First Set of longfins??? (HELP)

[Amphibious]

first off....

I've been Spearfishing for many years (persian gulf) and have been getting into freediving seriously the last few years. I have two problems:

One: NO BUDDIES! No one in Ottawa, Canada, or Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia is a freediver, or that I can dig up anyways.

Two: Have never used a pair of long fins and have no way to demo any.


I've been freediving with my Idea3 fins for years and would like to see what a set of long fins can do for me. I've found various Mailorder places where i can get Cressi Gara's, Sporasub PureCarbon, and some various others. I'll be practicing in the pool, diving clearlakes in Ontario, and hunting in sand/reef enviroments in the Persian Gulf. Am I going to buy carbons and break them the next day or get a set of Gara's and find them sub par for deeper competion/hunting stuff?

I guess buying both would be hard on my bank account and screw up my practice? (I've been told there is different style between carbon and plastic.)

again some problems maybe you can help me with:

I have no way to demo any fins or even see them, so choosing is going to be a pain at best

I have 10.5 - 11 size wide, flat feet, and I don't want to order a fin and have it not fit.

I'm in Canada and don't want to pay half of the fin price in duty & brokerage fees (oh canada.....), so I'm looking at fins available from Diversinn (scubastore.com) and Simply Scuba (simplyscuba.com) as i can pick them up while in middle east. (unless someone knows some other online stores)

I can hold my breath in a pool for 5:00mins+ but am somehow lacking the power for dves (openwater) over 75+ feet with my good'ol scuba fins. It's time for big fins.......


Thanks for any help!

 

[andrsn]

opinion

here's a suggestion,

get an interchangeable system. either picasso or omer. it sounds like you have some experience in the leg department so the suggestion of the gara ld's has left my mind.

personally, i'd go with omer. the blades are cheap and the footpockets are pretty rugged and firm. email mark laboccetta at omerus@mindspring.net and ask him for some advice. i'm sure he could hook you up with a dealer over there in europe if need be.

i've outgrown my garas. they seem like playtoys to me now. i love my omers. i've got plastic milleniums, millenium competitions, and the carbon pro blades. they're fantastic except the carbon blades don't do well with dolphin kicks.

good luck,
anderson

 

[Amphibious]

I had a dealer in Montreal i was dealing with about some omer fins last year (yes I've been trying to get fins that long!) but it never panned out.

I'll email your bud as I've head good things about Omer.

The Omer Carbons are WAY out of this poor students price range, but the Sporasub Pure Carbons are a good deal from Diversinn, and at their price I could buy a set of carbons for comp/deep stuff and get another softer pair for when I'm hunting.

Ideas?

Willer

 

[andrsn]

sporasub pure carbon's are definitely not for hunting. and when you say "softer pair", do you mean softer carbon? the pure's are very soft and flexible as it is.

the sporasub radicals are much more durable for hunting, if you're looking for an inexpensive carbon. there are a few people here who have the radicals, personally i don't.

i'd ask mark for a set of footpockets and two sets of blades, the regular milleniums and then the competitions. tell him you're on a student's budget and are trying to find a way to not waste your money the first go-round. if you ever want to upgrade to carbon, you can just buy the blades, either C4 or Omer. (i think the C4's will fit in the omer boot, i might be wrong )

bon chance

 

[sturgeon]

Carbon Fins

Amphibious,

I wouldn't discount carbons as an all around spearfishing fin, unless you plan on diving shallow (30 ft) with them. I live in S. FL where we spend most of the day from 50 ft and deeper and all I wear are carbon fins. I like the OMER Carbon Pro's the best but I understand that you're on a student's budget. OMER has another type of long blade fin that is clear. I haven't tried them yet but I do have a pair on the way. They are made from plastic (so priced as such) but have a reactivity more indicative of carbon. They had some durability problems with the original version but they have a new prototype out or on the way that everything has supposedly been fixed on. Like Andersn said, talk to Mark Loboccetta and I'm sure he can tell you what the scoop is. If your heart's set on picking up a cheap pair of good carbon fins consider C4's over the Sporasub Pure's, as I've read here on the Forum that the Sporasub's have the tendency to break easily. You can get a set of C4 Falcon 30 blades (medium stiffness) from Europe for only about $150 US. I use and abuse both the C4's and OMER Carbon Pro's every weekend for spearfishing and have had both fins for about 2 years now with no problems (except that you have to glue portions of the side rails back on eventually). As for foot pockets I like the new OMER Millennium pockets. They fit me well, are comfortable, and have a stiff bottom plate for good energy transfer. I put all my blades in Millennium pockets.

Scott Turgeon
West Palm Beach, FL

 

[icarus pacific]

For a first pair of longfins, don't bother looking at carbon.

Using the plastic blades will allow you to refine your kicking style without blowing your bank account and give you a baseline when you feel ready to try the carbons. I agree the OMER's are great fins if you can fit your foot in em.

sven

 

[scott]

first longfins

I agree with Sven that starting off with plastics (along with a limited budget) is the way to go.

Tough to beat the diveinn.com prices for the Cressi Gara's HF ($60 US) or LD ($55 US).

Scott

 

[andrsn]

like i said, my original thoughts were to go with the cressis, but i think his learning curve would be pretty steep in longblades, hence the reason for interchangeable blade system.

sturgeon... have the millenium ice's come out?

andrsn

 

[Amphibious]

So the Pure carbons are noodley? thats really unfortunate, they're such a good price (I'm a sucker for a good deal)

when I was talk about about a softer pair I ment a gereral use and abuse, something for playing around when I'm not going up and down a line training. And keep a good pair for line work, I'd like to start competing/get serious about this stuff. (been doing that for years with my scuba fins and the best I can get is 120ft. very disapointing).

