Posts by fishon

Quote from Dan

Don't be fooled, that's a very soft blade in that video, it would be a noodle in the water.

I actually used it and thought it was real good, although I was just kicking around a 100 foot long, 20 foot deep pool. Next time at the pool, I want to hook myself to one of those hanging spring scales and see how many pounds of thrust I can generate. Of course, there are a number of flaws with this "experiment," but I maybe any noodle fins would be outed by it. In the pool most of my fins felt good, although the HSD carbons were significantly stiffer (maybe a good candidate for tendon-less pockets) and the Pierre von Eecke's were a lot softer (not quite a noodle, but they might feel that way if dragging an ulua up from 40m). What was the fin in your video? You forgot to put in three minutes of still photography to burn the brand into my retina.

Dan, I wasn't quite clear from your post: do you make the Pursuit blades? That's pretty impressive! How do you decide on the shape for the end of the blade? I noticed in one picture there is a concave curve, and in another, convex. What are the advantages of each?
After contacting SalviMar about the tab on the bottom of the f/p, I was told, "The tab is to connect the hard sole to the rubber which in turn adds weight but also energy transfer (in theory) also combined with kevlar inserted in the top of the foot rubber." I'm all for energy transfer, but I guess I'll just Dremel it off when my next pair of Delta Ones arrive, because some Pierre von Eecke blades are destined for them. I also got a link to a vaguely informative YouTube video about their new blade: AERO.wmv - YouTube Let it load and skip the first three minutes, which feature a bunch of still photos of the blades and some very European electronic music. Of interest in the video was the blades ability to withstand bending and twisting, but even more so, the f/p design: The tendons are removed, just as has been championed on this thread.
Oh, and of interest for jdv would be the 2 year warranty:) My DeltaOnes take a thorough beating and are still going strong, so I'm hoping I never have to cash in on that, but I guess it's nice to know I can if I need to.

Thanks for the informed and considerate replies. What is the angle of the footpockets you use? Do they match the angle of your blades? What do you believe to be the optimal angle?

Quote from Dan

fishon, have you separated the blade from the footpocket? If you do you will see that the back edge of the blade is cut to match the "tab" inside the salvimar footpocket. This tab has no practical advantage, and doesn't allow the use of any blade that wasn't specifically designed for the salvimar footpockets.

I was unaware of that! Up to now I had used only a Carbonio fin in those pockets, which worked great. However, in two weeks I have another pair of DeltaOnes coming in which I intended to use for a pair of Pierre von Eecke's. Stay tuned.. there should be a new review in the coming weeks.

Quote from Wishihadgills

The reason that fiberglass and carbon fiber blades are superior to plastic is there ability to store energy and return to their original shape. This is often referred to as the "snappiness" of a fin.

I understand that, but I still would like to see some data before I'm willing to say that the fin pocket is hampering my blade's performance. Each blade is obviously different, but I would say most benefit from some tendon (although I could be wrong, I haven't actually tried every blade). Additionally, I don't think it's all "snap" we're looking for. I think that simplifies it a bit too much. If that were the case, one patch of carbon where the flex happens would be all you needed, the rest could be any material right, provided the carbon could snap it back into place? I read an article (which I might look for later) positing that you actually want to create a sine wave. In fact, if you could manage it, you would want multiple sine waves. Feel free to correct me here, because I'm just a secondary source on that information (information I don't really understand at that). That's more the realm of hydrophysicists or something... I'm just a fisherman.

Quote from Wishihadgills

As for the weight of the footpocket, its not so much that the heavier pockets are "too heavy" and more that the ultra light ones are reaalllllyyyy nice. In your toothbrush analogy you have a very short duration. Try looking at a day of spearfishing as more of an endurance race. There arent any footpockets (to my knowledge) that are so heavy that they cant be kicked by an average diver or that will make you sink. However, if you had to run a marathon would you choose a set of really heavy hiking boots, (which arent too heavy to walk in) or a set of top of the line running shoes? Also in a sport were efficiency is very important, the less energy spent accelerating a foot pocket, the more is put into moving water. It may not seem like a lot but my pursuit 90's in pathos pockets are roughly half the weight of my cressi garas and over the course of a day with a few thousand kicks it adds up.

