An excellent response from Dennis, I couldn't agree more. I have a pair of #2 stiffness blades coming in my next batch. I decided to give them a try about a month ago, I have pain in my right knee sometimes which I used to disregard but became more aware of recently.
Quote from Dennis HausslerDisplay Moredefinitely fiins can cause pain,
I had bad knee trouble 25 yrs ago, and just lived with it.
Two years ago, it kicked back in hard, and did some ortho clean up of the joint, but damage is still there.
Anyway, what I wound up doing was going to a much softer fin, like from a #3 to a #1. It really helped my knee, and what came out of it is, I don;t need to use stiff fins to get the work done.
Most americans like stiff fins. Its the " if I can';t feel it, its not working " mindset.
The guys in greece use VERY soft fins, and dive 35mtrs no problem. Now, theyre not trying to turn BIG fish at depth, but even still thats no easy work.
Once I worked at using close, tight kicks, and working from my hips all the way down to the fins, my performance with soft fins went way up. I now use a #2 max, and sometimes carbon fins that are about a #1, and have no problem diving beyond 80ft.
So, don;t be afraid to do down in stiffness.