Question Truefins

[MrChen]

No, not yet. I went down to Colombia and dived off Malpelo from July 19-31, not the trip to take a 2nd pair of fins to try them out.

I will be back down in Florida in Sept for a week or 10 days and plan on alternating them every other dive to get a good idea of how they compare to my XTs. They came with the blue spines installed, I will likely try those out on the first go around. I do a fair amount of frog kicking and will give the green spines a trial the next time.

The Truefins are quite heavy, looks like about 7.1 lbs per pair. The XTs are no lightweight at about 5.8 lbs. The Truefins are only slightly negative, the XTs are too.

The fins are not obviously very different in size
View attachment 797929 View attachment 797930

I'm looking forward to my fin test. I usually dive by myself, maybe I could get you to shoot a video

That's interesting. My XT fins are longer than the TrueFins. I'll post a picture comparison as well. I have two different XT sizes (XXL for boots in Bonaire, and XL for booties). I would prefer some shorter fins, as the longer fins can be a pain on some boats. For example, a center console in the seating area or the handlebars on Pura Vida when trying to get your first foot on the platform is difficult with the longer fins.

 

[MrChen]

No, not yet. I went down to Colombia and dived off Malpelo from July 19-31, not the trip to take a 2nd pair of fins to try them out.

I will be back down in Florida in Sept for a week or 10 days and plan on alternating them every other dive to get a good idea of how they compare to my XTs. They came with the blue spines installed, I will likely try those out on the first go around. I do a fair amount of frog kicking and will give the green spines a trial the next time.

The Truefins are quite heavy, looks like about 7.1 lbs per pair. The XTs are no lightweight at about 5.8 lbs. The Truefins are only slightly negative, the XTs are too.

The fins are not obviously very different in size
View attachment 797929 View attachment 797930

I'm looking forward to my fin test. I usually dive by myself, maybe I could get you to shoot a video

You're right, they are about the same size

 

[scubadada]

That's interesting. My XT fins are longer than the TrueFins. I'll post a picture comparison as well. I have two different XT sizes (XXL for boots in Bonaire, and XL for booties). I would prefer some shorter fins, as the longer fins can be a pain on some boats. For example, a center console in the seating area or the handlebars on Pura Vida when trying to get your first foot on the platform is difficult with the longer fins.

Dive Rite XTs overall size varies with fin size. I should have said, my XTs are large. This is from the DGX website:

I first learned this when I saw a woman diving some smalls on a dive charter, they were miniatures.

I don;t think I've ever seen XTs in XXL

 

[scubadada]

I took my XTs and the Truefins in my 40 foot lap pool Friday and yesterday.

Both sank in the deep end at the same rate, spring strap first. I would imagine that they are similar in negative buoyancy. The large Truefins with the medium spring strap fit me well wearing 3 mm Pinnacle booties with a moderate sole and heel with liners. I wear a size 10 shoe.

Swimming with them was pretty limited. I did 10 lengths flutter and then frog kicking with each both days. It was not very similar to diving. Both flutter and frog kicked well. After diving XTs for more than a decade, I have a very good feel for how they frog kick. The Truefins felt a bit different and took some getting used to. I really didn't learn much in the pool.

 

[L13]

The Truefins felt a bit different and took some getting used to.

Different, not good or bad, would be my judgement overall so far. I'm trying to give them enough time that I'm over that "different" feeling before I judge them completely.

 

[scubadada]

Different, not good or bad, would be my judgement overall so far. I'm trying to give them enough time that I'm over that "different" feeling before I judge them completely.

What I meant is that I know exactly what my XTs feel like when I am frog kicking. I can feel their placement and feel the pressure against my feet and legs during the power stroke. The Truefins feel a little different and it will take me a little experience to have a similar feeling so that every kick is a good, powerful one. I missed a few Truefin kicks because their initial starting position or angle was a bit off for me.

Swimming in the pool was nothing like diving. I would imagine that with a little time in the ocean, I will be able to effectively frog kick with the Truefins without much thought. Familiarity with certain fins may affect the early evaluation of new fins. In my regular diving in Florida, I probably frog kick 75-80% of the time.

@L13, what are your regular comparator fins to the Truefins?

 

[L13]

What I meant is that I know exactly what my XTs feel like when I am frog kicking. I can feel their placement and feel the pressure against my feet and legs during the power stroke. The Truefins feel a little different and it will take me a little experience to have a similar feeling so that every kick is a good, powerful one. I missed a few Truefin kicks because their initial starting position or angle was a bit off for me.

Swimming in the pool was nothing like diving. I would imagine that with a little time in the ocean, I will be able to effectively frog kick with the Truefins without much thought. Familiarity with certain fins may affect the early evaluation of new fins. In my regular diving in Florida, I probably frog kick 75-80% of the time.

@L13, what are your regular comparator fins to the Truefins?

ScubaPro Jetfins and SeaWings

 

[MrChen]

Quick question @Truefin,

When you recommend the green spines with blue big toes, how many segments of blue are you recommending?

 

[astr0b0y]

Quick question @Truefin,

When you recommend the green spines with blue big toes, how many segments of blue are you recommending?

Pretty sure the idea is all blue spines on the rail closest to your big toe (inner rail), all green on the outer rail.

 

[Truefin]

Quick question @Truefin,

When you recommend the green spines with blue big toes, how many segments of blue are you recommending?

We are no longer suggesting hybrid spines, where you mix colors on a single spine. We are in the process of venting the spine tooling differently because we found that those three broken vertebra I mentioned earlier on some Scubaboard thread here had some little air voids, so we are correcting that.. Statistically it is a non event, but we don't want random air bubbles in the vertebrae pieces. I'll also repeat that the spines and the Monprene fin have a lifetime guarantee Once we get that injection tool vent modified, then we will say go ahead and mix and match. Mixing and matching on a single spine creates a discontinuous spine curvature and stress concentrations.

Anyway, keep every spine a single color, and one fin can have two spines of different colors. Below are some pictures of the Blue spine at the Big toe, and Green spine at little toe during frog kick. The performance difference would be subtle, but a good frog kick may notice it.

By the way, here is a little narrative about frog kicking with Truefin. I welcome any comments or suggested changes to the narrative.

Regarding the frog kicking technique, timing is maybe one of the most important variables. For example, depending on how fast you do the return frog kick, once you are cocked and ready to push frog kick away, you may want to pause to ensure the blade is flat before you execute the power kick away. It may only take a fraction of a second for the blade to be flat or neutral,, or if you do a slow frog return kick you may not have to pause at all. If you have Green spines installed, once you perform the frog power kick then the blade will remain flat as you are pushing away. ......Also, you may find that most of the thrust occurs during the last half of the frog power kick, which is perhaps contrary to what you are accustomed to because spineless fins will have significant flex during the second half of the power frog kick.