Where have they been spotted?

[sibermike7]

I've been using Pros for years. Love them. Never change. But...just got a great deal on regulars. I'll try them in pool tomorrow.

Well..........??????????

 

[tridacna]

Loved them in pool. Did not feel that much different to Pros. Now I need to find a pair of bungees that don't cost $50!

 

[TN Traveler]

Unless you were kicking HARD, I am not surprised you would feel much difference.

 

[Bob Evans]

Tridacna, The bungee kid that cost..is made in America not China with child labor. The brass bushings and heel pad's and American made bungee will last and that's a good price for the value. Plus I made the bungee cord burning the end's and my fingers. But that will all change next week, when I pass the tourch to our East Coast plant. Thank, best, Bob

 

[danvolker]

I've been using Pros for years. Love them. Never change. But...just got a great deal on regulars. I'll try them in pool tomorrow.

One of the epiphanies I've had, from using several models of Force Fins in many different environments that I have used MANY other fins in ( often extremely challenging ocean environments) ...is the way Bob has designed a fin that deals with ALL the propulsion needs a diver could have...Whether you are talking about the Classic Force Fin or Force fins designed for far more challenging and aggressive conditions, such as the Excellerating Force Fin...( in bicycling speak, a "small gear/easy gear', or a "big gear/fast gear" ) Force Fins were created to let you hardly work at all when you want to go slow, and their kick shape has been designed to eliminate the high drag you see with the poor technology split fins that typically have the divers using a very large amplitude kick, but at the big cost of the leg getting to be almost perpendicular to water flow over the body, so that the legs are acting like big "brakes" --slowing the diver down, even as they are trying to drive themselves forward faster.

The ideal Force Fin kick shape, where a higher frequency, low amplitude kick, from the knee....keeps the legs from creating the high drag kick shape so many split fin wearers exhibit ( but I will blame this on the divers, not on the fins ) ....and when the Force fins are snapped properly, in higher cadences when higher speeds are desired, the legs can stay almost parallel to water flow for absolute minimal drag, while the fins begin a massive increase in funneling water over the leveraged blade surfaces of the fins, with this snapping action scooping and leveraging to functionally become a much bigger gear.

All Force Fins do this, the Excellerators and Extra Force, just do more of it

In comparison, in tech diving circles, where the "Norm" is for the tech student or tech instructor to use Scubapro Jet Fins, many students are told NOT to even use Flutter kicks....I think it is clear enough, that this is because the Jetfins are so horribly inefficient at flutter kick, at anything but the slowest speeds...and Jetfins are quite good at frog kicks--so if the diver is limited to frog kicks, and is not allowed to ever need to swim fast, then the Frog kick stroke rule makes sense to many of the technical diving demeanor....This is defective thinking though, as you never know when you might need to deal with a current in an emergency or near emergency scenario, and having a kick that can propel you faster, with efficiency, is certainly a big plus. Jetfins can't do more than a short sprint for flutter, without huge lactate production in the quadriceps, due to their poor efficiency in this kick type. Force Fins do this with amazing, if not exponential efficiency....In a low drag scuba configuration, they actually feel MORE EFFICIENT the harder you kick them--the faster you try to go...the exact OPPOSITE of Jetfins or Hollis F1's.

Also, while I have not tried this with classice force fins, with the Excellearating Force Fins, I can swim at Gavin scooter speeds for an hour at a time, using a Dolphin kick...this is by far the fastest kick with Force fins, or with big long composite freedive fins. It is literally twice as efficient as flutter kick, once you reach the higher speeds--closer to scooter speeds. You do need a bp/wing and low drag configuration, to take advantage of this..Even better, is no wing or bc at all..just a steel 72 or Al 80 with harness....Ultra low drag, even compared to my 18 pound lift Halcyon Wing.......but if you like your gear to be streamlined, this is a holy grail kind of difference between Force Fins and the vast majority of all other fins.

 

[tridacna]

Totally agree especially regarding the dolphin kick. I think that most FF divers figure that out serendipitously-I did. You get a tremedous amount of propulsion from a single dolphin kick. I only use it if I need a sudden burst of speed. No need otherwise.

 

[Bob Evans]

Today, I made 50 bungee kits sitting in front of Susanne's store, Fine Fabrics on State Street, Santa Barbara, California. This will be the last time I will be making bungee kits..Next week all sevices will come out of our East Coast production plant. With growth we decided to consolidate our operations. This way I can go diving again with my clients and friends around the world. Be free to market the Force Fin line without burning my fingers making your Bungee straps. Plus our customer service can expand to meet the our needs, like the 50 pairs order today for the Australian Navy. Thank you all my friends and enemies.

 

[tridacna]

I wish all your fins came with bungies. I'll buy a pair tomorrow - but it's a pita to change them. OTOH the bungees on my Pros are >300 dives old and still look good.

 

[sibermike7]

I wish all your fins came with bungies. I'll buy a pair tomorrow - but it's a pita to change them. OTOH the bungees on my Pros are >300 dives old and still look good.

Do you have a pair with the regular straps?

 

[tridacna]

Not any more. Sprung for the bungees. Now all my FFs have bungees.