Are the omer foot pockets narrow? something I heard "back in the day", and I got wide feet. my other option is going with an open heel. I'm told this is a no-no and the style police will arrest me ;-)

The gara's look good, and I really enjoyed using the MasterFrogs once upon a time, they're made from the same material?

Thanks again, you guys kick ass

Willer

 

[icarus pacific]

Hey, if you can get to 120 w/regular fins, you're doing real well; I dare say better than most here... but don't get me into a discussion of just going deep and then back up. It's what you do while you're there that counts.

Going with a plastic blade and I'm thinking of the OMER Ice's would be a very nice compromise and they'd take the beating of being the general pair. And bugger the style police- I have to wear open heel fins- Esclapez and I like 'em. The don't squeak, they don't oil can and they stay put. For my work around the bottom here in No Cal, they're holding up real well.

Anderson- the Ice's are out. Sweet...

sven

 

[Amphibious]

120 was only once, and I came up with tunnel vision, scared the shit'outa poor old me!

Is it just me or do the ice look short.....


The gara's are the only fins I'll be able to size, as there are a couple dive shops here that cary smaller cressi footpocket fins....


Willer

 

[scott]

Amphibious,

Didn't know you were already hitting 120' - certainly the LD's and probably the HF's may not be enough fin for you.

I just got my Sporasub Pure Carbons yesterday and will be trying them out this weekend. I have only used plastic fins before (Picasso BT and Esclapez Black) so am curious to find out the difference. I'll let you know.

Scott

 

[andrsn]

sven,

the ice's won't be out for another month. 10 blades came into the states from italy for testing only. that's what eddie told me. i just got off the phone with him.

i'mma waitin!

...................................
willer,

how tall/heavy are you? if you're over 180lbs and are a bit strong in the leg department, i feel the gara hf's will be too weak for you too soon. otherwise they should be fine.
andrsn

 

[Amphibious]

I'm 5'9 , 180lbs and my legs are pretty strong, or they usually are, stupid winter and beer.... :head

I haven't done any serious freediving for over a year, so I'm prepping to get my ass kicked at the start of this summer.

so maybe it's all back to the Gara's....


Willer

 

[andrsn]

then i think the gara HF's will do fine. i'm 6'1, 195 and the gara hf's became a bit to soft for me. i love them for any type of traversing on top of the water, but not for up and down. i see alot of competitors are using them though. maybe they're good for strictly freediving, but when you're playing tug-of-war with 50# amberjack, you wish you had something stiffer. (shut up sven :naughty )

good luck,
andrsn

 

[sturgeon]

OMER Ice

It looks like I got lucky and one of those 10 pairs of testing Ice fins is coming my way. I'll let you guys know what I think. Right now I only wear carbons so I should be able to make a good comparison.

BTW, I too agree with Sven and carbons for a beginner would probably not be the way to go. Although, amphibious hardly sounds like a typical beginner (120'!!!).

I like the Millennium pockets a lot but I have a small foot (I know somebody won't be able to refrain on this one) and they fit me great. I take a size 38-40.

Scott Turgeon
West Palm Beach, FL

 

[andrsn]

sturgeon.... "I take a size 38-40", sounds like a preference on prison cells to me

i fit snugly into the 44-46. i think the garas are narrower than the omers.


cheers fellas,
andrsn

 

[Bill]

carbon

Willer

Get the pures and be a little careful. A few people have trouble with them but most of us don't. I have the old ones, about 4 yrs old, used and abused and pooled and everything. If you use two fins, you have to learn two kicks.

When it comes to style, fit is 65%, comfort is 30% and fashion is <1%. All my foot pockets are split to get them to fit, no big deal. I use a 2mm boot over the fin and you can't see my modifications or even tell if the fins have straps.

Aloha
Bill

 

[icarus pacific]

Originally posted by andrsn
you wish you had something stiffer. (shut up sven :naughty )
andrsn

Who me, whaddid I say...?:t

At 6-3 and 205 paid-for pounds, the green Esclapaz full foots were OK by me, and now I use the open heels as well as some heavily modified OMER's but my main issue with fins is that my feet are too damn big for a full pocket when I wear anyhting close to a sock. Like Bill here, I have split my foot pockets and gone to laces and an oversock. It's all fine until I have to make any kind of a surf exit, where I need to get my ass on the rock and the fins off fast. The Pure's would be my vote as well, once ypou get some time with some starter fins. Enough people here have learned with and kept their Picasso BT's, so I'd look to them first, as well as OMER. If the store you're working with won't let you order a couple different brands and models, offer to foot (ouch) the shipping tab for 'em or tell em that you'll go to some place that will. You'll end up spending a few ducats more this way, but you'll get a fin that'll actually work for you.

I was trying on a pair of ICE's last weekend, from Stan's SCUBA in San Jose, CA. Ask for Steve, tell him I sent you. Then duck.

sven

 

[Amphibious]

Overboots? Laces??

I'll be diving in Canada so it's a 3mm Sock summer, 5mm for spring fall.

Overboots? Laces?

Oh I feel like such a rookie.....

Just wish there was a way to demo a pair, but freedivng in Ottawa is somewhat nonexistant....


Overboots? Laces?


Willer