Lukas
Guest
Today we had a little fin push-o'-war. My Technisub Aqualung Blades 2 against a pair of ScubaPro Jetfins and an ancient pair of Farralon Fara Fins.
The Technisub are your garden-variety LDS fins (http://www.technisub.com/eng/pinne/p_blades.htm ). Blades are 65 cm (from heel) long and 22 cm wide, mixed rubber and plastic with channels running the length.
The ScubaPro is the classic DIR compliant model, 46 by 23cm, short and sturdy with vent holes (http://www.scubapro.com/prod/fms/Jet Fin/Jet.htm)
The Farralon Fara fin are a very peculiar model of fins, not available on the market today, they are 57 by 23cm dimensionally, but they utilise a pair of jointed ankle braces to maximise thrust power (http://www.vintagescuba.com/farallon/farfin1.html ). Blades are simple rubber, chanelled and rather stiff.
Face off conditions were: full wetsuit, weighted so as not to break surface, push against each other, then swap fins and try again. So this is about strength, not speed.
The ScubaPro had a slight advantage over the Technisubs. Surprising, since blade area and length is about half the size. It seems that the longer blades make for a smoother, calmer stride but it's hard to get lots of power into the water.
The Fara Fins blew the competitors out of the water. This was really amazing, no holding back, the opposing diver simply moved backwards.
Now this is surprising: I think these fins probably haven't been on the market for over ten years or more. And no successor models have appeared. I think there was a history of breakage of the joints and of the braces, but surely that's a problem a bit of sound engineering should be able to address. The principle though seems to work and the ergonomics seem far superior. Why then are we not seeing similar fins on the market these days?
Comments anyone?
The Technisub are your garden-variety LDS fins (http://www.technisub.com/eng/pinne/p_blades.htm ). Blades are 65 cm (from heel) long and 22 cm wide, mixed rubber and plastic with channels running the length.
The ScubaPro is the classic DIR compliant model, 46 by 23cm, short and sturdy with vent holes (http://www.scubapro.com/prod/fms/Jet Fin/Jet.htm)
The Farralon Fara fin are a very peculiar model of fins, not available on the market today, they are 57 by 23cm dimensionally, but they utilise a pair of jointed ankle braces to maximise thrust power (http://www.vintagescuba.com/farallon/farfin1.html ). Blades are simple rubber, chanelled and rather stiff.
Face off conditions were: full wetsuit, weighted so as not to break surface, push against each other, then swap fins and try again. So this is about strength, not speed.
The ScubaPro had a slight advantage over the Technisubs. Surprising, since blade area and length is about half the size. It seems that the longer blades make for a smoother, calmer stride but it's hard to get lots of power into the water.
The Fara Fins blew the competitors out of the water. This was really amazing, no holding back, the opposing diver simply moved backwards.
Now this is surprising: I think these fins probably haven't been on the market for over ten years or more. And no successor models have appeared. I think there was a history of breakage of the joints and of the braces, but surely that's a problem a bit of sound engineering should be able to address. The principle though seems to work and the ergonomics seem far superior. Why then are we not seeing similar fins on the market these days?
Comments anyone?
