Apeks RK3 Fins

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ldwill299

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Location
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Has anybody used the Apeks RK3 fin yet? Apparently they are an upgrade to the Rocket fins and Rocket II

I am looking at purchasing some new fins and was recommended these by a dive shop over the Hollis F1's or the Mares Avanti Quatros. I am mainly a warm water diver diving on a single tank using a wetsuit. I am looking for something that delivers some power and is good in currents. I am fairly fit and don't think I would suffer too much from leg strain. I would be interested to know your experiences with them and which you would go for out of the three?
 
they are the same as the Rocket II's, they just have spring straps on them which is the "upgrade", it's a good upgrade, but depends on the price differnece, don't let them convince you they are a different fin.

Check out the Hog Tech 2 fins, they're just over half the price and are a similar fin with spring straps.
 
I have just ordered a pair so haven't used them yet but they look top quality. For the type of diving you have described I think the Apeks RK3 fins might be a little heavy and, of the fins you mention, I'd probably go with the Mares ones. Personally I'd ignore the HOG product range in its entirety but it is your choice.
 
why ignore the Hog? Their fins are made in the same factory/moulds as the fins that Poseidon and UTD are selling, their regulators are coming out of the same factory that Dive Rite and Hollis are buying their regulators, their wings coming out of the same facilities as Hollis and Dive Rite *different facilities for each DR is in the US, Hollis over seas*. If you believe in that statement, then you must rule out the products from those brands as well
 
I personally rule out Hog products especially their regulators) as they are hard / impossible to get + service in the UK. I also wouldn't use any of the products you mention as I prefer manufacturers over manu-packers / re-badgers.
 
availability of parts/service are valid point

If you prefer manufacturers over manu-packers, then the following must must be true
anything Apeks other than their regulators
pretty much everything scubapro makes, they used to manufacture direct, but most is contracted now including most of the regulators which are made by Tabata, still speculation on whether or not the MK25 is done in house or not, but Tusa does have the license to make it for Halcyon
Everything Poseidon except their regulators/rebreathers, though parts of the breathers are contracted out
Most every computer ever made-the big run of Dive Rite Nitek Duo's/Cressi Archimede II and all the others were made by Seiko, SP and AUP contract theirs out. Dive Rite has the Nitek Q contracted out, Shearwater does make theirs in house
Most every wetsuit ever made-most are made by big wetsuit manufacturers, including 4th element and waterproof
Most BC's/BPW's made today-Halcyon, Deep Sea Supply, Oxycheq, and I think that's it actually mfg their wings in house, every one else contract mfg's, but no one except Oxycheq and Deep Sea Supply actually do the plates in house.
Nothing from Atomic other than regulators
Nothing from Zeagle except their BC's but even those are being partially outsourced right now

Can't use an SPG or a depth gauge as those all come out of the same factory in Italy
Can't use a hose that was bought from any company other than the hose manufacturer
Can't use a mask, no one actually makes those anymore, all done in Asia
No clips or bungee or anything, those have all passed through at least 2 hands before it got to you
No webbing either

There aren't a whole lot of manufacturers any more mate, but the fact is there is no way for a dive mfg to actually make money and build quality products if the did stuff in house and it is flat out idiotic to believe it is. Halcyon cuts and sews their wings in house sure, but the material is all brought it, their plates are done outside because they aren't a metal working shop, so they have a company that actually does stuff like that all day every day make the plates. They're cheaper and higher quality than if they did it in house. Dive Rite has all of their soft goods made at a company that does nothing but cut and sew, it is in the US which is better than Asia, but the fact is it is cheaper and better for them to not have the overhead because not a single manufacturer has enough volume to pump out product 24/7 and not be running tremendous amounts of inventory. It's far better for a "wing maker" to make wings to the specs of each of their customer and build them than it is to have the redundancy at each company. That makes it impossible for anyone but boutique brands to exist. Deep Sea Supply is one of the only ones, they do BC's and that's about it, Hog came about to buy gear from those manufacturers that everyone was buying from anyway, and offer it at reasonable prices because they were sick of the industry charging insane margins, don't be pigheaded and think that there is a single company out there that can offer a full line of gear that they actually make.

Not wanting to be argumentative, but you are either live under a rock and have no ideal what the actual state of the industry is as far as who actually makes what, or have bought the marketing bs and believe that some of the old manufacturers actually still manufacture and you get what you pay for. It's not a bad thing though, it pushes quality higher because you have one factory that does nothing but mill regulators, another that makes masks, another that cut and sews wings, if you brought it under one roof quality would suffer and cost would rise. Bad idea

If you had to build a kit that was actually only from manufacturers, then you'd be stuck with the following
no mask
no wetsuit
drysuits from either DUI, USIA, or a few others
Regulator from Apeks, Tusa, Atomic, or Poseidon
Backplate from Deep Sea Supply
Wing from DSS/Halcyon/Oxycheq
Fins from Scubapro
No booties
computer from Shearwater
have to find hoses and bolt snaps direct
Very limited selection if you actually want to go that route, and it is incredible expensive to do so.

You also need to return those fins and get a pair of proper Jet Fins if you want them to be from a manufacturer....
 
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Oh tbone1004, you miss the point. I posted a reply answering a memner's in good faith questiom with an in good faith reply and your reply has gone off topic. I have been educated though (in a certain kind of way) so I thank you for that. Best regards and happy + safe diving with the kit you like.

---------- Post added March 29th, 2015 at 06:37 PM ----------

PS, have done jet fins but they don't make them big enough for my feet. (And you kmow what they say about guys with big feet).
 
they XXL's are fine for me in drysuit but they were missing a crucial point between the XL and XXL though. I have gone to Dive Rite XT's as I think they're a better fin, and the new OMS Slipstreams should be reaching you before they reach us and those are better fins in general and are a bit lighter.
 
I have just ordered a pair so haven't used them yet but they look top quality. For the type of diving you have described I think the Apeks RK3 fins might be a little heavy and, of the fins you mention, I'd probably go with the Mares ones. Personally I'd ignore the HOG product range in its entirety but it is your choice.

The RK3 fins will float. In fresh water the fin will slowly float to the surface with the foot pocket pointed down and about 2mm of the fin blade will break the surface. These are not heavy fins. I have never seen the original Rocket fins so I don't know if they had the same buoyancy characteristics.
 

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