Good Morning and Happy MATBOCK Monday!

The BLS is a joint project between MATBOCK and MAS Special Ops Training. It’s a patent pending Bench, Ladder, Stretcher designed for Wing and Zodiac inflatable boats. The BLS is sold as a pair (bottom and upper sections) and designed to deploy as a unit. For the inflatables, it sits across the side tubes and can be secured to the floor with either ratchet straps or line (not included in the kit), giving space for 4 operators to sit forward facing during transit. When reaching the landing site or ship to be boarded, the sections can be attached together to create a 12 foot ladder with integrated shepherds hooks and offset ladder rungs. Additionally, the ladder rungs are coated on the top surface with nonslip to help prevent falls due to wet surfaces. If there is a casualty, a single section can be used as a stretcher to evacuate the individual as well. Four handles protrude from the sides to aid in transport as well as for positioning the ladder.

Each section is 69” tall, 17.5” wide, weighs 20.5 lbs and is made of aluminum with welded connections throughout the system. Additionally, the BLS comes with grip feet on the lower section to help prevent the bottom from kicking out while being used as a ladder.

www.matbock.com/products/bls

Don’t forget to tune in on Monday at 4:30 PM EST as we go live to demo our BLS system!

If you have been diving for a while now, you have come across the SCUBAPRO Twin Jet Split Fins. They have a unique patented split fin propeller technology, which provides maximum propulsion with minimal effort underwater. With those main features, they can enhance your dives while avoiding cramped leg muscles and strained ankles.

The revolutionary patented design of the SCUBAPRO Twin Jet Open Heel Split Fins was inspired by the dynamic propulsion of the humpback whale. The blades unique shape and angle provide symmetrical power to help you create a smoother, more stable kicks without wearing you out or causing drag. At the same time, it allows you to move more quickly and effortlessly while swimming at great depths, despite the long blade length—all without sacrificing control.

As a diving fin, the SCUBAPRO Twin Jet is made with both an open-heeled and a full-foot (closed heel) version. The Open Heel comes with a broader foot pockets and offers a more customizable fit for those wearing dive boots for use in colder, deeper waters or military style boots for over the beach operations/ VBSS. Having strapped fins gives you the chance to adjust the fit as your boots start to compress at greater depths when diving.

The fin straps come with quick-connect swivel buckles, which makes donning and doffing easier. You can also change the rubber heel strap out, to take advantage of the optional spring heel straps. The SCUBAPRO Twin Jet open-heeled fins are one of the most comfortable fins on the market.

They come in different Colors and Buoyancy Options. SCUBAPRO has kept different types of divers in mind when they designed the Twin Jet Fins line. You’ll find that the fins come in multiple color options—black, blue, gray, and yellow—but it’s also important to note that the different colors signify differences buoyancy also.

The black fins are the best, for military divers, as they are negatively buoyant and provide a more traditional fining experience with its rigid blades. But if you’re looking for more flexible blades and don’t mind having slightly positively buoyant fins.

Product Features:
• Monprene® Construction 
• Patented Split-Fin Propeller Technology
• Extra-Wide Foot Pocket
• Extended Soleplate
• Drag-Reducing Vents
• Quick-Connect Swivel Buckles
• Compatible with Spring Heel Straps

Key Benefits:
• Powerful Propulsion with Minimal Effort
• Smooth and Stable Kicks
• Preserves Energy
• Reduces Drag
• Fits Boots
• Easy Donning and Doffing
• Highly durable and Will Last a Lifetime

One of the only drawbacks for the Twin Jet fins is if you have to push something thru the water besides just you or you are fighting a current. But add something like pulling a buddy or ruck. Then you might want to go with a stiffer fin like the Jet fin’s, Seawing Nova Gorilla or the Go Sport. That being said the Spilt Fins are one of the most popular fins used by the military and countless divers around the world.

Self-adjusting fin straps are one of the best ways to don and doff your fins. It also makes it easier to use different size booties. Steel spring straps are a relatively new product for fins. It was invented by cave divers that didn’t want their rubber straps breaking on them in the middle of a cave. So, they took screen door springs and made fin straps out of them. Typical rubber straps have a good chance of breaking at some point. If you are lucky, it will happen as you are putting them on before a dive, not in the middle of one. While you should always try and carry a spare strap on you, replacing a strap can be a pain in the middle of a dive.

The spring strap helps avoid most of these problems. Available for many open heel fins, spring straps permanently mount to the fin. The spring straps typically attach using rust-resistant metal hardware. SCUBAPRO Steel Spring Straps are available for SCUBAPRO Jet fins, Twin Jet Max, Veloce fins, and the Seawing Nova fins. They are made from a High-grade marine steel. These straps can replace the traditional fin strap with the added benefits of being easier to don and doff, and they will compensate at depth for the pressure underwater.  The flexible nature of the spring strap tightens as you descend to compensate for the crush on your boots, meaning your fins stay on at the exact tension you set them to at the surface. They are also a lot less likely to break when entering the water from a helicopter. The Steel Spring hele strap for the SCUBAPRO Jet fin has been added to 2020 Naval Aircrew Systems State of the Art Catalog. This allows SAR swimmers the ability to start using the Spring heels on their fins.

Spring straps are strong springs with a rubber or nylon heel cover for comfort. Instead of having to adjust the tension every time you put them on like with traditional straps, you simply stretch the spring over your heel.

This decreases your time and energy spent putting on and taking off your fins before and after a dive. Several models of fins now come with spring straps pre-installed, but they can also be added to many fin models.

The other type of self-adjusting straps is made from quality marine-grade bungee designed for years of reliable use. Marine grade bungee is design and construction, making it ideal for prolonged exposure to moisture, sunlight/UV radiation, and the general wear and tear that fins regularly go through. A denier Dacron polyester cover is thick and long-lasting, repelling water and resisting abrasion better than nylon. Made from a top-quality first extruded latex rubber, this bungee has a consistent 100% stretch and high modulus that won’t lose its elasticity as many others do. Bungee straps are depth compensating as they compress when your neoprene boots get thinner due to increased water pressure. Like the steel spring, the bungee is self-adjusting at depth. Upon ascent, they decompress keeping fin straps comfortable throughout the dive. Straps have a large rubber finger loop to aid in donning and doffing. Marine bungee is highly reliable and has a very low percentage of breaking. All this being said, I know you can break it if you “test it” to try and prove me wrong. They come standard on the SCUBAPRO Go (Barefoot fin) and GO Sport fins (Boot fin).