I am looking for a top quality pair of fins that can be kicked continuously for 10 to 12 hours, day in day out. And give plenty of free rebound energy. Any ideas? I currently have a cheap pair of rubber russian fins that are really comfortable all day, the kick rate is about right. When I compare them with my Gara fins, the Garas are only about 10% faster over the same distance but take a huge amount of energy and muscle burn. Also, the kick rate is too slow.
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What is the softest freedive fin?
- Thread starterHaydn
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
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It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
Its not a question of physical preparation or training. I just need a fin that I can use all day that will give me say 15 miles in 8 hours rather than 12 miles AND not tire my muscles after 2 hours. For instance, I can swim all day in my cheap Russian rubber fins $6 a pair, but they are 10 % slower than my posh fins. My posh fins only give me 2 hours duration before my legs are trired. When I use them all day, my legs are really tired the next day. But I can use the Russian fins for a month and its gentler than walking. They are just too slow in general and more importantly, they are always slow, even when I try to work hard or need to get out of trouble. I am looking for fins that will enable me to swim all day every day for a year or two. I want to have made the choice this summer.
Powell DiveR fins would be the best composites I've tried, carbons included. Big angle makes them good for surface swimming and the soft version might be well suited for what you want to do. Only problem I reckon is that they're slightly too long.
Bill, I've got C4-80s and they don't seem very good at all for surface swimming. They're also too long, even for me. I'd swap them for a pair of 25s given a chance - Falcons, because I really don't like Mustangs.
'Chacun a son gout'
Excuse me for trying to remember my high school French Dave. I think that the majority of divers will agree with you but, for me the 80s and 81s will move me on the surface with almost no effort. Not very fast though.
$125 Euros is my best offer, if you send them to Hawaii with one of the Ausi's.
Excuse me for trying to remember my high school French Dave. I think that the majority of divers will agree with you but, for me the 80s and 81s will move me on the surface with almost no effort. Not very fast though.
$125 Euros is my best offer, if you send them to Hawaii with one of the Ausi's.
Very good, speaking as a retired French teacher. Just the accents are missing: "Chacun à son goût".
I guess these are Del'fin fins made by Alphaplastic of Moscow:
For what it's worth, I know of only three models of all-rubber fin with extended blade. The first are Concorde fins are made by Adalilar Kauçuk, a rubber goods manufacturer based in the Turkish city of Istanbul:
The second is an all-rubber full-foot long-bladed fin currently manufactured in Japan, the Gull Barracuda:
The third is the Taiwanese-made (Seemann Sub) Sub Gear Stream fin:
I repeat that this is for information only. I don't have enough information to assert that these fins are as easy on the feet as your all-rubber Russian fins. I suspect not, if the Sub Gear Streams are anything to go by.
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Seems like it's already a "hey try my favorite brand"-kind of thread, but I was really pleasently surprised by the new Omer Stingrays. Soft, big angle and very affordable.
If I didn't already have a closet full of fancy glass-/carbonfiber fins, I'd get a pair for sure.
For me long surface swims have always been a pain (literally) in the ankles, but with the stingrays it seemed tolerable.
For really, really long time in the water like you're describing though, I would probably go with the russian "delfins" as posted above.
If I didn't already have a closet full of fancy glass-/carbonfiber fins, I'd get a pair for sure.
For me long surface swims have always been a pain (literally) in the ankles, but with the stingrays it seemed tolerable.
For really, really long time in the water like you're describing though, I would probably go with the russian "delfins" as posted above.
Yes, it is the Delfins I have, They are great for all day everyday, but I want to find an improvement in speed and some free recoil. By the way, anyone know where I can buy another pair of them? I have mine trimmed off to the first rib to more better simulate a mono fin. I guess I would get a small improvement with a new pair.
Other than Russian online retailers, I know two reliable sources of Alphaplastic Del'fins, both of which I have used in the past:
1. Triton Underwater Swimming Equipment
Triton Underwater Sport Equipment
Based in Ukraine.
2. Schwimmen-shop.de
Schwimm Shop für FlossenSchwimmen Rettungsschwimmen Triathlon Wasserball Orientierungstauchen Unterwasserugby - Russische Gummiflossen "Delphin" neu GF 02
Based in Germany. Don't select "offener Hacken" unless you want to pay more for a pair with the base of the heels removed!
If you're based in the original Taunton in the English county of Somerset and not in one of its namesakes in Massachusetts, New York or Minnesota, you have several all-rubber full-foot fin sources. I have no idea whether any of these products, all available from British online retailers, fulfil your criteria of "an improvement in speed and some free recoil". All I know is that they have stiffer blades than the Del'fin has.
