orca fins? other symmetrical fins

A forum for discussing paipo board gear such as swim fins, leashes, skegs (board fins) and other related wave riding gear.
asier esnal
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orca fins? other symmetrical fins

#1

Unread post by asier esnal »

Soon the water will be very cold. I have to buy some fins to use with 3 or 5mm booties

I am using dafin fins with socks, for the paipo, they are super comfortable and adapt to my standing shape, 100%. Today I've been in the water for 3 hours, perfect

but I feel you have a lot of drag. that's why I'm looking at other very comfortable SIMETRIC fins that I can buy in Spain, some model that has the same foot shape. I read that viper is for narrow foot, they are not worth me.

I have seen this model, orca. They remind me a bit of Duck feet, but I do not know how shovel they are or anything like that

Does anyone know them? any other recommendation?
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rodndtube
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Re: orca fins? other symmetrical fins

#2

Unread post by rodndtube »

DaFins have been my choice for several years now as the Vipers were just becoming too narrow and less flexible when adding fin sox mm (as you said, especially 3 to 5 to 7 mm). The DaFins also scaled up the foot pocket in a larger size fin, say when moving from L to XL, which Vipers did not do.

What I do miss from the Viper is the topside fin shape -- which becomes the bottom side when riding a wave -- as the DaFin is curved downward and creates more drag if in contact with the water. With the Viper one could actually place the fin in the water to increase speed by creating a longer planning surface and harness the power of the wave underneath. This is near impossible to do with DaFin. However, for wave catching, overall comfort and being able to scale up fin sox millimeters, DaFin is now my fin of choice.

See some pics and description here:
http://mypaipoboards.org/flippers/flipp ... vs._DaFins
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Re: orca fins? other symmetrical fins

#3

Unread post by bgreen »

Fins are such a personal thing. I've tried lots of different types and not liked most of them.

I keep coming back to Churchills - despite the newer sizes being smaller and the rubber hard.
asier esnal
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Re: orca fins? other symmetrical fins

#4

Unread post by asier esnal »

I tested the Churchills fins, these were the ones that made me look for only symmetrical fins, they hurt my ankles and knees
the mountain bike and working as a boilermaker with reinforced safety boots leave my legs a little damaged. the asymmetries accentuate these evils

afins are very personal, as dafin a model known by all. I ask the question. I look for fins with the same shape of the foot

Thanks for the answers
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Re: orca fins? other symmetrical fins

#5

Unread post by asier esnal »

I have dafin fins 9-10

I found a drawing with the measurements of the pod fins. in principle my foot would also be 9-10 in pod according to the measures offered.

Has anyone been able to compare the 2 fins? dafin vs pod pf1 / pf2? What differences do they have? I'm interested in the shape of the foot

https://cdn8.bigcommerce.com/s-fe280/im ... 14.png?c=2
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Re: orca fins? other symmetrical fins

#6

Unread post by rodndtube »

The Pod PF series has a couple of good features. The one that stands out to me is the large sand/pebble release hole at the tip of the foot pocket -- that is my only complaint about the DaFin design (the blade also curves a bit negating the ability to extend the plane with the legs and feet) -- and as a result I have taken to drilling a couple of holes on the foot bottom which is rigid plastic/rubber, but very hard to do on the very supple rubber top of the foot pocket.

Always have to try them out for actual fit, comfort and personal usability in the water.
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Re: orca fins? other symmetrical fins

#7

Unread post by asier esnal »

the problem I have is that I live near san sebastian, pais basco. a place well known for its waves, with too many people, but above all for its gastronomy and beauty

The problem is that here is the pukas company, with all its marketing strength. It has practically disappeared the bodyboard of the water, barely sold in stores and less fins, there is only dafin churchil and some more.

As much as I've searched, I've only found it in dafin and orca symmetric fins, so I'm forced to buy online and this is going to be a mess

forgive how heavy I am in this post, sorry for the inconvenience, I do not want to nare the mailman with purchases and debits

https://goo.gl/maps/4g1uKkNsp1r san sebastian maps

Do you know any stores near the area? I do not care if it's in France less than an hour away?
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Re: orca fins? other symmetrical fins

#8

Unread post by rodndtube »

Yes, that is a dilemma for many of us, even those among us that live in "surf rich" areas. I remember having forgotten something as basic as fin tethers or paddling gloves while visiting the Florida Space Coast (Cocoa Beach-Melbourne). One could hardly find bodyboarding/bodysurfing equipment, even the superstores like Ron Jon's. Fins are a particularly difficult proposition as they are so personal, in fit and function. Descriptions like "this fin is awesome" just doesn't cut it... for the typical reasons such as narrow vs. wide feet, ankle arches, fat toes... blah blah blah. Also riding styles, wave catching techniques. As an owner of 6 or more different fin styles, I completely understand. Feed the mailman!!!

