Sebakfins fiberglass fins

[Mikko]

Hi guys!

Great to hear all this positive feedback on our babies!!!

Points I would like to underline:

1) Professional Hybrid fin has been designed especially for spearing. For me this fin a perfect allrounder as it is very comfortable on the surface and works just as great when diving deep. This fin can take considerable beating...so do not worry about using them in rocky terrain...they are not even close to being as brittle as traditional carbon blades..actually they can be punished just as hard as Kelpie or BW.
If Omer pocket does not work for you, this blade can be fitted to most other European pockets.
You can also order the plain blades without any holes...meaning that you need to drill them yourself. We make blades..not pockets! Omer is just a default option...we should have few more pocket options in near future.

2) This fin that is here called a Pro....
For spearing we have two different models that are practically identical. Only difference is the colour. These models are Kelpie and BW Special. Compared to the actual freediving Pro model, these babies are a tad shorter and slightly wider to allow better surface swimming qualities and better movement control underwater.

3) All these blades are actually part of newly launched Spearo Line family of products. This is a brand for SpecialFins Ltd. produced products that are designed for spearing.
SpecialFins does indeed produce fins for pure freediving as well, these will be carrying the logo of SpecialFins Ltd.

Spearo Line models are:
Classic (no toe angle)
Kelpie (Camo-fin with toe andgle)
BW Special (Bluewater-fin with toe angle)
Professional Hybrid (allrounder professional level fin with toe angle)

4) This confusion with names is probably caused by the fact that many of you guys have been involved in our prototype testing.
At that time all the fins beared SpecialFins logo as Spearo Line was not launched yet.
Officially, as this new product family has now been launched, the names are as mentioned above.

So...to summarise:

Blades designed for spearing can be found here:
http://www.specialfins.com/eng_products.php?menu_id=15

Fins designed for pure freediving can be found here:
http://www.specialfins.com/eng_products.php?menu_id=9

In my opinion, the photo on the freediving Pro page is outdated.
It actually shows a variety of prototype fins for both Spearo Line and freediving range.
Sorry about this lads...will fix that ASAP

Any further questions?
Actually this is probably the best place to post them as all interested parties will then see Q and A.

Safe spearing!

Mikko

 

[Murat]

Hey Mikko,

Just wondering what is the primary difference between hybrid and kelpie??

 

[Mikko]

Kelpie is 100% vacuum laminated fibre blade.
Hybrid has a vacuum laminated core for extra rigidity but takes most of its thrusting power from unique Kevlar/Carbonfibre laminates....hence...Hybrid.

Hybrid is also 2cm wider and 2cm shorter than Kelpie/BW special.

Hope that helped.

Safe spearing,
Mikko

 

[sturgeon]

Mikko,

So, the BWs and Hybrids were designed specifically for spearfishing. No wonder I like them so much! I just wrote Jyri yesterday telling him I'm keeping the Hybrids you guys sent me for testing. Now I have to find a Mastercard. Someday I'll have to get a pair of kelpies also. They just look too cool to not own a pair.

I take it you're a spearfisherman. If you ever make it to the USA and south Florida you're welcome to come diving with me on my boat anytime.

Take care and thanks for all the info!

Scott T.

 

[donmoore]

which do I have?

Mikko,
Can you tell me if I have the Pros or the BW’s? I have both the mediums and the hards.
Thanks
Donald Moore

 

[Jyri]

Hi Don,

Don`t worry about the names, these are right fins for spearfishing!
We changed the sperfishing fins names, it is the reason, why small mess with names.

 

[donmoore]

Jyri,
Thanks, you have been a pleasure to purchase them from. I just want to know what to call them for your sake and for the people who ask me my opinion of them. Sounds like I should say if they want the same thing they should get the BW or Kelpie.
don

 

[unirdna]

Sporasub pockets....

