Halcyon Vector Pro fins don’t come cheap!
Halcyon’s new (2025) Vector Pro fins are innovative and undoubtedly a game-changer for serious recreational divers and the technical diving community; however, are they worth the price?
“How muuuuch?! ” You exclaim, your voice reaching a new crescendo: “Nearly 300 for a pair of fins?! “ Or, as one past post on Facebook put it, “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
We’re not going to beat around the bush. The new Halcyon Vector Pro Fins are far more expensive than what we’re all used to when it comes to Jetfin-style diving fins.
A pair of traditional Scubapro Jet Fins in colour is currently £205, our reduced online price in-store and at dirdirect.com. Their price isn’t much higher than examples like the Scubapro Supernova , S-Tek s or the Hollis F1s – all just under the £200 mark.
Despite all the delays in the supply chain, you can pick up copies of the original Scubapro Jet Fins from other manufacturers as a more affordable option with prices ranging from £160 to around £180.
If you compare the price of the Halcyon Vector Pro with traditional fins or are content with what you already possess, there is little reason to go the extra mile. These are, quite simply, premium fins featuring numerous enhancements. And yes, they come at a price.
Vector Pro Fins: New Concept, New Design
Halcyon Manufacturing has been a world leader in cutting-edge diving products since the late 90s, and the Vector Pro aims to elevate your diving experience, engineered for exceptional performance and versatility.
The cool and sleek design of these fins isn’t merely a cosmetic alteration. The narrow blade maximises thrust, whether in a wetsuit or drysuit, delivering optimal power and what Halcyon describes as “extraordinary control.”
Designed to excel in any environment, these fins facilitate advanced finning techniques, such as turning and reverse kicking, with precise adjustments during complex underwater manoeuvres.
Their blade construction and shape, referred to as “anti-silting technology” (though you still need to know what you’re doing!), make it easier to control thrust overspray, particularly in silty and delicate environments. The Vector Pros’ recyclable Monprene construction ensures they are flexible, durable, and soft, while promising to withstand the harsh underwater environment with ease.
Moreover, Halcyon’s “Tailored Foot Pocket” is ergonomically designed for comfort and fit, enhancing your overall diving experience and assisting you in directing power efficiently.
Innovative Ballast Control
However, the design and construction of these fins are not the only features that make them distinctive. Have you ever come across a diving fin with an integrated weight system? Well, this is it.
In addition to the Vector Pro’s precision-guided shape, these fins feature an innovative ballast control system. This system allows stainless steel ballast weights to be placed inside the fin’s shell, well out of the way of your feet, eliminating the need for ankle weights or Gator wraps.
The removable weights enable you to transition from recreational open-water wetsuit diving to technical diving or to travel lighter for warm-water excursions.
Halcyon’s weight technology includes secure pockets concealed on both sides of each fin and purpose-built high-grade stainless steel bullet weights (referred to by the manufacturer as “weight slugs”) that simply slide in. The slugs can be removed and inserted quickly and are secured in position with a straightforward screw pin. An O-ring on each weight ensures they cannot accidentally fall out during removal and replacement, requiring intentional pulling instead.
A significant advantage of this weight system is that the cavities on either side of the fin create a smooth and uniform structure, as it should be. Therefore, there are no issues with line trapping or similar problems.
It’s worth mentioning Halcyon Vector Pro fin Ballast Control provides six adjustment options, enabling you to get from slightly positive to decidedly negative, fine-tuning your kick and trim. Halcyon states that the system’s weight cavity can be upgraded in the future to contain and carry smaller items. What those upgrades will entail remains to be seen.
Adjustable Spring Heels
Over twenty years ago, we were among the few dive centres dedicated solely to providing future-proof Jet Fins for divers. At that time, all fins came with the dreaded rubber straps—easy to snap. We also offered somewhat costly stainless steel spring straps as replacements, available in different sizes to suit the diver’s foot regardless of the fin size.
The popularity of SS spring straps ushered in a new era of production. One by one, manufacturers began swapping rubber straps for spring straps, lowering user costs but also limiting sizing options. It would be of little use if the fin fitted, but the strap length didn’t. Even if it matched with drysuit boots, it could still be unsuitable for neoprene ones and so on.
Halcyon has addressed this issue with the Vector Pro’s fully adjustable spring heel straps. Using a Phillips screwdriver, you can remove the strap and adjust its size to suit your needs by moving the barrel pin with an Allen key. This system allows eight (8) size adjustments ranging from 30.5cm to 35.6cm.
From wetsuit to drysuit diving, with foot pocket sizes spanning UK 4 to UK 11, this innovative strap system accommodates all eventualities—unless you have size 12 or 13 boots.
Alternatives to Halcyon Vector Pro Fins
As mentioned at the start of this introduction (and as you’d have clearly noticed!), the Halcyon Vector Pro Fins, despite their game-changing difference, don’t come cheap. Their 2025 release price of £292 is £87 more than our current (as of this January 2025 review) reduced price of the Scubapro Jet Fins in colour.
For those who want the precision and can afford it, this pair of fins is mainly a challenge to the Jet Fin, the Apeks RK3 series, the Fourth Element Tech Fins and possibly (somehow less popular) Hollis F1s.
All the above but for the Vector Pro are similar in design, built on the properties of the very original and traditional Jet Fin with some variations.
You’d be paying for this fin’s innovative features when paying the extra for the Vector Pro. That is likely going to be the deciding factor for many divers.
The question is, do you want a traditional fin and get on with it, or a new concept in underwater propulsion? A pair of fins boasting:
- Full Versatility
- Precision-Guided Shape
- Anti-Silt Design
- Tailored Foot Pocket
- Inventive 6-Option Ballast Control System
- 8-Size Adjustable Spring Heel Straps
- Optional SS Weight Inserts
- Recyclable Monprene Construction
Whatever your preference or decision, the one thing you can be certain of is that – as long as the manufacturers can supply them, we” always have quality technical fins that will suit you. Just look up our Online Fins Section.