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First Mono?

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.

Fondueset

Carp Whisperer
Jul 27, 2004
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I've allready got some good advice but I'd like to hear anything anyone might have to say about different brands, sizes, flexibility and all that. Looking for a good recreational freediving mono that will not cost me the remains of my soul.
 
If you don't mind cramped feet look into a Waterway fin- great performance and it won't break the bank. I have found the Specialfins monos to be the most comfortable- and if you could make it to this year's Freedive-A-Palooza I'd let you try out a couple of mine. ;)

I am pretty interested in some of these new monofins coming out of Russia, but actually getting your hands on one sounds to be quite the task!:head

Jon
 
I second Jon's advice. I went SpecialFins as comfort is my main priority for a recreational fin....
 
I'd heard finis were more comfortable - and maybe leaderfins as well - but I'll take a look at specialfins. Can I ask you guys what models you have - and it what level of firmness?

I'd love to make it to Freedive-a-palooza. However if I leave home again this soon I'll return to a smoking crater and sniper fire.
 
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If you are rich - Specialfins coloured fin, medium blade unless you have super strong legs, if you do, hard blade

If you are reasonably well off - Specialfins Dolphin, as above

If you are cash strapped - Waterway, medium blade or hard if you have strong legs.


I have a Waterway hard blade, a waterway medium blade and now I dive mostly in a Specialfins Dolphin Hard Blade - the footpockets are lined with neoprene (unlike Waterway but you could do it yourself) and are VERY comfortable.

most of the newbies in my club end up with with Specialfins Coloured Fin as it is the easiest to get hold of.

Fins I have had problems with - Briere, too soft and the footpockets fell off, Matmas - too plastic

Fins lots of people like but I don't - Guidone - loads of people swear by them but I find them too soft and not effective enough as the water slides off the edges.

Hope that helps.

Leaderfins are almost exactly the same as Specialfins, in fact I think one stole the others idea but not sure which way around!
 
I was looking at the Dolphin - primary is comfort. I know Eric F has a custom blade that is 90cm wide - I'm thinking maybe of getting it a bit wider than the stock 72
 
Jon may chime in here but I believe he got the Dolphin from Specialfins and had to trade it in for a Freedive mono carbon as it was hurting his feet too much.

I love the Omer footpockets on the SpecialFins Freedive Monofin Carbon, I could sleep in them.

And they are not really all that expesive when you think your getting a hand built carbon fibre fin.
 
If you go for a special fins go for the carbon model. The white or blue fins are the worst performing blade in any monofin I have seen and tried. The fibreglass is just not quite right, it has a bit of a rubbery or plastic like response. The old school yellow fibreglass fins are way better. The special fins carbon's are awesome though, tempted to buy one but have just spent some bucks on some leaderfins mono's. :)
For recreational freediving definitely go for the Omer footpockets.

Waterway fins are great for the buck, good performance but finswimming footpockets are not the most comfortable. They make 3 stiffnesses, Long Distance, Middle and Sprint. The Middle distance is actually quite stiff, at least a Hard in the Special fins scale. I actually use the Long distance for dynamics. The Sprint fin is way to hard for freediving! :t

Cheers,
Wal
 
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I agree with Wal, the plastic Special fins deform over time and become quite wonky.

If you make any special custom requests of Special Fins make sure you send them a diagram or something, because when I asked for a custom fin they got it completely wrong and never sent me the fin I ordered.

I hope their customer service has improved in the last year. Leaderfins seems also eager for business and seems to offer a wide product range.

I would always err on the side of a softer monofin for recreational diving. The fin I use for recreational diving is a little too stiff. My preferred fin broke :waterworks two years ago and I haven't brought myself to replacing it yet.

If you aren't sure about stiffness, ask the manufacturer to give you a thickness measurement for each layer. I know that Waterway can do this and you can compare fin stiffness that way, although it's not perfect.

Diving recreationally with a mono is so much fun once you get used to it. :) You can read my Monofin Freediving 101 article again to get past the clumsy stages that are inevitable at first.

Have fun!

