Alternative to ala fins

I found a link to this http://www.fins4u.co.uk/Underwater%20Hockey_Rugby.htm where they have leader fins with full foot pockets. General consensus I've ever heard is that Omer foot pockets are way uncomfortable, but they have to be better than the strap on variety I've tried on those fins. 110 GBP is a bit pricey though.

Also on this page those Buchat fins. Weren't some of the Ozzie men wearing those in Sheffield? Were those what Benson was wearing? I remember he had kinda longish freediving looking fins.

i think jason and yongie were wearing the leader 2006 fins. benson had an old pair of escapes he pulled out every now and then.

I'm getting a pair of Leaders soon, but I'm starting to question their durability, Steve snapped his across the blade when subbing in during the Social comp at the Perth Nats, and just a few nights back Pat snapped his running down the length of the fin, not sure how, but so far out of the six people I've seen use them, 2 pairs have snapped...

BTW does anyone know what the difference between the 'soft' 'medium' and 'hard' Leaders is?

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I\'ll think of one later...

soft, medium, hard refers to blade stiffness. I think i've only seen/felt medium. Not sure if there would be a reason to have stiffer.

As far as durability one issue with fiberglass fins is impact resistnence. I'm not sure that had anything to do with the failures you've seen, but normally hockey fins take quite a beating out of the pool. And why not? Alas, or Quattros can be thrown about with no issue, smashed in a bag, have a puck dropped on them, whatever. A fiber fin is going to have issues with those things. Maybe not right away but eventually, those stresses add up. Take care of a fiber fin, just be gentle with it out of the pool you should have no issues. Unless there was a problem/defect with the manufacturing of it, shouldn't have failure from play/kciking.

I do know that even though they are rubber coated, there are plenty of folks out there that will start raising a BIG fuss if they start breaking up in the middle of games.

Maybe one day there will be an Ala museum! I still have a black pair that Elwood gave me back in -92 that I only use for comps. He had had them for years too, but had grown out of them. They are still stiffer than a new pair (hopefully not getting brittle).

I have bought a pair of Leaders, and if it wasn't for the dramatically improved acceleration that I get from them, there is no way I would have perservered this long. Following a tip from Derek, I have chocked them for a couple of weeks to stretch them and I have also made up a 2mm neoprene pocket that fits over the top of my foot and toes - now I can play pain-free! Alot of people complain about the heel strap and are asking for a full shoe - I think the heel strap is good as there is no need for fin keepers. Maybe it's people who are used to the soft Ala shoes that bend under the foot that struggle with these stiffer ones, whereas I always had stiff inserts anyway in my Alas.

My concern with them is that they will have too many breaks, or cause too many injuries (I got hit across the bridge of my nose (above surface) by the side of somebody's fin and I thought I'd broken my nose!). We'll see. In the meanwhile I'll be sprinting madly!

I've heard the Beuchets have failed completely with lots of stories of split foot sockets.?? I better get Phil A onto this discussion, he is going through lots of fins in search of a suitable pair (and probably save everybody alot of costly testing).

The Vortex split fins seem to suit those who have a very fast kick - they seem to get very good acceleration and top speed out of them.

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Off Half-Backs Rule

I cant imagin life with out my alas!
I am the proude owner and have them locked up in a safe place at my house, grey alas, new black pair only used for 1 worlds and 2 kick about pairs that I use for every day.
4 pair in total to my name.
Im calculating that I have a few worlds left in my stash of alas, but aspiring to Lena's playing life span I will have to look elce where for fins. Is there any chance, even slim that ala will re make?

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Underwater Hockey Rules!

nah, i got an email back from one of the technisub guys and he said they have actually dismantled the line, as in, taken out the mould, biffed it in a storeroom and re-configured the machinery to make new model fins. absolutely zero chance.

I've been hording them as long as i have been able to. Since they were never imported to the US we've had a shortage on them forever, and the best way to buy them was traveling to worlds. I was able to find a pair in hobart, then after worlds bought 2 pair in Cairns a week after the tournament. The owner of the Shop said he had a bunch of them sitting around for a couple years and was about to sell out in just a couple days, popular stop for traveling hockey players :wink: . I bought another pair from a teamate that went to NZ in '04 and thought he'd give'em a go, didn't like them compared to Quattros that he normally used and sold them to me cheap, basically unused.

For now I have 1.5 pair that are used up, with cracks in all rails and one with a rip in the bottom of the foot pocket (not sure where the other single fin made off to). One pair in decent shape I use for low level comps and practice. One pair that has only been used for Sheffield. Two pair that have never been out of the bag.

Recently I've been playing with a very old pair of Mares L's to save the Alas. I'm trying to figure out a better way to patch up the broken ones to extend their lifespan. we'll see. :?

take em to a tyre place, get them to vulcanise them. dunno if thats a real word but thats what they say here.

they melt a layer of rubber onto the fin, either on the blade to stiffen it and repair cracks or round the foot pocket to repair splits.

Belle - not much chance of Ala's happening anytime soon. I have spoken to Technisub in Italy a couple of times and they are really quite unhelpful and uninterested.

Atapene - Yes, vulcanising can work depending on the type of rubber in the fin. Doesn't always last that well in the long term, but is not too bad. If you hunt around an old style bicycle shop or second hand store you might find a vulcanising kit and do it yourself but pretty rare these days I think.