1. Majorca Dolphin
Eyeline Swim Fins Senior for £11.23 at Newitts.com
Inexpensive, soft rubber fins, very comfortable during extended use.
2. Sub Gear Jelly Fins
Sub Gear Jelly Fin | Snorkelling Fins | Simply Snorkel UK
Flexible-bladed Taiwan-manufactured fin with very soft heel.
3. Win rubber fins
Rubber Fins --- Bishop Sports & Leisure Ltd - Home for Sports and Leisure equipment to Schools and Collages
Malaysian-made fins, rather narrow fitting and and with variable stiffness.
If you're prepared to look further afield, many all-rubber full-foot fins are still manufactured around the world. I'm particularly fond of the Mexican-made Escualo Clasica, which has a broad-fitting, very soft foot pocket:
and the Japanese-made Gull Mew, which comes in a range of solid colours and is a popular choice throughout the Far East:
I'll leave it there for the moment. I can't vouch that these fins meet your requirements, not least that they will be good fit, but I've tried them all and I'm happy to swim all day with them. What suits me may not suit you, though.
The problem of the classical flat rubber fins is that they are not very efficient. I used many of them, including some long blade rubber fins, but the rubber fin that comes closest to the performance of a long blade freediving fin is the Mares Volo Race. It is very soft, so you can use it even with a moderate injury, and thanks to the channelling design it is much more efficient than plain flat fins. It works in a similar way as split fins, creating a propulsion concave deformation, streaming directly backwards, and limiting so the sideways turbulence. But in contrary to split fins, there is no middle gap, hence no turbulence traversing the fin. The Volo does not feel as soft as a splitfin, and does not require as high frequency of a flatter kick as the splitfin. The frequency is a bit higher though, of course, than at a longblade. Nevertheless, I am able to cover with the Volo practically the same distance as with longblades, and it is less tiring. If it was only little bit longer, I'd be not surprised if it outperformed classical freediving bifins.
Additionally, you can get this fins rather cheap - it costs around $50 / 40€ (for example here), and it is a widely available fin, so you can buy it in most local stores.
And if you search something even softer than that, for example because of an injury, then split fins may be the way. Unfortunately, all the splitfins I know are not well suited for freediving. Although they are surprisingly efficient and fast, they require high frequency of flatter kick, which is not well compatible with freediving.
Additionally, you can get this fins rather cheap - it costs around $50 / 40€ (for example here), and it is a widely available fin, so you can buy it in most local stores.
And if you search something even softer than that, for example because of an injury, then split fins may be the way. Unfortunately, all the splitfins I know are not well suited for freediving. Although they are surprisingly efficient and fast, they require high frequency of flatter kick, which is not well compatible with freediving.
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At the risk of splitting hairs 
and purely for information purposes, the material used to construct Mares Volo Race fins will be "thermoplastic elastomer", a "technopolymer", rather than the natural rubber used to manufacture the classic rubber fins in the images I posted. The two materials have different properties. In the late 1960s or early 1970s, Jacques Mayol freedived to then record-breaking depths using the Cressi Rondine-L, a classic natural rubber fin with a long blade. This said, certain users may find their fins made from modern synthetics outperforming their classic rubber fins in a number of circumstances.
and purely for information purposes, the material used to construct Mares Volo Race fins will be "thermoplastic elastomer", a "technopolymer", rather than the natural rubber used to manufacture the classic rubber fins in the images I posted. The two materials have different properties. In the late 1960s or early 1970s, Jacques Mayol freedived to then record-breaking depths using the Cressi Rondine-L, a classic natural rubber fin with a long blade. This said, certain users may find their fins made from modern synthetics outperforming their classic rubber fins in a number of circumstances.
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The black parts of the Volo look like standard rubber used for many other fins or footpockets. At least when I am comparing them with diverse rubber fins (have both of them just under the eyes), I do not see any difference. But then again, I am not a chemist. My brother is, so I can ask him the next time I speak to him. Anyway, today, only rarely rubber is really natural (made from latex). Most of rubber used today in the industry is synthetic made primarily from crude oil - different kinds and mixtures of monomers including isoprene, butadien, chloreprene, etc.
The coloured parts are indeed in some kind of a harder elastomer. However, it is not the material that makes the difference (though elastomers may have indeed advantages in view of durability or perhaps even better suitable and more controllable mechanical properties). Though, the main advantage of this concept of fin is its geometry, not the material.
The coloured parts are indeed in some kind of a harder elastomer. However, it is not the material that makes the difference (though elastomers may have indeed advantages in view of durability or perhaps even better suitable and more controllable mechanical properties). Though, the main advantage of this concept of fin is its geometry, not the material.
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