New Fins...

[buddhasummer]

The Cressi Frogs were my first fin some 20 years ago. I liked them a lot from memory, not sure if they've changed since then, hopefully now come with spring straps.

 

[emaj]

I'm in the same boat as Wonder_Frog Does anyone have experience with the Cressi Frog Fins, not the Frog Plus but the original Frogs?Are they at all comparable to the Dive Rite XT fins in terms of stiffness/flexibility, power vs comfort, ability to perform various kicks such as frog, modified flutter, backfin, etc.?

 

[buddhasummer]

From memory they are very similar to the XT, perhaps a fraction less stiff. A solid choice for sure. Bet they are a lot cheaper than the XTs. The XTs are based (the same, I believe DR bought the license )?)) the old Apollo fins.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

I think most recommend these 3. I know SP Jets get thrown in there also.

Dive Rite XT's
Hollis F1's
Deep 6 Flippers

I think it's best to try before you buy if you can. I am more than happy to let people try my Deep 6 Eddy's, and if they'd like to try my wife's AquaLung fancy smancy purple whatever they can try those too...although she doesn't know...

The point as expressed above is that every foots a little different. Different fins for different feet.

 

[dmaziuk]

From memory they are very similar to the XT, perhaps a fraction less stiff. A solid choice for sure. Bet they are a lot cheaper than the XTs. The XTs are based (the same, I believe DR bought the license )?)) the old Apollo fins.

ARA is supposed to be Cressi's Master Frog next gen. Come with stiff or medium blade, a fraction shorter than the Reactions and pretty light. Not noticeably cheaper than XTs though.

(My BH decided it's too much blade for her and returned them.)

 

[scubadada]

From memory they are very similar to the XT, perhaps a fraction less stiff. A solid choice for sure. Bet they are a lot cheaper than the XTs. The XTs are based (the same, I believe DR bought the license )?)) the old Apollo fins.

Yes, Dive Rite bought the molds for the Apollo Prestige and has been producing them with the "same" monoprene for many years. They are the best fins for me.

 

[MrBigfins]

The RK3 not hd version are great for me,. I dive wet not dry, but also have very heavy feet. Good propulsion, helps with my back kick (my technique here is terrible but I've improved since switching to this fin) comfortable for my large foot (size 14 but switched to longer spring straps I had) work well in flutter and frog, have worked well in 7mm suit cold water diving and rash guard warm water diving.

 

[NothingClever]

10 meaningful dives on the XTs now. Had a variety of OW conditions on this weekend’s tec LOB to test them out.

Helo turns are very crisp.

Frog kicks are superb. In one of the 50m+ dives, we turned the corner on a massive wall. I could feel a sharp thermocline and instantly knew we were going to get mashed in the face or get whisked away. Turns out we got mashed in the face. I climbed up the corner of the wall where we hit the thermocline, hit the deck in a small sand basin, pulled my two deco tins taut on my harness and frog kicked up the basin while others struggled in emergency flutter kick mode. The DR XTs proved themselves.

Flutter kick is very good but one has to have good technique so as not to wear oneself out prematurely. You have to kick from the hips with knees as part of the properly tensioned structure to transmit power, not dissipate it. If you’re a bicycle kicker, well, good luck. I’ll send the boat out looking for your marker cause you ain’t gonna make it before lactic acid makes you slow to a crawl.

Surface swimming is good. Swimming on my back with a twinset and two deco tins, rotating face down to check terrain and then rotating back to face up to continue chatting and surface swim is easy peasy.

Ankling for trim and yaw is productive.

Back kick is better than my Zeagle Recons.

I like that the XTs are not negatively buoyant. I always carry my own fins up the ladder but have worried a bit about dropping a Zeagle and losing one (they’re definitely negative). Not so with the XTs. That solves a potential boarding problem. As far as under water, I adjusted for the XTs’ lightness with some modest trim weight on the bottom of my twinset but that’s to be expected.

Great fins for me. Glad I bought them as they are what I need for multi-tank diving.

I’ll keep the Recons for single-tank sports car driving.

 

[buddhasummer]

10 meaningful dives on the XTs now. Had a variety of OW conditions on this weekend’s tec LOB to test them out.

Helo turns are very crisp.

Frog kicks are superb. In one of the 50m+ dives, we turned the corner on a massive wall. I could feel a sharp thermocline and instantly knew we were going to get mashed in the face or get whisked away. Turns out we got mashed in the face. I climbed up the corner of the wall where we hit the thermocline, hit the deck in a small sand basin, pulled my two deco tins taut on my harness and frog kicked up the basin while others struggled in emergency flutter kick mode. The DR XTs proved themselves.

Flutter kick is very good but one has to have good technique so as not to wear oneself out prematurely. You have to kick from the hips with knees as part of the properly tensioned structure to transmit power, not dissipate it. If you’re a bicycle kicker, well, good luck. I’ll send the boat out looking for your marker cause you ain’t gonna make it before lactic acid makes you slow to a crawl.

Surface swimming is good. Swimming on my back with a twinset and two deco tins, rotating face down to check terrain and then rotating back to face up to continue chatting and surface swim is easy peasy.

Ankling for trim and yaw is productive.

Back kick is better than my Zeagle Recons.

I like that the XTs are not negatively buoyant. I always carry my own fins up the ladder but have worried a bit about dropping a Zeagle and losing one (they’re definitely negative). Not so with the XTs. That solves a potential boarding problem. As far as under water, I adjusted for the XTs’ lightness with some modest trim weight on the bottom of my twinset but that’s to be expected.

Great fins for me. Glad I bought them as they are what I need for multi-tank diving.

I’ll keep the Recons for single-tank sports car driving.

My XTs sink.

 

[NothingClever]

My XTs sink.

You’re right, the XTs ARE negatively buoyant. I guess in comparison to my Zeagle recons they are so much lighter/less negative and take a good long moment to start sinking that I didn’t perceive they were negative. At any rate, I’m glad the chances of having to make a mad single-fin dive to fetch a stray XT were I to accidentally drop one are much less than with the Zeagle (which are like lead).