Basic gear from mid-twentieth-century Italy: Mares and Pirelli

[John C. Ratliff]

I find the Fara Fin I a very original design, which does not rely on the ankles for transmitting force from the muscles in the legs to the fin...
Do you plan to describe it in more detail in the following posts?
I remember that also one of the first monofins available in the seventies was employing a similar approach, but I do not remember its brand name...

Angelo, I have done quite a lot of work with many different types of fins. The Fara-Fins had two basic problems, one of which was extremely detrimental. First, their rubber formulation was such that sometimes the fins broke. (See the photos below of fins I’ve “sutured” together and glued to repair.). Second, the angle was not adjustable, and so it was really inefficient in the water. Why? Because the angle for the leg brace did not allow the correct angle for the fins to be efficient. Here’s a couple of photos:

Fara-Fin Repair finished by John Ratliff, on Flickr
You can see my repair on these fins.

Fara-Fin Mod-2 by John Ratliff, on Flickr
Here you can see the angle problem with the un-modified pair (behind) and the ones I modified for a better angle. With this angle, the fins are absolutely great.

I had a pair in the 1980s and had to sell them due to their inefficient blade angle. But now I still use the two pairs that I have now. Below you can see the power of these fins if that angle is re-done.

Sea Turtle-Dolphin Swimming by John Ratliff, on Flickr

DRW, now you can get back to your work with Pinelli. But before we go, I’d like to point out that Pirelli started getting to where I was in the 1970s with my “scoop fin” design. Here’s a diagram that shows the difference using the method Fred Roberts published in his book, “Basic Scuba” some years ago.

Fin Vector Analysis by John Ratliff, on Flickr

PlanaPlus Experiment by John Ratliff, on Flickr
Here you can see the three fin designs I tested, a flat blade, a split fin, and my scoop fins.

Fin Trials by John Ratliff, on Flickr
And here are the test results, with all three basically the same design.

SeaRat

 

[Popgun Pete]

Not to mention the continual click and clack as you pedalled your way along the bottom. Someone once asked me if they were for disabled divers and I replied that if you were not disabled beforehand then you soon would be. I then went back to my Fara Fin II having bought both pairs of fins brand new. There was an even longer pair with black instead of orange leg braces for the "Commando" version, but I had already hit my limits with the standard pair. The Fara Fin II had a slightly shorter blade, but a deeper foot pocket with spring heel straps and was way easier to use.

 

[JMBL]

Guys, are you testing diving fins or torture devices ?

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Guys, are you testing diving fins or torture devices ?

Ha, Ha, that’s what it sometimes comes to. Some of the fins in the early days caused cramps on long swims (U.S. Divers Company Aqualung fins, for instance). Some would say the same for Duck Feet fins, though when worn upside down (to provide some arch support) they were not too bad, and compete favorably with today’s fins. The competition mono fin had no arch support, and were actually painful to push. Newer mono fins may be better. But you hit the nail on the head, some of these were not conceived scientifically to help the diver out, or were improperly implemented (the Fara-Fins, for instance).

The Fara-Fins, once the angle was corrected, placed a lot of the strain on the hamstrings instead of the lower leg. This increased their performance, to the point that I could swim underwater against a two-knot current pretty easily.

SeaRat

 

[John C. Ratliff]

DRW,

Tell us more about the Pirelli Acquastream.
pirelli aquastream | BluTimeScubaHistory

SeaRat

 

[JMBL]

Ha, Ha, that’s what it sometimes comes to. /QUOTE]

I know it's a thread about vintage equipment, but bear with me for 2'.

I really feel that fins are still torture devices. Of course, nowadays, with got more brands and designs available, but what I've noticed in 30 years of diving, when you ask for advice concerning fins, is this : you don't get advice, nobody asks what's your experience, your level of training, nor what kind of diving you enjoy. You're just hit over the head with : those are the best fins ! Period. No explanation, just a statement, or even a dogma... It can be from your instructor or your LDS...



I give you an example : some years ago, a friend asked me some help to choose a new pair of fins. We ended up at our LDS (90 miles away...) and the guy told her right away, without asking any further question : that's what you need ! A pair of Mares Avanti Quattro... At that time, I had been diving those fins for 15 years or so. Of course, I didn't say they were lousy, but I bellowed : are you serious, man ? Let me explain : I was over 45, over 6ft and 200 pounds, had 25 years of diving, 3* CMAS, and involved in tek diving. My friend was a girl, 10 years my junior, under 5ft, very slender, had less than 2 years of experience, entry level (no intention of going further), dived less than 15 times a year, only in tropical waters and no deco. It took a while for the guy's brain cells to reconnect and advise something else.

I had the same problem when I started diving in 1990 : there was an all the rage model, and the rest was just crap. Apologies for swearing, btw. By that time, jet fins were considered louzy and for old retrograde grumpy divers. Funny to think that today, there's not a true diver without them...

I'm still surprised by this lack of judgment. Fins are an essential piece of equipment, try to dive without some, and with the wrong fins, you're in for some troubles and different divers require different fins. But it seems I'm wrong : different designs are always considered useless, good fins have to be stiff, etc... And of course, there's absolutely no need to put any assertion to the test. How many times did I hear : I'm an instructor, I know best, you can't do this or that with those fins on. Maybe it's my fault, I seem to always choose the wrong fins : Scubapro Seawings (closed heel, 1990s model) or Force Fin Pro.

Reading this thread let me to believe that right from the beginning, fins choosing had more to do with marketing than hard science or evidence...

