THIS IS A MONSTER THREAD, BUT DAMN FINE WITH IT!
MY FAVOURITE TOPIC ! :king
Have I ranted about this before?
This thread started of as a comparison and that's what I'm going to bring it back to by adding my own take on fins, finning and a serious lump of cash that has brought me full circle to an unexpected pair of fins that doesn't seem to have been mentioned. Firstly, my list of fins that I have owned (many, many), or used (a few more) with a note for each.
Everyone knows that fibre is better than plastic, so I won't rant about that. Likewise carbon is too brittle for spearing which puts us into fibreglass/fibreplastic fins are best for spearing and carbon are best for deep freediving.
For my sins, I have had:
Sporasub Cruise - use 'em for hockey, use 'em for swimming down the river, but not for deep diving.
Mares Power quattro - Ditto
Nemod spearing fins - a joke
Cressi Rondine Garas - OK footpockets that take any blade, out of production
Cressi 2000HF - fine with no socks, crap with socks, too stiff for elegant freediving
Cressi 2000LD - Ditto, but less stiff
Picasso black team - don't think much of the footpockets and they are too stiff
Picasso twisters - insanely stiff and a daft shape
Sporasub plastics (various stiffnesses) - one of the best plastic fins
Sporasub radicals - soft but efficient
Sporasub Pure (original corrugated) - nice
Sporasub pure (new model) too stiff and unstable
Mares attack - unstable
Mtechnic medium - nice
Mtechnic Hard - perfect for deep
C4 (old) - too stiff
C4 - 25, 30, 40 - ditto to above
Omer carbon (old) - way too stiff (same as old C4s)
Omer carbon (new) - too stiff, but better
Stiffness: It looks like I keep thinking all fins are too stiff, but I AM NOT A WEAKLING!
It is due to oxygen efficiency with finning especially at the surface, and due to blade mechanics of certain fin designs. I too like the feeling of power you get with a stiff fin - my Twisters were insanely stiff and I could have dragged boats around with them
but they were by no means oxygen efficient (and failed on other accounts too, until some little nimrod stole them....
...but all was not lost, I got the money back on insurance
)
Blade mechanics - blades either bend in a smooth arc in which case it doesn't really matter how fast you kick, and stiffer fins work OK, although they are less O2 efficient; or tfins bend just after the toes like the sporasub type do. Most people don't like these second kind of fins much as they feel weak when you first get them, but people appreciate that they are going at a reasonable speed with little effort. However when you kick harder - they don't respond. Under load, a hard kick does nothing and so people freak out at depth. I did one of the first times I was down at 20m with a 9kg weightbelt on!
The difference with these fins is that they work very differently when you fin fast, as the blade then bends along the length, not just after the footpockets. You suddenly get an amazing increase in power and still maintain reasonable oxygen efficiency without burning your legs too badly.
So having owned about 20 pairs of fins for freediving, I now have settled on 2:
1 stock pair of Mtechnic hard bladed fins with tight footpockets (for non-spearing)
1 adapted pair of Mares Attack with slightly loose pockets so I can wear thick socks in the winter (for spearing).
Why the attacks, when they weren't good to start with....because they had potential!
This is how and why I have changed the Attacks (I wish I had a digicamera):
1) The colour is no good for spearing. I orignally covered them in camouflage tape. Despite being matt coloured the tape was reflective underwater and they ended up as fish scaring devices. I then realised I could sand them and then spray them with polycarbonate paint (like you get for Radio controlled cars). Works a treat - they are now matt and dark - I couldn't be bothered making them camo - as it always seems to look weird.
2) Wiggling and rails: These are rally unstable fins (like many others are) since it often easier for the blade to move through the water in a zig-zag, than in a straight line. If you have perfect technique, this is no longer a problem, but when spearing, technique needs to be constantly adjusted according to which contorted body position you are in. So.....I made rails for them, just like the mtechnics and C4s have. This works a treat, and stops the cracking sound when you bash them on rocks etc.
3) Footpockets - sporasubs or omers - Nothing else comes far enough up the bridge of the foot to enable the fin to stay on when in surf etc. and to ensure that the stress goes onto the ankle and not the footbridge. That way you can wear thick socks in winter and still retain the fin at depth and you can kick all day.
4) Stiffness - I've explained how these kind of blades differ from the constant arc blades, but not how stiff they are. Essentially these are about the same stiffness as the Mtechnic Hards that I have. They are notcieably stiffer than the Sporasub Radicals and when they don't have rails are very unstable under load. The rails stiffen them a tad more make them rock steady.
OK - so not eveyone can be bothered doing this to a pair of fins, and I know that one day there will be an even better pair of fins on the market - but for now, I am finally happy with my fins ! They are mega tough and efficent
So, to summarise - after a long and expensive pilgrammage, I have finally stuck with two pairs of fins that work in different ways for the two disciplines of breathold diving.
So, who disagrees then?
Ben
