Everybody knows that trying to find a suitable set of fins for spearfishing and freediving can be somewhat of a challenge - there are various elements that one has to consider: foot pockets, blade materials, price, flexibility, stiffness, performance, suitability for the job and of course,the longevity of the blades. Nowadays there are so many brands available – all offering some sort of technical advantage over the other, which doesn’t make the job of choosing any easier.
I have personally been through my fair share of thermoplastic fins and not that there is anything wrong with their performance, but eventually you get fed up with having to continually replace blades due to them breaking down. However, the same can be said about some of the carbon and glass fins on the market – I have also had a pair that have delaminated and shattered or cracked. So for me one of the biggest goals in selecting a new set of fins was to find a product that could last more than a couple of seasons, without any drop in performance; a fin that had been tested and had the performance and durability I required; a fin which would cater for both reef and bluewater spearfishing – as well as the odd freediving session. Does such a product exist? The answer to this question my friends is DiveR.
Ray Powell’s DiveR fins represented everything that I was looking for – and although they come at a price, they offer superior workmanship, guaranteed satisfaction, durability and performance. Each blade is handmade and you can automatically tell that the workmanship is superb. They are made with ‘state of the art resin systems and aerospace fabrics’ which offer amazing durability. I have spoken to a few commercial divers who have told me that they have used up to 5 sets of foot pockets on one set of blades. That’s amazing! That is almost 5 years if you think about it. I have never heard of a pair of fins – especially used by commercial divers - that have ever lasted that long! I was convinced that the blades would stand up to a thrashing, now there was just one thing left to test – the performance.
My local spearfishing store lent me a pair to trial for a few weeks , which I used for freedive training and a couple of spearfishing trips. The first thing I noticed about them was the angle or contoured arch of the blade as it sits under your foot. The blade is tapered which makes it easier for surface swimming and offers more resistance under the foot which allows the foot to use its natural structure to enhance the downward thrust in the foot pocket. The fin was designed to have more flexibility towards the front of the blade and progressive resistance towards the back. The flexibility of the fin towards the front allows it to flick back after each stroke.
When using the fins for deeper diving you can really feel the power right under the foot pockets – it has a profound ‘sweet spot’ which you can feel in every stroke. Upon ascent from a 20m dive I was finning at a medium pace toward the surface – when I was 12m from the surface I was amazed at how fast I was ascending! I was like a rocket from the deep – the strange thing is that you don’t feel as though you are exerting that much effort into the strokes. I found I was able to have longer bottom times because I could ascend faster. The fins’ performance seems to be so successful due to the fact that they utilize the quadriceps more than the hamstrings, which appears to eliminate any annoying cramps that I had in the past from using spearfishing / freediving fins.
The DiveR Fins offer more thrust with less energy – which is a winning combination in keeping your heart rate down and gaining more performance in the water. They have surpassed any fins I have used for both surface swimming, ascending and descending. The DiveR Fins are available in soft, medium and hard stiffness and come in an amazing variety of camo and solid colours – from blue water camo to reef camo and a few really cool airbrushed versions. I used a set of camo mediums, which were perfect for the job. DiveR Fins are available at all leading spearfishing stores and come with a 3 year warranty.
RRP $ 465 for the blades only.
(09) 3770896