 

[Angelo Farina]

I am a finned-swimming instructor. The advise given to each of my student has always been that there is not a good fin for everyone. Everyone's legs and muscles are different, and change over time, with training, etc.
The best fin for YOU depends on a number of factors: your ankle extension angle, the strength of different groups of muscles, and of course the kicking style (which also depends on the environment, of course).
Each student is suggested to try at least a dozen of different fin types, and to change then often, possibly every year if the conditions or their body changes.
In particular I have seen that, after some months of training, the ankles extend more (so the angle of the blade should be reduced), the muscles grow stronger, so the length and stiffness of the blades can be increased, and the kicking style improves significantly (making it possible to switch to different types of fins, for example fiberglass or even carbon fiber, money allowing).

 

[David Wilson]

I am so glad that the thread has generated so much debate about the merits and demerits of certain fin models and designs. I have a little library of Soviet diving books, which as well as helping me to brush up my very basic reading knowledge of Russian have convinced me that the USSR delved more deeply into the science and technology underlying fin development than anyone else because the country had a vested interest in making the most efficient fins to equip their champion finswimmers, who won international races and hence enhanced the prestige of the Soviet Union in world sporting league tables. Even so, Soviet fin technologists admitted that it was all a case of "horses for courses", as we say here in the UK, harder blades for shorter sprints where speed mattered, softer blades for longer-distance and endurance swims. They even conceded that fin choice was also ultimately down to the individual, dependent on each person's different strength, stamina, stature, training, because no one fin suited everybody's physique, swimming style, age-group and any other characteristic that makes every one of us unique, even if we happen to live in a communist country where the wants of the individual are secondary to the needs of the state. Some Soviet diving manuals went even further, confirming that it was OK for anybody to choose a particular fin model for no other reason than it was more enjoyable for them to swim and dive with. Nobody should be forced to use a particular fin if they personally disliked using it. That would be my philosophy too when it comes to fin selection and if there's an element of irrationality in picking something just because I like it, I plead guilty to a lapse of logic, knowing that I am not alone in doing so.

 

[David Wilson]

Now for the tail of this thread, where we explore a few remaining mid-twentieth-century Pirelli fins. Let us begin with the "Cormoran".

According to English Wikipedia, "Cormoran (pictured above) is a giant associated with St. Michael's Mount in the folklore of Cornwall. Local tradition credits him with creating the island, in some versions with the aid of his wife Cormelian, and using it as a base to raid cattle from the mainland communities. Cormoran appears in the English fairy tale "Jack the Giant Killer" as the first giant slain by the hero, Jack, and in tales of "Tom the Tinkeard" as a giant too old to present a serious threat."

Somehow I can't help thinking that a likelier source of the name "Cormoran" for a fin made in Italy is an abbreviation of the Italian word "cormorano", meaning "cormorant", the aquatic bird pictured below:

The "Cormoran" fin appeared first and last in the Pirelli catalogue of 1975:

Italian: "Cod. 6643002. Cormoran. Flessibili e scattanti. Flessibile e scattanti. Progettate per l'apprendimento del nuoto e dell'immersione, non affaticano anche dopo prolungate ore d'impiego. Qualità galleggiante / Colore blu."
Rough translation: "Ref. No. 6643002. Cormoran. Flexible and snappy. Flexible and snappy. Designed for learning to swim and dive, they will not cause fatigue even after prolonged hours of use. Floating quality / Blue colour."

So the intended end-user of the Cormoran was a person in the process of learning to swim or dive, perhaps even a beginner venturing into shallow waters. I suppose such a model would nowadays be billed as a "resort fin" for daily rental to holidaymakers snorkelling at the seaside. The emphasis was on ease of use and comfort as the fins were unlikely to be used for high-speed swimming purposes.

By way of contrast, the same page features the Pro-Dive fin:

Italian: "Cod. 6643114. Pinne Pro-Dive. Ad altissimo rendimento, assicurano una grande agilità di movimento, con una spinta attiva superiore a qualsiasi altro tipo di pinna convenzionale. Lo scatto della pala, unitamente alla lunghezza del braccio di leva permette di superare agevolmento le più correnti che il subacqueo può incontrare nel proprio campo d'attività."
Rough translation: "Ref. No. 6643114. Pro-Dive fins. Very high performance fins ensuring great agility of movement, with an active thrust superior to any other type of conventional fin. The snappiness of the blade, together with the length of the lever arm, enables a diver to overcome most currents he may encounter in his scope of operation."

So the "Pro-" in "Pro-Dive" presumably suggests a "professional" end-user, perhaps somebody with advanced swimming skills or contemplating deep-water diving as well as anybody equipped with these fins while earning their living. The length of the blades associate "Pro-Dives" with the likes of the Mares Concorde:

the Cressi Rondine L:

and the Brazilian-made Cobra Jumbo:

Long-bladed fins of the twenty-first century include the Japanese-made Gull Barracuda below, which claims to be the world's longest all-rubber fin:

The black version above retails today at roughly US$290 and has proved popular as the top of the range natural-rubber model for freedivers in Japan, Korea and South-East Asia. Many western freedivers nowadays still refuse to countenance the fact that there are long-bladed freediving fins around today made from materials other than synthetics.

I'm going to finish here for this morning as today's postings have taken a lot longer to compile than I anticipated. I still have a number of fins to review in this thread. The Fara I and Fara II on the Pirelli catalogue page, supplemented with what I have about these American fins in my files; the Pirelli Libelle fin; and yes, John, those Pirelli Acquastreams that look a little like open-heel versions of the "Pro-Dives". I'll leave those fins for the weekend or even later. In the intervening days, keep safe and well. Here in the UK we now have the "rule of six", allowing half-a-dozen people to meet up outdoors.

 

[JMBL]

Both your posts Angelo and David, should be mailed to every diving agencies in the world according me.

Never found a diving manual with a strong emphasis on fins and their use(s).

Btw, if any of you could suggest a good book on the subject : i.e diving fins, not swimming ones.