Force Fins - my experience

[saigonfred]

as a dive shop owner and quarry owner I really never gave force fins a chance. about 15 years ago
i did order a pair for a lady, who would have swollen and painful ankles after each training dive. The force fins took care of that problem and she is still diving to date. For myself, I suffered a brain aneurism about 3 1/2 years ago, was paralized on my left side, head to toe. Not all movement came back , to include rotational movement of ankle. Now it is impossible for me to use any other fin than the force fin. And that's a big turn around, from " nah, you don't want them' to " it's the only thing I use. And I find that I haven't lost anything in the way of speed or adjility. actually I'm more adjil.

 

[fisheater]

Just got back from a dive trip to Kauai.

My Force Fins were a big hit with fellow divers, as well as the DM/Instructors.

 

[castanagajt]

I am a very new Force Fin user using the Force Fin Extra Force without the whiskers so my review won't be as thorough, yet I will do my best to post about my experience and that I will keep you informed more in the near future.

So far, getting the right fit with booties is paramount as of all fins in the market which I have to trade in my Akona 7mm hard sole for an O'neill 5mmsoft sole dive boot to get the "true" feeling of the Force Fin, the ankle support.
Upon my first kicks , I realized that the fin adjusts snuggly to my boot and top part of my ankle by itself. I also unfastened my bungee cord during my trial tests in the water and found out the fin would not let go and stayed firmly on my feet!

Also, I found out the drag that I had with all the other fins in the market, paddle and splits, it really doesn't matter. You know the feeling when you have to use leg strength to keep your fin up on your rebound stroke? Yah, that feeling. Force Fin was like a hydrofoil, it really feels like it created lift and took most of the effort of keep the fin stable apposed to other fins.

The kicking is is easier and less effort even with the Extra Force ( there biggest thrust fin) against other paddle fins and the thrust was better than the rest.

I also tried to bend the tip of my fin on a vice and clamped it firmly for a day and loosened it up on the end of the day. All it took was a couple of bends back and forth and it was back to itself, again.

Overall, it is a tough fin, takes time to adjust to them, yet the performance is excellent and I know when I get better with them, the Force Fin experience will get better.