I hope this thread will help freedivers make an informed fin choice. Following is my fin progression which started in 1999.
1. Mares Plana Avanti HP plastic fins. I was a swimmer and diver all my life, but these were my first fins. I bought them when I discovered spearfishing. They were comfortable and worked OK. When I got them I started splashing around with a speargun in 10-20 feet of water.
2. Mares Avanti Tre plastic fins. The Avanti tre are the same size as the Plana HP. They were a little more expensive than the Plana HP and had three channels instead of two, so I figured they were better. I can't say if they actually were better because I never looked back. But they were good little fins and durable, took a lot of abuse from the reef. Then as my abilities improved, I started diving past 30ft and head out about 600 meters from shore, I felt I needed more from the fins.
3. Mares Avanti Quattro open heel plastic fins. These had more surface area than the Avanti tre, and had four WOW! channels instead of three. Also I was walking to my entry points over some sharp rocks. I thought that using booties to walk over the rocks, and then simply using the booties with the fins would be convenient. I quickly realized that there's too much energy lost between the legs and the blades this way, and eliminated open heel fins as an option.
4. Mares Avanti Quattro plastic fins. These were bigger and longer than the Avanti tre fins, and had a fully enclosed foot pocket, so I figured they'd be better. To explain my sticking with Mares, that's all that was available where I was at the time. Anyways all other fins I saw in dive shops were a similar style and I couldn't see how they'd make a difference. I hated the Avanti Quattro fins, so big and heavy and provided little propulsion. These fins were responsible for making up my mind that there has to be something better, so I started researching more.
It was around year 2000 and as I looked at other plastic fins available in dive shops, I couldn't see anything significantly different that made sense. There was a new plastic fin which was a little longer and had the foot pocket extend under the blade, this made sense in theory. I got a chance to try the fins in the pool before buying them. I immediately felt they put too much pressure on the toes and ankles, so I didn't buy them. They looked something like the new Cressi Gara professional fins, foot pocket under the blade is an old uncomfortable concept.
Around this time I started to use the internet more, and was exposed to more fin choices. Fortunately I was able to logically eliminate such gimmicks as the split fins..
and the funky force fins.
5. Waterway #3 amber fiberglass blades, in Sporasub H Dessault foot pockets. Fiberglass blades were virtually unknown around 2001, and for sure no store carried them. I found them online, and was lucky that Waterway had a distributor very close to where I lived, otherwise I probably would've never taken a chance with fiberglass fins so early on. So I was able to skip a bunch of in between plastic long fins about which I found out later such as Cressi Gara etc. I found out about the fiberglass Waterway fins because of 20fathoms marketing. I think at that time Dennis Haussler was the only one promoting fiberglass fins in the US (20fathoms blades were Waterway blades rebranded Matrix). The Sporasub foot pockets were the only ones I could find after I figured out that's what the fiberglass blades fit into. The Sporasub foot pockets were stiff and heavy, but fit me. They were durable and did the job.
Although they were flat (lacking a toe angle) the Waterway blades in the Sporasub foot pockets were a significant improvement in performance over any plastic fins I've tried. These and all the following Waterway blades I used were really good for that time. I was diving to about 45ft and swimming distances of 1-2 kilometers.
6. Waterway #4 amber fiberglass blades, in Sporasub H Dessault foot pockets. I was diving more and I guess my legs got stronger. I felt that I could use more power which I figured would be provided by stiffer blades. The stiffer #4 amber blades turned out well for me and I used them for about three years.
7. Waterway #4 amber fiberglass blades, in omer foot pockets. Now living in Miami where dive stores have a much larger selection, I discovered there were other foot pockets available, and tried to find ones softer than my old Sporasubs. I had the dive store disassemble a pair of omer fins that were on display so I could buy those foot pockets instead of the omer foot pockets they offered me. It was strange for me to find out that some foot pockets from the same brand and model were softer than others. I didn't make the connection at that time that foot pocket choice affects overall fin flex and stiffness, I only understood that some foot pockets were more comfortable on my feet than others.
8. Waterway #4 black fiberglass blades, in omer foot pockets. Waterway came out with the same design blades but in black color. I liked the black color better than the amber so I bought them. It turned out the new black #4 Waterway black blades were stiffer than the old #4 amber colored blades. I was having trouble kicking continuously and ended up with knee pain. Fortunately realized I needed a softer fin.
9. Waterway #3 black fiberglass, blades in omer foot pockets. By this time I had already sold my old #4 amber Waterway blades and couldn't go back to them, so I bought the softer #3 stiffness black waterway blades. My knee problems went away.
