Is Omer dead for US fin customers?

[Joe Hennessey]

I bought plastic Omer Stingrays several years ago because the foot pockets were comfortable, modular, and could be upgraded easily. Now that I recently got certified and started looking at upgrades I've got several concerns. First, US retailers are saying that they're not allowed to sell Omer products. Any idea why? Second, even on the used market, it's impossible to find more than a single blade of the original Dual Carbon blades (the ones that came in 3 different stiffness levels). When it comes to the newer version of the Omer Dual Carbon blades, which are only available if purchased from a European dealer, they only come in a single (Medium) stiffness level, and there are ZERO reviews on them. Even Omer just does some kind of 3 minute glamor video of them on some rocks. Besides the "no reviews" part, the reason I'm not jumping on the European import of the new fins is that I understood the trend to be toward more flexible fins and didn't think the one stiffness fits all Medium would be suitable.

The C4 Falcons fit the Stingray foot pockets, but I was strongly steered away from them, as in "buy ANYTHING else". As I understand it, those are my only options without slicing, dicing, drilling, and/or gluing some other brand's carbon fiber blades.

By the way, I'm 6'2", 185 lbs, with modest knee strength.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[stefpix]

In my experience ordering from Europe is cheaper than buying in the USA. The markup in the American market for a lot of stuff is twice or more than what it costs in Europe.
anyway you could consider other brands of fins too.

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

If you are in the market for Fins we sell a variety of blades and a wide range of stiffness options.

thanks
Dano

 

[7BDiver]

It looks like House of Scuba out of San Diego still sells Omer products. They have carbon cammo replacement blades for the stingray fins.

 

[Stephan Whelan]

I’ve asked the product manager for Omer in the US to comment. Just waiting for him to respond.

 

[kfaust]

I bought plastic Omer Stingrays several years ago because the foot pockets were comfortable, modular, and could be upgraded easily. Now that I recently got certified and started looking at upgrades I've got several concerns. First, US retailers are saying that they're not allowed to sell Omer products. Any idea why? Second, even on the used market, it's impossible to find more than a single blade of the original Dual Carbon blades (the ones that came in 3 different stiffness levels). When it comes to the newer version of the Omer Dual Carbon blades, which are only available if purchased from a European dealer, they only come in a single (Medium) stiffness level, and there are ZERO reviews on them. Even Omer just does some kind of 3 minute glamor video of them on some rocks. Besides the "no reviews" part, the reason I'm not jumping on the European import of the new fins is that I understood the trend to be toward more flexible fins and didn't think the one stiffness fits all Medium would be suitable.

The C4 Falcons fit the Stingray foot pockets, but I was strongly steered away from them, as in "buy ANYTHING else". As I understand it, those are my only options without slicing, dicing, drilling, and/or gluing some other brand's carbon fiber blades.

By the way, I'm 6'2", 185 lbs, with modest knee strength.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Hello Joe,
I am sorry to hear you are running into difficulty finding a review of the Dual Carbon fin blades. The other Blades that you refer to were the Carbon 20, Carbon 25, and Carbon 30 blades these are no longer being manufactured and we have released the Dual Carbon blade which as you stated is a medium stiffness blade and is available in North America. In Regards to shops stating that they can not sell Omer in the states that is just not true. it is possible they are not an authorized dealer in which case THEY can not sell Omer products. Where are you located Joe? Many companies other then Omer make fin blades that fit the Stingray without being modified as you stated above if the Dual carbon's Medium stiffness is not to your liking. It is possible that some dealers are having a hard time getting inventory as we have been playing catch up from the pandemic due to the massive increase in interest for all outdoor sports which I am sure you are aware of. As always thank you Stephan for bringing this to my attention and should anyone ever have questions please feel free to contact me.

 

[Joe Hennessey]

It looks like House of Scuba out of San Diego still sells Omer products. They have carbon cammo replacement blades for the stingray fins.

Thanks, 7BDiver, for letting me know about that option!