Nick Pelios Freediver, Creator
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Only a couple of years ago, a freediver would opt for a long pair of carbon fins. Why? Firstly because of psychological reasons. The longer, the better, right? Wrong. Secondly, simply because the technology in the shorter versions was not adequate enough. There were a couple of carbon shorties, but - in our opinion at least - these were just scaled down versions of long fins, without the right angle, without the correct carbon layering and made out of the wrong raw materials.

Times have changed though and since their introduction last year, the Alchemy Pro have been used extensively by some of the world's deepest freedivers and best underwater creators. Did they live up to their expectations? Do they have enough power? Are they easy to travel with? How do they compare with the longer versions?

Daan Verhoeven, Luca Malaguti & Livio Fakeye recently reviewed the Alchemy Pro. Here's what they had to say about our short carbon freediving fins.



Size Matters


I'm a huge fan of how they challenge you to switch up. I tried them for the first time in Dominica last year  and i instantly noticed the difference. It's funny what you notice, like, in the beginning  you think these are small, they're probably not going to have the power, but i reckon they have 90%  of the power of the longer fins. The reason i want shorter fins as a photographer is for the  freedom of movement, easier to turn around and to get back to my subject. I've had a few shots where i had to kind of crop the shots because my long fins would go into the wide-angle lens.


Agility


But what you instantly notice is that you're more agile, you can turn easily, it torques your knees less, which is nice if you have a bit of a weak knee issue like i have. I  reckon it also torques your joints in general less, which is really nice, so your ankles and your hips suffer less than they do with the bigger fins. You can also maneuver, you're a bit more agile, so  you can really turn around quickly and take a shot of somebody around you, so  that's really nice. They are short but yet powerful, i chose the medium soft stiffness and they give me all the power that i need.



Less To Think About


What you notice after a couple of days is that  because they are a bit smaller, you don't have to put as much power into them and that makes a big  difference over time. After six days in Dominica, my legs felt fine, i could still do long  days, i could still do 70-80 dives a day and like there was no aches, no pains. Exploring shipwrecks, filming in shipwrecks is much easier as well. And, so yeah, from a  creating content point of view, while you have a  camera in your hands and you're worrying about the  camera and what film, photos you're gathering, there's less to think about.



Easier To Travel


Short fins, it's easier to travel of course, you can put them in the backpack and yeah it's much nicer  actually. I mean you don't need a huge bag, they fit in most standard sized luggage, which is  great they're a bit lighter than the the big ones. And you have less risk of touching a coral,  or a wreck, or another free diver, or touching   anything in your way. The less material, the better. In freediving the less is the best. So if you have less material on your feet,  you'll feel it and you'll just feel more fluid as you're focusing on your subject and your  film. It has enough power to not only move the camera around, but you can even keep up with  monofin divers, with the speedy ones. They look beautiful and that's what we want, to  look cool guys okay? The V330 Pro, to me, ideal fin.






The Alchemy Pro Were Reviewed By Some Of The World's Deepest Freedivers



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