100% carbon fiber, the H.Dessault Minimal fins are a great affordable offer by the French brand, with a price just above 200€ for the complete fins. All based on the high quality by C4 Technology.
Blade
Material
Made 100% in carbon fibre, with external layers of T300 twill fabric, the blades of the H.Dessault Minimal fins are high quality, but with a material that is more affordable than others on the market. This permits extremely good performance with high elastic return typical of carbon fiber, keeping the price low. Additionally, the internal part of the blade has a T700 unidirectional carbon fiber texture that determines great elastic return and is a key element of the C4 Technology.
Shape and dimensions
The length of the blades is, measured by AP starting from the curve in front of the footpocket to the tip, 65 cm laterally and 63 cm centrally. The width of the blade, measured internally to the water rails, is 19 cm. 29° is the angle of the blade, which is then added to the 3° of the 350 foot-pocket, for total 32°.
The tip of the blade has a concave shape, which helps to control lateral slide and reduces the total length of the blade compared to a convex solution.
Water rails
The water rails are the Elastic-K10 black, with a half rounded profile, now used in all the C4 Family production and that, according to Marco Bonfanti, works particularly well. They run along all the blade, starting from the extremely short side rails of the HD 350 foot-pocket. The total height of the water rails is quite small, and equal (AP measured) to 15 mm.
Available stiffnesses and weight
The blades of the H.Dessault Minimal fins are available in only one hardness, 30 medium. The weight of the 25 soft blade is 275 grams (AP measured), extremely low.
350 footpocket
Reduced weight
The number 350 of the H.Dessault footpocket indicates the weight in grams of the number 41/42. Such aspect, the weight control, is a key element to which the “C4 Family“, C4 Carbon and H.Dessault, looks at with great focus when designing fins. We have weighed the size 42/43 (8.5-9), and honestly it weighs even less, 345 grams, excluding the connection elements to the blade. Well done H.Dessault!
Materials
The H.Dessault 350 footpocket is made using TPE 75 ShA polymer, a thermoplastic elastomer. Such material shows advantages typical of both rubbery materials and plastic materials. The benefit of using thermoplastic elastomers is the ability to stretch to moderate elongations and return to its near original shape creating a longer life and better physical range than other materials. The ShA code indicates the Shore A Hardness of the thermoplastic rubber, and the value 75 is a medium value. The use of such material according to H.Dessault permits a great transmission of the force from the foot-pocket to the blade of the HD Minimal fins.
Design
Apparently similar to the C4 250 footpocket, with almost absent side rails, the H.Dessault 350 footpockets are designed in a simpler way with no integrated rigid sole. Such solution requires some additional rubber on the base to make it more less flexible.
In the inferior part of the 350 footpocket, starting from the side rails, two ribs go all along to the rear of the heel, becoming a key stiffening element of the base. The upper part of the footpocket has a thicker band which is narrower on the sides, starting from the base of the side rails, and becomes much wider on the instep. The band helps to stiffen the area and better transmit the force from the foot to the footpocket to the blade.
The angle of the 350 footpocket is the typical 3° by C4, which is added to the 29° of the angle of the blade, for total 32°. The finishes of this footpocket are very neat, actually better than the 250 we have seen so far.
Connection to the blade
The connection of the 350 footpocket to the polymer blade of the H.Dessault HD Maxx fins is the same as the C4 Umberto Pelizzari and the C4 250 fins line. There is one single screw with Allen head size 4 complete with threadlocker tightened in a self blocking brass nut embedded in a plastic element. The insertion of the polymer blade in the 350 foot-pocket is amazingly simple and fast, and so is the tightening.
Conclusions
The H.Dessault Minimal fins finally weigh only 620 grams per fin, a great result. There is a focus on these fins to obtain high performance thanks to the C4 Technology and know-how, still reducing the price (just above 200€). They can be indeed the starting carbon fiber fins, the ones to use coming from polymer blade fins. A possibility, for example, for those who have already bought the excellent HD Maxx, is to buy only the carbon fiber blades of the Minimal, or to buy the entire fins, so to have two pairs to use in different conditions. For example, the HD Maxx among the rocks in shallower water, and the H.Dessault Minimal for deeper dives and further away from rocks. In both cases, the footpocket model would be the same to maintain the comfort to which one is used to.
