A little review & comparison of Deep6 Eddy stiffness vs other Jet Fin analogs

[vovanx]

a little review of Deep6 Eddy fins.

pros:
- the boot is really wide ("a foot pocket that is actually designed to fit a human foot") — when using the Scubapro Jet Fins my toes rub against each other, and with Deep6 Eddys my toes are more comfortable [*].
- great maneuverability due to high fin stiffness. frog, backfrog, helicopter - perfect, flutter - good.
- adjustable spring length due to two attachment points on each side of the fin.

cons:
- extremely high stiffness, the fins feel like they are actually made of plastic. due to that high stiffness the fin strongly presses the front of the foot, so much that two persons who tried these fins said it is painful to wear them! but it is not that painful for me — either due to my foot shape [*], or because my boot has extra layer of rubber:

- also because these fins are made of plastic they are quite slippery — I almost fell a few times while wearing them on the wet wooden floor of the ship.

pro/con:
- the fins are neutrally buoyant thus may be not suitable for some diving conditions and gear configurations (I think that for sidemount with aluminium tanks the negatively buoyant Scubapro Jet Fins may suit better. However I had no problems using neutral Eddys yet.)

[*] — due to the different foot shapes amongst different people your experience may vary.


and about fins stiffness:
— VID_20190207_170524 - Streamable
the list of the fins in this video: Deep6 Eddy, OMS Slipstream, Hollis F1, Scubapro Jet Fins, Saekodive Jet Fins. you can actually see that Eddys are extremely stiff compared to the other fins, and look quite plastic.
— VID_20190207_171233 - Streamable
this video has a bit different order: Deep6, OMS, Scubapro, Hollis, Saekodive.

the resulting stiffness order is: Deep6, Hollis, Scubapro, OMS, Saekodive (these fins feel like made of silicone, and they act accordingly under the water).



So my verdict is: the Deep6 fins are quite good, IMHO better than OMS and Apeks jet fin analogs and on par with Scubapro.
But I do not recommend buying these fins "blindly" before you actually try them above and under the water, and confirm that they are suitable for you.

 

[RayfromTX]

I have a friend that has a bony prominence on top of her foot that I've never seen on anyone else. She was uncomfortable in the eddy fins so her boyfriend who has some handy skills used a heat gun and a conveniently shaped piece of wood to heat up the area and reshape it to relieve the pressure. That still didn't do it so he used an exacto knife to trim a half moon notch right where your finger is in the photo. It worked perfectly without issue and she is very happy to be able to use the eddy fins which she really liked in every other way but for her foot having an irregular shape.

I swapped fins with someone mid dive recently and their fins were quite inefficient and my positioning kicks seemed to not work nearly as well. at. all. Mine were eddy fins. His were scubapro jet fins. We both preferred the eddy fins.

 

[Marie13]

The small/medium size are a softer material. They have quite a lot of flex to them. If you look at my avatar, you will see that flex in the right fin. I was surprised when I saw some recent video of some frog kick practice to see just how flexible they are.

In an all female tech group on FB, a number of divers have reported they didn’t get enough propulsion with the small/medium Eddy fins with all their tech gear.

They are too light for my doubles, so I’ve switched to the Hog Tech 2, which are noticeably shorter than the Eddy. The Tech 2 are 3/4 lb heavier (per fin) than than the Eddy and much stiffer.

I’d love a heavier, stiffer version in the small/medium size. But there probably isn’t much demand.

 

[oddcanary]

If D6 made a stiffer version of the small/medium size I'd be first in line. I love my Eddy fins but I pretty much only use them for warm water diving.

 

[Diver below 83]

I think the small/med in the standard stiffness would be too hard for most average people to fin with

 

[cerich]

I think the small/med in the standard stiffness would be too hard for most average people to fin with

Me too...

 

[Marie13]

I wish the small/medium were heavier. I had to switch to Hog Tech 2 for my doubles.

 

[Anthony A.]

I hope deep6 release a negative version. There are so many here who would buy. I think the minimum order quantity would sell out quickly.

 

[Marie13]

I think the small/med in the standard stiffness would be too hard for most average people to fin with

They’re VERY flexible. Take a look at my avatar pic for an example.

 

[tloicto]

The small/medium size are a softer material. They have quite a lot of flex to them. If you look at my avatar, you will see that flex in the right fin. I was surprised when I saw some recent video of some frog kick practice to see just how flexible they are.

Sorry, I know this is an old thread, but I've been considering these fins (in Small/Medium). Do you know or have a feeling about how stiff the softer material of the S/M is relative to (standard) Apeks RK3s?