Excellerating Force Fins vs. Dive Rite XTs

[scubadada]

I have been trying to arrange to compare Excellerating Force Fins and Dive Rite XTs for quite a while. It turns out that a pair of Force Fins were available for loan in Boynton Beach from a fellow diver, Dan Volker. Unfortunately, I lost touch with Dan when he was banned from ScubaBoard. Fortunately, @TN Traveler helped me contact Dan to arrange the loan.

I have been diving Dive Rite XTs for somewhere around 5 years and am very familiar with their performance. I generally spend the majority of my time frog kicking but do some flutter kicking and use helicopter and back kicks when appropriate.

The Excellerating FF I used had the nylon strap (as opposed to bungie straps), had the comfort instep, and had whiskers. Dan told me that the whiskers were set for maximum thrust, I have to trust him on this. As you see from the photo, the FFs were significantly smaller than the XTs. The FF website describes the fin: “Excellerating Force Fin feature a long, scooped blade with recoiling underside ribs that catapult you forward for instant acceleration. Clean leading edges for turbulence-free, rapid response to changes in direction and tapered trailing edges for extra propulsion.”

I borrowed Dan’s Force Fins over the weekend of August 6-7. I did 6 dives, 3 with the FF and 3 with the XTs, alternating them. All 6 dives were very similar, starting on the outside of Boynton Beach Reef, crossing over somewhere near the middle of the dive, and finishing the 70 minute dive on the inside of the reef.

The open foot pocket of the FF felt quite strange at first. but I got used to it quickly. It was actually quite comfortable and might be just the right thing for divers with certain foot problems or if traditional fins are uncomfortable. The nylon straps held the fins firmly but I had a lot of trouble getting the fins off at the ladder at the end of the dive. This is probably something one could learn to do with practice and experience. I wished I had the bungie straps. Flutter kicking: When I first started flutter kicking with the FF, they seemed much less powerful than the XTs. I altered my kick style to be more from the knee than full leg and the performance of the FF improved. It seems like there was significantly more power on the downstroke than on the upstroke. This may be due to the different design of the top and bottom of the fin, maybe the whiskers. For me, flutter was the best kick for the FF. The altered kick style and a higher frequency generated pretty good speed. My impression was that the XTs were more powerful and faster overall. Frog kicking: I was not able to generate a very effective frog kick with the FF though I did improve with practice. I never felt I got a very good grip on the water like I do with the XTs. This may be partially explained by the fin design and that frog kicking would be the equivalent of the upstroke rather than the more powerful downstroke (see flutter kicking). Helicopter and back kick: I spent the least time on alternative kicks. I had trouble catching the water and generating power with these kicks though I did improve a bit. The fins felt “floppy” as they sliced through the water.

The design of the Excellerating Force Fins is very different than the Dive Rite XTs. To fully utilize these fins, it appears that changes in kick style, practice, and experience are needed. I simply did not have the time to accomplish this. I have a lot of experience with my XTs and they are very good fins for me.

The Dive Rite XTs cost $145. The Excellerating Force Fins with nylon or bungie strap cost $395. The comfort instep costs an additional $32. I could not find the whiskers on the Force Fin website.

Good diving,

Craig

 

[kelemvor]

Thanks for the review! I use the XT's normally. I've always been slightly curious about force fins, but never curious enough to spend $400 on a pair.

 

[mdb]

The Dive Rite XT fins are a very good choice for all kick styles. The fins are high grade monoprene, reverse foot pocket, spring straps,

 

[buddhasummer]

The DR XTs are currently one of my favorite fins for wetsuit diving, recently I tend to reach for them most often. I can do all kicks In them. There is quite a difference in blade length between the S and M size. I own both.

 

[TN Traveler]

Hopefully the next time you are in FL, Dan will have my extra pair of Hockey Fins for you to try. I did not get a chance to get them to him befor my trip. I think they may fit your style of diving better. Plus they are the newer material that has more snap than Dan's Excellerators which are the standard "Pro" compound. I was glad that you tested them.

 

[scubadada]

Hopefully the next time you are in FL, Dan will have my extra pair of Hockey Fins for you to try. I did not get a chance to get them to him befor my trip. I think they may fit your style of diving better. Plus they are the newer material that has more snap than Dan's Excellerators which are the standard "Pro" compound. I was glad that you tested them.

Thank you TN, for arranging for this demo. I remain open minded and would be glad to try another model of FF. I must also thank Dan Volker for taking the time and making the effort to loan me his Excellerating FF. This is exactly the kind of collaboration that is the real power of SB. @NetDoc should be proud that these kind of activities take place. I'm sorry that Dan is unable to participate in SB activities, he was often an unusual, but refreshing, voice. You don't have the right to comment on products if you do not have the experience yourself. This is not always an easy thing to arrange.

Very best, good diving,

Craig

 

[Pebbles Photo]

One thing worth noting about this discussion, is how radically different fin designs require significantly different kick shapes and techniques, for an improved/better design to benefit the diver.
Having been diving with Dan for many years, I recall his first dives with the Force Fins, where he was only mildly impressed....but he noticed some differences in how the fins pushed water....and began to experiment by changing his kick shape and kick frequency. After a half dozen different weekend uses of the Excellerating Force Fins, he was able to swim at the speed of Gavin Scooters for an entire hour long dive with them--something most of the divers on Splashdown Dive Charters see regularly --though usually from Dan using his huge DivedR Freedive fins and dolphin kick. While Dan has always been partial to big freedive fins, he often uses the Force fins on wreck dives where he may penetrate. If he has to go far upcurrent, or run from one wreck ( like the Castor), to another like the Bud Bar a couple hundred yards away, he will use this dolphin kick modified for the strengths of Force fins, and effortlessly travel at scooter speeds with his scooter diving buddies Matt Cain and Bill Mee.

One additional point of interest....Dan's friend Ron Smith, inventer of the Dol-Fin monofin, showed Dan how much drag was created by divers using flutter kick with a large amplitude kick...the legs actually become major drag, when the femur starts to get the large angle to straight leg that occurs with a large amplitude kick. Using the kick shape Ron perfected with the Dol-Fin, Dan applied this to both Freedive fins, and to the Force Fins, and found a rapid, oscillating lick with low drag from small amplitude, allowed him to maintain scooter paces with much lower heart rate and much lower SAC rate. He also found that traditional fins like Jet Fins, had such poor efficiency( low/old technology) that they could not be used to attain scooter speeds except for very brief sprint intervals....the provence of these fins remains in the area of near motionless penetration in wrecks and cave systems, where perfection in control is far more important than propulsive efficiency....And if you were really going for propulsive efficiency, the Dol-fin really seems the way to go
Otherwise, for drift diving in South Florida, either composite freedive fins or fins like Excellerating Force Fins are good compromise for both efficiency and control.

Here is a Ron Smith video Dan shot, just to illustrate that this guy has some very interesting perspectives....