fin selection

[JKPAO]

The truth about the whole thing............ it's all recreation!
If you are paid to wear the gear great other than that who cares.
See you topside! John

 

[TSandM]

Stiff paddle fins like Jets and Slipstreams are great fins for low-end torque (pushing heavy loads like tech setups through the water) and they are superb when you want to use fins for precise positioning (as, for example, photographers do). They are not the easiest fins for long, steady swims, expecially if you primarily flutter kick.

The big difference between the Jets and the Slipstreams is that Jets are fairly negative, and more so with spring straps on them. They're perfect for drysuit divers, who often benefit from having weight at the ends of their legs for better trim. Some people find that, in tropical gear, the Jets are too heavy and tend to drag the legs down. The Slipstreams are very helpful in that case.

One of the things I notice over and over again with students in OW classes is that the splits and other very soft fins don't work very well to help students stabilize themselves in the water, when they find themselves tending to roll. Stiffer, paddle fins work more like an airplane's tail stabilizer and when students use them, a lot of the swimming with the hands seems to go away.

 

[RJP]

One of the things I notice over and over again with students in OW classes is that the splits and other very soft fins don't work very well to help students stabilize themselves in the water, when they find themselves tending to roll. Stiffer, paddle fins work more like an airplane's tail stabilizer and when students use them, a lot of the swimming with the hands seems to go away.

What's to stabilize in OW classes?

 

[Walter]

What's to stabilize in OW classes?

That's a totally different discussion, but, as you are well aware, many of us have stopped putting students on their knees. Even for those who do kneel, they aren't kneeling every minute of every dive.

As for the weight of Jets, most of it comes from spring straps. That will hold true regardless of which fins you use with spring straps. I don't use spring straps. I use the rubber strapsthat come with Jets. They are slightly negative. I tried an experiment with my Jets. I took off a fin, them I took off my boot. I put my boot in the fin pocket and let go of it. The cxombination was neutral in sea water. It floated in mid water right beside me. Heavy Jetfins pulling down legs is a myth.

One of my former students is very petite. She started with Jets and hated them. They were too heavy. She kept complaining about them. She finally bought a pair of plastic fins and was really pleased with her decision. She was pleased until she went diving. Unfortunately, she used them first on a week long trip and had not packed her Jets. After the trip, she took her plastic fins back for a refund. She now uses her Jets and never complains about them. Ask her about her fins now, she loves them.

 

[RJP]

That's a totally different discussion, but, as you are well aware, many of us have stopped putting students on their knees. Even for those who do kneel, they aren't kneeling every minute of every dive.

You did notice the little at the end of my post, no?

 

[Walter]

Of course not. I don't understand the language of smilie faces and as a result rarely even notice them.

 

[meesier42]

first, I notice that you have chosen 2 stiff paddle fins and 1 crappy split fin?? doesn't make sense.

how about you tell us a few things then we can offer more informed advice about should work well for you and your style of diving.

1) How long have you been diving?
2) where do you dive? and how much do you travel?
3) what exposure protection to you normally wear?
4) do you have any medical issues that will effect your ability to use certain fins, for example a bad knee?
5) what have you used and what do you like/dislike about that fin

I would strongly avoid listening to the drivel that "techies" use to justify their opinions about fin choices, the fact is that few of them have ever actually done the work to prove that it, the training agency that taught them made that decision 20 years ago and told them what to use. Now they simply toe the party line because its the accepted thing to do. The actual requirements are to perform specific maneuvers and I have shown a DIR/GUE instructor that not only are there other fins that do all of those maneuvers, but certain fins can do them better. His only reaction was, "huh, I didn't think they could do that". Hence the reason that the man who essentially invented and perfected deep diving (by the name of Hal Watts) doesn't use Jets or anything similar

 

[CaliJoe]

Thigh, knee, leg or ankle issues? Splits(Apollo Bio, TUSA Xpert, Mares Raptor etc.)

As for "pushing" bulky gear through the water. You tell me if this is bulky: Double cylinders on my back with an ex MC assault diver kitted with a single tank scuba unit breathing off my seven foot hose. I "pushed" all of this through the water using Apollo Bio XTs. After the dive the ex MC diver told me he was glad when I stopped to look behind me to check on him beacuse he didn't need to hold on to the hose to keep the reg in his mouth. I didn't even realize I was using my 7' hose as a tow line. BTW the ex MC diver had paddle fins on his feet that night.

That said I have been using SP Jets and XSS Turtles for the past two years for precision hovering. It can be done with splits it just takes more kick cycles.

 

[elan]

i am at a standstill with my fin selection, i curently have Aeris mako fins and they are a bit too still for me....... i will soon be a drysuit diver but right now just mainly coldwater diving, all freshwater.....
my selection is between
ScubaPro Jet fins
OMS slipstream fins
and finally
Oceanic V16 split fins
any imput would help good or bad.....
thanks all

Check how the fin sits on your feet. They all hae different foot pockets, I was trying SP, OMS, and XS aka Turtles. Turtles worked better then the other 2. Though blades are very similar.

 

[elan]

first, I notice that you have chosen 2 stiff paddle fins and 1 crappy split fin?? doesn't make sense.

how about you tell us a few things then we can offer more informed advice about should work well for you and your style of diving.

1) How long have you been diving?
2) where do you dive? and how much do you travel?
3) what exposure protection to you normally wear?
4) do you have any medical issues that will effect your ability to use certain fins, for example a bad knee?
5) what have you used and what do you like/dislike about that fin

I would strongly avoid listening to the drivel that "techies" use to justify their opinions about fin choices, the fact is that few of them have ever actually done the work to prove that it, the training agency that taught them made that decision 20 years ago and told them what to use. Now they simply toe the party line because its the accepted thing to do. The actual requirements are to perform specific maneuvers and I have shown a DIR/GUE instructor that not only are there other fins that do all of those maneuvers, but certain fins can do them better. His only reaction was, "huh, I didn't think they could do that". Hence the reason that the man who essentially invented and perfected deep diving (by the name of Hal Watts) doesn't use Jets or anything similar

I tried to use 4 different fins and ended up diving blades (Turtles). One was some TUSA's Split that was really weak and you cannot really get much thrust even bares skin, maneuvers were out of question. Atomic Aquatics Smokes can move a dry suit diver with doubles through the water and I could do all required maneuvers with them including back-finning. But I ended up using Turtles for heavy "lifting" and Mares Quattros for light diving. Blades kick ass in maneuvering. The blade is felt much better and maneuvering is much easier to do. Yeah you can do all the same with some stiff splits but it does not give you much control