Mares Razor Aqua and Concorde fins

Razor Aqua and Concorde: Technical Innovation and tradition

Razor Aqua

Let’s start with the absolute novelty, the new and extremely interesting Razor Aqua, with completely transparent blade, almost invisible. Not an new invertion really, since famous are the Omer Ice, in technopolymer, which had though quite a few problems in the resistance to breaking of the blade.

Moreover, transparent blades in glass fiber already are on the market. We are not referring to solutions such as the Leaderfins Stereofins Ice, which are in reality only partially transparent, but for example to the ICE Fins, of the Croatian BlackTech. Surely Aqua are the first fins of their kind and material to be produced by a great Multinational company. This should be guarantee of quality, as we are talking about Mares, , but this we will verify with a future test of the product. In the meantime, we can confirm that Mares solution seems to offer price advantage , since BlachTech ICE are now sold online, footpocket included, at 340 euros , while price list of the Razor Aqua is 299 euros (320 USD, which still has to be eventually discounted. The Aqua will though be available not before March 2016. We will verify discounted price details as soon as they will be online.

The material used fot the Aqua blades is made of a special glass fiber and epoxy resin used in the aerospace sector. The manufacturing process is among the most advanced, as it uses the infusion with double vacuum system. The glass fiber layers are positoned with an X pattern to improve bending performance of the blade. The thickness of the blade is differentiated to obtain a parabolic curving. In this way a totally transparent and very reactive solutionn is obtained, as Mares indicates and from the first impression we had bending the brade. The final profile has a swallow tail shape, more accentuated than with the Razor Carbon, to obtain maximum control over sideslip during finning. The blade angle is 22°, while the width is 22 cm and the length varies, according to foor pocket size, from 87 to 92 cm. In general, the Razor Aqua is longer and wider than the Razor Carbon. The foot pocket is the Mares Razor, which has a size indicating foot size including a 3 mm socks.

The wtaer rails are the same of the Razor Carbon, meaning very high quality profiles. It’s a pity that these are not made of transparent silicone as the ones of the BlackTech ICE Fins, that permit an additional mimetic (transparent) effect.

Concorde

The Concorde are the base price fins of Mres pure Instinct for spearfishing. The new blade in technopolymer is clearly indicated for those that dive at shallow or medium depths, or move, even for long distances, on the water surface. The solution with integrated blade and footpocket, which are not dismountable, make the Concorde a good price for value product, with a list price of 69 euros (74 USD), still to be eventually discounted.

Design is of good qaulity, with satin finishing, while the Mares logo is present on both surfaces of the blade (not present on the prototype in the photo). The Techpolymer, even though not at the level of composite materials, such as glass fiber and carbon fiber of the Razor Aqua and Razor Carbon, is anyway a new material with good performance. The strengthening lines give the blade better reactivity. With the parabolic curv of the blade, result, Mares says, is excellent. We will verify, with a future test, how these base price Mares fins behave.

The blade had a width of around 22 cm and a total length, depending on foot pocket size, from 860 mm to 916 mm.

The footpocket, with measure that refers to the foot without the 3 mm sock, is made of soft rubber, but capable of transmitting well the thrust of the blade. Profile had the traditional V shape, with four stabilizers on the top of the blade, which avoid lateral slip.