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Waterways rock!

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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w3ac

I should be working
Nov 8, 2002
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Well after a long wait the verdict is in. The new fiberplastic power blades from waterway absolutely rock! Okay it was an extremely long and painful wait but a couple of people came through for me and I got my footpockets. Actually I have one set on the blades and another that is supposedly in transit.

First off, I was drooling over how reactive the blades were on dry land. The would snap back instantly. I could practicaly bend the fins onto itself. There is absolutely no comparison between the Cressi HF and Waterway in so far as snap. The Cressi seemed dead as compared to the Waterway.

Installation was pretty easy. I needed to trim off part of the rubber side stabilizers on the blade to get it to fit into the ribs of the footpocket. No big deal. A sharp knife did the job nicely. I trimmed the rubber down until the end of the ribs. After drilling holes and screwing them in and getting the blades into the ribs I noticed that the clamp on the end of the ribs don't clamp too well. I chose to drill a couple of hole through the blades next to the end of the rib and use a small zip tie to keep it on snug. I did this on both sides of both fins and so far so good.

The first water test was just a simple swim. It was getting late so I drove down to a beach and jumped in with no suit; just the fins, mask and snorkel. Now I had heard that I might have to alter my kicking cylce because these blades are so reactive so after my first five kicks I thought this was going to be the case. It felt like my feet were lifting out of the water with every stroke. I decided to look at my feet while swimming forward. Hey wait a minute, my feet are still underwater. What is up with that feeling? After looking at the end of my down stroke, I noticed that these fins would flex nicely then snap back like crazy. Mucho mucho power brah! I surface swam for a wile and then did a few dynamic apneas just to see how they felt. Awesome brah! The combination of OMER footpocket and waterway blade had me smiling. Very comfortable, smooth and powerful.

The next couple of dive trips pushed me to around 50 feet max. Easy dives and the fins performed very well. I can attest to the durability as I am very tough on my gear but these fins are taking the abuse. I want to and will try these bad boys out in deep water when I get the opportunity and report back. One thing that I did notice was that despite being warned about their stiffness, I can still overpower these fins. It was suggested that I go with the #2 which I did. Don't get me wrong, these fins are crazy, I just need something a little stiffer. I will probably order a #3 when I have some extra cash.

Would I recommend these fins? Oh yeah! Seeing that they come in 5 different stiffness, there is one out there that can accomodate pretty much any diver. Those that like soft fins, stick to the #1 or 2. Guys like me who like theirs a little stiff would be better off with a #3 or 4. For those guys with tree trunk legs and elephant ankles, #4 or 5. In any case, the fiberblades rock! They are just as reactive as advertised and so far are pretty durable.

Brad
 
I'm also thinking ordering a pair where is the best place to order the foot pockets from? What did you use to fix them?
Great to hear that they rock thats made me finaly make up my mind,I would also like to order a mono and snorkel any recomendations on these?



Anybody??:)
 
Last edited:
Mat:
I ordered the pockets from a local fishing/dive shop. They just started to bring in OMER products and since I am a long time customer and since the spearfishing specialist there is a friend, they said they would special order a pair for me. My other pair which is still in transit came from a friend who wishes to remain anonymous :mute.

Max:
If you want, PM me with your personal email address and I can forward a catalog sent by Peter from Waterway. I hope to take some digitals and post pics up soon.

Brad
 
I recommend getting the full built fin with the waterway footpockets. Sure, the waterway footpocket LOOKS like crap, but it beats the crap out any 'normal' full footpocket like OMER or sporasub. Don't ask me why. Waterway bifins with waterway footpockets are the ONE to get if you like bifins. Imagine if Martin Stepanek had been using these for his WR!!


Eric Fattah
BC, Canada
 
Is the waterway footpocket more comfortable than Sporasub? Why are they so different?
 
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I bought Waterway bi-fins (medium stiffness) to use for underwater photography, to give to newbies to use, for safety freediving, and for fun. They rock!

I got the Waterway footpockets, not Omer or Sporasub footpockets. I am already used to monofin footpockets and it was an easy transition. Cheaper, too!

Personally, I think the advantages of waterway footpocket over 'normal' bi-fin footpocket are:
1.reduced footpocket drag
2.much better power transfer with closed toe and heel strap (requires better flutter kicking technique)

Disadvantages:
1. Foot warmth--this style of footpocket needs to be fairly snug, to make the power transfer advantages come through. (for me it's well worth the need to take the fins off every hour or so to get the circulation in my feet going again--no biggie)

The bi-fins themselves are amazing. They have a seagull action found only in monofins (which stabilizes the fin without the use of rails which deaden the fin flex characteristics), are incredibly durable, excellent power and responsiveness.

And of course, they look so retro. Everyone asks me if I made them myself!

Pete
Vancouver, BC
 
Eric:
I agree with you that the full foot version packed more punch but they beat the living daylights out of my feet. Pain man! I guess if you are doing freediving for depth where you wouldn't be in the fin for more than an hour or two it would be okay but I am a spearo who will be swimming around for 4-6 hours on an average dive. My feet couldn't take 15 minutes in the Waterway pocket. Some may say that I have a high arch in my foot but I am not so sure. I am a flatfoot and that is exactly where the bottom of the fin bit into my foot; the bottom of the arch. I thought I may get used to this but after 15 minutes I headed in and sent them back. If it works for you right on. But for me, it just didn't work.

