Are full foot fins only for Snorkeling????

[Revid1]

I just made the switch over to full foot fins. I'll know how they function very soon! I purchased neoprene socks to wear with the fins. I think they may take care of any rubbing issues.

 

[aquajedi]

Hi David,

What are those open heel fins you posted? They look very similar to early Churchills, but not exactly.

 

[cmburch]

Northern California Kelp diver. Average water temps 46-52F. Warmer in winter, colder in summer. Down to 40 or less at depth. I use full foot pocket fins with 4mm Argos Stealth bootie. I use fiberglass blades for SCUBA and carbon blades for freediving. I use the newer softer Picasso foot pockets. My feet have gotten wider so I just got larger foot pockets a few years ago and gave my smaller stiffer foot pockets away to a student who was interested in full foot fins.

Many of our best shore diving locations may require a hike on cliff trails. I wear hiking boots or my Nike tennis shoes depending on the trail.

I go to Hawaii each year and use a similar fin on prior post pictured above with seagull, Apollo full foot pocket Uni Biofin which is slightly larger and split. I wear a 3mm bootie with lightweight sole. Very comfortable.

Full footpocket fins are nice for kelp diving.

I am always up for a race back to shore. If anyone wants to get together for a dive. I think my carbons are very fast for surface swims. I use to frequent Big Sur and Carmel, but now more Sonoma and Mendocino. But if anyone wants to hit Jade Cove or Stillwater Cove I am in!

For my kids when they were growing up, I just get the Costco package that comes in S, M, and L: openheel fins, mask, snorkel, and net bag. Easy to return if mask does not fit. As they slowed down growing we got them more expensive gear. Costco even had lightweight shorty wetsuit for kids maybe 2mm. Good for waterparks and boogie boarding in the cold Pacific.

 

[cmburch]

I use to have the rubber fins with strap pictured above in green and black. I think they were Healthways. Many schools also had them.

 

[David Wilson]

Hi David, What are those open heel fins you posted? They look very similar to early Churchills, but not exactly.

You can visit the Finnish Diving Museum web page focusing on fins where the above image is posted if you follow the link to the Finnish Diving Museum. The caption beneath the picture there reads "Barakuda Original avokantaräpylät, 60-luvun alku", which is Finnish for "Barakuda Original open-heel fins, early 1960s". Hamburg-based Barakuda was the leading diving equipment company in the Federal Republic of Germany and its Original non-adjustable open-heel fins were manufactured from the early 1950s to the late 1960s. Here is a close-up of the markings embossed on the fin:

Germans tend to include a warning message on their products. "Nass oder mit Puder anziehen! Nicht darin laufen!" is German for "Put (these fins) on when they are wet or (dusted with talcum) powder. Do not run when you are wearing them."

The fins were also exported to other countries, including the UK, where I live. Here is a page from the Yorkshire-based Aqua Marine Sports catalogue of 1966:

The use of the term "Admiralty pattern" by the Yorkshire retailer is designed to place the Barakuda Original in the category of a "military-style" fin. During World War II, hundreds of Churchill fins were sent over by ship from the USA to the UK for use by British naval frogmen.

The Special Products division of the Dunlop Rubber Company was tasked back then to fashion more rubber fins based on the American design:

After the War, England's Siebe-Gorman diving equipment company took over the design. This from the SG 1963 catalogue:

Finally, the asymmetrical fixed open-heel design of the Barakuda Original was even adopted in the Soviet Union when it came up with its first post-war fin in the 1950s, named the Model 1 (Модель № 1) :

Interesting that we probably now associate this fin design with bodyboarding rather than underwater swimming, yet wartime frogmen achieved incredible exploits using them!

 

[JamesBon92007]

So I call one of the online stores looking for fins for my 50lb daughter and they lady helping me indicated that full foot fins were for snorkeling and open heel was for diving.

Is there any truth to this

IMO that used to be true, in general, but with a great many exceptions. Full foot fins were not as sturdy, in general, as the open heel fins but nowadays there are full foot fins that seem to be adequate for general scuba diving but I hail from Southern California so I wear hard-sole 1/4" (7mm) booties and adjustable strap Jet Fins. The first time you walk across a rock covered with mussels or step on a sea urchin you'll know why I wear the booties and when you get in some rough surf and your fin falls off you'll know why I wear the Jet Fins. If the lady on the phone was a well-seasoned (well, old) diver then I can understand why she might say that.

 

[jonhall]

So I call one of the online stores looking for fins for my 50lb daughter and they lady helping me indicated that full foot fins were for snorkeling and open heel was for diving. Is there any truth to this

How does a 50 lb measurement help you determine fin type?

To answer your question, there is no truth to what the salesperson said.

To respond to what was not asked, if I were purchasing fins for a young family member, I would first determine what their main use would be, where they would be used, and how often they would be used (scuba, recreational pool use, swim team use, cold water, warm water, used on scuba trips once or twice a year or more often, etc.) and go from there. I would try to find lighter material fins no matter which type you get for your daughter and, as mentioned in earlier posts, remember you will also need boots for open heel fins. Nothing necessary for full foot fins unless there is a rubbing problem.

Not sure if I would do anything different but I still have my sons open heel strap fins and boots we purchased in 1998 when, after going through all of the training at age 12, he was unable to get down on his 4th checkout dive and never completed the course. Guess I should get that stuff out in a garage sale!

Personally, after many years of using only open heel strap fins, I switched to full foot in 2015. Materials used today are more comfy than in the past and I don't expect my foot to grow. I also do most of my diving in warm waters. I like them a lot.

 

[aquacat8]

I am drooling over all these vintage rubber fins! As a petite female diver I have to get creative sometimes about my gear and I just got back from spring diving where I used similar snorkeling fins as my "tec fins". I think a lot of the mystique about scuba pro jet fins simply has to do with the fact that they are short stiff rubber fins which enables one to maneuver precisely.

 

[Buliwyf]

When full foot fins fit right, and the conditions are correct for them, they're a beautiful thing. Not just for snorkeling. Yeah, the cheapo ones you get to rent from dive shops and snorkel boats stink, that's a completely different thing.

Freedive fins work great with a streamlined single tank setup. The FF Seawing Novas are excellent travel fins.

I wonder how long it'll be before we see a streamlined open heel fin that's impossible to walk on, designed only for in the water donning, but fitted to a proprietary boot. Todays boots are like a round peg into a square foot pocket. What if we covered the toe of the boot with monprene so it was absolutely the exact same shape of the foot pocket, and shaped the rubber sole of the boot with a pattern that locked into the pattern in the bottom of the foot pocket. To reduce play.

I went though 3 sets of boots before I found the miracle pair for my open heel fins. (1st world newb problems)

 

[mi000ke]

I just made the switch over to full foot fins. I'll know how they function very soon! I purchased neoprene socks to wear with the fins. I think they may take care of any rubbing issues.

That's what I do, and the socks work great.