Force Fin: Original or Pro?

[scrane]

Hi,
I have been diving with an older pair of black Original Force Fins for a couple of years under warm water easy going conditions. I like them a lot for all the regular reasons.
I am preparing for a trip to Indonesia in the fall and am wondering if I'd be better off with the Pro FFs.
Can someone give me an idea of the benefit of the Pro in the speed/power department over the Originals. Will the effects upgrade be obvious or subtle. Will the Pro's have the finesse of the Originals? Is there any downside to the Prp's?
I know there are other Force Fins more suitable for high current situations, but for financial and personal reasons I prefer to stay with either of the above.
Thanks. Forum has given me a lot of help and advice in searching out my optimal fins.

 

[MichaelMc]

My experience comparing them was skin diving down and playing underwater with both in a warm pool, years ago. The originals did not feel like I was working but I moved very easily. Like kicking with no fins but moving much faster. The pros, black non-indigo material, were more work but more powerful. They gave fast acceleration compared to the originals more gentle increase. If I kicked hard, I could out kick the originals; I could not out kick the pros in swim trunks and mask. I could only keep one pair, so I kept the pros. The originals were more fun in swim trunks, but the pros were fins for doing actual work, they had a wider range of utility. I recall both being as maneuverable, if you take into account the more force to bend the pros. The Pros do not take much force, but the originals are very low effort at the low end to kick lightly about.

I scuba dive the Pros and like them. I also use them for any skin diving I do. I think I would find the originals did not have enough power for scuba. In swim trunks, I found the difference very noticeable.

For slow travel I do not use flutter with them, but rather frog kick. It pushes against the normal design of the fins, but is very low effort and maintains a calm undisturbed body position in the water. They are fine with slow flutter, I just find it to rock the body which is annoying. I believe I would feel that with any fin's slow flutter.

It was a while ago. But it felt as if the pros were too heavy weight for the task of skin diving. As if, for most speeds, the originals gave better efficiency. That may be just that they felt so easy to kick. I do not know my speeds. The pros used muscle to kick, were much faster off the mark, and higher top speed. But more work. The originals did not feel as if they used muscles to kick.

My impression is that when you add scuba drag, the originals lose out. So that is the downside, the originals are more fun in skin gear. I do not know if they are more efficient at serious skin diving, but they are more fun to kick about in underwater, in swim trunks.

The low end difference, in swim trunks, might be like walking on a flat vs. walking up stairs, not with any heavy load, just flat vs stairs. But in scuba in pros, I equate slow flutter to hold position in current to like walking down the street. So do not take the analogy too far. It is not as if diving in pros you are climbing stairs the whole dive...

 

[scrane]

Thanks for your detailed response!
Maybe I like the Originals because they dive like you describe.
I dive for fun, and fun for me is warm and clear. I use a 3mm shorty wetsuit, BP/W, and about 4# of lead along with 140# of old meat and bones, so my underwater load is not too great.
From what you say, I think I'll stay with my Originals. For those times I need additional power I'll just kick faster.
Thanks again!

 

[meesier42]

Pros are stiffer and that stiffness translates to more responsive. They are the fin that I recommend to nearly every scuba diver

Originals- easy to kick, but lack some of the raw power that the Pros can offer, too little for most scuba.

 

[scrane]

OK, thanks for that. I might keep my eye out for a used pair at a reasonable price. Otherwise I think I'll go with what I have.

 

[DanBMW]

Is there a way to tell the difference between Pros and Originals. I have several and can't tell the difference.

 

[scrane]

The only difference between originals and pros that I was able to determine from research is the stiffness of the blade. They are identical in size and shape. The factory might have produced them in different colors, but I know of no accessible records.

The only way I know of to tell the difference is that if the fins have a fabric tag attached to the strap, the Pro fins will say "Pro" on the tag and the Originals will just have generic Force Fin ID. If you have a pair of Force Fins without the "Pro" label you should assume they are the "Original". Many pairs of "Original" fins are mistakenly passed off as "Pro"s on Ebay either through ignorance or deceit. The "Pro"s carry a price premium.

I now have a pair of each in black, and If it weren't for the label I would not be able to tell the difference by looking at them, and I don't have enough time on the "Pro"s to judge the difference in performance.

how to identify original and pro model without the label

 

[Bob Evans]

My experience comparing them was skin diving down and playing underwater with both in a warm pool, years ago. The originals did not feel like I was working but I moved very easily. Like kicking with no fins but moving much faster. The pros, black non-indigo material, were more work but more powerful. They gave fast acceleration compared to the originals more gentle increase. If I kicked hard, I could out kick the originals; I could not out kick the pros in swim trunks and mask. I could only keep one pair, so I kept the pros. The originals were more fun in swim trunks, but the pros were fins for doing actual work, they had a wider range of utility. I recall both being as maneuverable, if you take into account the more force to bend the pros. The Pros do not take much force, but the originals are very low effort at the low end to kick lightly about.

I scuba dive the Pros and like them. I also use them for any skin diving I do. I think I would find the originals did not have enough power for scuba. In swim trunks, I found the difference very noticeable.

For slow travel I do not use flutter with them, but rather frog kick. It pushes against the normal design of the fins, but is very low effort and maintains a calm undisturbed body position in the water. They are fine with slow flutter, I just find it to rock the body which is annoying. I believe I would feel that with any fin's slow flutter.

It was a while ago. But it felt as if the pros were too heavy weight for the task of skin diving. As if, for most speeds, the originals gave better efficiency. That may be just that they felt so easy to kick. I do not know my speeds. The pros used muscle to kick, were much faster off the mark, and higher top speed. But more work. The originals did not feel as if they used muscles to kick.

My impression is that when you add scuba drag, the originals lose out. So that is the downside, the originals are more fun in skin gear. I do not know if they are more efficient at serious skin diving, but they are more fun to kick about in underwater, in swim trunks.

The low end difference, in swim trunks, might be like walking on a flat vs. walking up stairs, not with any heavy load, just flat vs stairs. But in scuba in pros, I equate slow flutter to hold position in current to like walking down the street. So do not take the analogy too far. It is not as if diving in pros you are climbing stairs the whole dive...THANK YOU

 

[Bob Evans]

I use the orginial's in easy warm water diving and the Pro's with more gear, cold water diving, and with more equipment the Extra or Excellator. Thanks for the great post. Appreciate good comments. U.S. Navy image, not sure what is going on ?

 

[MichaelMc]

I loved my Pros, they're great fins Bob. I love my Hockey even more, thanks for bringing those back.