After trying my stereo pro blades with my beloved sporasub footpockets, I have absolutely nothing ill to say about my new blades. They are absolutely amazing. I spent 3+ hours diving the deep hole (25m) of Lake Mendota, and had no fatigue. The dives were easier than the best dives I had ever made with my dessalts. Using less energy than climbing a flight of stairs, I ascended faster than the hardest push I ever had with any of my plastic fins. Since the vis was 4 feet, I really had no concept of how fast I was traveling until I broke the surface and rose up to my weightbelt. Now I know what all you carbon guys are raving about. Since I had absolutely no fatigue (no noticable acid build-up in my legs) I had to consciously give myself longer surface intervals than my lungs needed. I was ready to go back down after 5-10 breaths. I have no doubt that my pb will increase soon.

Since sporasub pockets are a bit softer than the omers, it made my fins a bit more flexible. This worked out perfectly for me, since the 'hard' blades were just a tad too stiff with the omer pockets.

Of course, the rails on my sporas didn't fit well due to that rubber nub on the end, designed to fit into the notch on sporasub blades. So, I took it upon myself to find a way to mount the blades securely. I think I did alright . Jon gave me some of the marine glue that Sven recommended to him (for mounting his C4's), but it seems that I won't need it. The spora rails are holding as well as the original Omer rails.

I did all the work using a razor blade ($.10) and my little Dremel tool ($35.00).

Here's the breakdown.

1-2. Drill a hole under the rubber nub.
3. Slide a razor blade down each side of the nub.
4. Pull the nub out.
5. You can see that the groove in the rail does not extend to the end.
6. Apply lateral pressure on the inside of the rails to extend the grooves.
7. Secure the rail to the blade.
8. Shows the before and after.
9. Secure the blades with a cable tie.....Done

Extending the grooves will require some trial and error on your part. Start shallow, and go deeper if need be.

Ted

 

[Mikko]

Scott, Thanks for your kind offer....I just may catch you on that one. I sure am a spearo.

Donald, you really need to ask Jyri about this. I have no idea really.

Safe spearing,
Mikko

 

[Jyri]

Hi all,

If you would like to use Sporasub pockets, then please let us know- then we`ll adapt our blades to Sporasub pockets for you.

Safe spearing,

Jyri
www.specialfins.com

 

[Jyri]

Hi all,

Hybrid spearofins are available with promotional price!
You are welcome www.specialfins.com

Regards,
Jyri

 

[tuomo]

Funny thing that the omer foot pockets dont seem to cost anything.. :duh

regards,
Tuomo

 

[Jyri]

Tuomo,
Christmas is coming... :thankyou

 

[Skindiver]

Matrix fins

I have been an avid proponent of the bend in the blade on a mono because of the parallelling of the blade with the body in freefall. ( also i have a sebak mono so it suits me to put forward its good points in justification of the purchase I seriously like this thing though.

However i never had straight blades before. The Matrix are straight. I held the matrix fin up to a pair of Omer competitions and a pair of Cressi 2000 HF's and some Sporasub pures. ( all with moulded bends in the plastic or carbon blades ) and i was astounded to see that the footpocket / blade angle was practically identical in each case. The Pures had the largest droop to the blade but it was negligible in comparison.
The matrix fins were absolutely no straighter in reality than the Omers or the Cressi's.
It was as if the straight blade still bent ( not obviously though ) to follow the mould of the pocket. I accidentally deleted the picture i took of this but it made me wonder what the fuss might be about ?
I even put all these fins on and found that the blade still stuck out from my foot at practically the same angle, straight blade or bent.

Kicking the matrix fins i found that they tended to make my legs ride up higher ( above horizontal ) than the others and this makes sense considering the logical config but other than that they felt the same as bent blades.

Is this such an issue then, or a figment of logic ?

Skin

 

[Skindiver]

Cressi hf 2000 and matrix.

Angles are not evident from the pic but they are the same in reality.

