Sure, freedive fins are designed for free divers, but that doesn’t mean scuba divers can’t use them too. In fact, these super-long kickers have become quite popular among bubble-blowers. This should come as no surprise. The big flexy blades allow you to use a slow, efficient fin stroke, plus they can crank out some serious propulsion when needed. Even better, you can maintain excellent directional control with the slightest flick of an ankle. Of course, because they’re so big they can be pretty unwieldy when it comes to stuffing them in a dive bag. But many of them are designed so their blades can be separated from their foot pockets, which helps if you plan to travel with them.

A good indication of the growing popularity of free-diving fins among scuba divers is how many equipment manufacturers are now offering these long-fellows. Following are just a handful of the free-diving fins currently available.

Cressi’s Gara Modular’s standard blade is lightweight and provides a nice mix of power and flexibility. The blade can be separated from the foot pocket for easy traveling. cressi.com

IST’s Fathom Blue is a long-blade full-foot fin purpose-built for free diving but well-suited for scuba. The fin’s modular design lets you choose the blade that best matches your personal kicking style. The black blade is the stiffest, the gray blade is more flexible. istsports.com

Mares’ Razor offers interchangeable composite blades so you can pick the level of blade flex to match your individual diving needs. Plus it makes it easier to pack them in your dive bag when vacation time rolls around. mares.com

Riffe’s High-Performance Fiberglass Blade is longer than Riffe’s standard thermo-plastic blades. The fiberglass construction is super strong and delivers a lot of propulsion power. It can be retrofitted to existing Riffe foot pockets. speargun.com

Scubamax’s Zoom FreeDive is built with a long blade with molded side rails and an integrated foot pocket with reinforced sides, two features that enhance stability during the kicking cycle. scubamax.us

SubGear’s Stream Pro Freedive is great for divers who want to experience long-fin kicking but don’t want to spend a lot of cash. The composite blade is built to last and the foot pocket is easy on bare feet. subgear.com

View our complete Masks, Fins and Snorkels Gear Guide for more.