The summer for many it’s a time for renewing, buying or even better, giving ourselves a present like part of our freediving equipment such as the fins.
In my experience in over ten years as a freediving instructor at all levels, I can confirm that the questions that many students ask me are in regards to choosing the right equipment, i.e. what is best for their needs, their physique and their level of freediving.

So that’s way I have decided to write down some tips and advice starting with fins.
Every good choice begins by having the right criteria as a basis for your decision.
In this article I am going to suggest 4 of them, and for each one I will give an example just to help you get a better idea of things. So the criteria that I have chosen are:

• Price range
• Freediving level
• Use
• Physique

1. Why is it important to take into consideration both the muscular and bone structures of a freediver

Carbon, Plastic, Carbon Mix, Fiberglass; many different types of materials are used in manufacturing the blades of freediving, and each one gives a different resistance in the water. What does that mean? Well, if I use a plastic blade I get good value for money whereas if I choose a carbon fiber blade I’m obviously gearing myself towards a top of the range product.

And the rubber foot pocket? If you intend wearing a foot pocket that is hard rather than soft it’s important to have ankle muscles that straighten correctly. A good quality foot pocket allows the diver to use and move his or her legs correctly, whilst still being comfortable and taking full advantage of the propulsive energy from the leg that will go right the way through to the blade of the fin.

2. If you want to go spearfishing, don’t wear a fluorescent colored wet suit…

When going for a deep dive have you ever taken notice of the propulsion from your fins when coming back up from the bottom… and that maybe it would’ve been better to wear your Carbon J fins in order to re-surface quicker and with less effort.

This basically demonstrates that your choice is affected by which activity you do the most, the type of training that you do or the freediving agenda that you intend to follow when in the Sea.
A good quality fin supports the needs of the freediver who must always be aware of what he or she intends to do in relation to his or her physique and aims. Of course it’s not necessary for a beginner to have carbon fins, however it would be wise for someone for example who often goes spearfishing for long periods and at depth to have reactive fins.

3. If I’ve just learnt to drive…I’m not gonna but myself a Ferrari.

This means that our level of freediving is also something which needs to be taken into account when making a choice. For a First Level Freediving student who still needs to perfect their finning technique, a good buy probably wouldn’t focus on the latest carbon fins but towards a good quality plastic bladed fin, possibily not to hard which would support his or her alignment in getting correct finning technique.
On the other hand for an expert spearfisherman who regularly dives to great depths and therefore needs to be careful in not using to much energy when re-surfacing, maybe a carbon fin is an almost indispensable piece of equipment.

4. Watch your money

Here you’ve obviously got to take into account how much cash you have available:
Prices range from a basic plastic model which can be bought at around 70 euros, to the most reactive carbon fiber models which are priced way beyond 300 euros. There’s something for everyone’s foot, it all depends upon the depth of your pocket.

So I hope that this article will be useful in making the right choice of fins for you. There are loads of other interesting criteria involved which can discussed, so please feel free to leave a comment directly on this BLOG so we can get both your opinions and your tips which we can share with others!

Carlo