Are Force Fins really that bad?

[Mako Mark]

The best thing about force fins is going to the booth at DEMA. I do it every year and just roll around laughing. A couple of years ago I was there and they had a long skinny prototype that seriously looked more like dominatrix equipment rather than diving equipment.

Then there was the revolutionary folding fin. Seriously, I was laughing so hard that I could hardly hold my camera still to take a photo, and when I did, the guy from the booth nearly attacked me.

Really, I thought he was going to physically punch me out. After he grilled me about why I was taking photos of his booth and I explained that they had to be the silliest looking things I had ever seen in my life, he explained his reaction by telling me that the patent hadnt come through yet and he thought I was an industrial spy.

I think the patent hadnt come through because the guys at the patent office hadnt stopped laughing yet. It still makes me laugh just thinking about it.

 

[Lemonade]

Just $75! Whiskers are included. It's a bargain!

http://www.unclaimedbaggage.com/letsshop/catalog/catalog_type.asp?CID=49

 

[yogi_tala]

Lemonade,

Thanks. Have been scanning ebay for a pair for a while. Just need to check the size. BTW, I gathered you were being sarcastic, but that is a good price for a great set of fins. My current set is getting pretty ragged.

jwh

 

[Lemonade]

Hey, if you like 'em, I'm glad I could help.

 

[Albion]

My names Albion and i wear force fins, this is force fins anonymous right?

I love the damm things, although the jury is still out whether they have enough umpff for twins. With singles i can swim around all week with them, forwards, backwards, probably sideways, in current, no silting up, pack small, good on deck, you mwant to laught at them go ahead i couldn't care less. You do look like a duck especially with a yellow wetsuit. Don't bother with the expensive tan deltas or whiskers just regular pro works fine.

 

[Whitelightnin]

I love mine. I have used them for a little over a year. Everyone has an opinion. Now you have heard mine.

James

 

[ezglyder]

wow, well I feel like an moron for buying them

Don't feel like a moron for buying Force Fins. I have owned and used just about every type of fin made in the last 30 years including Jet Fins, Quattros, Volos, and Splits. All have advantages and disadvantages and use a standard flutter kick. Force Fins require a different kick but it isn't bicycling, just different. I find this kick less tiring than flutter kicking and the Force Fins superior in all ways except one. They are useless surface swimming face down as in snorkeling. Who's snorkeling?

 

[liberato]

I've always wondered why I hear the phrase "bicycle kick" with respect to Force Fins. If it is a bicycle kick then you are pedaling backwards! What it really is is just a regular freestyle swim kick rather than the more refined flutter kick with other fins.

I like them mainly because you can get them in really big foot sizes, larger than any other fin (why suffer). They are also by far the easiest to don in the water (with the bungie strap and tab).

The exotic models are kind of ridiculous from a cost and feature standpoint but the basic regular and pro models are reasonable compared to other high-end brands and nearly indestructable.

I once packed my entire tropical kit including an extra extra large BC and fins into a single legal carryon. The Force Fins just fit. I don't bother doing that any more, though.

Finally, here's an odd benefit. They fit your hands perfectly and are usable for sculling because of their shape and rigidity. Why that? There are some beach exits I do were most of the time you just resign yourself to crawling out. By transferring to hands at exit I have a fighting chance at a walkout with the extra control and if I do go down the fins do not get in the way of crawling because of their shape.

 

[android]

Can someone describe the difference between flutter kick and freestyle kick. I have always tried to kick keeping my knees stiff and using mostly thighs which I understand to be flutter kick (scissor like)

BTW, I suck at freestyle swimming even using SlimFins which are a ForceFin designed for lap swimming.

 

[scubadoguk]

Love mine so much I bought a pair of extra force fins.