Basic gear from the mid-twentieth-century Federal Republic of Germany

[David Wilson]

In 1951, Heinke and Barakuda began production of Hans Hass fins in London and Hamburg respectively. Over the years, Heinke released several versions of their System Hans Hass fins:

1. Open heel with fixed strap

2. Open heel with adjustable strap, twin buckles and extended foot platform

3. Open heel with adjustable strap, twin buckles, extended foot platform and toe opening

4. Open heel with adjustable strap, single buckle and toe opening

 

[David Wilson]

Now for the Barakuda version of the Hans Hass fins. This from the 1953 catalogue:

and this from the 1954 catalogue:

The captions above attribute product design and development to Hans Hass with a nod in the direction of Louis de Corlieu's patent for "swimming propellers". The fin's centre rib for blade reinforcement is its distinctive feature. Particularly suited to fast short-distance swimming, i.e. brief sprints, the fin is recommended for divers and underwater hunters. Comes in green in six sizes from EUR 33 to EUR 44. Hans Hass fins made their final appearance in the Barakuda catalogue of 1957.

A study of Hans Hass fins is incomplete without an image or a video of Lotte Hass with these fins on her feet, so here she is in Australia, shod with a red pair:

and here she is snorkelling with these fins. Poetry in motion!
And that's it for today. Another Barakuda fin next time, the Bonito.

 

[Sam Miller III]

David,
As Always-- Fantastic !
Also so many memories...

I spent may early child hood with my grand father,in Vienna- (Illinois)

In 1948 I first saw the B&W Hass movie "Under the Red Sea" Concurrently my cousin had just graduated from university with some sort of a mining degree..So we gathered some WW11 surplus and MSE equipment and made a rebreather- dove it twice-- we hung it up for ever- about 20 or more years ago it just fell apart

Hass and of course lovely Lotte was the idol of the "vintage" American underwater enthusiast - perhaps due to Under the Red Sea.
In 1959 they were the honoree at the California based "International Underwater Film festival.' It was at the festival at the reception I met then up close and personal and had them inscribe the festival program to me.
Later in life I had the occasion to meet them at various diving functions and I am fortunate to have All their American published books signed to me.

In 1994 Michael Jung published "Hans Hass Ein Liben lang auf expedition" Michael and I have been corresponding for many years and he was so kind as to inscribe my book along with Dr.Hass.

Being of German/American heritage I have managed t collect about 3 lineal feet of German books - cant read or write German and only speak a few German phrases. One of my treasures is a 1942 hard cover book Fotojagd am Meeresgrud compete with UW color photographs.

To place this book in history and Dr Hass contribution - the skinny Frenchman had not began to dive and the US and British Air Forces were beginning to pound Germany day and night - but Hass managed to publish a book with color photographs

I fear I have rambled too long

Sam Miller.111

 

[Akimbo]

I would sure be interesting if someone could write a biography for ScubaBoard on Hans and Lotte Hass.

 

[divad]

Nifty stuff.

 

[JMBL]

Thanks again for sharing and writing on Hans and Lotte Hass.

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks again, guys. Let's move on now to Barakuda Bonito fins. This full-foot model, which eventually became Barakuda's, and hence West Germany's, favourite fin, made a modest début in 1955:

I say "modest" because the only available size was EU 33-36, approximately equivalent to a US 2-4 foot. This said, the design clearly shows the influence of Luigi Ferraro's Cressi Rondine design, which came with a comfortable foot pocket and a hydrodynamically efficient offset blade. The German caption never mentions the rival IItalian fin, however.

In 1955, the Bonito was relaunched in a range of four sizes:

Now anybody with a shoe size between US Child 13 to US Adult 12 could have a pair. It can be assumed that the Bonito proved a success when it was piloted during 1955 with small-footed people.

 

[David Wilson]

According to the 1957 Barakuda catalogue, the latest edition of the Bonito incorporated recent advances in hydrodynamics and sports physiology as well as wearing comfort:

The new version came with centre ribs for reinforcement, concave blade tips and a price hike. The following pair may be examples of the Bonito at this stage of development:

Note how the ribs appear not only on the top of the blade but also on the bottom along the entire sole of the fin as far as the heel. I am reminded of a similar Soviet fin, the Mosrezina Model 5:

Hard to escape the similarities between the West German and the Soviet fin designs. Anyway it was "steady as she goes" when the 1958 Barakuda catalogue appeared:

The same look, but a promotion was in the offing: "Bonito" became "Bonito-Super".

I'll leave it there for today. More anon about the Barakuda Bonito family of fins.

 

[David Wilson]

Right, let's try and pick up where we left off a few days ago, when we were considering how Barakuda Bonito fins evolved up to 1958, when they became "Bonito-Super" fins. The fin section of the 1959 Barakuda retained the 1958 version of the fins, which were described as a black "high performance" model of medium rigidity with reinforced side rails and offering wriggle room for the toes:

However, just two of the five sizes remained available. By way of compensation, two new versions of the Bonito-Super simultaneously appeared on the scene:

There was a blue version in three sizes and an ivory-coloured "super luxury" version in two sizes. So here was the birth of the removable toe-cap, which was perhaps the distinctive feature of future Bonito designs. Here's how the toecap looked when intact:

and here's how it looked when the toecap was cut out:

Note the writing around the toecap. It reads: "Die Spitze kann herausgetrennt werden", meaning "the tip can be removed." The toecap was made of softer rubber for comfort if the toes inside the foot pocket pressed against it.

This soft removable toecap feature also graced the German Democratic Republic's flagship Naiade fin:

No writing around the toecap to explain the options, though, in the case of the East German fin. The Soviets also liked the idea of the soft toecap, releasing their Naiade lookalike:

Neither Bonitos nor Bonoito-Supers are in production nowadays, but your can still get full-foot Naiade Standards from Hungary:

I own a pair and I can confirm that the soft toecaps do enhance the fins' wearing comfort.

 

[David Wilson]

In 1960, the Bonito-Super came out in five sizes:

We now see a pattern emerging in Barakuda product launches, whereby the company tested the waters with a new fin in a reduced number of sizes to see if it would sell and then increased the range when sales returns proved positive.

1961 brought floatability and a change of colour to the "super-luxury" model from ivory to yellow:

In 1962, the Bonito-Super was renamed plain "Bonito", while the super-luxury model became the new Bonito-Super:

Note the price reductions to accompany the name changes!

In 1964, the Barakuda-Super became available in five sizes:

I'm going to leave it there for today, although there is still plenty to say about the Bonito as it evolved from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s.