Atomic Blades vs Hollis F2

[ShootingUnderwater.com]

for yet another opinion, I use the Mares Volo's with a dry suit and they rock. I also use the Volo racers' full foot fin for warm water diving and snorkeling. EXCELLENT!!

~R

 

[N2DeepInAz]

As some one who owns and dives the F1, F2 & new Atomic Blades, I have to say they have different places within diving. I dive cold water most of the year with several warm water trips and each of the fins has their place in the water. F1's are great drysuit and cold water fins as they are heavy and will keep floaty feet down and they are stiff as boards and as such will move a ton of weight through the water effortlessly.

F2's are decent warm water fins but I don't feel they move drysuits very well. The Atomic Blades are great for warm water and have tremendous thrust with little effort, however, they too are not for drysuit divers. If diving in warm water, I'd go with the Blades all day long, cold water dives for me will always include the F1s.

Best of luck in your decision.

 

[buddhasummer]

As some one who owns and dives the F1, F2 & new Atomic Blades, I have to say they have different places within diving. I dive cold water most of the year with several warm water trips and each of the fins has their place in the water. F1's are great drysuit and cold water fins as they are heavy and will keep floaty feet down and they are stiff as boards and as such will move a ton of weight through the water effortlessly.

F2's are decent warm water fins but I don't feel they move drysuits very well. The Atomic Blades are great for warm water and have tremendous thrust with little effort, however, they too are not for drysuit divers. If diving in warm water, I'd go with the Blades all day long, cold water dives for me will always include the F1s.

Best of luck in your decision.

How did you find they (Blades) performed frog kicking? Cheers.

 

[UKmarcus]

Hey I have the same question - and I have the same gear.. Atomic ST1 and Cobalt... I also have the Atomic split fins but want to try the blade. My local dive store will let me bring them back if I don't like them so I could go that route, but was hoping, like you, for some info since I had a very "interesting" experience with current down on the Keys recently... Not much info here yet... since they are so new, it may be that very few people have actually tried them yet... I'm going to try and google for any recent reviews of them.... will check back here later... good luck!~

 

[weezieharris]

Yes, expensive indeed, $179 plus another $70 for springs. Still they'd match my Atomic mask and do come in a very small size. If I can try on I might be tempted. No one here stocks them and I'm not risking another online international fin purchase, I've spent a fortune on fins that don't fit. Add my new Avanti Quattro Plus to the list.

---------- Post added June 10th, 2014 at 05:04 AM ----------

Hoping some blade users chime in. I'm interested in first hand reviews. Cheers.

I just bought the blade fins last week. I've always had split fins so these were a bit different but I found them to be very comfortable. I did notice you mentioned having a hard time finding fins small enough. One plus side to the atomic springs is that they have an internal adjustment so you can change the spring length to some degree. I think it is about an inch and a half.

 

[agilis]

I have been using F2s for more than a year, on several dive trips. They are an exceptionally strong fin for their blade size which, while limited, fits easily into my 21 inch carry-on. If I were going to entrust anything absolutely vital to check through luggage I'd pack the same fins I use for warm water diving here at home: the Apollo full foot Bio fin. No longer available, but by far the most comfortable fin I've ever worn, and an excellent performer as well.

The F2's are a superb travel fin for carry-on packing, and a better performer than any fin in its size category that I've tried. Very lightweight, beautifully constructed, and reasonably priced.

 

[DiverGuam]

I would expect, as an educated guess, the Atomic Blades to perform similar to the Mares Quattro type fin. They have a basic, similar design and size/length. I like them, saw them in a store a little while back, nice quality like all Atomic stuff, expensive like all Atomic stuff, like the red trim too.

N

They don't cup the water as well as the Mares, which makes them feel sloppy on the foot. Really they just don't cup at all it feels like. And they have a weird loading progression.

I was fighting with the Atomic Blades badly because the foot pocket is just way too tall for a warm water fin, but even given that, I just really did not like them. And I really wanted too. The foot pocket is just a completely weird shape, and I used Atomic Splits on and off for 5 years. Switching back and forth between them and Quattros as it turns out.