Force Fin Extra Force and the Excellerating Force Fin

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castanagajt

Contributor
Messages
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Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
# of dives
25 - 49
I thought maybe this could be one of those questions that may stir many minds, like myself. I promise I have been searching high and low through reviews and not much information or even reviews given other than the cut and paste information from the website. Both just seems to be relatively unknown.

I always wondered why many people picks the Excellerating Force over the Extra Force. I think both should be able to put out the same thrust and possibly feel similar between each other.

Only thing is that I can see is one is longer by a few inches and the other is wide and my biggest take on this is that the excellerating force fins has smoother lines and looks more like a traditional paddle fin and doesn't look so "fishy" apposed to the Extra Force.

Don't get me wrong, I would not mind to have the excellerating force but I would like to know the littlest and biggest reasons as of what both of these fins are truly for and how to use them for their specific purpose.
 
The Extra Force Fin is like a low geared truck that delivers power. It takes more to push the Extra Force Fin than the Excellerating Force Fin, but it gives you more power. The Excellerating Force Fins are more for speed and distance finning.

One of the trends Force Fin has seen is that if you are an experienced diver and never used Force Fins those divers usually tend to go with the Extra Force, because there is less mental and physical conditioning to overcome than you have with other models of Force Fin and it truly is the most powerful fin in the Force Fin line. Force Fin also has long time Force Fin users that want more power or are changing diving configurations and looking to change fin models and they go for the Extra. At the same time you have certian groups like the Singapore Special Forces and film teams all over the world who prefer the Excellerating Force Fin.

Look forward to more people giving there feedback.
Overall they are just smart Fins!
 
I have both in TanDelta and I will try to provide a thorough compare and contrast. Their overall size is very similar, both in width and length.

Extra Force- This is the original ForceFin on steriods. Its bigger, faster, stiffer, and massively more powerful. I have been using this fin for about 10years now. I have always absolutely loved this fin, it can provide all the thrust that you can ever ask for. When you add the whiskers into the mix you can truly fine tune their power to precision sculling. The only issue with this fin, it takes some real leg power to propel and as such I think its probably too much fin for most people to use and I have only seen competitive swimmers have the kind of power and kick techinique to use them well.

Best uses- photography, open water where currents may be an issue, heavy gear loads where thrust is critical
If your dead set on buying this fin, I recommend that you get it in the Original Polyurethane vice TanDelta material.

Excellerating- This fin is all about its name, it accelerates. This fin has so much snap it unbelievable. It can flutter, frog, scull, back kick, or just about anything else that you can think of and does it well. I have never used any fin that can outperform this fin in anyway, shape or form. While it is not as fast as the Extra Force, it will get you to speed faster and easier. This fin although stiff compared to many, its not as stiff as the ExtraForce. It also has a much more traditional feel to it, as its recovery kick is much more pronounced than the Upturned styling of the prime line and the ExtraForce. This more balanced feel is why I believe that many people like this fin so much, as it allows you to have more control of your positioning by using the force of an upkick/recovery kick to move. Although, not as fast or powerful as the ExtraForce, it still has plenty to do what you want. I have been diving it in my Drysuit over the last couple of weeks and they do more than I could ask for. You'll see on the FF website, that Bob talks about clean edges cutting through the water. I can tell you this is completely true. The feel of these fins just flowing through the water with absolutely no sense of shutter, wobble, or twist, just plain and simple, clean flowing water. As a long time competitive swimmer, all I can say is, this fin must be how dolphins feel when they are riding a bow wave...incredible

Best uses- wreck/cave diving where positioning and silting may be an issue. General Scuba, I like this fin better than the ExtraForce, but its hard to nail down why, its just a feel thing. probably just that it is easier to kick for long periods and the clean feel of it in the water.

I know that you didn't ask but I will throw the TanDelta in as well.

Tan Delta- the original shape fin in the top end TanDelta material. This fin keeps all of the advantages of the prime line. I have just played with this fin for a couple of short dives, I have played with the Pros extensively. They feel very similar to the Pro/Orginal fins just a bit stiffer and more Go than the Pros. I really like these fins. They kick easily and they move extemely well. If you are looking for a Great Scuba fin, this is your fin. It can do whatever you want, they feel good and they kick wonderfully, I highly recommend this fin to pretty much anyone looking for the "one fin". This fin or the Pro is THE FIN that I recommend to anyone that is looking for a new scuba fin.

Best uses- all around scuba diving
 
Just one question, Does the excellerating FF need a strong leg to kick? (I know that the Extra FF need one)...
 
xeon_intel,
The Excellerating Force Fin is not as demanding on the power stroke as the Extra Force Fin. With the Excellerating Force Fin it is like driving a car, you can roll down the street with little effort or you can crank it up and rip down the road by applying more energy. It is a very powerful fin that is useful with little or a lot of energy behind it - so you have a wide range of leg strength that is good for this fin. You do not need a strong leg kick to fly the fins.

Please feel free to PM or email me more about your style of diving and physical make up if you are interested in more details about any of the Force Fin models.
 
xeon_intel,
The Excellerating Force Fin is not as demanding on the power stroke as the Extra Force Fin. With the Excellerating Force Fin it is like driving a car, you can roll down the street with little effort or you can crank it up and rip down the road by applying more energy. It is a very powerful fin that is useful with little or a lot of energy behind it - so you have a wide range of leg strength that is good for this fin. You do not need a strong leg kick to fly the fins.

Please feel free to PM or email me more about your style of diving and physical make up if you are interested in more details about any of the Force Fin models.
 
I completely agree but...
the Excellerating does not require the power of the Extra. The reason for it is that the last 6 or so inches of the fin is a very active section of the fin that can flex much more easily then the section closer to the foot. But they can really come alive when you need them to. But compared to the Pro or Original fins they do require a little more. Not tremendously more mind you, but you can definitely tell they take more.
 
And this is a golden nugget of information!
Cheers!
 
I recently got some extra force fins with whiskers installed. As far as I can tell, I don't really notice a difference when placing the whiskers in different positions. what "should" i be noticing ? granted I am new to scuba and my kicking muscles are not that strong yet, namely my anterior tibialis
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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