Fiberglass Hockey Fins

After the Benson interview I looked around a bit, and so here are the fiberglass fin manufacturers I could find that are making fins for UWhockey.


Mat Mas Fins
Not sure what I think about these looking at them, not my first choice.

httpLeaderfins I’ve tried them, powerful enough, painful on the foot, but I think I can over come that. I think you can order these with the Omer foot pocket as well. The US rep had told one of our guys they’ll put any footpocket on them you want. I think that means the normal manufactured ones that you find on big freediving fins. Example: Sporasub, Cressi-sub, Esclapez, Omer, etc…Not sure if that is much extra, and the full foot option is probably more comfy.

Nemo FinsThese are the ones BentFishBoy mentioned in the podcast. The Nemo model looks pretty good to me, but I don’t see any prices on the site… except some pretty steep shipping.

specialfins.comSpecial FinsSorry link is not directly to the UWhockey fins, for whatever reason that page is blocked from work, websense says it’s a “weapons” site??? Oh well.

So the only drawback I see is not being able to try on sizes and know what I want before I order. Looks like they are all from Europe so shipping to US/CAN, NZ/OZ pretty steep and the fins themselves, where the prices are given, are pretty expensive, maybe the biggest draw back. Don’t know if this is the future of hockey fins or not (I still have 2 pairs of Alas that have never ever seen water) but from the folks I know that use them it may just be. Some Idea on the longevity of the fins would be nice as well. As I pointed out in I think the alternative to the ala thread, these should last longer and wear much better through normal use, but out of the water should be babied and taken care of like fine crystal.

Fired off an email today to Gary Fisher, the NZer looking at doing the composite fins in Nelson. Hopefully he's still interested in doing some, his work is top-notch. Here's some of his spearing/freediving fins: http://www.ronsseacorner.co.nz/fins_garyfisher.htm

With any luck, he'll be able to get something going down here. If not, Keiran from http://www.monofins.co.nz/ imports LeaderFins gear, so I'll have a chat to him about what it would cost to get a few pairs over, maybe a bulk discount would work.

All these guys specialise in finswimming and freediving, so they're used to customisation, plus most Specialfins, WaterWay (eg. Nemos) and Leaderfins can be fitted to any of the standard footpockets. Beware though, footpockets are NOT cheap. Locally, you're looking at NZ$120-$150 for each . Luckily, places like http://www.scubastore.com will do them a heck of a lot cheaper, just buy in bulk (or pick up some cheap spheras on the way out) to save on shipping. The best in the business are the C4 Mustang footpockets (http://www.c4carbon.com/eng/sub/mustang/art.htm), but be prepared with a deep wallet, you'll have to pay through the nose for the pockets, then customise the blades to fit them.


I'll update when Gary gets back to me.

Should be interesting to keep an eye on. I might see if I can find a spare pair of footpockets and get him to send me some blades.

I'll see if he wants more input into design (no doubt there'll be no shortage of opinions here

From some quick tests in Bari:
There were 4 designs available for trial, a hockey and a rugby fin from leader, a hockey and a rugby fin from Nemo (or finswimworld.com or whatever).
Of the designs on offer the Leader fins were the fastest, but the footpockets are positively destructive unless your feet are shaped like sandwiches.

The Nemo hockey fins had fantastic footpockets, comfortable with good acceleration but the top end was half a second slower than the Leaders.

The Nemo rugby fins had no ribs, so slipped sideways in the water easily, which sucked. The designers of fibreglass fins in general don't seem to have picked up on the concepts of laminar flow and directional thrust yet - there's a reason every pair of fins in the world has ribs...

I didn't get a chance to steal some Mat Mas fins (they weren't on sale here), but while the blades on them are a little larger than the other varieties, the construction doesn't appear as professional.

All the companies only had medium stiffness blades available which was a pain as I'm suited to stiffer fins. I'd like to see if the hard varieties alter the speed/acceleration characteristics much.

In general, the fibreglass fins on offer thus far have had their design driven by the needs of uw rugby, which seems to require good acceleration and mobility, but not need much top end speed (please correct me if I'm wrong, I never got the chance to actually play). I think another year or so of development will see some very nice fins floating around...

I'll definitely be wearing fibre in Durban.

Oh, and these guys weren't there, but the fins look at least as professional as anything else out there.
http://sportsbutikken.dk/catalog/pro...roducts_id=483

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It's not whether you win or lose - but whether I win or lose.

Would you choose any of these fins over new Ala's?

I think Alas are trash, so yeah...

They're all lighter with better acceleration and response than Alas, but the Ala top end speed still has a slight edge (though only for the first couple of weeks...). If they increase the blade surface area to the same size as Alas and introduce some larger ribs they would eat Alas for breakfast. They already destroy everything else on the market.

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It's not whether you win or lose - but whether I win or lose.

With all that in mind, go out and buy some fibreglass fins. Today would be good (no I'm not on commission). Don't wait for them to perfect the designs, don't wait to see if other people are going to switch to them or not. How long has the underwater hockey community been complaining about the lack of good fins out there? Right. So now there are finally some people trying to cater specifically to our sport, lets get behind them, give them our cash, give them our feedback and help them to develop the best product for our sport. Yay for hockey, and hopefully we can finally say goodbye and good riddance to the most dominant fin in our sport being a design that's what, 30 years old? About time...

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It's not whether you win or lose - but whether I win or lose.

Are you sure BFB? I see a bit of wavering in your stance....

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Just in case you weren't sure, it's official -- CMAS sucks

Dead sure.

Alas are 30 years old and should have been consigned to obscelesence a long time ago.
Quattros are heavy and dead and people only think they're good because there's nothing else.
Stratos are just too damn small.
Cressis always have those damn stupid struts on the bottom that get stress fractures after two weeks.
Oceanics have severely restricted mobility.

Large manufacturers these days are designing fins for fat, unfit divers who don't want to use any energy while swimming around at 1 mile per day.

We have an opportunity to support small manufacturers who want to design and build fins specifically for our sport and are willing to accept feedback into their design process.

We should take that opportunity...

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It's not whether you win or lose - but whether I win or lose.

I requested some info from leaderfins.com yesterday and they recommend their 'uw games fines 2006' for uwh: click. It is possible to get full foot pockets on these fins for an additional 30 euros. This totals the fin itself at 160 euros (without my name/flag printed on it which does not really add much anyway). Not sure if the foot pocket option also holds for the other types of fins at leaderfins.com though.

True, it is a lot of money but I have been spending 75+ euros per pair of Quattros anyway (now at my third pair in 4 years) so I think the resilience of these fins might save me some money in the long run.

I will probably order these fins this week or the next. Anyone that cares to share some thoughts on the softness I should select? (it ranges from 'soft' to 'exhard' - I will just go with the latter otherwise)

I hope to prove the Dutchies I know to have these fins (Heiduikers, not sure if Sandor has them to) wrong: "they are positively destructive on your feet". Hope the foot pocket will help.

Wim