Freediving Fins - Picasso Full Carbon 2009 or Beuchat Mundial Carbono 2009

[Zusspa]

Need help!!
I`m about to buy one of these fins.
I`ve had both in my hands, and have done enough checking(as dry as it can be).
I bent them as far as I could while checking stiffness, and for my surprise the beuchat model made some cracking noises (on 2 different shops - I think this is mainly because this one is stiffer than the Picasso one- but...)
I had my mind tending towards the beuchat for being a bit stiffer and cos I`m willing to surpass 30m easily.
I have Omer Bat short fiber fins, wich are great, if you dive till 15 16m, but find it to be lacking power when it comes to ascending from more than that.
As I constantly dive to 20m or more(and am pushing myself to go further) I definitely need a good pair of fins that are suitable for the job.
At the moment I have no clue if the little(extra) stiffness on the beuchat one is a pro or a con (beyond the 25m barrier) - and those cracking noises left me a bit suspicious.
If any of you have any knowledge about this please feel free to enlighten me.
Enlightment/feedback much aprecciated.
Cheers.

Beuchat
http://www.scubasworld.com/proddetail.php?prod=mundialcarbone

Picasso
http://www.megasub.pt/loja/images/CarbonDobrada.jpg
http://www.vinasub.com/tienda/images/Apnea_Aletas_Picasso_FullCarbon.jpg

 

[CarbonCod]

Since no one have replied I will have a go, hope it's ok

Ok first I like the look of the Picasso fins better. No fuss and straight to the point fins with nice rails on the sides. The Beuchat, i don't know with all the grooves and design stuff? About stiffness, well if you have not had a carbon fin before. I think it is much more powerfull than a short fiberfin.
But a medium stiffness will go a long way. I have a pair of carbon fins now, around C4 stiffness 30 or so. I though they would be a little soft compared to my 40's but there is no problem in power. I think the progressive flex of the blade is the most important thing. They are really soft at the end, but get pretty stiff at the footpocket.

I would always recommend a pair of C4 fins either 30 or 40 stiffness. But I have never tried either the Picasso or Beuchat carbon fins. I hope someone would give their feedback on these fins, I would also like to know

 

[Newbie_spearo]

I use the picasso carbono gp21 fins for spearfishing, They are a really nice fin, the only thing that I worry about is breaking the blades due to the fact that I shore dive a lot. They are great for surface swimming, Easy to kick with but have really good responsiveness due to the carbon. They felt much better than black teams which hurt my ankles a lot surface swimming. I am about to buy a pair of captain nemo power fins only because composite fibre is a lot tougher than carbon. I think either fin will suit you well, beuchat make really good gear, I own a wetsuit, quality craftman ship. I guess it migh come down to fit, try a pair of picasso foot pockets and beuchat foot pockets and see which one is better for your foot shape? That may be the deciding factor?

 

[Zusspa]

Update:
Unfortunately today I broke one of my Bat Short(fiber) blades. Well it was 5 years old, and it had a nice thorough life lol.
As this is a discontinued blade it will be a bit hard to find a replacement, AND of course, this will(undoubtedly) rush me to buy the carbons :/ .

So, at the time being I've tried both foot pockets.
Beuchat - Tried it with a 4mm sock, and it was a bit uncomfortable, a bit narrow for my feet.
Picasso - only the largest sized footpocket fits me, and it stays a bit loose.

I'm will not compromise the comfort of my feet by any means, as I had past experiences with fair amount of pain and numbness. (you have to be as comfortable as you can be, so you can focus purely on diving

Additional, Picasso has an all new carbon fiber material, I had the opportunity to speak to the actual Picasso manager, where he bent in front of me the tip of the blade 360º (meaning, the tip was actually pointing forwards lol).
They are so confident about the durability of that blade that they are giving a 5 years warranty to the end user.

By the way:
Beuchat carbon 2009 - 397€
Picasso carbon 2009 - 299€

I don't know but at the moment I have a tendency for the Picasso ones.

Thanks all of you for your posts and your devoted time.
Feedback is ALWAYS welcome.
Stay tuned for updates.

 

[Newbie_spearo]

Looks like I'm sold on the picasso's

 

[csekeo]

hello,
im about to buy this: Picasso Carbon Explosion Brown Atlatic Fins
I never had carbon before, im afraid of easy to break, and on the test it felt a bit stiff. i have no information on its stiffness value ( i think there is 3 diff level)
what are your experiences on the Picasso carbon? thanks
csekeo

 

[Zusspa]

Hello csekeo, may I ask what kind of use will you be giving it?
Like for freediving or for spearfishing? deep or coastal?
(for deep I mean something starting on the -15m, for coastal only to -15 -20 max, that's a lot actually for coastal)
Rui Santos (zusspa)

 

[csekeo]

hi,
shore spearfishing I do, 15-20m max. I would buy it, because of its price (new: 130 EUR:wave), and I never had a carbon. I know its better for deeper dives, but i plan to progress.

I tried it in pool again, but still dont like it. Footpocket is really uncomfortable, even its a newer version of footpacket, which is more comfortable than before - this is what Picasso declared. i tried with barefoot/2mm/3,30mm socks. My footsize 44, the pocket is 42-44, maybe its too small.

The blade probably is not stiff but since the FP is uncomfortable, i cant convience myself to buy it.

q: blade is attached to footp with only 1 screw- special Picasso design-, do U think if I buy the fins, I can change the blade to another (for ex: OMER) footpocket?

tx

 

[hteas]

If the footpockets are uncomfortable, definitely don't buy them. They won't get any better.

The blades for Picasso fins don't fit any other footpocket except, I believe, the Nemo, which looks a lot like the Picasso, and would likely have the same issues with fit.

 

[csekeo]

tx for the advices
csekeo