Mares Volo Fins ... any good?

[ScubaMarc]

mine broke after 100 dives.

 

[freediver]

I use a floppy pair of full foot volvos for traveling only. The full foots are not much good for anything but drift dives.

It's my understanding that these are the safest fins on the market!

 

[Dive Pirate]

Thanks guys; I guess I'll forgo the instructor's attempts to get me to buy fins from his dive shop. He probably won't like my Sherwood Magnum regulator either, as he sells Aqualung.

 

[Diver Dennis]

Like so many things in diving, the posters who mentioned personal reference hit the nail on the head. I know you are getting certified although you have been diving before, so go with what feels good TO YOU. A long time ago when I first started, I should have done that and not just listened to the recommendations I got.

 

[Trickie Dickie 99]

But then you're missing a lot of stuff on your dive. You'll see so much more just gliding along slowly.

No arguments there, but when I need to zoom around like a zoomything, I have that option, such as some of the sites here are very surgey and you have to fin like buggery just to stay in one spot.

Bit like having a Porsche really, 95% of the time, you're driving at 50mph but just occasionally....

 

[Trickie Dickie 99]

There's not much to compare. They are 2 different fins that can be good in their own good in different situations.

The only problem I've found with the volos is they're aren't very powerful because they're not very stiff. They're not a bad fin to start off with. I wouldn't buy a set of jets just because your instructor tells you to.

Get certified in your volos and try them for a while. Then try out some other fins while you're out diving with friends. You might like jets or you might not. Personally, I like my jets when I'm diving dry or 7mm. But if I'm diving warm water in a shorty, I dive my quattros. The jets are just too heavy and too much fin in a shorty.

Bottom line, don't spend a ton of money before you get certified. You'll just end up changing gear in a year or so anyway.

The original Volos were very floppy, the newer Volo powers are a lot stiffer. Similarly, the older verisions had a breakage at the hinge problem; my understanding is that this has now been fixed.

On max speed, they fell just a little short of the Apollo Biofin in this test:

http://www.divernet.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?id=3731&section=&action=display

Personally, I reckon mine are the best fins I've ever used but that's just my preference. As for drysuit diving, I've been drysuit clad (with only 2 exceptions) for 21 years now, I've used jets, the Cressi Spacefrogs and these. I don't really see the need for different fins for drysuit diving. If you are feeling the old "floaty feet" thing and reckon you need a heavier fin like a pair of jets, it's just a case of fixing up your trim.

 

[adrisen]

I have a pair and have been using them for more then a year, Love then and would buy another pair when I destroy these.

 

[egdiver]

Love my Volo Power, plenty of zoom zoom... in the surge, ya gotta know how to kick em...

 

[Dive-aholic]

If you are feeling the old "floaty feet" thing and reckon you need a heavier fin like a pair of jets, it's just a case of fixing up your trim.

I never said I need heavier fins. I said they're too heavy in a shorty. Big difference there.

My trim is just fine whether in jets or quattros. The reason I wear my jets when dry or 7mm is because I like the increased control I get with them. The quattros just don't give me the control I need when I'm in doubles with stage and deco tanks.