This explains so much!! I don’t remember the exact year I got my orange mahina but it was 2-3 years ago at a min and even though the size is a bit big on me and I can feel the space around my feet in the pockets, the stiffness of the band makes it so hard to get my feet into the pockets and I don’t fear my feet falling out at all despite the wiggle room! It is my only monofin so I can’t say much about its relative nyoominess but it is definitely very stiff! Tbh I wished I had gotten the black one even back then long before I knew about the differences functionally but I remember the orange one was on sale at the time which is why I had picked it 😅
Immensely useful. Thanks! Didn’t know they’d changed their product materials. That’s good to know if I ever purchase one in the future. There may not be a difference anymore
I ordered an orange mahina from amazon(.com) (shipped to canada)about two years ago and it is incredibly stiff.I had a chance to swim with another orange mahina belonging to another mer which was purchased one year ago and it is much softer and has more flex. Me and the other mer both found the newer one generated less propulsion as well,we tested at plage monaghan(QC) during the beginning of the tide change to work against current.Both worked,but the older one was far more efficient for cutting the water.I also tested both with a tail skin(thicker swimsuit fabric) and the older one once again performed better for pushing you through the water but the newer one did give a beautiful bend to the fluke while underwater more akin to what a softer monofin does creating a more natural look.Thanks for the great video guys,you helped confim some of my experiences with the changes and differences in the makeup of the fins.
I got the Gypsea and honestly, my decision was mainly based on the coloring, but now that I have been swimming in it a couple times I am so extremely happy that I got this version! I had seen a few reviews about the Mahina fins that all compared the older feet-killing ones with the new floppy black Mahina, but none of them mentioned the Gypsea. Mine was manufactured in 2018, and in this one the footpockets and the rest of the fluke actually are made of different materials. The footpockets are very soft and squishy, the surface feels kinda like an eraser. Whereas the main portion of the fluke is stiffer and feels smoother. Comparing the flop I would say the Gypsea has a little less flop than the black Mahina, but it's a bit difficult to compare because the footpockets fold very easily and the rest is a bit stiffer, so it's a mixed flop I guess. Overall it gives wonderful propulsion while beeing very gentle to my feet :) the only problem I had at first was that the width of the opening of the footpockets was too tight for my high arches. But I was able to cut about a centimeter off around the upper side and cut it at an angle so that it's not a sharp edge and now it fits perfectly and there really is no blistering whatsoever!
Can't thank you guys enough for making this video, been going crazy trying to determine how much of a difference between them there is before buying one! 😂❤️ Btw does anyone know of online shops that sell it right now?
I also recognised that the footpockets of your black mahinas are quite different to the colourful ones. Do you know if this is a thing for just the aqua women series or if it's also a complete change for all colours?
Luana In terms of size and shape, the foot pockets on the water woman vs the colorful line (as well as shape/size of the monofin as a whole) is identical as if the same mold was used. However, one of the places where the rubber feels the most different is in the foot pockets where the black one has a lot more streamlined and bounce than the colorful ones which are supposed to be the same weather aqua or orange. However, I believe my problems and the difference between my orange and my aqua may be due to a manufacturing mistake (mislabeling of sizes or something) or simply a difference in age and therefore wear, being that my aqua is 4 yo vs my orange which is less than a year and so manufacturing may have changed in that time.
Not really, mertailor tails are pretty exclusive. The difference in shape between the Mahina and fantasea too means they wont work together. The fantasea 3 is much bigger than the mahina so you could somehow augment to tail by adding vinyl but you would have to add drainage and you loose a lot of performance and I would not recommend it.
Guurl I was waiting all day for this video thinking it came out at three. I love your vids 100%, but put the timer out 24 hours before a vid. Not when We naïvely thought was coming out today. I didn't read the dates until 3pm passed and you were not in my subscription box.
The green/blue mahina from 2019 that i got this month flops just like that black ones do for you, so if you get a 2019 one you should be fine!
This explains so much!! I don’t remember the exact year I got my orange mahina but it was 2-3 years ago at a min and even though the size is a bit big on me and I can feel the space around my feet in the pockets, the stiffness of the band makes it so hard to get my feet into the pockets and I don’t fear my feet falling out at all despite the wiggle room! It is my only monofin so I can’t say much about its relative nyoominess but it is definitely very stiff!