It was actually during a visit to the Space Coast that a friend turned me on to DaFin. After two years I finally tried a loaner pair. He advised that the kick pattern was a bit different, to take it slow, give it about 20 minutes to acclimate myself and see what I think now. He was spot on. I quickly transitioned from my Viper V5 Orange and Yellow dots.
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Re: orca fins? other symmetrical fins

#9

Unread post by belly rider »

Hi folks I stopped looking in surf stores and have turned towards diving stores and straight on to manufacturers
I am lucky that I live in Italy now and this is the country that manufactures the greatest fins for all different water sports
This is home to the greatest water sports factory brands such as Cressi, Technisub, Mares, Scuba ProI just to mention a few

So my research, and my curiosity to experiment, has led me to this new wave of fin products that use Fiberglass blades-- yes you are reading this right
the advantages are:
1) the fin is much lighter then anything you could ever wish to have on your feet
2) you get to choose what STIFFNESS blade you wish to be assembled on your shoe/foot mount

Fiberglass blades come in two different styles-- all carbon and or the less expensive plain fiberglass
The blades are all very very thin and feel like feathers on your feet
The stiffness comes in three modes -- stiff blade (maximum power), Medium flex balde (most people choose this as it does NOT run your legs tired or in craps) and Soft Flex blade ( this is more for ladies)

These new generation fins are used and manufactured for various sports and applications-- for rescue purposes, for free diving (very very long blades) and more recently for underwater Football/Hokey

Just came back from visiting one of the factories located in Northern Italy and after having viewed and tried different models (mostly rescue and water Hokey) I bought the Pool Hokey model with Medium Blades. This unusual pool sport requires a player to have maximum sprint ability, witch is perfect for my Paipo and Kneeboarding activity. We want to sprint out fast to get into the wave. Also we all tend to like light weight fins with less drag. These fins are half the weight of what any of y'all are used to riding with and will allow you to easily hold your feet out of the water if you wish. Other advantage I see also with this particular model I ordered is that the manufacturer has placed a rubber gasket for protection at the point of the fin in order to avoid cutting other people and yourself up with the sharp edges-- something that the other styles used for life saving does not have

I have also bought three life saving models, in the past, from another brand which can be purchased by choosing from three different blade widths as well as fiberglass stiffness (surf medium and hard)
The blades vary in length according to foot size-- the XL having the longer blades while Small and Medium sized have shorter blades

I have a very hard time posting pictures on these forums but if anyone of you would like to see how thin the blades are and what I am talking about feel free to get on Instagram and look me up Bumbastic58 and scroll through my pictures till you get to see them-- PS they are laying on my cotto floor tiles to get good photo contrast

One last thing I forgot to mention and that is all these fiberglass fin blades of all makes have a rubber gasket shaped like a wing in order to give the fin direction while pedaling and avoid the fin slipping in the water surface and waisting your foot/leg pedaling energy
its all about the ride
asier esnal
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Re: orca fins? other symmetrical fins

#10

Unread post by asier esnal »

I have recommended the fins dubb zero hubboards and the optiom fins

What do you think compared to the dafin?

I found the orca fins but with the name Osprey OSX Body Fins, curious curious

Image

Image

Image
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Re: orca fins? other symmetrical fins

#11

Unread post by rodndtube »

Uploading image test from Facebook, two ways:
1) paste the link in as shown directly below -- the result is the link which when clicked on shows a figure (image, photo, etc.)

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/ ... e=5C4338FD

2) paste the link into the "File Name Location" (you need to be in the full editor mode of a thread reply not the simple mode), but first see the "Instructions on Posting an Image" thread in the "About the Forums - Read Me!" section of the Paipo Forums, at: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=24

Below is a basic image posting using the an image posted from Facebook after using the "view image" in Facebook.

I think the problem in posting from an image in your instance might be Instagram which does not seem to want to share images outside its domain (other than Facebook which owns Instagram). It might share a raw link posting in the text box here but not a image that would display within the posting here.

Suggest trying to post your image directly from your electronic device instead of the social hosting service. We do want to see the images you wish to share!

