What Open-Heel Fin should I Get?

[buddhasummer]

Jets, soon to be Hollis F1s, with drysuit coz they are negative and I need the weight.
Seawing Gorillas with wet suit, super comfortable, they are neutrally buoyant and very easy kickers.
Aeris Accels or Hollis F2s for travel as they are a small, light fin and pack very well.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

I was a competitive swimmer too (once). Getting into scuba diving made me realize that a major attitude adjustment was needed. The explosiveness that athletes train for in sports did not transfer well into diving, which needed a different mind set. Now, my attitude is similar to what BudhaSummer is describing.

When I jump in the water, I ask myself how relaxed I am? Am I as relaxed as I would be on the bed? If not then why not? I feel my body relaxing and that causes me to become negative. I sink. Then I tell myself that there really is no bed or mattress under me in which I should be pressing against due to gravity so I should be even more relaxed than I am on my mattress. This causes me to loosen up and sink a whole lot more. Just meditation and relaxation has caused me to drop a lot of lead from my weight belt but as I am mastering the art of relaxing underwater the lead keeps coming off. At depth it makes me a better diver (I feel) because a slow but forcefull "kick" would cause me to shoot out a lot more than those frantic kicks I used to do to speed up. This has also resulted in a much better air consumption and I feel like I can do a 5 dives a day without experience the fatigue which was associated with my previous competitive swimmer style.

 

[KevWind]

Guess I fall into the "Relax" crowd for scuba, particularly since I am now going to be shooting photography. Having been a bonafide adrenaline junkie for most my life, I rather enjoy taking my leisure at diving. One thing I found interesting having started with split fins was, after practicing the backwards kick, (for photo maneuvering use) was, trying to back kick with split fins was doable but very hard and inefficient. Once I traded fins with my instructor (Hollis F2) it was much easer. He even commented how much harder it was for him to back kick with my splits. So Hollis F2 are on the short list.

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

If the OP is still looking for a recommendation, I use the Cressi Master Frogs. They are open heel with a nice, snappy blade. These fins can really move out and are great in a current or if you want to cover a lot of ground. But, because if their flat blade design, they effortlessly sideslip for frog kicking, back kicking or helicopter turns. They are the most precise fins I have ever used for body positioning.
They are also fairly light weight, but the blades are a little large. Still, a good travel fin. You have to add the spring straps separately tho.

I got mine for $75.00 at leisure pro.

 

[Locus]

If the OP is still looking for a recommendation, I use the Cressi Master Frogs. They are open heel with a nice, snappy blade.

How are the foot pockets on those? I have some Cressi spacefrogs but I find the pockets too narrow for drysuit even though they are the same size (XL) as my atomic splits, which fit great.

 

[Dive-aholic]

this was more of what I expected when I initially had the question. A ton of favorites, not a "best". I really appreciate all the responses. Dive-aholic, what model SEAC is it that you have? I found 3 open-heels on their site (the GP100 is a good looking fin, with a spring strap for under $100 shipped is a pretty nice sounding value). \\

Are you sure the GP100s you're looking at come with the spring strap? The GP100 4x4, which are the ones I dive and the model with the spring straps, retail for a bit more than that.

 

[scubajohn87]

+1 on the the SEAC gp100's.. They push double 104's quite well

 

[52brandon]

+1 on the the SEAC gp100's.. They push double 104's quite well

:'( I fould a pair brand new for $90 shipped. Ordered em, and they were damaged, and clearance, so I was SOL..

 

[scubajohn87]

:'( I fould a pair brand new for $90 shipped. Ordered em, and they were damaged, and clearance, so I was SOL..

Pm me your info. I am a seac dealer and ill try to get u parts.. I'm working on an online store for seac right now too.

 

[DogDiver]

ScubaPro jet fins. Used by coast guard swimmers. US navy. And check out any cave diving parking lot. Almost all jet fins


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