10. Waterway #3 black fiberglass blades, in Nemo foot pockets. I found out Waterway makes foot pockets called Nemo which are a copy of the old Sporasub. They fit me about as good as the omer, but I liked the idea of having a little known foot pocket, so I switched to the Nemo. The Nemo weren't very soft but they fit me good so it wasn't an issue. The strong point of the Nemo foot pockets was a stiff sole which provided better power transfer to the blade.
At this point I was able to dive to about 60ft, and swim 2-3 kilometers on a beach dive. The area right under my knee started hurting with every fin kick. My ankles were also getting tired. I thought to try the softer Waterway #2 black blades in Nemo foot pockets but never got around to it, as I figured out the lack of toe angle in the flat Waterway blades was finally catching up with me. By now (around 2009) fiberglass and carbon blades from other manufacturers became available and they all had toe angles. Carbon fins were very expensive and notorious for breaking (at that time) so I thought to stick with the bulletproof fiberglass for my next pair of fins.
11. DiveR medium stiffness fiberglass blades, in Nemo foot pockets. After hearing all the hype I briefly tried this combination. I didn't like the extra length of the DiveR, nor the extreme 30 degree toe angle. The overdone angle of the DiveR made the down stroke easier but the back stroke harder, I had sore hamstrings after the first dive. I found the DiveR blades slow and cumbersome in general. Around the same time I found the Speardiver C90 carbon blades and was able to make a direct comparison. The Speardiver carbon blades were much lighter and faster/offered better propulsion. I got rid of the DiveR blades quickly.
12. Speardiver C90 medium stiffness carbon blades, in H Dessault foot pockets. I had an opportunity to try the H Dessault foot pockets and realized they were softer and more comfortable than the Nemo, so I combined them with the Speardiver carbon blades. These fins were a revelation and worked perfectly for me.
13. Speardiver C90 medium soft stiffness carbon blades, in Pathos 2nd generation foot pockets. I bought into the Pathos foot pockets hype, thinking light foot pockets must be better. The reason I went to softer carbon blades is that the 2nd generation Pathos foot pockets had very stiff tendons., Combined with a Speardiver C90 medium stiffness blades they made for overall stiffer fins than what I like so I switched to a medium soft carbon blade. I did not stay with this combination for long, the Pathos foot pockets were hard and uncomfortable.
14. Speardiver C90 medium stiffness carbon blades, in Pathos 3rd generation foot pockets. I switched to the latest 3rd generation Pathos foot pockets which are softer all around and more comfortable on the instep, and would require a medium stiffness carbon blade. The foot pocket tendons of this newer production did not adequately support the blade in the area close to the foot pocket, resulting in lack of backbone. This becomes noticeable when power is required swimming against current or stopping a big speared fish. I definitively dropped the Pathos foot pockets.
15. Speardiver C90 medium stiffness carbon blades, in H Dessault foot pockets. After dropping the Pathos foot pockets I went back to the H Dessault foot pockets and used them with Speardiver carbon blades happily for a few more years.
16. Speardiver C90 medium stiffness carbon blades, in Cressi Gara Modular foot pockets. Around 2015 Cressi came out with the Gara Modular Foot pockets. These are excellent foot pockets. The sole is hard offering good power transfer from leg to blade. The full length foot pocket tendons are medium stiffness giving the carbon blade support without adversely affecting its flex pattern, and channeling water along the full length of the fin stabilizing it. The pocket is soft is comfortable. This ended up being the winning combination for me. I've been diving these Speardiver fins for 6 years at the time of this last edit in 2021.
During years since settling with the Cressi foot pockets and Speardiver carbon blades, I sampled numerous carbon and fiberglass fins of different lengths, widths, rail configurations, and toe angles. Also fins made from different materials such as Kevlar and Texalium. Along with every footpocket in production today. I'm not exaggerating when I say you don't need to try a fiberglass or carbon fin in the water to know how it's going to perform. When you know the overall flex and stiffness pattern you're looking for, its easy to spot something that falls short by flexing the fin between your hands in a consistent manner. The only thing I can't tell by doing that is long term durability. All this time I found no reason to change from the Speardiver blades. If there's another slightly lighter or faster carbon blade somewhere, the small advantage is offset by the consistency, durability and price of the Speardiver blades. The way I see it is if Speardiver carbon blades don't feel right for someone, it's because the wrong stiffness blades were selected and/or wrong overall flex was achieved in combination with the foot pockets.
It would be interesting to see others fin progressions.
Just ordered the C4 wahoo black after trying them out, I like the medium stiffness for free diving all day on the reefs, hummmm maybe I will get some Mustangs for Christmas and see what happens in the big blue :thumbsup2:
