Question Full foot travel fins recommendation

[tinyocean]

I am looking for recommendations on full foot travel fins.

Normally I use apeks RK3 HD with boots but they are inconvenient for traveling (heavy). Add the boots and it gets worse. Opening luggage that had wet/damp neoprene boots in them for half a day is not on my list of top things to do when I get home.

So I am looking for travel fins that perform similar to what I am used to, which I can use without boots. I would maybe also like an option to use them with thin (2mm) neoprene socks (they dry quickly).
Lets take Egypt for example. The currents there are not that strong from my experience. You also use AL80 instead of the steel 15L I normally use and I even have the 232 bar one which is heavier. My preferred finning style is the frog or modified frog kick.

So far I have found Scubapro Go Travel and Tusa Travel Right. Any opinion on those? Maybe another option?
Thank you.

 

[lowwall]

I am looking for recommendations on full foot travel fins.

Normally I use apeks RK3 HD with boots but they are inconvenient for traveling (heavy). Add the boots and it gets worse. Opening luggage that had wet/damp neoprene boots in them for half a day is not on my list of top things to do when I get home.

So I am looking for travel fins that perform similar to what I am used to, which I can use without boots. I would maybe also like an option to use them with thin (2mm) neoprene socks (they dry quickly).
Lets take Egypt for example. The currents there are not that strong from my experience. You also use AL80 instead of the steel 15L I normally use and I even have the 232 bar one which is heavier. My preferred finning style is the frog or modified frog kick.

So far I have found Scubapro Go Travel and Tusa Travel Right. Any opinion on those? Maybe another option?
Thank you.

Are you specifically looking for shorter fins?

If you just want to ditch the booties, my Mares Superchannel full foots outperform all the usual open heel fins. But they are pretty long.

 

[tinyocean]

Yes, shorter also. So tec style fins which are usually shorter.
Before I got my RK3 fins I had aqualung express adj and they are long. So much that I had to buy a bigger suitcase to fit them in. I am EU size 46-47 so I get the largest fins.

 

[lowwall]

@David Wilson

Could you suggest some relatively compact classic rubber full foots that are still available in Europe? It's pretty slim pickings in the US.

Maybe those orange Turkish ones?

Edit - found the post

Post in thread 'Basic gear from mid-twentieth-century Türkiye (Turkey)'

Post in thread 'Basic gear from mid-twentieth-century Türkiye (Turkey)'

Sep 8, 2024

The Adalılar Kauçuk Süper Jet Model 1 fin:

​

A full-foot open-toe fin with side rails and a central rib for blade reinforcement. Soft, comfortable foot pocket. These fins were previously manufactured by another Turkish diving equipment maker, Nilsan Nil Deniz Kauçuk, where they were given the product name "Golf 2000" (below). You may also recognise the original design as the Mares sub "Sea King", made in Italy.

​

More Adalılar Kauçuk fins midweek.

• David Wilson

• 

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

Perhaps these fins will work for you. We added them to our line up specifically for people who want a somewhat shorter fin, but still want a full foot pocket and an efficient blade. These fiberglass blades are 70 cm long which is 10 cm (4 inches) shorter than a standard freedive blade. The blades are considered soft, but they are still very powerful.

Black and Pink!

MAKO“Slightly Shorter” Pro Fiberglass Freedive Fins With Interchangeable Blades

Discover the MAKO 'Slightly Shorter' Pro Fiberglass Freedive Fins – perfect for kids, smaller women, and scuba divers. With a compact 70cm length for enhanced maneuverability, these lightweight, durable fins deliver professional-grade power and hydrodynamic stability. Ideal for diving from...

makospearguns.com

 

[tarponchik]

I am looking for recommendations on full foot travel fins.

Normally I use apeks RK3 HD with boots but they are inconvenient for traveling (heavy). Add the boots and it gets worse. Opening luggage that had wet/damp neoprene boots in them for half a day is not on my list of top things to do when I get home.

So I am looking for travel fins that perform similar to what I am used to, which I can use without boots. I would maybe also like an option to use them with thin (2mm) neoprene socks (they dry quickly).
Lets take Egypt for example. The currents there are not that strong from my experience. You also use AL80 instead of the steel 15L I normally use and I even have the 232 bar one which is heavier. My preferred finning style is the frog or modified frog kick.

So far I have found Scubapro Go Travel and Tusa Travel Right. Any opinion on those? Maybe another option?
Thank you.

I take my Tusa Travel Right with socks on "easy" dives and I like them. The best socks I found were Xuker 3 mm neoprene "water shoes" (actually, just socks) but anything works, including lycra socks.

 

[Landau]

Scubapro Go Travel. Love these fins. Easy to frog or back kick with.

Not full foot but designed to be worn without a boot. I’ve done over 150 dives in mine and no issues.

They may not be as good for divers with smaller feet since the blade size shrinks very rapidly as the sizes go down to smaller foot pockets.

 

[David Wilson]

@David Wilson

Could you suggest some relatively compact classic rubber full foots that are still available in Europe? It's pretty slim pickings in the US.

Maybe those orange Turkish ones?

Edit - found the post

Post in thread 'Basic gear from mid-twentieth-century Türkiye (Turkey)'

Post in thread 'Basic gear from mid-twentieth-century Türkiye (Turkey)'

Sep 8, 2024

The Adalılar Kauçuk Süper Jet Model 1 fin:

​

A full-foot open-toe fin with side rails and a central rib for blade reinforcement. Soft, comfortable foot pocket. These fins were previously manufactured by another Turkish diving equipment maker, Nilsan Nil Deniz Kauçuk, where they were given the product name "Golf 2000" (below). You may also recognise the original design as the Mares sub "Sea King", made in Italy.

​

More Adalılar Kauçuk fins midweek.

• David Wilson

• 

First, anticipating conflicting views on all-rubber full-foot fins, modern models can be lightweight and even float in water. When the West began to move over en masse to composite fins with petroleum-derived plastic blades and thermoplastic elastomer foot pockets in the 1980s, certain manufacturers there produced closed-heel fins of lighter rubber blend construction to keep everybody on board. Meanwhile, in the East, the Japanese bucked the Western trend and continued diving with all-rubber fins fabricated by the likes of Kinugawa, Ikari and Aqualung (Japan). Sadly, these manufacturers refrained from supplying demand created by Western diving equipment manufacturers when they abandoned all-rubber fin production.

On the face of it, Europe has similar slim pickings to the USA when it comes to domestic all-rubber full-foot fin production. The USA has Oceanways Aquapros, while Europe has French-made Sommap Esterel and Greek-made Balco Sprint fins:

I have both and they are decent enough old-school lightweight all-rubber fins. Otherwise, Europe too depends heavily on imports of closed-heel all-rubber fins from the Far East, notably Taiwan and Malaysia, which I can see are also available States-side, e.g. this Taiwanese-made Scubapro model:

Once again, a perfectly good fin with a comfortable foot pocket and a reasonable blade to deliver the necessary power. I have a pair of those too.

As for the Turkish fins, they may be available online and in-store in that country, but so far as I can see, they are not distributed within Europe itself.

Hope this helps.

 

[BoltSnap]

Scubapro Go Travel. Love these fins. Easy to frog or back kick with.

Not full foot but designed to be worn without a boot. I’ve done over 150 dives in mine and no issues.

They may not be as good for divers with smaller feet since the blade size shrinks very rapidly as the sizes go down to smaller foot pockets.

I am considering buying them in sizes 2XS and XS for my 7- and 9-year-old kids. Do you think they will work well with kids?

 

[Kahuna.]

I am considering buying them in sizes 2XS and XS for my 7- and 9-year-old kids. Do you think they will work well with kids?

Not sure about the travel but I got the regular GO sports in XS (the smallest size) for my 11 yo (US size 3.5 youth) and even with reef shoes on they are waaay too big for her. Please let us know how the travel fits if you go ahead.