Review: Breier 760B 'SG' fiberglass fins

Introduction

As mentioned in my fins post, I used to use "longer" snorkeling fins; they were cheaper, indestructible and fit in my luggage (along with my JBL Travel Magnum Combo Speargun & Pocket Bouy). At some point though, I decided to get "real" spearfishing fins and I settled for Breier 760B 'SG' fiberglass fins. It also coincides with my getting my SporTube series 2 which allowed me to travel with them during longer trips with friends.

About Breier

Breier is a small French company specializing in fiberglass and carbon fins. They make the blades themselves so they are not just re-branding like some manufacturers do. They also custom make footpockets and blades if you have special needs. They have various footpockets to choose from, not sure if you can ask them to use models they don have (I assume you can if you send them to them, maybe you can order them and ship to them directly, but you should ask first).

My footpockets

I outfitted mine with Seac Sub Motus footpockets (which they were kind enough to mail me so I could try one one first for the size; I paid for the S&H) which fit my foot type (thin). I also wanted them not to glue the footpockets to the blades and and with the Seac Sub they don do that.

I also wanted to add patterns to them (they have several to choose from in different colors); this is a paying option. I choose a lighter color on the bottom so it is easier to see me from the top, orange is still visible if you are not too deep (I don't go deeper than 20m) but you should get yellow if this is a worry for you. The red is because it disappears rather quickly and it just looks cool. Here is a picture of my fins:

Here are some pictures of the footpockets:

Why Fiberglass?

Some of you may wonder why I got fiberglass and not carbon fiber or polycarbonate? I have polycarbonate fins already, even thought they are not true spearfishing fins, and I wanted something that would allow me to progress and that is lighter. Carbon fiber is not good for the type of spearfishing I do, it is too fragile. I believe it is good for blue water but for shore, rock and reef spearfishing it is going to be damaged too quickly and I don't see where it would be better in those conditions. Be aware of how you kick off the bottom, if you push with your toes too much you can break your fins. I usually do a flat footed jump movement to get off the ground and then rotate and swill up.

Performance

I find that longer fins do help a lot with spearfishing performance-wise. I cannot really objectively say if fiberglass performs much better than same length polycarbonate fins, but I am quite happy with them. Keep in mind that they are lighter and have a good response (spring back) so it is bound to help. 

Conclusion

Like I said above, I am very happy with my fins, the build quality is very good, they fit well and I enjoy their performance. They are more fragile though, even if less so than carbon fiber so I am always more careful than with my old polycarbonate fins. They were a bit more expensive than off-the-shelf fiberglass fins but their quality and having them personalized makes up for the price IMO. I also am very sad though when I scratch the designs...