Moana Waterman Review

    Quote from Dan

    Nice video.


    The only way to avoid a carbon fin from breaking in Pathos footpockets is to make it significantly stiffer, to the point where the flex is not to my taste. I prefer a softer fin, it tires my legs much less and gives me the same propulsion, also allowing a better breath hold. Having watched the video, I can tell you starting at 1:27 that is a stiff fin.


    This may be the reason he doesnt have a soft fin yet. He only has med and stiff. The med are stiffer than my leaderfin med. but not as stiff as the GFT softs i tried.

    It's with the softer blades that the quality of the carbon blade starts to shine. That's why Leader soft carbon blades are useless, and Leader medium is significantly stiffer than what I chose for the Speardiver medium.

    Quote

    Nice video


    Thanks Dan :) I'll post the link to the film I made in Alaska this past summer in another thread, I'm fairly proud of that one since it was my first ever. But let me not derail....


    Until someone takes every fin that has been created and measures the flex in some standardized way a softer flex may be medium and a medium flex be stiff in comparison between companies. There is no way to really know unless you wear them yourself.


    On that note, maybe I should try to obtain every freedive fin produced and film a comparison on stiffness using some type of machine...I could get a chart with actual numbers instead of opinions.


    Someone want to get me a list and email addresses? haha

    Quote from isotopez

    JD is a one pony show.For what it is worth, he designed his Moana fins flex pattern and carbon weave with the pathos footpocket in mind. Almost all of the carbon blades I have seen broken from lack of support have been snapped where the 90 degree axis on the weave is. This is an inherent weak spot on most if not all fiberglass/carbon fins on the market and JD addressed this issue when he created the blades. .


    That sounds like some solid product development. The American dream lives!!!!! :thumbsup2:


    I have only been in Omer stingray and Picasso foot pockets. Omer to loose. Picasso to narrow in the toes. What do you guys think are best in general for a size 13 foot..... And blades... oh boy I am lost. I don't have the coin or time to test a dozen different kinds. I keep hearing "stiffer is better" "softer is better". so which is it. I am 225 lbs and tire quickly, but I have strong large quads and can kick hard if I need to. Whats my Dream fin setup?

    Dustan Baker

    Well part of the problem is when people make blanket statements saying soft fins are better or stiff fins are better because that is someones opinion. Soft blades are useless for me. I over kick them. Im 250lbs and have pretty big legs. I prefer med to stiff fins but thats my preference. I really like using stiff fins but find I dont get the full bend in the blades so I stick with med. The way I did it is I just tried everyones fins. I went to club meetings met new people asked them if could try there fins and that way I found exactly what I didnt like. I took a bit of a gamble on my leaderfins because the price. Blade and foot pocket combos are a pretty personal thing so really the only way your gonna find out whats best for you is to try some. Not sure how close you are to Moana But i know JD is in CA and is pretty cool about letting people try fins out. So I would give him a call. As well as asking everyone u know if u can try their fins.


    Also there is another problem in picking a stiffness. There is no standard for stiffness. Even the same company can have different batches of the same blade that come out softer or stiffer than earlier batches. I have 2 sets of leaderfins that are both meds and feel completely different.

    That vid was sick! loved the intro and the way when dolphin kicking to the surface you reversed it...way cool

    A bad day at sea is better than a good day in the boatyard
    George Steele

    The smaller rail seems to agree with Dan's design on the Speardivers. Daryl W was telling me the same thing in Dec. He's using Moanas now too and says they make quite a difference. He also is using the Pathos pocket and says his legs don't tire so much.
    Coming from a guy who can probably get free fins from anyone and has tried a LOT of them, it sounds pretty good. Don't know if he's tried Dan's fins though.

    I really liked the video. Its interesting to see more people in the industry doing actual research and design analysis instead of just throwing out products into the market. At least from the video it seems like this guy has put some real thought into his fins.

    Nice vid.


    About the weave pattern, there's nothing new about it. Sporasub (when was a french compay) had that design on their "Pure carbon" fins. Note also the low profile rails. These fins were on the market 10 years ago.




    What you see below, was some kind of reinforcement to avoid blades breakage (they all broke eventually). I had them and sold them after 2 month. Didn't like them at all.


    Currently, Mares has the same pattern on their Carbon Razor:




    I've personally tried the Mares and are good fins though.

    Marco Melis

    A bad day fishing is ALWAYS better than a good day at work.

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