Footpocket performance, influence of rail stiffness

[Kodama]

Apparently there is an option between Pathos foot pockets with hard or soft rails and this influences the way the cf blade responds. With the hard rail it is mainly the tip that flexes and with the soft rails the entire blade bends more.

I would love to hear from users who can elaborate on the subject based on their experience.

Personally I am very light weight at 60kg and will be using the fins for spearfishing around 20m and freediving at 40+m.

Without trying them it seems pretty difficult to figure out what would work best. I am tending towards Pathos Abyss soft blades but what about the stiffness of the rails?

I never really thought about it before but rail stiffness must influence the bending profile a lot. It seems largely underestimated aspect of fin performance.
I was watching the CMAS competition in Kas Turkey and it was striking to see the difference in bending profile, performance and technique required between all the different fins.


Sent from the abyss


Sent from the abyss

 

[SubSub]

I think what is said that the soft fins get the soft pocket / rail, whilst the medium and hard fins get the regular foot pocket / rail.

Either way, if you already know you want the soft fin, you’re already done with the expensive desicion so go ahead and try the soft tendon and if you don’t like it switch to the normal!

 

[Bill McIntyre]

I have Moana soft blades with Pathos soft rails and I like the combination very much. When I made the transition from Edge fiberglass blades in Picasso Black Team pockets it felt strange to feel the entire blade flexing all the way up to the foot, but I got used to it in about 5 minutes.

 

[Kodama]

I think what is said that the soft fins get the soft pocket / rail, whilst the medium and hard fins get the regular foot pocket / rail.

Ok I see that makes sense somehow but it would seem that you would be able to 'tweak' the bending profile with any combination you could make. I imagine this would influence kick style and speed and therefore could match your personal style and preference.

Either way, if you already know you want the soft fin, you’re already done with the expensive desicion so go ahead and try the soft tendon and if you don’t like it switch to the normal!

I am trying to avoid buying another pare of footpockets and hope to understand why and how blades perform depending on their bending profile to see what setup would fit my own preference.

I have Moana soft blades with Pathos soft rails and I like the combination very much. When I made the transition from Edge fiberglass blades in Picasso Black Team pockets it felt strange to feel the entire blade flexing all the way up to the foot, but I got used to it in about 5 minutes.

Do you kick faster during your decent with the Moana blades because they are soft and bend all the way up to the footpocket? How do you experience this in terms of energy use?

Below are some pictures that illustrate two types of bending profile.

This one clearly shows a hard (I guess or at least medium) hard blade. It requires a wide broad relatively slow kick.

In comparison a soft blade requiring a fast kick with less amplitude. You can clearly see the blade flex much more all the way up to the footpocket. It seems like the rails are not attached to the footpocket (again just guessing, I suspect these are Cetma).

Two totally different styles that require different movement and use of energy etc.

What do you guys think?

Btw you can find the videos on the FB page of Dive-eye.
interesting to watch all the bi fins footage you can see the bending profile of fins like Alchemy, Molchanov, Cetma and others.

 

[Bill McIntyre]

Do you kick faster during your decent with the Moana blades because they are soft and bend all the way up to the footpocket? How do you experience this in terms of energy use?

No, I found that I used a broader slower kick. At the end of a kick I feel like as I pause the blade recovers from the bend and gives me an extra boost. I think I'm using much less energy.

For what its worth, I've encouraged three different guys on my boat to try my fins. Each of them has jumped in, kicked around for a couple of minutes, and said that they were ordering a pair the next day.