looking for a monofin for DYN - any pointers?

[growingupninja]

Would anyone be so good as to breakdown a few monofin brands for me in comparision to the Glide? I have tried a very stiff mono, not sure what brand but I didn't care much for it, and I have tried a Glide. The Glide I liked, it was a completely different experience for me, but I have very little reference.

I am curious as to how different brands stack up as far as kick amplitude and power on the upstroke? A softer mono would benefit from a wider amplitude kick, correct?

I am interested in a mono for DYN. Butterfly used to be my stroke so I have decent technique and flexibility, and in the pool I frequently train dolphin kick in my spearing fins (which are very stiff carbons, great for depth but no so much for distance).

Thanks.

 

[Mullins]

Had a russian hyperfin, it v-flexed like you wouldn't believe (blade folding down the middle at 90 degrees) but was otherwise ok. Footpockets a bit soft but comfortable. Had a leaderfin in solid, incompressible and incredibly heavy rubber. Quite a nice blade, but moving all that mass back and forth with every stroke took its toll and the gravity well affected experiments at the local university's physics department. Had a Mat Mas carbon/kevlar fin with big angle that, looking back, was really quite good despite the damage it did to my big toes. Had a few (5) Waterway glides that were generally, but not always, predictable - my current #2 is much, much stiffer than my last #3. Interior footpocket shape sometimes a bit crude but they are effective fins. Had (and still have - anybody with size 16 feet need a fin?) a Starfin that was well made, quite heavy and too stiff without a lot of angle. Swam with a Triton fin that was somewhere between granite and steel in terms of stiffness and has since been attacked with a belt sander in a brave but fruitless attempt to tame it. Swam with a "very very super soft like little girl would use" starfin with tiny footpockets that wasn't really all that soft, behaved very nicely in the water and felt good as soon as the pain in my feet was replaced by numbness. Had a lunocet that made me feel like a criminal because I had to report back to the inventor who gave it to me how awful it was. Cunningly conceived, beautifully made and ergonomically disastrous.

In all cases (bar the lunocet) with these fins the stiffness comes almost exclusively from the footpockets, not the blade, because that's where the fins flex. Slow a video down and you can see the rubber is doing the work while the fancy carbon and glass fibre trails faithfully behind. In almost all cases you're in for a lottery buying a custom fin; I and most other punters I know have had some truly weird results despite sending detailed measurements and instructions, to the point that we've wondered whether they got the wearer's species wrong, let along their gender, size, strength or chosen sport. If you get a really good one, hang onto it and don't expect to be able to replicate it, ever, for any price.

Hope that helps.

 

[Mullins]

This blade isn't doing much...

 

[maui400]

Good and true story, Dave.

 

[growingupninja]

Thanks, Dave, for the extended monofin genealogy. Seems like a soft Glide is a good bet then. The one I have borrowed a couple times starts to give me foot cramps within a few minutes but it sounds that is part of the price of admission. I talked to Ron last year about the DolFin but didn't try it, for which I am kicking myself. He swims with a different technique though.

 

[REVAN]

Seems like a soft Glide is a good bet then. The one I have borrowed a couple times starts to give me foot cramps within a few minutes but it sounds that is part of the price of admission.

The cost of admission for a DOL-Fin monofin is in $$ only. No pain or cramps involved, and they work very well for dynamics. The ORCA has a couple NRs under its belt already. The DOL-Fins also have good consistency for fit and performance so ordering a fin is not so much of a gamble. :wave