Dan Volker's Hockey Fin Evaluation

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I do not really understand how it can snap when doing reverse kick. The standard technique for that kick is to use the rib on the sides of the blade to create backwards thrust. In force fins the blade snaps in the other axis. Guess there is a different technique for it when using force fins. Would appreciate if anyone can teach me! :) Ok, ill pm Bob and let him know I want a pair of hockey and a pair of flying.

I do the back kick as an outward sculling motion and I am able to engage my ankle at the end of the motion, pulling fin tips/toes forward. I have no idea how the ribs on a jet would do much of anything.
 
As a guide and instructor that uses freedive fins in SE Asia, I am interested. But a bit skeptical. Unfortunately, Dan Volker cannot answer my questions on scubaboard.
 
As a guide and instructor that uses freedive fins in SE Asia, I am interested. But a bit skeptical. Unfortunately, Dan Volker cannot answer my questions on scubaboard.
My fin preference is freedive fins. I have open heel fins for shore dives and standard size full foot fins for short trips or dives where long freedive fins would be too large.

I was curious after reading this thread and did a search on youtube to see the forcefin hockey fins in action.
 
Bob, Do we need to contact Force Fin to get on the list for Hockey's or are we waiting until they r on the website? Thanks
You got me, seems like the focus has been our new web site. A Force finner Bob Denton made our web site when their only 250,000 pages up, years and years ago. I know some Hockey fins and Flying Force fin was made but I think they are on hold for sales till the new web site is up. Looks like with in a week.. Been traveling on new projects. Thanks, bob
 
Several months ago, I sent Dan a set of the early Hockey Fins for his evaluation and for him to use for Demos for those wanting to try them at BHB.

What follows is his write-up (since he is still banned from ScubaBoard):

Force Fin…The Hockey Fin…
By Dan Volker
South Florida Dive Journal www.sfdj.com

First, I would rename this fin the Force Precision Fin….Precise is the word that comes to mind when you use this fin. When you want something very specific in your forward movement, back kick, helicopter, or just very precise speed and movement, these fins rock. If you want speed, they are very efficient, far more so then jet fins or conventional Scuba fins. I feel the Extra Force Fins or the Excellerating Force fins would have the edge on a high speed long distance endurance contest, due to the hydrodynamic funneling and assistance of the Whiskers those fins use – but for 98% of the dives you will do, this distinction won’t really be relevant, and not if ABSOLUTE CONTROL is what you want from a fin.

If you know me, or have read my posts on rec-scuba in the old days, or on scuba board in more recent years, you know I enjoy using the biggest and stiffest carbon fiber composite freedive fins for my open water reef dives in big Palm Beach currents. But when I do wreck dives, with penetrations, I don’t want the freedive fins, and go instead with the Excellarating Force fins with big whiskers set to maximum flow. These provide almost the speed potential of the freedive fins, and far more maneuverability in tight quarters and low overheads. Compared to traditional scuba fins like Jetfins, the Hockey’s ( Precision Force Fins), the Extra Force Fins, and the Excellerating Force Fins are all fast and efficient much more like the carbon fiber freedive fins. When most divers think of freedive fins, they think of crazy huge fins they would be afraid to walk in, two to three times the length of their scuba fins, with price tags in the $400 to $700 range….If that was not enough to keep most scuba divers away from freedive fins, you have to learn a different technique to kick them—so you are back to learning how to swim all over again These high end Force Fins are a fantastic compromise….they are shorter then jetfins, they are so much more efficient than jet fins, that a Freedive fin wearing diver and his evil twin with the Excellerating Force Fins or other high end Force fins on, would swim at comfortably similar speeds. This is an amazing feat, since you can’t pair a jetfin wearing diver with a freedive fin wearing diver without the freedive fin wearing diver constantly having to stop and wait for this slowpoke that he would never want to be buddied with again. As to the learning curve, just like with hi performance Snow skis, when you get to high performance gear, there is a “best way” to kick, and it is unlikely the mediocre scuba fins most divers have used, would have them kicking exactly the way you will want to kick these high performance Force fins. But a few dives with them and intuitively, you should feel what works best. I imagine there are some videos that show the kick style optimal for these Force Fins, and if not, I will go out and shoot a few for YouTube

The Hockey/Precision Force Fin back kicks so fast you can back up faster than some divers will swim forward. The frog kick is smooth and feels wonderful. Flutter kick and modified flutter are perfect, and they even do Dolphin kick well, though you need the ankles of a cyclist to handle the downward thrust your entire body can produce with a spine involved dolphin style kick in these fins—the thrust is huge, and blast you, with each downward thrust. The upward thrust is significant, but does not work your hamstrings too hard—this is important as few divers want their hamstrings worked hard in the dolphin kick. If I wanted to keep up with a whaleshark, a pod of bottlenose dolphin, or stay with a big group of Goliath Groupers on the move, most likely I would be dolphin kicking the Force Fins, using the whole body technique.

Has anyone been able to buy a pair of the hockey fins? Does anyone know when we will be able to?
 
As a guide and instructor that uses freedive fins in SE Asia, I am interested. But a bit skeptical. Unfortunately, Dan Volker cannot answer my questions on scubaboard.
Be skeptical . Mr. Volkner did more to kill Force Fin sales than any other person I met...At some point he changed and started to understand what I did for 40 years...At this point keep in your freediving fins, they look cool and are so long.
 
Be skeptical . Mr. Volkner did more to kill Force Fin sales than any other person I met...At some point he changed and started to understand what I did for 40 years...At this point keep in your freediving fins, they look cool and are so long.

Bob - seriously. When I teach scuba, it’s nice to use a compact fin. It seems that your fins might be the ticket. Although free dive fins have there place in current-rich Indonesia, it’s a big ocean for an alternaitve. As I sit in the airport lounge, boarding for West Papua, a small, compact, and efficient fin would be welcome.
 
Forcefins are a classic example of why a brilliant engineer should not also be the CEO and Sales & Marketing head of a company.

Absolutely fantastic fins but no idea how to promote or market them. Imagine how popular they could have been if Bob had hired good marketing and sales people from the outset. I bought my first pair from LeisurePro after they were dumping stock after being frustrated by FF. Such a pity.
 
Forcefins are a classic example of why a brilliant engineer should not also be the CEO and Sales & Marketing head of a company.

Absolutely fantastic fins but no idea how to promote or market them. Imagine how popular they could have been if Bob had hired good marketing and sales people from the outset. I bought my first pair from LeisurePro after they were dumping stock after being frustrated by FF. Such a pity.
I might get into you total lies, but not really worth my time. Your statements are not well received .
 
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