Full foot or boot?

Why all the hatred for the full foot? I went into a dive shop this morning and asked if they had any full foot fins and was told that "we only sell SCUBA" fins." Very snootily, may I add.

Why all the hatred? Am I missing something? I've done some basic research and it appears that full foot fins tend out perform the boots. If straps and open heels are so darn great, why are free-divers rocking the pockets? And I'm in Hawaii... it's not like we're worried about getting cold and need to keep our feet toasty.

Before I run out and buy the Mares Avanti Superchannels I've had my eye on, can someone explain to me where the aversion is coming from? This isn't the first time I've heard that full foots are for snorkelers and real divers go boots and straps. Other than warmth and maybe rocky shore entrances... is there some advantage to these chunky buckled fins? Can someone give me a reason to pay 2-3x as much? I know I have a lot of learning left ahead of me, and it's entirely possible that I'm just a tad jaded, but it seems like the attitude of "the SCUBA" fin vs "the snorkeler" fin is driven entirely by a bottom line.

1. Limited Thermal protection
2. Limited foot support/protection on rocky/ rough bottom entries.

All in all they are very limited, especially in New England. For warm water use off sand and boats they have their place but they do not have universal use. The velocities involved in scuba diving the chunkiness is not of significance.

What town did this happen in?

Pete

i dive both. its a tool in the tool box for the job so if someone says there is only one way be cautious about the advice you take from that person. with that said i dive boots most often i like having a shoe on when climbing ladders and walking to and from dive site and i dive my full foot when snorkeling , pool work and hot water diving like nassau in aug hope this helps get them both.

jmcd16:

Before I run out and buy the Mares Avanti Superchannels

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These are great fins! I purchased some about a year and a half ago and other than when I go to Bonaire, these are now the fins I use on my dive trips. They perform great and travel much lighter than my Scubapro Twin Jets. Make the purchase! You won't be disappointed.

spectrum:

1. Limited Thermal protection
2. Limited foot support/protection on rocky/ rough bottom entries.

All in all they are very limited, especially in New England. For warm water use off sand and boats they have their place but they do not have universal use. The velocities involved in scuba diving the chunkiness is not of significance.

What town did this happen in?

Pete

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Honolulu, HI -- and as far as I can tell from my experience here (and speaking with local divers) -- not only is the thermal thing not an issue, there aren't a lot of shore dives without sand.

spectrum:

All in all they are very limited, especially in New England

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Haha, I should probably update my profile. Here you are thinking I'm trying to buy a pair of full foot dive fins in New England... which I can see as being a little short-sighted. I can't even SURF without boots until what, July at home?

I'm in Hawaii at the moment on my way back to Cairns Australia for a year. The plan is a dive con or dive master internship on a live-aboard. Which is actually the first place I got the full foot/boot attitude from. Which is why I started feeling so strongly that it's a total status/money thing. Because it seems to me that there are more disadvantages to a boot on a live-aboard. For example, if I'm sitting watch in a state with a no snorkel, no fins, no mask, no GOING IN THE WATER law... then it's going to be faster for me to slip on my fins than for someone else to slip on boots and then strap in. Warm water, no rocky bottoms to stumble through getting to deep water. It seems like nothing more than an "I paid more for mine... so how serious a diver can you be?" thing.

A number of accidents on boats happen to the feet. Would you rather kick a dropped weight barefooted or with a boot on. Many dive boots also provide better footing on wet slippery decks than bare feet. And if you did happen to slip what would be better, slipping and hitting a foot with boots on or in bare feet?

Back in the 1960s, at least in Europe, full-foot fins were considered superior to open-heel fins. They were also more expensive. When the first bulky Unisuit drysuit came out, precipitating the problem of fitting fins over boots, Cressi's response was to Unisuit fins, full-foots with over-sized foot pockets:


www.sukellusmuseo.fi

These giant fins were sized 50-52. I can't give a precise US equivalent, but 46 is about US size 12.

Fashions of course change and attitudes with them. We live in an age when people love classifying things, or as the French say, "aujourd'hui on a la manie des étiquettes", literally "today people have a mania for labelling things". This may be convenient for people who agree with the labelling, but for those who don't, such labels as "snorkelling fins", "underwater hockey fins" and "scuba fins" are a barrier to experimentation and individualism. As a snorkeller, I choose to wear full-foot fins in my quiet backwater in the North East of England, where the seas really never get warm. I've always worn full-foots because when I started back in the late 1950s, open-heels were for people who couldn't afford full-foots. I wear my full-foots over my drysuit socks when I snorkel and after fifty years of snorkelling I know they're what meets my needs, however "démodé" they may be in the eyes of diving's fashionistas. When I snorkelled at La Jolla Cove a few years ago, the snorkellers wore every possible kind of fin, from open-heel adjustable plastic bladed types, through bodyboarder-type rubber open-heels to full-footed fins. I know bucking the trend by choosing full-foots raises the blood pressure of diving store assistants and some SB posters, but choosing fins is a very personal matter for every swimmer and diver and it's up to each individual to select what suits them in terms of fitting as well as blade stiffness etc. After all, would you let anybody else choose your street shoes for you? Choose your fins after problem-solving what you need and want. And full-foots can be worn over socks or boots, not only barefoot. Just make sure you wear the footwear when you try on fins for size.

I have Avanti Superchannels of the open heel variety. I bought them because I already had booties for a prior pair of open heel fins. My wife had booties along with open heeled fins that she didn't like because they weighed too much and, for her, required too much work in the water. She got the very floppy Mares Volo Race full foots and has never regretted it. She has tough, callused feet. Nevertheless, we invested in a lightweight pair of booties with thin rubber soles for shore diving in Bonaire. She just folds the booties and sticks them in her BC pocket for the dive. We only do warm water diving, so I do believe she has made the right choice. To each his/her own.

jmcd16:

I'm in Hawaii at the moment on my way back to Cairns Australia for a year. The plan is a dive con or dive master internship on a live-aboard. Which is actually the first place I got the full foot/boot attitude from. Which is why I started feeling so strongly that it's a total status/money thing. Because it seems to me that there are more disadvantages to a boot on a live-aboard. For example, if I'm sitting watch in a state with a no snorkel, no fins, no mask, no GOING IN THE WATER law...

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Considering the fact that your avatar seems to show you violating Federal and Hawaii State Law, don't bother changing your profile; it seems to accurately reflect your State of Mind.