Never bought freediving fins before. Esclapez Green or Black?

[fuzzybabybunny]

I've never bought or used freediving fins before, and due to the nature of my wide feet it seems like only Esclapez fins will work. I currently use a Mares Avanti Pro and would like to upgrade to full freediving fins since I always find myself hanging around in deep water.

I'm not sure which color to get... green (less stiff) or black (more stiff)? Are the green fins already going to be a lot harder to kick with than my Mare Avantis? I can go all day with them.

 

[meesier42]

try before buy?

freediving fins can be great in the right environment. Its the whole right equipment in the right environment problem. So... Why have you decided that they are required? and what is your background in swimming? How do you intend to use them? And that's not even close to all of the questions that should be asked to fully help you determine which is better.

Freediving fins aren't harder to use, in the right application with the right technique they are very easy to use. With poor technique or in the wrong applicaiton they can be worthless.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

try before buy?

freediving fins can be great in the right environment. Its the whole right equipment in the right environment problem. So... Why have you decided that they are required? and what is your background in swimming? How do you intend to use them? And that's not even close to all of the questions that should be asked to fully help you determine which is better.

Freediving fins aren't harder to use, in the right application with the right technique they are very easy to use. With poor technique or in the wrong applicaiton they can be worthless.

All I do is snorkel, but I've found that I rarely hang around on the surface. I constantly find myself diving down 20 or more feet for extended periods of time to check out what's on the bottom of where ever I'm at. So when I snorkel I really lean heavily towards a deeper water freediving style, and my kicks are very slow and easy going to conserve energy. I've snorkeled in Hawaii, Arizona, Puerto Penasco in Mexico, and Lake Mead. So basically I'd be using these fins for, I dunno, playing around in the deep parts of a clear body of water?

It's hard for me to try on the JBL Esclapez fins because no one has them. The only place that will have them won't get them for another 2 weeks, and since I'm on a road trip and constantly moving I can't afford to stick around for that long.

 

[meesier42]

a couple of things to know
1) These are huge fins and can be very hard to "road trip" with, well I guess road trip might not be terrbile, but flying with them can be hard
2) The foot pocket needs to fit like a glove, or the power transfer will suffer and you will develop horrid cramps and blisters, which is why I wonder why you only think the Esclapez will work if you've never used them.

I am owned a couple of pairs of Omers and Cressi, both fit me fine (13EEE), I have also used a couple of others, Piccasso, C40 (I think they are Omer), and Riffe, I can't say any of them had poor footpockets, although I will say I prefered Omer.

all that said, I have moved away from long blade fins a while ago. for easy snorkelling application were maneuverability is equally important I have found other fins that work better. I have found that Long Blade fins are great if you are doing long breathholds that you are swimming at a fairly constant speed, eg. spearfishing. If your doing shallow reef watching (~10-40'), your probably mostly stationary on the bottom, in this case, other shorter fins are better suited, as you'll gain the ability to scull, backup, and other positioning kicks that long blades are not well suited for.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

a couple of things to know
1) These are huge fins and can be very hard to "road trip" with, well I guess road trip might not be terrbile, but flying with them can be hard
2) The foot pocket needs to fit like a glove, or the power transfer will suffer and you will develop horrid cramps and blisters, which is why I wonder why you only think the Esclapez will work if you've never used them.

I am owned a couple of pairs of Omers and Cressi, both fit me fine (13EEE), I have also used a couple of others, Piccasso, C40 (I think they are Omer), and Riffe, I can't say any of them had poor footpockets, although I will say I prefered Omer.

all that said, I have moved away from long blade fins a while ago. for easy snorkelling application were maneuverability is equally important I have found other fins that work better. I have found that Long Blade fins are great if you are doing long breathholds that you are swimming at a fairly constant speed, eg. spearfishing. If your doing shallow reef watching (~10-40'), your probably mostly stationary on the bottom, in this case, other shorter fins are better suited, as you'll gain the ability to scull, backup, and other positioning kicks that long blades are not well suited for.

Uggg... now you've gone ahead and complicated things, lol.

I went to the dive shop and even just from looking at a pair of Cressi's in size 8 I could tell that they wouldn't fit my feet.

If you're a size 13EEE, what size Cressis/Omer/whatever did you end up using and with what thickness and size of sock?

I guess I do more shallow reef diving than anything else, so I suppose I should look into better fitting regular fins than my current Mares Avantis. Any recommendations for these kinds of fins that fit wide? I would need to make the decision between closed heel and open heel then. Uggg... dangit. I didn't think that this would be this complicated. I'm only around the NorCal coast for a week, and this indecisiveness along with lack of stock, stupidly shaped feet, and the high price of gear at the LDS' might mean I won't do any diving at all or any gear purchases as well.

 

[meesier42]

sizing, well what size do you wear? what water temps to you intend to dive?
if your current fins don't fit well that is a huge problem, and probably the root of the problem that you are having, as the Mares Avanti's are very good fins.

Freedive fins always fit snuggly, they have to, its the snug fit that allows for optimum power transfer and feel (contact) with the fins.

I am a staunch ForceFin supporter and honestly believe that many of diving or snorkelling applications they are some of the best fins available. For snorkelling I think the the Original is a great fin for you. They are short, lightweight, plenty of power, are efficient, and their price is right in line with most of the competition. ~$150 at Scuba.com they are in Irvine, CA. So shipping should be fairly quick.

I wore a size 46-48, I think that's about the biggest one they make, and I never wore a sock.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Those freedive fins will work great for diving 10-40 feet. For your first pair of fins, I would choose the green. Having fins that are a little too soft is better than too hard. I know many, many freedivers and not one uses force fins.....