Free Diving Fins and booties recommendations?

[dytis-sm]

I am new into free diving in Southern California. My past diving was in Greece with shorts/fins/mask.... I now have picked up my free diving suit, mask, and snorkel. I need to figure out the fin arrangement.

While taking a free diving course, I used my scuba gear and my fins sucked so much for free diving that my instructor lend me a pair of carbon fiber free diving fins. They made all the difference in the world! I am now in the market for a pair but I am puzzled about any additional foot protection with fins. I do a lot of shore scuba diving and navigate through rocks with my booties very comfortably. But I wonder how I would do that free diving and if I shall account for a larger size closed heel fins when purchasing. Is there an equivalent of scuba booties for free diving? My free diving course was in the open ocean so I wore closed heel fins exactly my size. But that was a rare occasion and plan to mostly free dive from the shore. What is the best arrangement especially walking on and through rocks.

Also what stiffness shall I be looking at, considering I am a new SoCal free diver. I am guessing medium?

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

You can select fins which would be compatible with neoprene socks. Dive boots with soles will not fit inside a closed heel freedive fin. For SoCal, a 3 mm sock will generally provide sufficient warmth. However if you are going to traverse a significant amount of rugged terrain, then you may want to wear a beach shoe or something over the neoprene sock. You may want to clip the shoes to your dive flag or leave them on the beach.

As for freedive fins.. There is a wide variety of blade types and costs. Carbon fiber blades are generally the most expensive and have the best performance in the water. Scrambling over rocks and navigating a lot of rocks can be very tough on fin blades. If they get wedged in a crack in the rocks, they may be damaged as you are tossed around in the surf. Many people feel that a good compromise is a fiberglass blade.

FG blades are extremely tough, come in a range of hardnesses and are somewhat less expensive than CF blades.

It is also probably advisable to purchase fins that have replaceable blades (should one be damaged by abuse in a rocky surf zone, for example).

If you are less than 200 lbs, we generally recommend our soft hardness for most freedivers.

Take a look at these fins as you do your research. We sell direct and have eliminated the typical retail mark up. If you have your heart set on Carbon fiber, we have those fins as well.

Competition Fiberglass Fins Black | MAKO Spearguns

 

[dytis-sm]

I am 220lbs, does that mean that I need medium stiffness?
Also for the 3mm thick socks, do you recommend going a size up on the fins? My regular shoe size is 10.5-11 and European 44-45.

Thank you very much for your information. I really appreciate it.

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

I am 220lbs, does that mean that I need medium stiffness?
Also for the 3mm thick socks, do you recommend going a size up? My regular shoe size is 10.5-11 and European 44-45.

Thank you very much for your information. I really appreciate it.

If you are less than 200 lbs, soft for sure. Most divers have been moving toward softer rather than harder freedive fin blades. Your overall fitness and strength also come into play. Also a very significant factor is what type of diving you are going to be doing. For example, if you are going to be swimming off the beach and doing long surface swims that may cover more than a mile and involve actively swimming for an extended period of time, then even at 220, you may be better served by a soft fin. You will be able to swim long distances with less fatigue.

If you are a very strong diver, who tends to dive deep (and to depths where suit compression is significant) then you may want a stiffer (medium) blade for delivering power when coming off the bottom while heavy and possibly trying to control a fish for a little bit to prevent it from being wrapped up etc. Also some very strong divers who dive from a boat, do not do a lot of surface swimming and are making relatively few and relatively deep dives each day, may prefer a stiffer blade.

It comes down to personal preference as well, but for your first pair of freedive fins, the soft blades are probably your best bet. If you are a strong runner or bicyclist- then consider medium.

You have already found out just how superior freedive fins are to short scuba fins, so just about any freedive fin should work quite well.

As for sizing of the MAKO pockets/fins.. Please take a look at our sizing chart. We sell direct and accept returns for problems with fit, but to be honest, we have very little issues with fit when people follow our size chart.

The size 10-11 pockets should work well for you with a 3 mm sock.

Thanks!

Dano

 

[lemke]

+1 for the Mako fins... I have a pair. The best booties I have found are the ones made by Argos.

 

[dytis-sm]

I like Mako products already just for the quick and thorough response. Thank you for all the info. I actually found a lot of things that I like on the MAKO site and will be coming for some holiday shopping...

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

I like Mako products already just for the quick and thorough response. Thank you for all the info. I actually found a lot of things that I like on the MAKO site and will be coming for some holiday shopping...

Thanks very much!

 

[OC Fish Head]

As long as they fit and feel conf.. I do shore dives as well in Socal. I will not get anything more than fiberglass fins if that. Plastic fins are best for shore and reef diving as FiberG or Carbon may scratch and or break. I use 3 mil Riffe socks with little bit of rubber and plastic cressi fins. I got interchangable if i ever upgrade to FG. Im in Orange County where are you now?

 

[OC Fish Head]

---------- Post added December 9th, 2014 at 01:48 AM ----------

I shore dive as well. Look in to all the brands as you can. Try them on and don't just buy the first pair you test. Many different foot pockets, wide foot, wide flat foot, thick foot. If you gonna dive reefs i would go with plastic as they will scratch way faster than you think.

I live in Orange County, where are you?