Batray:
The two footpockets are extremely different. The Waterway footpocket is an open heel; meaning instead of the footpocket looking like a shoe, it looks like a sandal. There is no heel, just a strap that goes around your heel. The design is totally different as well. The open heel waterway finpocket looks more like a bodyboarding fin; flat on the top with the pocket sort of on the bottom. The bottom of the pocket also extends about 2/3 the length of your foot and ends around the arch of your foot. Like I said earlier, it seems to pack a whole lot of punch but they tend to bite into my feet. They have a lot of power but are too painful for me to use. The OMER pocket are very stiff and provide a lot of support. I don't feel them flexing like the Cressi pocket but fit snug with a fin sock allowing no movement of my foot. It is actually a small chore to get them on and off but I don't feel my foot sliding around in the pocket resulting in a loss of power or worse yet, a loss of fin.

Brad
 
can the blades be ordered with their foot pockets then changed after if you don't get on with them??
Which of there monofins would anyone recomend bearing in mind i've never used one before although I'd like to think I'm
fairly fit and do alot of bi fin swimming every day.

Cheers Matt Harvey
(Hong Kong)
:cool:
 
hi

Hey Pete you give those Fibreplastic bi fins to new beeeessss to use, heck they are top of the line for us Spearos, can I come diving with you as a newbie :D

cheers
 
Hello!

The problem with footpockets like OMER/SPORA is that the foot is in "walk-position"...

I don't think that the drag is a big problem but I am not shure, I would like to do some tests about this... comparing WW to for ex. OMER.

The problem with most of the traditional monopockets are that they hurts when used for more than 5min.


I am doing some experiments on this matter but it takes time because both work and family and diving takes my time..;)
 
derelictp:
The problem with footpockets like OMER/SPORA is that the foot is in "walk-position"...

what do you mean by "walk-position"? i wore waterways (mono) maybe twice so far, and i did'nt notice much difference with the foot position.
(i did notice the extream pain though, but only on the second time, i wonder why...)
 
"Walk position"

Hello DeepThought.

When a human walks the foot is flat or nearly flat.

When a human swim the feets are stretched and the area under the feets is NOT flat...

The normal monopockets allows the foot to be in "swimming position" because the heel is open but the edge where the pocket ends makes a big pressure on a very little area, that's why they hurts is my belief. This pockets are in my opinion a compromize.

In the OMER/SPORA case the feets possibility to be in "swimming position" is restricted by the pocket because it's straight like a normal shoe.

I hope you understand me.

;)
 
Last edited:
Using Waterway pockets upside down

This is an ingenious tip from Sebastian Murat. If you flip the blade upside down, the stiff part of the pocket is against the top of the foot. If you extend your foot, you will see that the top of the foot is nearly colinear with the leg, so it automatically solves the "walking position" problem.

Turning a mono upside-down will alow you to glide between stroes whereas if you wear it right-side up, the biased angle will send you towards the bottom during a glide.

I was toying with the idea of modifying the foot pockets of my WW mono as follows:
- remove the rubber pads
- put the fin on upside down while wearing pastic "socks"
- shoot silicone in to fill in the voids

w/ any luck, I'll end up with a custom foot-pocket. The biggest thing stopping me at this point is that my mono is perpetually on loan, since I don't really like to use it due to lack of comfort.
 
Hello!

The idea is great, but for me, this solution looses power in the down-kick because there is no thrust left under the foot just soft rubber.
The human using a monofin is in my opinion most depending on the down-kick because we are stronger in this kick.

If I could I would laminate a blade that is 30% softer on the upkick than the downkick.:confused:
 
Thanks derelictp, that would explain the severe pain - and maybe even some nerve damage, that part of the foot is pretty sensitive.

And about turning the fin upside down, it sounds like a nice experiment, but it also makes me glad i don't intend to get a mono for at least a year. should be enough time for you guys to figure it out. :D
 
:hmm

I'm skeptical that there is any reduction in foot-pocket efficiency from flipping the blade over. This sounds like pure speculation to me.

The waterway footpocket is like a lever (the blade-side) and a rubber-band (the foot-pocket). Flipping the blade over just reverses the position of these two mechanisms and is unlikely to have a significant effect on their actions -- their relative positions and the forces upon them are nearly unchanged. There will be some minor effects due to the change in fit, but if you are powering an LD blade hard enough to bugger up the footpocket's action when used upside-down, then you are probably finning too hard.

There will be a slight reduction in down force due to the change in angle of attack, and there will be a corresponding increase in the up-stroke force that can be generated (again, due to improving the angle of attack in this direction). The upside-down fin also permits a glide phase in the stroke -- nearly impossible with the blade on "right-side up".

It's an easy experiment and you get enough stares wearing a monofin "right" anyway, so what is there to lose?
 
Hi again!

Pezman:
I have tried this with a WW MD Competitor and my tests is telling me that it looses power. I am not trying to tell anybody some fact here; it's just my opinion and feelings that offcourse can be totally wrong for other people.

Maybe this solution works better with an LD than with an MD, I havn't tried the LD. :confused:

You're right it's a very good idea and really worth the try, the thing is to find the solution that fits oneself!:)
 
I take back my :hmm

Didn't realize that you had already tried it -- so much for my speculation that you were speculating :duh
 
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