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Matrix Fins Review

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.

fuzz

Hawaiian transplant...
Sep 9, 2002
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Following up to THIS THREAD which got off tangent a bit, the following is my personal take on the Matrix fins.

The fins I own and can compare them to are - OMER Millenium Competition, Picasso Black Team, & a pair of Blue Esclapez.

Power
Following the advice on the 20 Fathoms Website, I requested a #2 stiffness pair. At that rating, I wasn't expecting a lot of power, but I was honestly disappointed the first time I used them. As I familiarized myself with the Matrixes, I realized that I needed to adjust my kicking from my normal short strokes to longer strokes. With slow smooth kicks, I can now propel myself with great ease through the water. I didn't get raw power from stiffness, but instead I got a fin that is incredibly efficient. After my fast learning curve, I could time the strokes so that the built-up flex of one stroke would rebound and aid in the start of the next... tre' smooth indeed :hmm

Surface Swimming
Surface swimming is a little more difficult with these fins due to the lack of angle; however, with minor adjustments I could hardly tell the difference. This is the one area that I can see where the softer blades help. Stiffer blades are great for deep dives, but are slightly more difficult to surface swim with... it's a trade-off with any type of fins.

Diving
Diving is awesome with these fins. After getting used to them, I could drop very smoothly with minimal effort(attributed to the efficiency of the fins). I could do deeper dives and not worry about the return to the surface - just slow, smooth strokes. On the few times that I pushed it longer than I should have, the fins worked great for dolphin kicking back to the surface. While this blade is not designed for power, it has enough backbone to boost you if needed. I got to try the #4 stiffness blades & you can really fly with them! Unfortunately I was so intrigued with how fast I could move, I soon tired myself out :eek:

Conclusions
I love these fins. :inlove I've tried 2 types of carbon fins(Sporasub & Picasso) & honestly really wasn't very impressed by either. For the money, they just aren't worth it. I believe the Matrix fins have an excellent value & possess superior durability to ANY carbon fin. The performance is on par with carbon and in my personal opinion, better. I am genuinely impressed.

I uploaded a set of pictures of my personal pair of Matrix fins from different angles.
Click here to view pictures

If you have any questions or if I left anything out, please respond.


***Note: I have no affiliation with 20fathoms***
 

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Hi fuzz,

Is surface swimming with them easier or harder compare to Millenium Comp.?
 
nice job Harold. Having had the opportunity then, would you have gotten the 4's to start with?

BTW- chk June's contest thread.
 
Thanks guys :)

Murat,
The millenium comps have a bend, which makes surface swimming a tad bit easier; however, overall I like the matrix a lot better.

Sven,
I think I'd probably go with a 3. I'm contemplating using my OMER pockets & going with a 4 as well - one for shallow water & one for deeper water.
 
Thank you fuzz. Excellent review!

"I think I'd probably go with a 3. I'm contemplating using my OMER pockets & going with a 4 as well - one for shallow water & one for deeper water."

Why Omer pockets? Do they fit better for some reason or are you just have an extra Omer pockets laying around?

I don't spear fish, only the "local" can spear in the caymans:good in one way, bad in another, but I like to go for depth. If I'm going around 130ft and deeper which stiffness do you recomend? And what's up with the Omer pockets? Should I get the waterways and mount it on a Omer?:confused:

Awesome review and thanks for the pics!!

Christian
 
Originally posted by caymandiver
Why Omer pockets? Do they fit better for some reason or are you just have an extra Omer pockets laying around?

If I'm going around 130ft and deeper which stiffness do you recomend? And what's up with the Omer pockets? Should I get the waterways and mount it on a Omer?:confused:


Thanks for the kind words.

I happen to have an extra pair of Omer pockets lying around, that's why they were mentioned. I prefer how they feel more than sporasub & they are a bit more tapered/streamlined vs. the boot shape of sporasubs... They are similar pockets, but it's really a preference thing and some people prefer the power transference of the stiff sporasub pockets.

As far as the deep diving, it really depends on your style. Personally i would go with a pair of 4's for the extra power on the return trip.

Peter has been really helpful on these forums and the waterway fins look very nice. I chose the matrix fins because I could see them in person & after being treated very well by their customer service - I wouldn't hesitate to reccomend them to anyone.
 
Fuzz, thanks for the great review.

I use Gara2000hfs and am looking for a fin that is both more efficient and has more initial acceleration, which I think requires more stiffness. My problem, I'm skinny, 6'1'' and 155 lbs. The Garas are no problem, but I wouldn't want anything that worked my legs much harder.

Do you think these matrix fins, maybe a #3, would be what I am looking for? particularly on the acceleration side?
 
It's been so long since I've used Cressis, I'd really hate to steer you in the wrong direction... my personal advice would be to go with the 2's or 3's, but it's just my opinion.

I'll drop the experts a line & see if they'll post a response.

