Foot pockets are underappreciated by many freedivers, but some beginner divers may also overcomplicate the issue of what foot pockets work best. The most important qualities in a foot pocket are comfort, fit, durability, and compatibility with your fin blades. 

 

Some of the Myths

There is a concept in the freediving world that it is important to have ‘light’ pockets. The problem with this concept is that the "on land" weight of an object is not important once it is in the water. The object then has the new issue of buoyancy. These are not entirely unrelated subjects, in how the density of an object and the amount of water it displace impact how ‘light’ an object feels underwater. Most brands of freedive fin foot pockets may have some differences in their weights above the water, but once submerged, the differences really come down to hydrodynamics, density, and buoyancy as opposed to "weight". That is why when designing the Neptonics featherlight foot pockets, even though we designed them light on land, we focused first on making them light in the water.

 

Comfort is Key for Foot Pockets

Foot pockets need to be comfortable. If you swim all day with freedive fins, you want your fins to be an extension of your foot. That means your fins need to be the right size. This can be impacted by several factors. Most pockets come in a size range. These ranges are usually two shoe sizes. Another element to this is the thickness of your neoprene booties or socks if you wear them. If you wear a thicker bootie, this changes the size of your foot and may change the pocket size you need. A foot pocket should fit snugly on your foot with your foot pointed out. You should not have a bunch of space for the heel of your foot to move around. If there is excessive space it can result in blisters or hot spots on your feet.

 

Durability

Freedive fin pockets durability is largely determined by the quality of the rubber they are made with. If the rubber is too soft, the foot pockets will tear quicker than pockets made with harder rubber. If the rubber is too hard, there is no give for your feet as you kick, and they become uncomfortable. Getting the right foot pockets makes a big difference in how long your fins will be useful before you need to replace important parts.

 

Manufacturer Specific Foot Pockets

There are some brands of fins that require their own brand's specific pockets. C4 fins are a great example. Their pockets only work with their blades, and their blades really only work with their pockets. There are a handful of other brands like this too, so make sure your fins work with whatever foot pockets you're looking at.