...In several posts recently I have seen several disparaging remarks about split fins..
I'll bet you saw the video where the tree-hugger got into it with the fish collector and posters opined that maybe she got
Thunderballed because of her
yellow SFs?
It's "the nets". It's considered good sport to criticize.
If they make you happy, use them. If not, don't let simple blind criticism sway you.
After a number of years, you'll try and keep several different kinds for various uses. Sometimes there is a specific fin for a certain situation. Time and testing will tell you.
Lately, I've been switching off between free-dive long blades and Force Fins. Talk about a dichotomy.
Whenever you're in the water, try swapping out different kinds with a buddy on a surface interval and do some deep breath holds. Be analytical. Learn the various different types of kick styles. Think about what feedback you are getting. (Then engage in existing threads in regards to the safety of doing deeper breath hold dives while off-gassing on an SI, a topic almost as prevalent)
Why the animosity?
1) They do look odd (no less so than Force Fins which garner equal derision but FF has the panache of being stupid expensive due to higher levels of technical voodoo enigmatic laminar flow. That's NASA stuff you wouldn't understand so really just trust Bob Evans who makes these using the leftovers from the sausage plant, down on the farm. But, I digress.)
2) They are easy to make jokes about (the
duct tape/"
There- I fixed it" photos) Out of the water, they do kind-of flop about and wiggle-waggle funny. Joe Pesci finds them amusing.
3) It has been the immediate "go to" up-sell at many dive shops for a first time buyer, along with a self purging dry-snorkel. (Since being introduced first in black, now they have them in Tech Black, also in Tactical Black) They have replaced the 12# Jet Fins at the LDS. They now come in Yumyum Yellow and DiveGirl Pink
4) People attack what they don't necessarily understand, stuff that is different (Xeno was my first instructor, he made me phobic.)
5) People criticize what they have tried and found to be a waste of money (Not necessarily the most common criteria for an internet opinion)
6) They are the
most visually identifiable and
most widely purchased "new alternative" technologies in the effort to improve fins (now that fins have evolved from mere flippers). There are many other model variant designs in this techno-fix category (some with whiskers, batteries, servos or simple springs), but very few make it to market. This could be the #1 single best reason to go to
DEMA, to see what kind of cockamamy fin technology is looking for backers. Many others tech-fins are priced very high, possibly as a price point marketing ploy. Splits thusly draw the most attention:
You can't swing a dead cat on a dive boat without hitting a pair.
7) __________________________
(did I mention: "It's "the nets". It's considered good sport to criticize" ?)