Hi all, ive been spearing for a while now and have been upgrading all my gear. Im now upgrading my fins to Carbon fins. I currently have Tusa Imprex tri-ex fins that have served me well for quiet some time, But any any help from some of you guys that have Carbon fins to help me out with some models that have been proven to be good. I rate myself as a decent swimmer any help appreciated.....

Penetrator Carbons are a sweet bit of kit. Me dive mate (smhendrix) on here has them and rates them highly, so do I.

They cop a beating on rock hops though, I use Dive'R,s and beat them to death. Also a good blade..

I'm sure you will get a few replies of what's good, might almost be easier to ask what's a SHIT brand to avoid!!!!

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hope this helps. most new carbon or composite fins are great and can handle a beating. i have used a few pairs and found majority of them to be great. the most important part is to look for a fin with decent sized side rails as it will help to direct the water flow straight off the blade and stop the "scissor effect" which is where the blades move from side to side and decrease performance. another feature to look for is that the blades are not to wide as they will knock against each other when swimming and cause a incorrect finning technique and a knocking noise.
unless holding the fin its hard to figure out the quality of the blade, the main way to check this is to flex the blade and listen carefully for tiny cracks as this is air pockets in the resin (evidence of poor fibre/carbon resin mixtures).

some examples of good fins on the market at the moment are the penetrator fins, dive-r's with larger side rails, ruku blades and even the picasso carbon fins.

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See You In The Water

Esclapez rails are large and channel water in the right direction. Thermoplastic, Fiber and Carbon. (Fiber and Carbon due end August.) http://www.esclapezaustralia.com.au or call Brett 0439881958 or PM.

I've seen companies carry out tests on speargun aim and maneuverability in water but what about fins? Surely it couldn't be too hard for them to set up some sort of rig in a pool. I guess have dummy in horizontal position. Vertical could have splash back turbulence if pool not deep enough. Dummy (probably just legs) has motorised "legs" to imitate fining movement. Above block which is attached to the "legs" is framework which cannot move. Between the block and frame is an electronic sensor which logs imposed forces onto a computer. Energy input into motor is also recorded onto computer.

From there it's a simple calculation to find Energy consumed per unit of Force.

Whichever has the lowest value performs the best / is most efficient (assuming none of that "scissor" effect, or anything else like that which I have no idea about). If mass of fins are an issue test can be done vertically and horizontally.

I've seen videos showing figures legs kicking with fins on, but as far as I can tell that's as far as it goes. It wasn't a program which could simulate forces, bending, etc.

If I made fins I'd be using the pool dummy rig to help create the best fin on the market. Then after that I'd use it to test all the competitors fins to let the world know that my fins were the best and that all the other brands suck donkey deek.

Will your mystical, magical, wizz-bang machine be also able to measure or rate the comfort of the foot pocket or take into account the innumerable kicking styles. Both of these factors are relevant when measuring the efficiency of an individuals kicking action.
Viva la difference.
Brett

It wouldn't be magical but it would be a starting point. From there like all engineered products it would / could be overhauled, tweaked, adjusted to suit. If anything, it can openly claim that under certain conditions "x" it performance is "y". Or under conditions X1 its performance is Y1. I think the better fins would trend toward having better results more often than those which are not so good.

Actually Brett this magical leg is something I thought about a while ago. It wouldn't be too hard to make a spring powered mechanical leg with a scale on it to measure generated force. Different springs or tensions on the springs could mimic a range of kicking styles. It would take a bit of tweeking to get right of course which would take a bit of time but give me a couple grand and a couple of weeks and you could have one on your desk.

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I think an electronic sensor would work best 'cause the force would change during a kick cycle and this could be recorded onto a computer. A fin which records the highest ultimate force may not have the highest average force. Don't forget that highest average force is more important. Then force per unit time based on this data could be calculated. The same would have to be done for the energy input into the motor. Also the motor would have to change its speed during a fin cycle to mimick human movement. This would have to be electronically programmed too, and could be easily changed to copy different kicking styles. The mechanical movement of the thigh / calf / foot would be the hardest part of the whole project. Hydraulics?

An electronic force sensor may also help identify which certain features of a fin add to its performance during different stages of a fin cycle. The experts out there would already have a great idea about what's happening but this would be taking it to the next level.

As for the comfort that would have to be human trialed.

I haven't seen anything like this on the internet but that doesn't mean companies out there haven't already built something along these lines. I'd be very surprised if they haven't. If they haven't then whoever jumps onto it first will have a great selling point to promote their products.

Mares have a rig which tests their guns aim and maneuverability against those of its competitors (those which they choose - I guess they can just leave out the guns which they test which perform better than their guns). They use this as a promotional tool and I think works quite well.

this could quite possibly be the biggest load of shit i have ever read.

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Raybox you don't have a brother called Jazzbox do you?

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Sorry IH. I guess all the things you come in contact with everyday (cars, roads, chairs, computers, sunglasses, spearguns, etc) magically came to be without any evolution whatsoever. So next time you choose a fin, take the first one you see, 'cause it'll fit all feet sizes/shapes, kicking styles, and conditions. Also, make sure that you're not selective, because you'll be contradicting yourself. Then again, if you bought any engineered fin you would be contradicting yourself.

I woulda thunk the US Navy would have been all over this with a very fine robot comb. They love this kinda stuff.

I'd Google it, but I can't be bothered cos I'm a long way off convincing The Handbrake that I need carbon fins anyhoo.

US navy R&D... good call. They would do the best job 'cause of good funding. Other avenues might include universities and, of course, private fin manufacturing companies.

Didn't you tell The Handbreak that the carbon fins were 2nd hand from someone looking for a quick sale? $160 weren't they?