Finalists in the 2023 Best Choice by Apneapassion, the H.Dessault HD Maxx technopolymer blade fins are a great offer at a suggested price of only 90€. By the way, these fins are C4 Technology, a sort of guarantee of quality. Let’s analyze how they are made and what they have to offer.
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, 329 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 footpocket to the blade of the HD Maxx fins.
Design
Apparently similar to the C4 250 foot-pocket, 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 footpocket is amazingly simple and fast, and so is the tightening.
Polymer blades
Material
The material of the blades of the H.Dessault HD Maxx has been studied for a long period to select the best possible solution. The need was to have a material putting together softness, high elastic return and strong breakage resistance, still permitting a slim design for a light final solution. A multitude of polymers have been selected, tested and finally a medium/soft hardness compound suitable for both spearfishing and freediving has been chosen. According to H.Dessault this choice guarantees extremely high performance and resistance.
Design
The design of the blades of the H.Dessault HD Maxx fins is apparently very similar to the one of the C4 Umberto Pelizzari, but in the end it has many key differences. Both have three thin ribs all along the blade, one central and two lateral, which give the correct stiffness to the blade without increasing the weight. The end profile of the blade is more detailed on the C4 Umberto Pelizzari, reproducing the tail of a whale, but finally both fins have a concave shape profile which helps to control the lateral slide during the kick.
A key difference are the water rails, where on the H.Dessault HD Maxx they are integrated one piece with the blade. On the C4 Umberto Pelizzari instead the water rails are somehow more advanced, made with a specific rubber that does not interfere with the flexion of the blade.
The blade of the H.Dessault HD Maxx cannot be adapted to footpockets of brands outside the C4 Family.
Conclusions
The H.Dessault HD Maxx finally weigh less than 1300 grams per pair, a great result. We will soon publish the test of these very interesting fins that have managed to reach the finals of the 2023 Best Choice in the Polymer blade fins category. For sure such fins are extremely advanced and carefully designed and developed. Each detail is carefully looked after. Some technical and manufacturing choices permit to have great performance, resistance and lightness of the fin, still with some cost saving. This determines the possibility to have, as already anticipated, the H.Dessault HD Maxx complete fins at a suggested price to the public of only 90€, a real deal!
