I just tried the new Force Fin out that Bob Evans calls his "Hockey Fin"...

[danvolker]

I ran into Bob Evans at the DEMA Show, and he showed me his new "hockey fins"....basically, I think this means they are his stiffest to date...He wanted me to try them, which I just did today ( weather had prevented this since DEMA)...

First....the fins are bright red,,,I would prefer black for many reasons...but the real issues:

• These fins are stiff enough so that an athlete like a cyclist, can kick them without feeling like they are wearing noodles..I was impressed.
• When I wanted to beat the current at the tide change at BHB, I was able to beat it easily, and the effort was all at my quads and knees where I wanted it, not on my hips which were sore from cycling huge miles yesterday. The fins use muscle groups which are very strong, and the ones least likely for an athlete to fatigue or over-train/over-work.
• Unlike my huge DiveR freediveblades, the Force Fin Hockey fin does need a fairly fast kick cycle, but nothing like the entry level Force fins ( classic Force fins). But the kick cycle feels natural, and good....
• The BIG Surprises......These fins will Reverse kick so easily I am not even sure someone jumping into a GUE Fundamentals class, would even need to be taught how to reverse kick in them... I am fairly certain I could reverse kick backwards at a higher speed, than the typical Open water diver wearing Apollo Bio Fins could move forward ( due to the pathetic propulsion of Apollo Bio Fins -- my opinion ...and the Hockey Force Fins frog kick great as well....VERY SURPRISING!!!
• I don't like the name Hockey Fins for his new model....Bob, if you read this, let's consider a few other names:
  • Force Tech
  • Force FAAST
  • Force Bio-Destroyer
• So far I have only used them at the BHB Marine Park, and I want to get them on a nice high current drift dive....The weather has not cooperated since DEMA, but hopefully by Wednesday this week we can get out on a boat. I expect these to be good in cross currents, as when we run from the deeper finger side ( east side) of the reefs, across the crown to the inshore ledge at the west side...sometimes with a 3 mph side current...this typically renders split fin wearing divers incontinent , unable to control themselves Biofin users are really a mess here....

Bob, Great Job as far as I can see so far.......I will make a much more thorough report after I have them out on one of our "thrill dives"

 

[Garrobo]

Been using a set of Force Fins for six years. Wouldn't trade them for anything.

 

[RonFrank]

It would be interesting to see an impartial review of these fins. I have and use Biofins, Mares Avanti Excel, Pro Force Fins, and Manta Rays among others. I like all of them for different reasons and since speed is not generally the goal they all work well. Do the force fins eclipse the rest.... no in fact they are not even my favorite.

What is interesting is that Biofins have been consistently beating all open heel fins for a long time (Split and Paddle). I have to say my Biofins are my go to fin for ocean diving. In Coz with wicked currents, for Mellow Keys dives, and for Channel Island Live-aboard dry suit diving, these are my go to fins. You can read the reviews, but the results look similar year after year.

To bad Force does not submit their fins for evaluation (scared, especially for the price tag?). We are hardly fast in the water regardless of what we attach to our feet.... We go 2.4mph tops, a Marlin tops out at 80mph.

Gear / Accessories | Scuba Diving Magazine

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Can you post a picture of them please.

 

[danvolker]

It would be interesting to see animpartial review of these fins. I have and use Biofins, Mares Avanti Excel, ProForce Fins, and Manta Rays among others. I like all of them for differentreasons and since speed is not generally the goal they all work well. Do theforce fins eclipse the rest.... no in fact they are not even my favorite.

What is interesting is that Biofins have been consistently beating all openheel fins for a long time (Split and Paddle). I have to say my Biofins are mygo to fin for ocean diving. In Coz with wicked currents, for Mellow Keys dives,and for Channel Island Live-aboard dry suit diving, these are my go to fins.You can read the reviews, but the results look similar year after year.

To bad Force does not submit their fins for evaluation (scared, especially forthe price tag?). We are hardly fast in the water regardless of what we attachto our feet.... We go 2.4mph tops, a Marlin tops out at 80mph.

Gear / Accessories | Scuba Diving Magazine

Ron, I am planning on doing a major article/review of fins in the next issue of the South Florida Dive Journal ( www.sfdj.com). What I can promise, is there will be no gear or sponsor money paid to me of the SFDJ, so there will be no advertising bias….
If you have read my past posts on fins, you will know I always tell people the fastest fins for an athletic diver are composite blade Freedive fins..my favorites are the stiffest that DiveR Freedive fins make…though stiff in a composite freedive fin, is still very flexible by paddle fin standards….So if there is a bias, it will be my bias that splits offer an athlete a noodle fin that has poor technical potentials ( reverse kicks and frog kicks) and a liability in large cross currents…
However, I intend to get scubaboard members everyone here knows, that LIKE Biofins and believe they are good with them, along with some GUE guys with Jetfins, some people good with Force Fins, and some people good with DiveR Blade freediving fins or Mustang C4’s ( I have these already, so I can let divers use these).
We can use a Gavin scooter set to ¼ speed to form a set speed for all divers to follow as “the pace”, and have every one do the dive with the fins they like, then spend as much time as needed to get comfortable with an alternative type fin…and then do the dive again, with the scooter keeping everyone honest….We will do a reef like Juno Ledge with big drift current, and miles of reef to cover, and start deep on the east crown, then after 10 minutes, begin a swim in across the current, to the inshore ledge….this is a very normal thing to do in Palm Beach, and I expect the splits to fail badly in this test…but split wearers will be able to judge this J

