I was with Meesier42 the other day, and also tried the new fins. They definitely made a positive impression, but it's a little hard to describe, so I hope you'll bear with me.
The first thing I noticed was on the surface swim out to the descent point. I was on my back, and kicking like I normally do with my own Force Fin Tan Delta fins. There's usually a little bit of turbulence on the surface, but with these new fins it was a lot more.
Then, as we descended and I switched over to flutter kicks, they felt "floppier" than my fins. I could tell they were longer, and it felt like there was a greater mass further out that was flexing. Not a bad feeling, just different. It didn't take very long to tell that they felt more efficient than my fins. It seemed like they moved me farther with the same amount of effort. I know that's pretty hard to quantify, but that's the way it seemed. Whenever I've tried regular paddle fins, now that I've been using Force Fins for a while, the paddles seem to move me farther per kick, but at the expense of much greater resistance, so they're more tiring and prone to cramping. These new fins also seemed to move me farther per kick, but they weren't any harder to kick than my normal fins.
Then I tried frog kicking, and it was immediately obvious that these fins work better for frog kicks than my fins.
For other kicks, like backing up, turning, or just maneuvering around, they were about the same, or maybe a tiny bit better, than my fins, which is to say very good.
Overall, my impression was that I like them and would like to have a pair of my own. The next day, which was the next time I used my fins again, reaffirmed this feeling. I still like my fins, but I like these new fins better.
This was also the first time I've ever tried Tan Delta Excellerating Force Fins. Meesier42 brought his with bat wings, and I used them for the second dive that day. When he held the new fins up next to the Excellerators, you could see the similarity; they both have big ribs on the bottom, and are somewhat close to the same size and shape. In the water, though, they felt really different, and I didn't like them as much. Maybe it's because of the bat wings; those things are really big, and you can feel resistance from them every time you're doing any kick other than a flutter kick. Even though I didn't like them as much as the new fins for frog kicks, backing, and turning, they did feel more efficient like the new fins for flutter kicks. I wonder what those fins are like without the bat wings.
It didn't take long to get used to the new level of efficiency, but I definitely felt like I had taken a step back down the ladder when I went back to my fins. (sigh)
One other thing, this was also the first time I've ever tried the regular strap; all my Force Fins have had bungee straps. I was pleasantly surprised how well they worked, and how easy they were to open and close.
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