I'm Back
Wow, I'm surprised to see my name come back up on the Forum.
First to clarify a couple things: I was the 2001 Nat. Champ, in 2002 I only placed 15th, I did not feed fish in 2002 I only mentioned it in a post about some of the top divers who were being so blatant about it that year. In response to Anderson's post: I don't believe I ever bragged or boasted on any post I ever placed on this Forum. If I did I apologize, that was never my intention. I only wanted to help, entertain, and inform people with my posts. I don't know why Anderson would say what he did. Other than knowing I won the Nationals, most of you have no idea of how deep I dive or how many fish I shoot. I only ever posted 2 pictures of myself with fish on this site. One was a picture of my 2002 Nationals catch because somebody wanted to know what a ling cod looked like and I thought my catch showed a nice picture of one. I was 'blasted' by Sven for shooting too many fish. The only other picture I ever posted was of my World Record Mutton Snapper; once again I was 'blasted', this time by Aquillies. I wasn't quit sure why, I guess he thought turning in a fish for a World Record was somehow a disgraceful thing to do even though I ate the fish after. Anyway, I hope you guys can see why I was no longer interested in participating on this Forum. I'm a pretty easy going guy and don't enjoy getting in arguments or fighting every time I spend the time to make a post. But, since Brad asked a direct question of me and out of respect for Peter (he seems like a great guy), I'll respond about my experience with the new Waterway bi-fins.
I put my fins in OMER Millennium pockets (happened to have an extra pair lying around) instead of Sporasub's. So far I've only used the fins for 2 days but I'm very impressed with them. They have incredible push and react at least as good as carbon if not better. Unfortunately for me, I think I might have gone a little too stiff with the #4's. Even though I dive every weekend the 4's are still a little too stiff for me. I can't wear them all day. I'll keep them for training but the next pair I get will be for tournaments and probably more around a #3 stiffness. I had to modify the side rails on my fins to stay in the footpocket side rails but that was no big deal. I just shortened their length in the portion that fit into the pocket rails and they seem to be staying put now. One thing that's different about the fins is that there is no bend in them down by the heel (maybe Peter will respond about this). This seems to make it a little more difficult to swim on the surface. You have to bend your knees to compensate and then it's not too bad. Up and down I don't notice it, only while swimming on the surface. Then again, a lot of that may have to do with the fins being a little too stiff for me and not because the heels aren't bent. To wrap this up: I think these fins have tremendous potential and coupled with their price just might make all other fins obsolete.
BTW, what got me interested in fiberglass fins was that when I was in Brazil at the Worlds this past November, the Ukraine team each had a pair of homemade fiberglass fins each. In a demonstration, one of them banged a blade on a seawall so hard it sounded like a 22 going off, he then curled it completely around it's self. I was hooked. I was going to buy a used pair from them at the end of the comp for $90 but missed hooking up with them. So, when I saw Waterway had fiberglass fins, I jumped on a pair. I normally only dive with carbon fins (C4's and OMER) but I wanted something I could beat up in rough or shallow water tournaments that would react better than plastic.
I hope my comments help and please nobody start a fight with me. I really don't enjoy it. Thank you.
Scott T.