Figerglass fins and wetsuit discussion

Straight blades I've used: Davie's Matrix Fins, my Cressi 3000's, Cressi 2000's, and O.ME.R. Milleniums.

Angled blades I've used: Spetton plastic and my new Edges.

I'd like to note that Carbon fins are going to be the best in terms of deep diving performance. There's just no way around their High Modulus (Stiffness) capability. You can use a lighter blade to get the same stiffness than say fiberglass. That means less energy is spent on inertia to just move the fin and more transferred to propulsion. Fiberglass is still the best option for me because it is durable while having better stiffness characteristics than plastic.

With that said, obviously the biggest factor is skill.

Quote from Dan

That's what I thought you'd have tried. Davie's using like size 13 bigfoot footpockets. Did you switch them to different pockets to try them?

Nope, I just put socks on. I liked them, but thought they were soft, even though they were #4's. I was originally going to buy the Matrix blades from Dennis, I had several email strings with him and everything. He was going to the BW expo, so I planned to pick them up there (no shipping ) The Matrix fins he sells are angled now. In the end, he talked me into getting the Edge blades. I can't say that I'm disappointed.

Dan, I'm not sure whether we are agreeing or arguing. I like the angled fins because the are more comfortable for my style of finning. I dont understand the forces that would cause a rocking motion in angled fins. Fiberglass is the way to go for what Core does.

I just want to point out again: Who said that ALL Carbon fiber fins are fragile? Is it a 8 years life (and still going) of every weekend use too short? That´s what I´ve got from my C4 Falcons so far (and I paid full price for them).

Of course, european price which is way lower than in the USA.

Speardiver by far the best wetsuits Speardiver open cell spearfishing wetsuits

http://www.oceanoswetsuits.com/

I'm gonna do the custom suit next. It's pretty reasonable, I think about $260 to your door. I have the opposite problem, I'm too skinny, so all suits are just little short or tight in "weird" areas.

The hood is a most in cold waters. you end up freezing no matter what if you don´t have one. I guess a wetsuit with no hood is ok. for most tropical waters though. Here in winter the water can be really cold.

Good move on the custom suit Jim. Good thermal protection is all about the fit. If someone has a conventional body shape they can get away with off the rack suits. In your case I think it's the best decision. Too bad by the time you get it the water will already be warming up There's always next winter..

Monster, I agree. That was actually the biggest factor in me even attempting to get used to the hood. I thought I should be able to dive cold waters and if I do I must be able to use the hood. The truth is I don't like cold water so I'll just stay in Florida and deal with the cold when the time comes. I do have a separate hood which I selected for a tight fit, won't trap so much air.

i spoke with a friend at austins today, and he told me i wouldnt believe the amount of c4's he has seen broken or being returned by customers. I told him what i use, he says to stick with it.

If i had the money to throw around, i might look at spetton mat-mas or omer rekord for that matter.

IMO, I dont think for the normally DEEPEST stuff we dive around here being 70-80, the carbon fiber not being a big factor.

Here's the scoop.

Dennis (20 fathoms) buys the Matrix blades from finswimworld so it's the same blade. finswimworld will be very difficult to get hold of. Their way of doing business is strange to say the least. The blades are good, they are the ones I and a few guys around here use. Lets just come out and say it.. these are the blades I used to sell. They are tooled fiberglass blades. Tooled meaning layers are machined off the down side to create the proper flex in the blade which IMO is the best way to go about it. There's just no way to get that kind of flex precision laying out fiberglass in the first place.

The Mako blades from what I see on their site are not the same. They don't appear to be from the same manufacturer. I can't see any tooling on the down side so I'm fairly certain the flex on them will not be as good. Probably comparable to the Edge blades. Notice they state the blades don't have a built in angle but that and the color is where the similarity to the Matrix blades ends.

Footpockets are a personal item. I like omer the best followed closely by the Sproasub. The pockets finswimming world sells are branded with their own name. They are modeled after the sproasub which the omer are also modeled after with some slight changes. The omer are the lightest out of the three by a couple of hundred grams. I use the pockets from finswimming world because I like cheap good stuff.

Alvin: Try again with Nemo's and tell him you are from Puerto Rico and you know Fernando, who recently bought two pairs from him. Maybe he is saving some kind of "exclusivity" to the USA distributor?
They are great quality and reasonable priced fins.

Guys,

I am from Spain, have been living in Venezuela and now in Texas, all my life was involved with spearfishing, including International Championships.

I used to be the Leaderfins, Maorisub representative for USA, and I still sell other spearfishing equipment.

The everybody here in USA wants to make a huge profit, and that is the biggest problem.
Manufacturer price + shipping + taxes+ representative mark up + shipping + retailer mark Up + taxes

Most of the Blades came for the same people in Estonia and Ukrania, some others came form Greece.

The same thing happens with a lot of material, band material, US made, sold to Italian companies and then sent back to the States to fit the right size of your gun.

Chinese plastic materials sold to manufaturers all over the World, sent back to USA with an incredible price.

So do not fight for stupid things is the same hooker with a different dress!!!!!!!!

The problem is that sometimes the high price matches with a superior quality and other times not.
So not every equipment that is expensive is really much much better that other cheaper, maybe it only has more intermediaries in its distribution from manufacturer to final user.

Ivan

Ivan,
well said. Hooker with a different dress huh???? Le estas llamando putas?:D

So, what do you think is a good fin regardless of the "pimped out" prices??

Depends of the kind of diving are you doing, depth, your weight, height, etc.
You can select the material (Carbon, Fiber Kevlar, others), stiffnes, lenght and width of the blade.

If I am selling a custiom made fin, I would use need all this information to make the right selection plus previous experience with other brands.

If you are choosing between standard models in the market, probably you need to focus in your weight, height and use.

Apnea, Blue water hunting, Deep Diving = Carbon, Long blades ( 75 cms and longer) width around 19 cms

Speafishing around structures, reefs = Fiberglass is going to be more resistent.

If you are strong I would recommend you a wider blade, around 21 cms.

If you fish from the coast and have to swim long distances, softer blades
If you are fishing from boats, you can use more stiff blades, but that you can move correctly.

The best way to find the right blade is to try it, from fellow spearos or friends, it is the only way to know if it will cover your necessities. If not telling what fin are you using now and how do you feel it, will help to make the right recommendation.

Ivan

That's some solid advice, thank you Ivan, and welcome aboard

Thank you Guys.