I will not argue with that. The only counterpoint I would add is, which would you rather run a marathon with: a lighter shoe that does not fit well, or a slightly heavier one that is comfortable. I won't pretend to see an advantage to the added weight though.

I wanted to post my experience with these fins. Before I purchased Carbonio's I had tried a number of fins, but I had settled on Beuchat Mundial carbons as my favorite (I had the generation with the thicker weave).
The first time I used them I was spearfishing a reef ranging from 60-90 feet deep. This was the depth range I did the majority of my diving in, which I'm fortunate to say was quite a bit of diving. Enough that I had settled into a routine. I would kick hard a few times off the top, reduce the amplitude and intensity of my kicks, then glide for a little while before looking toward the oncoming seafloor in search of fish. Like I said, it had become routine, I had the timing and rhythm down... as long as I had Beuchats on my feet.
The first few dives with my GFT's I proceeded as normal: break the surface with a few good kicks, flutter down, glide, then look toward the floor. But whereas normally I would see the bottom 20 feet below me, now it seemed it was little more than a body length away.. and closing fast! Using the same effort I was getting farther, faster! I don't have dive times for comparison in front of me right now, but the GFT's certainly outperformed any other fin I have used.
I've had them well over a year now, and still have only positive reviews for them. I saw another post on the forum about the new GFT Aeros, which I heard are even better... hopefully I can afford them.

Carbonio GFT (the 80 cm version), med stiffness.
I have used them to dive CW 60m (200 feet) and spearfish down to 155 feet.
In deference to the reviews started here by jdv, I will post my thoughts on these fins in another thread.

I was surprised to read the negative review of the DeltaOnes, because my friends and I love them. I wanted to briefly add some counterpoints to JDV's well-written review and hopefully get some feedback.
One thing I wanted to address off the bat is the comfort of the footpockets. JDV eluded to the fact that comfort is quite variable depending on the individual. I would have to say, in my opinion, the Salvimar is the most comfortable footpocket, even surpassing the widely acclaimed Beuchat pocket. I never had a problem with the "horns," and in fact, they are created by a divot designed to be less abrasive to your Achilles.
Also on my mind was the stiffness of the ribs. Clearly a fin will not flex as drastically when braced by a thicker rib, but given that fact alone I am hesitant to make the statement that the pockets reduce the performance of the fin. I have had fins (Esclapez, for the record) that bend just beyond the toes (such as you would expect to happen with a soft rail) and in my judgement they were the worst fins I have ever used. I'd like to see some empirical evidence on the rails' effect on fin performance... and then if it shows I'm wrong, I'll gladly admit it.
The last point you made about the Delta One pockets regarded their weight. They are heavier than all fin pockets I have tried previously, save Spettons. Intuitively, I would imagine a lighter pocket would be preferable. However, I don't think the Delta Ones are egregiously heavy. I'm not even sure they are heavy enough to affect performance. Let me try to elucidate my thought by making an analogy: you want a light toothbrush; at some weight a toothbrush simply gets too heavy to use. But a 1 oz toothbrush is not necessarily superior to a 2 oz toothbrush. Both fall below the threshold of "too heavy." Likewise with footpockets.
I just wanted to offer those counterpoints, because I really like my Salvimar DeltaOnes. Unfortunately I cannot compare them to the Pathos pockets. However I have used Spettons, Sporasub, OMER Milleniums, Beuchat, Cressi, Esclapez, and Dessault, and for me, the Salvimars come out on top. Which other ones have you used, and how do you rate them?

Aloha,
I'm here because I love spearfishing. But since no living organism could survive an extended period of time in my rancid old wetsuit, I am forced to dry out on occasion. In the mean time, hopefully I can come here to get my fix.
-Derek