Tbh I wished I had gotten the black one even back then long before I knew about the differences functionally but I remember the orange one was on sale at the time which is why I had picked it 😅
Immensely useful. Thanks! Didn’t know they’d changed their product materials. That’s good to know if I ever purchase one in the future. There may not be a difference anymore
I ordered an orange mahina from amazon(.com) (shipped to canada)about two years ago and it is incredibly stiff.I had a chance to swim with another orange mahina belonging to another mer which was purchased one year ago and it is much softer and has more flex. Me and the other mer both found the newer one generated less propulsion as well,we tested at plage monaghan(QC) during the beginning of the tide change to work against current.Both worked,but the older one was far more efficient for cutting the water.I also tested both with a tail skin(thicker swimsuit fabric) and the older one once again performed better for pushing you through the water but the newer one did give a beautiful bend to the fluke while underwater more akin to what a softer monofin does creating a more natural look.Thanks for the great video guys,you helped confim some of my experiences with the changes and differences in the makeup of the fins.
I’m kinda glad I have an old orange mahina, I like to zoom. I have one floppy fin in the FF3, my mahina is my stiffer fin now.
I got the Gypsea and honestly, my decision was mainly based on the coloring, but now that I have been swimming in it a couple times I am so extremely happy that I got this version! I had seen a few reviews about the Mahina fins that all compared the older feet-killing ones with the new floppy black Mahina, but none of them mentioned the Gypsea. Mine was manufactured in 2018, and in this one the footpockets and the rest of the fluke actually are made of different materials. The footpockets are very soft and squishy, the surface feels kinda like an eraser. Whereas the main portion of the fluke is stiffer and feels smoother. Comparing the flop I would say the Gypsea has a little less flop than the black Mahina, but it's a bit difficult to compare because the footpockets fold very easily and the rest is a bit stiffer, so it's a mixed flop I guess. Overall it gives wonderful propulsion while beeing very gentle to my feet :) the only problem I had at first was that the width of the opening of the footpockets was too tight for my high arches. But I was able to cut about a centimeter off around the upper side and cut it at an angle so that it's not a sharp edge and now it fits perfectly and there really is no blistering whatsoever!
Franzi Burmeister thank you for sharing! This is really good to know
Thank you this comment was very helpful 💖💫
I recently got my mahina second hand, I thought it wouldn't fit as it is a size below me but it is perfect
Maybe Courtney mermaid might like the black mahina monofin because it’s more comfortable than the blue one
hmmmm... interesting... I’ll have to get a black mahina then.
This was awesome and answered all of the questions I had about the differences!
Can't thank you guys enough for making this video, been going crazy trying to determine how much of a difference between them there is before buying one! 😂❤️
Btw does anyone know of online shops that sell it right now?
I also recognised that the footpockets of your black mahinas are quite different to the colourful ones. Do you know if this is a thing for just the aqua women series or if it's also a complete change for all colours?
Luana In terms of size and shape, the foot pockets on the water woman vs the colorful line (as well as shape/size of the monofin as a whole) is identical as if the same mold was used. However, one of the places where the rubber feels the most different is in the foot pockets where the black one has a lot more streamlined and bounce than the colorful ones which are supposed to be the same weather aqua or orange. However, I believe my problems and the difference between my orange and my aqua may be due to a manufacturing mistake (mislabeling of sizes or something) or simply a difference in age and therefore wear, being that my aqua is 4 yo vs my orange which is less than a year and so manufacturing may have changed in that time.
Thank you
Brilliant video thanks!
The original vs the black one is there a size difference? Is one wider or longer then the other ?.
They are all the same shape and size except for the foot pockets . Mahina does sell kids fins which are scaled down .
Question, can a mahina work/fit in a fantasea 2 or 3??
Lol the whimsy tails
Lol oops I meant the mertailor whimsy tails
Not really, mertailor tails are pretty exclusive. The difference in shape between the Mahina and fantasea too means they wont work together. The fantasea 3 is much bigger than the mahina so you could somehow augment to tail by adding vinyl but you would have to add drainage and you loose a lot of performance and I would not recommend it.
Oooh ok, thank you for the advice!😁
I just received my turquoise and it's very soft and floppy, maybe even more so than your black one in the video... hmmm 🤔
Their production has changed
Guurl I was waiting all day for this video thinking it came out at three. I love your vids 100%, but put the timer out 24 hours before a vid. Not when We naïvely thought was coming out today. I didn't read the dates until 3pm passed and you were not in my subscription box.
Oops this was not supposed to be visible yes 😅
The Mermaid Seamstress
I just love your content lol I can't wait for this next vid. ❤️❤️😋