Size and Customization guide

Standard Molchanovs Hand-Built Foot Pocket Sizing

Please note: If you have a noticeable size difference between each foot, wider feet, or especially high or low arches, we suggest ordering custom foot pockets. Follow the ‘Custom Hand-Built Foot Pocket Measurement Guide’ guide below to measure your feet correctly.

Custom Hand-Built Foot Pocket Measurement Guide

Custom Foot Pocket Fit Guide
The desired fit determines the tightness of the foot pockets. Three options are available:

Comfortable: Allows more space inside of the foot pockets for the feet. The feet will feel like they are on the verge of movement, but will not actually have movement since any friction between the feet and foot pockets will cause blisters. Comfortable for about 2 hours of wear.

Normal: More comfortable compared to the Tight fit. There is slightly more space inside for the feet, but not enough space for extra movement. Allows for about 20 - 50 minutes of wear.

Tight: Specifically designed for performance, which means that the fit is especially tight. This gives you the best control over the blade as the feet are very compressed with no space for any extra movement inside of the foot pocket. Suitable for about 10 - 30 minutes of wear.

Please note: The maximum time a freediver can wear foot pockets (especially Tight fit) depends on their level of experience and how flexible their feet are. If you would like to improve your foot flexibility, watch this video.

Choosing Bifin Blade Stiffness
Blade stiffness depends on your height, weight, technique, experience, training goals, and blade size. Below are general tips on how to choose the right stiffness. If you are not sure, e-mail info@molchanovs.com with a video attached of one of your dives for a recommendation.

Soft: Suitable for smaller and lighter freedivers with less body strength and for experienced freedivers with excellent ankle-driven technique. If a freediver has more lower-body strength, they can choose a medium stiffness. Soft blades are more economic in terms of energy consumption, but require good ankle-driven technique to be effective.

Medium: Suitable for larger and heavier freedivers, freedivers with more lower-body strength, or freedivers who need more power. Freedivers who are heavier and have not trained to use ankle-driven technique should choose medium stiffness with a quad-driven technique.

Hard: Suitable for larger and heavier freedivers or freedivers with a lot of lower-body strength who want more speed and propulsion and are willing to use more energy consumption per kick. Hard blades require less frequency and more amplitude.