I also want to find a new open water diver in biofins,and I will race him—he will swim forward in the biofins, I will swim backward (reverse kick) with the new Bob Evans “Force Tech” fins , and I expect I will win J It should befun in any event J

And the reason Evans does not get fins entered into the reviews, I believe, is that each print based dive magazine that does gear testing, only offers good reviews to serious advertisers, will never show a big advertiser as bad( even when they are pathetic), and worse still, they NEVER allow the BEST fins to enter…there has NEVER been a review in any of these dive magazines of the DiveR fins, which would destroy all the brands they cherish…DiveR’s are faster, cause less breathing rate for a given speed, allow great frog kicks and even reverse kicks….DiveR’s are NOT good for cave or deep penetration into wrecks—they stick up too high in the horizontal “cave” or GUE position J and can hit the ceiling. And the DiveRs are NOT the right fin for everyone…but there is no way a fin this much more efficient, should not even exist in these magazines….can you spell P.R.O.S.T.I.T.U.T.E.S ? J

Similarly, Force Fins have been proven to do many things far better than split fins, but without the ad revenue, they do not exist… Do the Dive Magazines really think divers are this stupid?

 

[danvolker]

Also...
There are many divers fond of saying that there is no reason for a diver to care to go fast. While it could be true for some divers, it is a mistake if you venture out of quiet water, and visit an adventure destination....whether current issues on getting back to the boat, or in making it into some very cool area where current splits through structure...or ... What about a videographer trying to follow jewfish or sharks, dolphins or whalesharks...turtles and a host of other creatures.....If you look at one of my compilation videos for Palm Beach, I may need to go as fast as 3 mph in a upcurrent traverse to follow Goliaths spawning, or I may need to hover motionless deep inside a shipwreck, or I may need to follow tarpon on a single breath of air, going at "tarpon speeds"...If I had any split fin on the market, I could not get the shots I get. Period...see 6 minute Tour version of "Why Divers prefer Palm Beach" video - YouTube

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Also...
There are many divers fond of saying that there is no reason for a diver to care to go fast. While it could be true for some divers, it is a mistake if you venture out of quiet water, and visit an adventure destination....whether current issues on getting back to the boat, or in making it into some very cool area where current splits through structure...or ... What about a videographer trying to follow jewfish or sharks, dolphins or whalesharks...turtles and a host of other creatures.....If you look at one of my compilation videos for Palm Beach, I may need to go as fast as 3 mph in a upcurrent traverse to follow Goliaths spawning, or I may need to hover motionless deep inside a shipwreck, or I may need to follow tarpon on a single breath of air, going at "tarpon speeds"...If I had any split fin on the market, I could not get the shots I get. Period...see 6 minute Tour version of "Why Divers prefer Palm Beach" video - YouTube

I have to agree, people say to slow down all the time that there is no reason to go fast.
I say why not have a fin that will go fast and you can always just use it slowly if you prefer but for the times you need or want to go fast it's there.
I still want to see a pic please.

 

[danvolker]

I have to agree, people say to slow down all the time that there is no reason to go fast.
I say why not have a fin that will go fast and you can always just use it slowly if you prefer but for the times you need or want to go fast it's there.
I still want to see a pic please.

If I can't dive in the next day or two, I will take a land-based photo of them

 

[jar546]

Also...
There are many divers fond of saying that there is no reason for a diver to care to go fast. While it could be true for some divers, it is a mistake if you venture out of quiet water, and visit an adventure destination....whether current issues on getting back to the boat, or in making it into some very cool area where current splits through structure...or ... What about a videographer trying to follow jewfish or sharks, dolphins or whalesharks...turtles and a host of other creatures.....If you look at one of my compilation videos for Palm Beach, I may need to go as fast as 3 mph in a upcurrent traverse to follow Goliaths spawning, or I may need to hover motionless deep inside a shipwreck, or I may need to follow tarpon on a single breath of air, going at "tarpon speeds"...If I had any split fin on the market, I could not get the shots I get. Period...see 6 minute Tour version of "Why Divers prefer Palm Beach" video - YouTube

Great video. 6:18 to 6:21 was one of the nicer shots. Overall, very enticing and informative video. BHB is certainly on my list.

 

[Bob Evans]

To bad Force does not submit their fins for evaluation (scared, especially for the price tag?). Ron, please spar Scuba Board member's my comments on your lack of knowledge of Force Fin testing.