Monday, November 21, 2011

F1 Bat Fin

I recently had a chance to dive the Hollis Bat Fin. I've seen them around for some time but was never moved enough to try them out. I have tried other fins that look similar such as the Turtle Fin and OMS Slip Streams. I found them too stiff and often had my ankles and legs hurting after a long dive or two. Not so with the F1, the fins kicked with great authority but never felt to stiff or hard to kick.
Hollis F1 Bat Fins

The first thing I noticed was the amazing amount of power these fins generated. I found myself backing off on the amount of power used to kick for fear of leaving my buddies in the dust. During test dives we practiced multiple skills drills and the fins really excelled with backwards fining. It took very little effort to reverse gears and back away from objects. Every combination of kicks seemed to be almost effortless.

Even though the fins are much larger than my personal fins, I still found the F1's to be quite nimble and I never felt like they were sloppy or heavy on my feet.

The foot pocket on the F1 is perfect for wetsuit boots or the larger size will easily accommodate dry suit boots. I was happy to find that the XL fit both my dry suit boots and also worked for my wetsuit booties. Score! I no longer need 2 sets of fins just to cover wet and dry diving.

With the quality of the fin and the addition of the Hollis Bat Fins secure spring straps, I would have expected the fin to be much more expensive. MAP pricing is only $159.00 and less than many high end split fins. That is one hell of a deal when you include spring straps.
Check out the following video on the fins.
Hollis Bat Fin Video

Order them in the next 2 weeks and get 20% off at International Scuba





4 comments:

  1. I have used the Hollis "Bat" Fins since shortly after they were released. These are great fins. The weight can take a little get used to, but they really do provide a powerful kick.

    The included springs are very high quality and adjustable to two different lengths.

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