It's been a couple months since I ordered the new Fourth Element Tech Fins, but it was definitely worth the wait. They arrived just in time for my dive in Jamestown, RI this past weekend and I can honestly say that they exceeded my expectations.

I've been diving with the Apeks RK3 fins for several years and they have been nothing short of great. As an instructor, technical diver and underwater photographer, I need fins that allow me to easily maneuver in any direction while also allowing fine adjustments in water and the stiffness to move around a set of doubles and stage bottles.

The Fourth Element Tech Fins have a very similar look and feel to the RK3's.  The noticeable difference is a softer foot pocket, slightly shorter length and slightly wider blade.  The other difference is the is what they call "Turbulence Disrupters" which are supposed to help with the flow of water across the blade.

The real question is how did they perform?  In a word...Fantastic. I was diving in a dry suit and doubles in salt water with a decent current.  I'm not sure I could tell what benefit the turbulence disrupters were providing, but what stood out was the ease of maneuverability with these fins.  The wider blade provided a noticeable increase in power to move thru the current and made backup finning easy.   In addition to their performance, they provided a nice balance from a buoyancy perspective.  Fourth Element list the fins as being slightly negative and I found this to be true.  I think they are slightly more negative than the standard RK3 fins, but very close.  Either way, they both work well for my setup.  One final note, I purchased the aqua colored fins and the color really stands out underwater.  As an instructor, I find it useful that my students can easily identify me in water that has limited visibility and these met that goal.

One question I have relates to the material that Fourth Element uses for the fins.  Rather than the thermoplastic that Apeks uses, Fourth Element uses natural rubber which is more sustainable and allows them to blend varying degrees of flexibility and stiffness into the fin, but I wonder how they will hold up in the chlorinated environments of confined water pool training.

Overall, I'm very happy with these fins and I think these will become my primary fins for most open water situations.  I always like to have a backup for everything so my RK3's will still be with me for every trip and given their track record in the pool, I will probably use the RK3's where chlorine or other chemicals could effect the natural rubber of the Fourth Element fins.  At this time, there isn't anything I can fault of these fins and give them a 5 star rating.