BTW, how does one post an image to Instagram without using their cell phone app?
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That is me, second from the right, visiting relatives in rural Hungary, in the Bakon area. Uncle Sandor makes a great white wine... walking up to the vineyards and wine cellars is always a treat. In the photo it looks like we are making a toast with some homemade palinka.
That is me, second from the right, visiting relatives in rural Hungary, in the Bakon area. Uncle Sandor makes a great white wine... walking up to the vineyards and wine cellars is always a treat. In the photo it looks like we are making a toast with some homemade palinka.
rodNDtube
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"The sea doth wash away all human ills."
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asier esnal
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Re: orca fins? other symmetrical fins

#12

Unread post by asier esnal »

I found in France a 1 hour van ride, a store that looks like it has many different fins. next week I'll pass, I'll tell you how it hit me. They have hydro. hydro tech2, pod 1.2. dubb zero mr viper, it seems that there is a choice, another thing will be that they have in stock my foot number

https://www.ogm-bodyboard-shop.com/en/29-palmes
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Re: orca fins? other symmetrical fins

#13

Unread post by belly rider »

Hi Rodntube
thanks for your explanation and guidance to posting pictures but unfortunately I do NOT have facebook so that is out of the options

MEANTIME-- I don't know if this is of any interest to this general fin discussion but I read in the texts that some of you are criticizing the comfort of some of the fin products out there so I thought I might mention what I have learned from the creative Italians as a useful technique that can be applied to rubber fin "shoes" that fit tight and or need to be loosened up a bit

I am currently trying to enlarge a bit the shoe of those special fiberglass bladed fins that I mentioned earlier-- by first applying diving silicon onto the shoe upper surface then sticking a tennis ball first then a baseball as deep as I can get them in there. I then lay them in the sun in order to have the rubber heat expand and mold itself a bit around the tennis/baseball, creating pressure that stretches out the rubber -- while the silicone paste (used on diving gear "O" rings) maintains soft and nourishes the rubber avoiding damages to the material under strain. For bigger/larger feet the softball has been used also in some instances instead of the smaller baseball, and/or the Bocce wooden/Metal balls

Hope someone finds this idea useful/helpful for those tight fitting fins
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Re: orca fins? other symmetrical fins

#14

Unread post by GeoffreyLevens »

belly rider wrote:I thought I might mention what I have learned from the creative Italians as a useful technique that can be applied to rubber fin "shoes" that fit tight and or need to be loosened up a bit
I would expect no less from the creators of pizza! I have pondered in the past how expand stiff rubber foot pockets, but somehow that never occurred to me, maybe because I have too much Russian ancestry and, well, Salo aka sliced pig lard on black bread. 'Nuff said.
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Re: orca fins? other symmetrical fins

#15

Unread post by rodndtube »

Ideally, Load an image file from your device (desktop, laptop, tablet, phone, with the image stored on the device and not in the cloud) storage. Instagram is not a friendly player outside of playing with its parent company which is Facebook.
belly rider wrote:Hi Rodntube
thanks for your explanation and guidance to posting pictures but unfortunately I do NOT have facebook so that is out of the options

MEANTIME-- I don't know if this is of any interest to this general fin discussion but I read in the texts that some of you are criticizing the comfort of some of the fin products out there so I thought I might mention what I have learned from the creative Italians as a useful technique that can be applied to rubber fin "shoes" that fit tight and or need to be loosened up a bit

I am currently trying to enlarge a bit the shoe of those special fiberglass bladed fins that I mentioned earlier-- by first applying diving silicon onto the shoe upper surface then sticking a tennis ball first then a baseball as deep as I can get them in there. I then lay them in the sun in order to have the rubber heat expand and mold itself a bit around the tennis/baseball, creating pressure that stretches out the rubber -- while the silicone paste (used on diving gear "O" rings) maintains soft and nourishes the rubber avoiding damages to the material under strain. For bigger/larger feet the softball has been used also in some instances instead of the smaller baseball, and/or the Bocce wooden/Metal balls

Hope someone finds this idea useful/helpful for those tight fitting fins
rodNDtube
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I love my papa li`ili`i

"The sea doth wash away all human ills."
-- Euripides.
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Re: orca fins? other symmetrical fins

#16

Unread post by bgreen »

Bellyrider,

I tried looking at your photos but the message said - "This account is private".

Is there a link to a website?

I tried diving fins once - they worked fine. I knew a few guys who use them, but never heard of these new high tech versions.

Bob
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Re: orca fins? other symmetrical fins

#17

Unread post by belly rider »

Bob its a private account but if you ask me for friendship I will approve you and then you can access it
Sorry but I try and keep control of my account to filter unrelated topic pictures and other unusual stuff
Dave
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Re: orca fins? other symmetrical fins

#18

Unread post by belly rider »

Bob what's your instagram name/address so I can look for you -- I am bumbastic58
That is if you don't mind me asking for this info online on the forum
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Re: orca fins? other symmetrical fins

#19

Unread post by belly rider »

zeM1WgGfSjSYlQ7j4tCTdg.jpg
Holly cow did I finally do it??
Did I figure out at age 60 how to post a picture on Forums??
It actually took me 60 years to figure this out??
Ha ha -- I am truly a hopeless slow learning dude-- way behind in the cosmic internet world
Let me know BOB
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Re: orca fins? other symmetrical fins

#20

Unread post by belly rider »

Check out how thin the fiberglass blade actually is
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