Pete


Pete
 
Great thread everybody! Keep posting opinions. I get to what I think is a decision - then somebody throws another opinion in the pot.

Pete - watching the video I took of you I was most impressed by your economy of motion. I've noticed the energy expenditure even small movements involve during some of my longer dives taking pictures of difficult to approach fish. Just turning your head can cost you quite a bit.

So far I'm getting the waterway foot pockets are too be avoided - otherwise they are a good deal. Eric F mentioned he thinks open heel is definitely the way to go - and it sounds like soft or medium blades at the hardest. Finis and Leaderfins are leading the pack right now.
 
The Waterway pockets cramped my feet- but I may have bought them too large, I was trying to get a thicker sock in them, and they just hurt so much after only 15 minutes that I couldn't go on.:waterwork

I have also tried the Finis footpockets in a pool, on a small training monofin, and found them to be fairly comfortable for an openheel style of footpocket- but for the price of one of their fins you could get something else much nicer.

My first Special Fins monofin was the blue, "colored" one with the OMER footpockets on it. It is comfortable enough to wear for more than 4 hours- my longest dive day with it so far. The blade is rather soft, even though I have the "hard" version, and didn't have the same snap as my Waterway fin. Still, it was, and still is, very comfortable to wear for long periods of time.

I decided to upgrade to carbon this year and first decided to try the Dolphin carbon, since Martin used to use this fin and Sam said that she found the footpockets to be very comfortable. Of course once I tried it in the pool couple of times my feet were worn to a pair of bloody stumps!:crutch

SpecialFins was nice enough to exchange it for me and I decided to upgrade to the Full Freediving Carbon monofin. I think that If I had the dolphin footpockets on a very soft blade I might have been able to make them work- since they didn't cramp up my feet like the Waterway footpockets did. I had them attached to a super stiff carbon blade and there was no "give" to them at all- so the skin on my feet gave instead.:(

The latest fin, which if my favorite so far, has a great kick to it and is super comfortable. I have the carbon blade, with an angle to it, which is really snappy, but I think it's the footpockets that made a bigger difference overall. I sent them a pair of Sporasub pockets, which just happen to fit my feet better than OMER's, and had them build the fin around them. They even knocked off some cash since I sent in my own footpockets!:cool: The fin fits so well, and hasn't given me any "hotspots" so far, that I simply love it.

So that's what I've learned so far. I would say that if you go with a traditional, openheel, mono to error on the side of too soft rather than too stiff. I still would like to try out one of these Andropov fins, but have no idea how comfortable the woud be once you've been in the water for a couple of hours?:confused:

Jon
 
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Leapin lizards! Thats alot of fins :) I do find the omer footpockets really comfortable - but I've heard the open heel ones transmit energy better.
 
Dammit. Now you've got me looking at the specialfins carbon.. I'm also leaning toward the known comfort of Omer footpockets - though I have some sporas I could send along too. Jon - it looks like the blade angle might make these a little easier to work with, particularly on the surface - any comments?

Heres the scoop - in addition to wanting a mono after watching Brianna, Eric F and Pete, my daughter also really wants one. Moreover we've been invited to dive with a bunch of scubies in September and take pictures of some politicians who will be there - possible including the governor. I was invited because of my u/w picture site - but this will also be a chance to give freediving some exposure - and if I can get a mono together before then I think it would make a big impression. We'll be diving the wreck toward the bottom of my michigan picture site.
 
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Very Cool, Chris! that would be awesome if you and Claire pick up some monos. I'm just not sold on the full footpocket thing, with the huge rubber wing/mould stuff. Ideally (i'd pick up the mat-mas build your own monofin kit) a finis competitor, from somewhere in north america.
[ame="http://forums.deeperblue.net/showthread.php?t=16669"]Monofin divers????[/ame] -an oldie, but a goodie

Small: http://www.bodytrends.com/store/product.asp?Product_Code=PMR6S&Category_Code=BT09-06
All other sizes: http://www.swimoutlet.com/product_p/2184.htm

The angle on that carbon is interesting. I wonder if it cracks if you stand on it? Can you attach finis footpockets to it?
Anyways, look forward to hearing about your experiences, Chris and Claire :)
 
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I've been looking at a couple of leaderfins models - they use the omer footpockets and have an angled blade. The angle - supposedly, enables you to straighten your legs more. This would be logical if it works - because they are most efficient closer to full extensions I think. Anyway - as with regulard fins it seems it would make them a little easier to work with on the surface as well. Eric F likes the finis; according to him the open heel is more efficient and the finis are more comfortable than the waterways. - I've been edging toward the omer pockets because I know they are comfy. Still on the fence!
 
