The C4 Carbon Umberto Pelizzari fins win the Best Choice by Apneapassion in the polymer blade fins category. In the few recent years, the amazing improvement in materials and design of the long blades freediving and spearfishing polymer fins has led to a real battle on the market, with many companies launching new and extremely performing fins just in the last couple of years. With the finalists of the Best Choice by Apneapassion in the polymer blade fins category being really strong products, and even the ones excluded being just so close to the top three, the final decision by the Apneapassion International team has been tough. Let’s see why the C4 Umberto Pelizzari have managed to be just ahead of the rest.
C4 Umberto Pelizzari strengths and performance
With a name like Umberto Pelizzari on the C4 fins one could be influenced somehow, but we wanted to check if so much work done by the C4 Carbon team and the great Italian Freediving Champion had really led to a concrete result in efficiency, performance and confort. We have presented the C4 Umberto Pelizzari as World Première some time ago, explaining every detail of such very much studied, tested and developed fins by C4 Carbon.
What we did with the C4 Umberto Pelizzari was testing them both in the swimming pool and at sea, in deep dives and in surface transfers, thanks to Apneapassion Team with Apnea Indoor and Outdoor athletes, and spearos. In ALL these situations the C4 Umberto Pelizzari have performed extremely well with no real weak points in any conditions.
The general balance between performance and lightness on the legs is perfect, including the smoothness of the kick and the directionality, meaning no lateral slide thanks also to the advanced integrated water rails in soft rubber. The C4 250 foot-pockets, the lightest on the market, with an integrated rigid sole, help reduce the general weight of the fins, generally a weak point against carbon fiber blade solutions. Moreover, the rigid sole optimizes greatly the force transmission from the feet to the blades. The price of 99€ permits to have the best performing fins at an amazingly competitive price.
The other two contenders
As already anticipated in the communication of the finalists of the Best Choice in the polymer blade fins category, the two contenders of the C4 Uumberto Pelizzari to the final title of the Best Choice by Apneapassion were the Mares X-Wing and the H.Dessault Maxx (finally the name has been defined).
The Mares X-Wing are something extraordinary, and honestly are behind the C4 Umberto Pelizzari just for a very tiny bit. The performance of the blade is unbeatable for a polymer blade solution, even though there are no soft rubber water rails, as the thrust and the control are excellent. Maybe the effort needed in the kick is just slightly more than the C4. The price is aligned with the C4 Umberto Pelizzari, just a few euros higher, even though Mares has, since the conquer of the final of the Best Choice, pushed on their really competitive model and some great prices, even below 100€ are recently available. In addition, the Mares X-Wing have in the X-Wing foot-pocket a more traditional solution than the C4. So we advise to try both the winner and the second ranked to choose the best fin for you.
The H.Dessault Maxx, with the price of 90€ are the cheapest of the lot, with no soft rubber water rails on the blade, but integrated ones of the same material of the blade itself. The foot-pocket is not the 250 as for the C4 Umberto Pelizzari, but the 350, a little heavier and with no integrated rigid sole. These important differences, including a different material of the blade compared to the ones of the C4, generate a slightly reduced performance with a feel of just a little less reactivity and more heaviness. Definitely the third fins on the podium, but also the cheapest ones.
The Best Choice by Apneapassion prize evaluation
“Apneapassion underlines that the Best Choice is a fully independent prize, assigned after deep testing by the 9 athletes of the Apneapassion International Official team. The result of the Best Choice does not want to be an indisputable opinion, as personal preferences and adaptations to each product can determine different opinions and likes. Still, the use of a large number of independent athletes (who’s sponsor is only Apneapassion) permits to give spearfishing and freediving enthusiasts our best possible evaluation of each winner. We are open to any company who would want to participate with its most competitive products to the Best Choice by Apneapassion yearly prize. For any additional information contact carlo.forni@apneapassion.com.“
