

I take the cameras along on a line dive to show people what the sport is like. I had to limit the depth quite a bit as one of cameras in the video set is limited to 40m. However, that is still deep enough to get a feel for the free fall aspect of diving with the X-20, something Laminar wanted some illustration of to show for his pending X-20 fin review.

Cheers,
Ron

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCN5TT-9Vjk]DOL-Fin X-20 Monofin - Line Diving - YouTube[/ame]
 
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How much weight did you wear? Full lungs? Neutral depth?

Looks like an easy swim indeed.
 
Kars said:
How much weight did you wear? Full lungs? Neutral depth?
Click to expand...

This dive used full lungs, half of a 3mm #45 wetsuit and a 4 pound neck weight. Between the neck weight and wearing the top half of a wetsuit, my trim was completely unstable when shallow, but became controllable when I got deep enough. Deep enough had been below 30m, but the cameras actually helped a bit and it was feeling pretty good around 20m on this dive. Also, my neutral depth was at about 20 meters. Without the cameras in hand, I would have made a few more corrective inputs with the ankles to stay vertical using this unstable equipment configuration.

My suit/weight was far from an ideal configuration for performance, but I was trying to get in the water as fast as possible because I was running very late that day. Everyone else was already out there, and I wanted to get something done before it got too late they all came in. I swam out and did one warm-up dive, one target to grab some sand at 53m, and then did the dive to shoot this video. The batteries in the GoPro died within seconds of surfacing, so it turned into a one take video for my dual perspective dive. I had to shoot everything else with the Canon. Had they died 15 seconds earlier, I would not have had a complete dive recorded. I got lucky!
 
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The biggest problem of GoPro - it always dies in the worst possible moment, remember

Please shoot the video You told me about, just to motivate You let me say this - if You don't shoot it then I am stealing the idea this summer
 
Hi Revan and all
I see there has been a lot of progress in the development since I last checked the forum. That is some great news.
I love the X20 - started to save for the purchase.
Great work!!
 
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I was sceptical about this design, solely on the idea that I needed a large area to push more water as my Waterway does. However I have since used this fin twice in the ocean, diving over 50m on one of those occasions and once in the pool where I swum 4 x 100yds. (US measurements).
I was surprised and found the fin comparable to my Glide. In the pool with slight adjustment to my style and allowing for the difference between yds and metres, I was covering the distance in the same number of kicks. I am not ready to give up my Glide but I would like one of these fins in my toy box, and I am sure that fins have not reached the pinnacle of development and my experience with this fin has confirmed this.
 
Reactions: Kars

I was skeptical too at first which shows in this thread few pages before

It took me meeting Ron personally, seeing his fins in action, buying one and finally falling in love with X20
 

This is the open-water video I shot of Canetoad Films initial swim with the X-20 monofin. It is useful in that it shows an experienced monofin diver "feeling out" the fin for the first time and learning how it behaves compared to other monofins.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtKyn8pfVNY]Judge: DOL-Fin X-20 Monofin Trial - YouTube[/ame]
 
looks super efficient and fun to use. would love to also see some hydrotouring footage of it...
 
To all X20 users and I know there is quite a few now:

Did any of You experiment with different "trim plate" settings yet?

I am still to try trim plates #3 and #7, so far I am still using factory mounted #5. At higher speeds or stronger kick I can hear clicking sound which must be the blade hitting on trim plate. I know this is perfectly normal and I don't have a problem with that, just wondering if any of You tried different plates and what did it change?

Pete
 
nostres said:
Did any of You experiment with different "trim plate" settings yet? ...just wondering if any of You tried different plates and what did it change?
Click to expand...

The different trim settings account for differences in ankle flexibility, first and foremost. Second to that, swimming clean and streamline vs. dirty with spear equipment or large camera equipment may also effect which trim plate is optimum for you. The more flexible your ankles are and the more streamline you are, the larger number trim plate you are likely to want for optimal performance.

Also, here is another video from Hawaii. This is my latest dynamic performance using the DOL-Fin Orca. This one was slightly modified from stock configuration. I was experimenting with using X-20 components for the foil's suspension just to see how it would work on the Orca. It worked just fine.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64xBmjGZjRE]Ron Smith - 150m Dynamic - YouTube[/ame]
 
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