Avanti Excel

[Driznik]

Hi,

Is anybody diving the Mares full foot Avanti Excel fins? What do you think?

Do they fit snug or loose? I usually wear a size 10.5 or 11 depending on the shoe, so I think I'm leaning toward the 44/45.

I'm shopping for a pair of full foot fins for snorkeling and warm water dives I don't want to bother with booties. My usual fins are an old pair of the Mares Avanti Quattros that I'm quite happy with, and it looks like these are as close as you can get in the full foot.

I'm also considering the Atomic splits, but I use a lot of frog kicks and skulls that I'm concerned I won't be able to do in a split - and my LDS doesn't have a pair they'll let me try out before I buy.

Thanks for your input.

 

[hamsiss]

I don't have any idea about the excels but ı want to ask something.
I also wear 11 and I've bought regular size quattros, they're comfortable but they seem a bit little to me which size do you use?

 

[Driznik]

My Quattros are open heel - and regular size. They seem to fit fine.

I just came back from a trip where I did four or five dives a day with them, and there was no pinching or discomfort at all, but I do wear them with the straps pulled almost as tight as they can go.

 

[hamsiss]

Thank you
http://www.divernet.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?id=4896&section=2013&action=display&show=

I wish this can help you

Nice Dive!

 

[hamsiss]

Also many tests find Volos real good and they seem cool!

 

[Driznik]

Thanks, that article helped a lot. They seem similar enough to my Quattros that I've sucked it up and bought a pair of the full foot Avanti Excel's.

I'll let you know what I think after I get back from our next trip in January.

 

[hamsiss]

Ok I'll be glad

 

[Driznik]

Just got back from a trip to Hawaii, and with the cool water and relatively rocky shoreline, I didn't use the Excels a lot. I did use them for a couple of days of boat diving though (I thought I'd have to use them for the entire second half of the liveaboard trip after my boot somehow fell overboard without anybody noticing, but my wife somehow managed to find it on a ledge in 80 feet of water about 500 feet down current from the boat), and overall I liked them a lot.

In terms of size, they seem to fit small. I usually wear a size 10.5 or 11, but in these fins I ended up with the 8-9. I don't know how Mares does their European to US size conversion, and my foot is relatively long and narrow, but the 9.5-10.5 were way too big. If you're ordering on-line without trying them on, be careful of the size.

Measuring them against my regular sized Quattros, the blade on the Excel seems to be slightly shorter and narrower.

In the water, I liked them a lot. I don't know if it's the smaller blade, or if they're more flexible, but I found the Excel's to be a much easier kicking fin than my Quattros are. I found I got the most power and speed with a short, quick kick cycle as opposed to the big, long kicks I'm used to with the Quattros.

As a result, I didn't feel like I was getting as much power as I do from my Quattros. I don't have any quantifiable reason to say that, so it's entirely possible that it was just psychological and I'm just thinking because I'm not working as hard I'm not getting as much speed or power as I did before. Wearing either set of fins I had no problem keeping up with the group.

I like wearing a full foot fin better, but I don't get to dive a lot, so I found half way through the second day of diving (again doing four-five dives a day), they started to give me blisters in a couple of places along the top of my foot and toes. I don't think this is an issue with the Excels - I think any full foot fin would have done the same. If I dove more often I'm sure my feet would get get used to them and there would be no problems.

Overall, for warm water and as a set of backup fins I think they'll be great. I'd still like to try out the Atomic splits though, and I'll try to devise a quantifiable way to compare them next time out.