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Hi Chris,

Open heel is more efficient, IMHO, unless perhaps if you have one of the closed heel custom Russian monos that seem to have a moulded footpocket, though the FINIS while comfortable and stable, is rather large and heavier than Waterway's footpocket.

The Omer/Sporasub footpocket monos are more comfortable and much warmer in general than the open heel versions, but you do sacrifice performance and slippery feel in a big way. I've tried a few Special Fins fins and the Omer footpockets give the fin a heavy drag feeling and less control. I don't like the feel of them.

However, that being said, if your goal is to make lots of dives in relative comfort and warmth to recreational depths, especially in the colder months, I would go with whichever closed heel footpocket fits you the best.

I've learned that with the FINIS footpocket I should only keep it on for 45 min max before taking the fin off and letting blood return to my toes. In winter, 30 minutes is pushing it. It's just a matter of poor circulation. However, in summer, I don't wear any socks and it fits perfectly and I'm not aware of the footpocket being attached to my feet. But summer is so fleeting here and even less so in Michigan, I imagine, so in that sense I wouldn't recommend an open heel footpocket for you and Claire.

So, I would recommend using your favourite bi fin footpockets and finding a good blade.

Carbon is lovely, but relatively fragile, especially if you get a softer blade. I think the difference between carbon and fiberglass is not so great, especially if you are not a competitive diver. So the price may not be worth it if you are buying two fins. But you definitely do not want to get a stiff blade. It will really hurt your feet and make your technique crappy. The reason I mention this is I feel that most people who buy carbon get one with a blade that is too stiff for their size/weight. Not sure why, but I see it a lot.

I would opt for a long distance thickness to be safe. If you ask for the thickness profile of any fin you are thinking of ordering I can give you a rough estimate of the stiffness. Of course, what works for you, may not work for Claire, since she weighs less, I would imagine.

It is possible to get a blade that is too soft. It shouldn't deform in the water too much because of incidental motion. Look for a telltale sideways ripple.

If only there was a formula for determining the optimal blade! Believe me, I've thought about this for years! :duh

I'm happy to help you approximate the stiffness of any fins you're looking at with your weight and diving style in mind.

Pete
 
Outstanding! I have been looking at the leaderfins - with the angle and full pocket as mentioned. The objective being, if need be, to sacrifice a little performance for comfort and versatility. Here we pretty much allways need socks - it's possible to go without them but the temperatures vary dramatically with depth and wind. Today, for example, I needed the hood on my 3 mil - otherwise the edges of my ears got cold. Of course they would adjust but with significant heat loss. Water was probably in the upper fifties near the surface (F). That's with a south wind - it's shifted now and I'll be surface temps will approach 70f tomorrow.

I have the impression the open heel fins must fit very tight to be effective. I can picture the problem there - trying to cleanly transmit force to such a large surface area. I've still some ruminatin' to do on the subject. I'll talk with leaderfins about how 'soft is soft'. I've been having a good dialogue with them. Since I got my Omer Ice fins - which are softer than my sporasubs - I'm more of a fan of softness. They are much easier to control and more fun to swim with for long periods of time.

As I move toward decision time I may ping you more on the subject - thanks!
 
I was out on Lake Michigan yesterday and while the surface temps werein the high 50's it was 41 degrees on the bottom- so some type of sock is always needed.

Chris, what size foot do you have? If you pay the shipping I could be talked into sending my blue mono, with the OMER pockets, over to you for a couple of weeks to try out. You'll have to wait until after Freedive-A-Palooza this weekend for me to send it. That monofin has size 42-44 pockets on it.

Jon
 
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