• Welcome to the DeeperBlue.com Forums, the largest online community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving and Spearfishing. To gain full access to the DeeperBlue.com Forums you must register for a free account. As a registered member you will be able to:

    • Join over 44,280+ fellow diving enthusiasts from around the world on this forum
    • Participate in and browse from over 516,210+ posts.
    • Communicate privately with other divers from around the world.
    • Post your own photos or view from 7,441+ user submitted images.
    • All this and much more...

    You can gain access to all this absolutely free when you register for an account, so sign up today!

Which Specialfins to get?

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.

gabe13

Well-Known Member
Jan 7, 2005
29
1
88
44
I have not long completed the Deeperblue Sett course and I am now convinced I want to advance my freediving to the next level for myself. I have decided that I am going to invest in some Specialfins, having Sporasub H Dessaults at the moment. I am currently thinking about getting either some Kelpies or Hybrid Pros (trying to figure if they are worth the extra bucks). I mostly am diving for photographical reasons although spearfishing may be on the horizon. Will be off to Hawaii in just over a months time so need to make a decision soon. Any advice from any of you guys who own either of these fns or any of the Specialfins, would be appeciated.

Thanks,

Gabe
 
I have the kelpie fins. I like them a lot, much better than any plastic fins I have used. They can take a good beating too, so they are very good for spearing and shore entries. Just yesterday I slipped from a rock into the water with my fins on so that the blades got bent between two rocks and to my surprise nothing happened to the fins, not even a single scratch.

I think specialfins has some sort of offer on kelpie fins going on now... if you want to have these fins I think you should consider taking this offer.

On the other hand, there is a whole bunch of other good brands of fins available which might be cheaper or even better. For example, check out the fins of carbontek, leaderfins and omer.. the omer BAT fins are said to be very good and durable..
 
I've used the Kelpie and the Hybrid's and can't say that I noticed enough of a difference to spend the extra cash on the hybrid's- spend it on your camera.

I've also used the BAT's and prefer the Kelpies to them as they have a better blade angle which makes surface swimming much easier for me.

If your going to use them for phtography I might suggest the Specialf Fins Pro's- in white. Not only are they cheaper than the Kelpies, but they also allow you to do your own, manual, white balance on your digitial camera while diving- whithout any need to bring along an extra sheet of white plastic to set it with since you can just aim the camera at your fin blade and set it yourself. :)

Jon
 
I have a set of hybrids (hard) and a set of medium kelpies. I pool tested the two and a set of cressi 200hf and found the hybrids superior every way I could think of to test them. However, for all day diving, I found that I get less tired with the kelpies.The hybrids are a better fin, but may not perform better for you in an overall sense unless you are large and strong. I'm 6' 1". 155 lbs and used to stiff fins. For serious deep diviving or any situation where you need to put the petal to the metal, the hybrids rule.
I'm experimenting now with a set of waterways #2, a soft fiberglass fin. They are not near the quality of specialfins(nor is their customer service), but, for me, they seem to perform better for most of what I do. Next stop, a set of hybrids(soft).

Good luck with your search.

Oh yes, Jon is probably right about the extra bucks, unless you are a truly over-the-top fanatic and just have to get the last little bit of possible benefit, or an old fart like me who needs all the help he can get.

Connor
 
Last edited:
I went with the blue water specials. I have no experience with any other SpecialFin models or stiffness, but am really happy with my medium blues. I can move very slowly and gently while stalking fish, or take off hard for the surface from 39 m, and they work really well at both ends of the spectrum. The tip flexes easily, but i can't seem to overpower them, even when trying, since the b ase is pretty stiff. I do like the bend below the toes, but have never used a pair of fins with no bend for diving.
Generally great fins.
Howard
 
Thanks for the info. I have just put in an order for a pair of Hard Kelpies and Medium Blue Water Specials:inlove . Will be testing them on holiday in Hawaii hopefully!!! :) Will let you guys know how I get on, hope they live up to there rep, sure they will though!
 
DeeperBlue.com - The Worlds Largest Community Dedicated To Freediving, Scuba Diving and Spearfishing

ABOUT US

ISSN 1469-865X | Copyright © 1996 - 2024 deeperblue.net limited.

DeeperBlue.com is the World's Largest Community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving, Ocean Advocacy and Diving Travel.

We've been dedicated to bringing you the freshest news, features and discussions from around the underwater world since 1996.

ADVERT