Choosing Your First Monofin - Full Guide
FAQ - Selecting Your First Monofin
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Q: I was wondering what blade protection, and blade hydro-wings are?
Q: Which blade stiffness should I choose?
Q: Should I choose a larger / smaller foot pocket size than my actual shoe size?
Q: I decidede to get my first monofin, but there are so many options to choose from that I don't even know where to begin. I'm not a competitive freediver or fin swimmer, and I'm looking for an entry level monofin that I can enjoy using in the pool / lake / open waters. What do you recommend?
A: Well, the short answer is that from this description we gather that you will mostly be using your monofin in a recreational setting, in which case - comfort is probably the most important thing for you; if this is the case, we advise selecting one of our recreational monofin models: WaterWay Nemo-Wing / Leaderfins LF Black / Leaderfins LF Carbon - these models make a great entry level monofin and they are widely used by competitors and recreational finswimmers / freedivers alike. The recreational monofin models are equipped with standard style fin foot pockets and are designed to be used comfortably for hours at a time.
With that said, there are 4 main monofin classes;
1. Classic Type Monofins
1. Classic Type Monofins
The Leaderfins Sport / Leaderfins Sport Carbon / Leaderfins Sport Advanced / Leaderfins Freediving Carbon Sport / WaterWay Model-1 / WaterWay Model-2 are classic type monofins, equipped with classic style foot pockets. These monofins are great for learning and practicing proper fining technique and are widely used by freedivers and finswimmers alike. These models are designed to supply maximum performence, numerous finswimming and freediving world records were set with the WaterWay models in the past - the downside is that the classic type foot pockets are very restrictive in comparison with the recreational type monofins; they are very tight on your feet in order to allow the best possible energy transfer from your body to the monofin blade - so it takes some time to get used to the foot pockets. The feeling is somewhat similar to wearing climbing shoes for the first time.
2. Wing Type Monofins
The Leaderfins Hyper / Leaderfins Hyper Carbon / WaterWay Glide / WaterWay Glide Carbon are wing type monofins; their blade is covered with a neoprene wing for better stability and they offer some compensation for poor fining technique as a result. they are equipped with unique cone shaped foot pockets which act as a true extension of your feet and improve energy transfer from your body to the blade in comparison to the classic type monofins. While more comfortable than the classic type foot pockets it may still take a few runs to get used to the foot pockets and they are relatively massive (in terms of weight) which is great for some finswimmers / freedivers - depending on their fining technique. They are a great tool for sprint finswimming (with a hard blade) and recreational freediving. The WaterWay models are high end competitive monofins.
3. Recreational Type Monofins
The WaterWay Nemo-Wing / Leaderfins LF Black / Leaderfins LF Carbon are recreational type monofins that are designed with less emphasis on performance and more on comfort and recreational usability. they are equipped with standard fin foot pockets (like the ones you might find on freediving stereofins) which make them very comfortable monofins for prolonged use in both pool and open water environment. The monofin blade is also covered with a small neoprene wing for improved stability. Many competitors use this type of monofin as a training monofin or for recreational freediving.
4. Finswimming Type Monofins
The Leaderfins Finswimmer / Leaderfins Flyer / Leaderfins Flyer Carbon / WaterWay Flyer / WaterWay 1 Wing / WaterWay Tornado / WaterWay Tornado Carbon are finswimming type monofins, these monofins are equipped with different foot pocket styles, depending on the model, however they share one common thing, they are all designed specifically for finswimming. These monofins are usually equipped with foot pockets which are generally tighter on your feet than any other type of monofin as the quality and efficiency of energy transfer from the swimmers body to the monofin blade is paramount in the world of fin swimming. These models are designed to supply maximum efficiency and are used by amature and professional finswimmers alike.
Q: I see that some models are available with a fiberglass blade while others are supplied with a carbon blade, which is better?
A: Carbon blades benefit from the unique properties of carbon which we have already covered in this article about carbon. In short, carbon blades are more resillient and energy-efficient than fiberglass blades and will supply a better energy to propulsion conversion ratio for your monofin.
Q: I was wondering what blade protection, and blade hydro-wings are?
A: Blade protection helps in preventing damage to the blades edge when coming in contact with hard objects such as the pool wall or floor. The blade hydro wings add stability to the blade by means of improved channeling of the water flow over the blade.
Q: Which blade stiffness should I choose?
A: We advise selecting blade stiffness in correlation with your overall physical structure; If you weigh under 65 kg (~145 lbs), please select stiffness 1-Soft. If you weigh over 65 kg (~145 lbs), we advise selecting stiffness 2-Medium and if you weigh over 90 kg (~200 lbs), we advise selecting stiffness 3-Hard.
Q: Should I choose a larger / smaller foot pocket size than my actual shoe size?
A: No, please select the same size you would use for your shoes. All foot pocket sizes on our webstore are true to actual shoe size (please note that all US sizes displayed on our web store are MEN sizes). For further information regarding shoe size, please refer to our universal shoe size conversion table.
Didn't find what you were looking for?
Our online support team will be happy to assist you with any further questions or concerns you may have. If you require any help or advice in order to select the best product for your needs, simply drop us a line at [email protected] or send us a message using the contact form on our site and one of our representatives will get back to you shortly.
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