I love my hockeys, but they are a little stiff for 2hrs of finning underwater and I'd also like a pair of the normal tandelta for longer dives.
Everybody laughs at how my hockeys look, and then they complain about their cardio workout keeping up with me.. go figure, yet they keep swimming in their old plank fins. You have a higher cadence with the FF's but its a natural movement not the froggy and hip scissor thingy they teach as correct
I've posted it before, but check out the video of me pushing my rebreather in the hockeys... I'm the guy in front:
Innerspace day 3 on Vimeo
Like I say, for normal 1hr dives the hockey will do all you want, and do it fast (thats what it was designed for). On longer 2hr dives where you want a more flexible fin the excellerator may be a better option. Another megalodon buddy mine refuses to use my hockey's because he would rather fin for 3 hours in the original than anything else. It also depends on leg strength, swimming style, and personal preference. If you push the hockeys they push back better than any fin.. ANY FIN.
OK, the Excellerators showed up at my house, so I will get to see how they work for me on the next few days.
For me, the Hockeys were a high cadence fin that actually could go very fast at high cadence, as opposed to most fins that would be going no where at high cadence( most fins are blown out by the time you reach high cadence with them--they are failing structurally to transfer water over their shape with the efficient power transfer they had at low cadence).
I am a cyclist that used to do a lot of power lifting, with squats over 500 pounds..0r rep out with 225 with like 30 reps to paralell---this was how I converted power lifting strenth to cycling) . Now 12 years after I pretty much stopped bike racing, I still ride 30 miles per day, 3 to 4 days per week, and on one day per week do a race simulation day where speeds for me alone should be 24 to 26 mph for at least an hour.
This has an effect on diving, as most fins are not made for "me". Jetfins are not stiff for me at all...I don't see them as particularly fast/efficient at the flutter kick, mostly because they dont give me any "gear changes" like I get with the big Dive R carbon fiber Freediving blades--which actually have at least 3 gear achievable by changing the shape of your kick stroke, with the amplitude and frequency.
The difference with the Hockey fins was that you dont need to change kick shape, the faster you kick, there is an increasing level of efficiency, and it just keeps getting faster...pretty amazing really. In contrast, the jet fins never really give you the feeling of great efficiency, and while not bad at slow kicking, at high kicking they seem to gain nothing in efficiency, like the Hockey fins do. However, the frog kick is another matter..it seems like this is what Jetfins are made for, and the Jets have exceptional efficiency when used for the frog kick, and faster, harder pushes, continue to have great efficiency... the Hockeys would frog kick great also, but since frog kick really needs a glide phase, the jets get some advantage over the hockeys at the top limit of frog kicking speed, as they can push a little more water with each kick, and frog kick is not a high turnover style kick...yet the hockey fins do frog kick, and reverse kick extremely well. Reverse kick is actually better with the hockeys by a large margin, than it is with jets....at least it is easier to go backwards fast, and far, with the hockeys.
The limitation for GUE Fundamentals use I mentioned earlier, is that with the relatively small control surface, if you have a need to be motionless, and to hover for long periods, the Hockeys don't have enough control surface for tiny movements of your foot to have much effect...this only effects me in a swimming pool doing a hover drill, or, if I was trying to hover motionless while shooting video of some marine life( as opposed to anchoring on the bottom, or moving very slowly)...In fairness, I usually swim the whole time I film, and rarely hover.....and if I want the shot to be rock steady like a hollywood shot, I am more likely to look for a no-life bottom I can get heavy on top of, and be anchored and dead still. If it is good enough for David Doubilet, it is good enough for me
For me, this would be happening on one dive in maybe 30 dives. See my demo
6 minute Tour version of "Why Divers prefer Palm Beach" video - YouTube , and you can see how my decision to NOT hover for most shots effects my videos... I can do a perfect hover, but normally this will only be a need durring an exploration level penetration dive...this is the place where I use that skill.
The excellerators will hopefully not be too much less stiff than the Hockeys....my expectation would be that they would share the increasing efficiency with increased cadence, and would be great at leveraging my cycling cadence for when I want to go fast with them...as in following Goliath Groupers, dolphins, baitfish, etc.
One of the coolest things about the way Bob makes fins, is that he has a model for each person's type of diving/fitness level and need. I look forward to using the new fins in the next few days...
