'French' monofins
Hello,
These 'French' monofins you saw on the diveinn website are in fact Italian Mat-Mas fins, see
www.mat-mas.com .
The Mascot fin is a beginner's training fin used in finswimming clubs: cheap and floppy and very heavy compared to the fiberglass ones (the Mascot has a plastic blade). Good for learning if you've never had fins on your feet: you can hit it sideways to the pool wall without fear of destroying it when you're learning to do flip turns, you can kick (!) your fellow swimmers without hurting them... but it's no use at all for the more serious work. Nevertheless, I think the plastic blade and sturdy footpocket do make the fin fit for riding waves, it's almost unbreakable.
The 'rounde' = Ronde fin is a standard fiberglass mono which is available in different stiffnesses at Mat-Mas.
And last, the sprint fin is something you absolutely Do Not want to get when you don't do sprinting competition. No good for freediving, dangerous for beginners and people w/ weak knee joints: the fin is just not made to use for much more than an occasional 100m sprint race.
Another thing about Mat-Mas fins: the footpockets are almost rubber shoes; very sturdy. The chance of cramping up your feet in a Mat-Mas footpocket is minimal but you have to like the feel of having lots of toe-room and thus less propulsion from the front part of your feet (when not wearing socks). They're excellent footpockets if you wear a pair of neoprene socks though.
Hope this helps.
Lynn