Just got back from 9 days in Hawaii putting my new Speardiver blades through their paces. Short version is that I'm happy with my purchase and think these blades will serve me well for a long time to come.
In the days leading up to my trip, I decided that I wanted to stop beating around the bush and go ahead and buy a new pair of fins. My C4 Flaps were too stiff for me and I wasn't totally satisfied with their performance. Well, the Thursday before I left (plane left Saturday morning), I called up Dan and asked if it would still be possible for me to get a pair before I left. He bent over backward to make sure I had the fins on Friday with enough time to get them installed in my pockets and all set. Thanks, Dan! Dan and I discussed at some length what stiffness would be best for me and he eventually convinced me that the "Soft" blades would be too soft, so he'd find me a Medium that was a bit softer than the norm and send me that.
In Hawaii I spent between 5 and 8 hours per day, every day in the water diving (most of it spearfishing). The max depth I hit was 82 feet and max dive time was 1:54. In other words, I gave the fins the hardest work out I know how. They went from lustrous and beautiful to completely scratched and looking well used. Overall, I am satisfied with the blades.The stiffness level is great. I definitely had an easier time maintaining proper form with these blades as compared to my C4s. I never found them to be lacking in power when coming off the bottom at 75 feet, nor did I have trouble with my legs getting sore diving in current or long surface swims. Whether the performance from the blades and my subsequent improvements in form will increase my average bottom time, I'll have to wait and see. I don't distinctly remember what my bottom times were in Hawaii last time I was there and comparing CA dive times to Hawaii dive times is a complete apples to oranges comparison due to water temperature, wetsuit thickness, weighting, hunting style, visibility, etc. I have every reason to believe that these fins will perform great here in CA, though.
Now for a couple of cons- For whatever reason, I did find that the Speardiver fins put quite a bit more strain on my ankles than I'm used to with my C4s. I believe that the angle on the speardivers isn't as much as that on the C4s, so I figure that the hours of surface swimming were wearing out my ankles for that reason. Not a huge deal. My ankles will get stronger. The other possibility I'm considering is that because the new blades allow me to have more proper technique to my kick cycles, I'm transferring more energy into my ankles and thus a bit of discomfort by the end of the day. Either way, it never significantly slowed me down or caused significant pain. Another issue I had with the blades is that I found that the water channeling rails are just the perfect dimensions and design for getting stuck between coral heads. I had probably a half dozen or 10 occasions where I'd go to reposition on the bottom or make my ascent and notice that my fin was a bit snagged. It never lost me any fish or did me any harm in any way, but I feared that sooner or later I might damage the rubber rail or have an approach on a fish interrupted by needing to unsnag the fin. Has anyone else had this issue with other brands? I'm not too worried about it because 90% of the time I used these fins will be here in CA and we don't have any coral to worry about.
As I've said, though, I am overall satisfied with the new blades. I look forward to adding many more scratches to these fins in the years to come :thumbsup2:.