:hmm
 
--- FIN STIFFNESS ---

As you can imagine, this is the most common and most difficult question to answer. As an example, all the Hawaiians use mostly 2's, although bigger guys user 3's and rarely 4's. I'm 5-8, 160 lbs and I use 2's in all the spearfishing comps, which in Calif is hard diving for 5 hours mostly up to 60ft. I would use 3's for deeper dives, but would stick with 2's even for deep stuff if I were to do it for hours. I have a customer in LA area who ordered VERY soft fins (less than #1) for dives 80-100 ft. So it is very subjective. I would say to err on the softer side if not sure; they will always serve without injury or fatigue.
As far as pockets, also very subjective. Equal population that like Sporasub or Omer. Depends on personal fit. Sporasub are more affordable.
Hope this helps a little!!

PaulV
www.20fathoms.com
 
Paul, Thank you for your input.


It seems like a #2 blade would work great for almost everything I do, except maybe immediate acceleration. I use a sling for spearing and immediate acceleration to nail down a fish after a shot is very useful. The 2000hfs are disappointing in this respect. I would like greater effeciency but not at the cost of acceleration. If I could get both without beating my legs to death,
fantastic. Given the above, would a #3 blade be better for me?

Is there any way I can try these fins? I live in Sarasota, Florida.

Thanks again.

Connor
 
Just got a pair matrix #4...:D

I went to try them to some local islands where the water is clear and you normally find big fish.

So far I've been using plastic blades: Gara 2000, and Escalpez black.

I was expecting some problems on the surface due to the lack of angle on the blades, and to find the #4 a bit hard ( #2 and #4, no #3 on my local shop).

Once on the water everything was find, nothing special: just getting around... well not really: the guy I was teaming up with was sweating hard trying to keep up on Escalpez black's, while myself didn't notice much of a difference :t :t ... a gentle and slow pace to warm up!

Seems that the blades accept pretty well gentle tip strokes, an more ample springy style, or just full V8 flying though the water. No way to over power them and they give an immediate response to reach a snapper, or take of from the depth.

On march we still have some big yellow tail hanging around, and I hunt them with an 50 feet bungee: this time I spend the trip hanging under the float (I actually feel like bait on a hook ready for a toothy fish). No problem to get back to the surface with this ones, gentle style or F16 kind take off from the depth: really securing!

They do make sometimes a kind of snap noise, but I guess is my poor technique...

I always been a strong swimmer, and probably #3 are a good mark to aim, But if you fish for 4+ h at the time on something like the black Escalpez, you should be able to manage #4. I didn't have any problem with the angle of the blades mounted on Picasso's: If you fish a lot you feet stretch quite a bit, and this blades shouldn't be a problem.

A few scratches getting some crayfish on caves, but I'm confident is nothing to worry about.

For the price they are a bargain, and I will keep my Escalpez as filleting boards :ban

Ah... yeah! no cramps, and I did swim a lot!

I can not wait to get my feet on C4's... must be paradise! but until then diving looks good in Matrix...:inlove
 
pablo,

how deep do u usually dive? i was thinking about the #2's but i don't know if I want to give up those bursts of speed. what would u recommend for me. i am about 5' 9" and about 145lbs. but i usually don't dive that deep.

and how have u guys liked the omer milleniums aznd omer bats? do they come anywhere close to the matrix's? thanks!
 
Fuzz- its almost as if you were writing that review for me, because my experience and opinions are much the same. I'll elaborate a bit on how I reached the same conclusions.

Before I bought my Matrix #2, I had an opportunity to borrow the #4 blades in Sporasub pockets. I had been using Black Esclapez and felt like they couldn't get me off the bottom at 50 feet, and these #4 blades brought me up like a rocket. However, on the surface I felt like I was slapping the water with pieces of plywood. Also, the foot pockets were killing the tops of my feet and there is no way I could wear them for even an hour.

The same guy who loaned me the Matrix also loaned me Picasso Carboprenes. They felt great, but no fin feels great enough for me to spend $600 on it. The foot pockets felt wonderful.

I contacted Dennis Hausler at 20 Fathoms and described my diving habits, and he recommended #2. I was skeptical and told him that I did want to be able to get off the bottom, but he assured me that he had worn #2 with a thick wet suit at the Nationals in Rhode Island, and had no problem coming up from 70 feet repeatedly.

So now I had chosen the #2 blades, but what about the foot pockets? I called Roger Yazbeck at Picasso and asked him what foot pockets were used in the Carboprenes, and he said it was the Black Team pockets.

So I ordered Black Team pockets from Roger, #2 Matrix blades from Dennis, put them together, and lived happily ever after. I can swim all day on the surface with them, but they still get me up from 50 or 60 feet with a thick wet suit quite nicely.

I cruise quite a bit on the surface. If your diving is more up and down with little surface swimming and you have strong legs, then you might prefer #3 blades. I can't imagine using #4 unless all I did was go straight up and down, and then for not too long a time.

I hope this helped.
 
Great Information Bill, my problem is I currently use the Cressi-2000 it is a fairly good fin for vertical dives, but too stiff to swim on the surface. I thought about the matrix but at this point I am leaning towards the omer ocean mimetic.
So Bill my question for you did you ever try the omer ocean mimetic 25 ?
 
A guy who dives with me used Omer BATs. Both blades have split, and then a foot pocket split up the back. My Matrix/Picassos just keep on kicking.
 
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