 

[unirdna]

Skin,

I agree that Garas are nearly strait. This is part of the reason I stopped using them soon after I bought em (that, and the footpocket was to narrow for my fat foot). They are a great 'up and down' fin, but were not very good for surface swimming. That angle [which the cressis lack] keeps the blade in the water when on the surface. With the cressis, I had to swim on my side to get anywhere. Since I am a spearo, this was unacceptable. When I bought my Sporasub Dessaults, they were a much better 'surface' fin. I figured this was because the blades were softer. But now that I have mounted my 'hard' specialfins blades to the same pockets, I'm convinced that it is that angle that makes for a nice time on the top, since surface swimming is equally as easy, even with a blade ('hard') as stiff as the garas.

Additionally, I've developed a new kicking style (more hamstrings / less quadriceps). The angle further aids this by creating less resistance on the forekick, and more resistance on the back kick. This same feature makes 'frog kicking' easier as well, which I use 90% of the time I'm hunting.

Mind you that all these finding are just that.....my findings. They aren't hard facts that will apply to everyone. Styles are different. I just wanted to show you that the 'angle' is not a myth .......whether this makes a better fin is up to the each diver.

Regards,
Ted

 

[sturgeon]

I agree with Ted. My #4 Waterways were almost impossible to swim with on the surface. I had to bend my knees significantly just to be able to make them work but for up and down stuff they were ok and I didn't really notice much difference over a bent bladed fin.

I too kick primarily with a back kick using the hams & glutes. I use hip rotation (instead of my quads) to reposition my legs after a stroke and to add thrust during a back stroke. I acquired this kicking technique by combining methods of 2 different people I’ve been fortunate enough to train with, Rudi Castanyra and Peppo Biscarini. One’s a spearfisherman turned freediver trainer and the other is a swimmer turned freediver/spearfisherman.

Keep in mind that also like Ted, I am a spearfisherman and I'm sure my needs differ from those of a purist freediver who's strictly interested in going up and down.

Scott T.

 

[Murat]

Hey Skin those MAtrix fins seems so big compare to the Gara 2000s. It also seems bigger than gara 3000 too. Are those fins standart or custom made?

 

[unirdna]

Originally posted by Murat
Hey Skin those MAtrix fins seems so big compare to the Gara 2000s. It also seems bigger than gara 3000 too. Are those fins standart or custom made?

That's true. Those fins are huge. What's the story on those skin ?

 

[Skindiver]

hehehe...

Yes they are totally custom'ated. (sic)

What happened is that after training with my hard Sebak mono for a long while for Cyprus i got used to the thing. One day i went spearing again and donned my trusty Cressi hf's. It was like kicking wet spaghetti suddenly. I decided i needed some hardcore bifins, nice long and hard.

I contacted Matrix and inquired if they made them hard and long. About three weeks later instead of replying with an answer i got a surprise mail saying that Matrix had inquired with the factory ( Waterway i assume ) and the factory had misunderstood, gone ahead and made them already
So i took them.
On the website they warn that you should be carfeful of ordering too hard a fin after your experiences with other fins. I got the hard (5) though for reasons above but find that its not very hard at all. I kick hard though at times and would likely break much softer fins off at the toes just by kicking alone.

However what is nice about it is that the main bending on a medium kick takes place in the last two thirds of the blade which is, relative to the first third, very soft and flicky. Efficient is the description i would give them, not powerful.

It was cheaper for me to buy a complete set of Omer competition fins to strip the pockets off for the Matrix blades. But before i did i tested them and found that the downkick actually bent my toes back. So Competitions were flexing in all the wrong places. My Mono does not do this, Cressi's dont do this and Pures do a bit.

The Matrix are smooth to kick, cycle a bit slowly because of the length but can shunt some if you give some. I have never tried swimming with my arms down but did some dynamics arms down both dolphin kick and flutter kick and found they somehow suited this 'arms down at the sides' position best.

Surface swimming is ok, prolly because of the length and softness of the last third which keeps the tip in the water and loaded on the back kick, for the front kick, instead of breaking the surface like cressi's do.

Hardly surprisingly, horns on my head would not attract more attention at the pool than these long chappies do ..

Total length 110 cm. 6" longer than standard. I like them but then i'm a bit of a cross current swimming alien so...

Skin.