Well, first I tried them in the dive shop swimming pool and liked the way they felt. So, since Christmas was just around the corner and since Barbara and I were heading for the Caymans for Y2K+1, I bought a couple of pair for us.
What a pleasure they were to use. I will not mention a brand because I did not do a scientific comparison. I tried on four different brands and picked the one that felt best to me. Fortunately, I guess correctly for Barbara as well.
She noticed two things immediately: (1) they were lighter than her then-current fins and (2) they were very effective at uw propulsion. Barbara is not as powerful a swimmer as I and it seemed that she and I more easily kept the same pace with the new fins. I found that my uw times were about 10% longer at a given depth with the new fins--Barbara--who wieghs 85 lbs less than I (115 vs. 200) is 6 inches shorter (5'6" vs. 6')--got even greater air conservation. She usually finished dives with about 200 more lbs than I and now she tends to have 400 more. Hope that won't make her look for a new buddy!
We are really sold and these and have put our faithful Mares Avantiquatros out to pasture. Knowing this website, I am certain that someone will tell me that we just did not rotate some joint or other correctly with our old fins and that we were sucked in by the evil capitalist advertising cabal. Could be, but sometimes ignorance and performance are bliss....
Nevertheless, I would like to hear what others think. When someone on a boat asks me what I think about some piece of equipment I am using, I like to tell them what others have said about their experience, as well. One size does not fit all--or a Julius Caesar used to say to me, "De gustabus non disputandum est."
Joewr
What a pleasure they were to use. I will not mention a brand because I did not do a scientific comparison. I tried on four different brands and picked the one that felt best to me. Fortunately, I guess correctly for Barbara as well.
She noticed two things immediately: (1) they were lighter than her then-current fins and (2) they were very effective at uw propulsion. Barbara is not as powerful a swimmer as I and it seemed that she and I more easily kept the same pace with the new fins. I found that my uw times were about 10% longer at a given depth with the new fins--Barbara--who wieghs 85 lbs less than I (115 vs. 200) is 6 inches shorter (5'6" vs. 6')--got even greater air conservation. She usually finished dives with about 200 more lbs than I and now she tends to have 400 more. Hope that won't make her look for a new buddy!
We are really sold and these and have put our faithful Mares Avantiquatros out to pasture. Knowing this website, I am certain that someone will tell me that we just did not rotate some joint or other correctly with our old fins and that we were sucked in by the evil capitalist advertising cabal. Could be, but sometimes ignorance and performance are bliss....
Nevertheless, I would like to hear what others think. When someone on a boat asks me what I think about some piece of equipment I am using, I like to tell them what others have said about their experience, as well. One size does not fit all--or a Julius Caesar used to say to me, "De gustabus non disputandum est."
Joewr
