Specialfin Questions

[Rmichaelson86]

First off, does anyone know how long the Picasso team fin blades are?

A specialfins rep is recommending the Freediving Stereofins pro, but these may be difficult to obtain. Floridafreedivers has the BW special fins in stock (these are classified as spearfishing fins on www.specialfins.com) right now.

There are a few differences, and I'm not sure whether it will really matter.

Freediving stereofins pro blades- 19.5cm(W) x 77(L) different cut
Spearfishing BW blades- 22cm(W) x 73(L)

Does it really matter what I go with?

I like the Picasso footpockets that I have now, but they aren't "readily compatible" with these blades. I would fit the SF blades to either sporasub or omer pockets, would one be more similar to picasso than the other?

Pardon my ignorance, I want to make sure I have a set of fins that will work well for me this time around.

Thanks

 

[Jon]

I have a pair of Picasso Black Teams and the blades are almost the same length as my dive buddy's SpecialFins Pro blades. It is possible to get the blade to work with he Picasso pocket but I would order it direct from Specialfins and tell them about the footpocket you want to use- you could even send them a picture. Doing this would ensure that they wouldn't drill the wrong hole pattern into the blade for the type of pocket that you are using.

As far as the pockets go i find that the fit of the Picasso pocket is closer to my Sporasub pockets than my OMEr pockets. I can fit only a 3mm sock in my Sporasub and Picasso pockets but a full 5mm sock in my OMER pockets- which I use for winter diving. Having said that, the feel of the Picasso pocket and the Sporasub pocket are slightly different. The Picasso pocket is stiffer- especially in the heel area.

I would go with either the PRO or Blue water blades. I've used the Pro's in a hard and a pair of Kelpies in a medium and liked them both- the medium a little more perhaps. The blue water blade is said to be the same as the kelpie, just in a different color.

Jon

 

[SanderP]

I own a pair of Stereofins PROs and I can assure you, these are great fins with great quality.
First I thought the Kelpies/BW Specials have a straight blade (without the angle), but I was wrong, the Classics have that one.

So I belive there isn't a big performance difference between these two SF blades. The biggest difference is probably in the dimensions. But I haven't tried the BW Specials so I can't really compare.

 

[Rmichaelson86]

Thanks for the advice. I am going to order the Stereofin pro blades and Sporasub footpockets. If I don't like the feel of the footpockets I'll try out the Omer.

Jon, thanks for your help via PM, I will go with the medium stiffness.