Fin buyers remorse, back to the drawing board? what should I do?

SWAMPY459 · May 5, 2014

So I have my sms 50 nice and trimmed out, diving well, I go to a dive shop and they have one pair of closeout Hog Tech fins left. I grab them up thinking "wow, I really got a great deal!!"

I couldn't wait to jump in with my awesome new techie fins.

Ugh! They are like bricks tied to my feet. I'm killing my leg muscles trying to keep them up and in trim.

Now,

I need your experience...

Should I spend time and effort and try moving weight from my midsection to my shoulders to counter balance them or would that be a waste of time and effort, and should I just take the hit and buy lighter fins... ???

flots am · May 5, 2014

SWAMPY459:
Should I spend time and effort and try moving weight from my midsection to my shoulders to counter balance them or would that be a waste of time and effort, and should I just take the hit and buy lighter fins... ???

They're slightly negative, so you'll need to move some of your existing weight up a little and possibly remove some of it (you're more negative than you were before) if you want to regain your trim.

OTOH, it also depends on if you like the fins or not.

If you don't like them, you should be able to ebay them pretty easily.

SanDiegoSidemount · May 5, 2014

Have a look at this thread:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=481011

A lot of discussion about fins and trim further down.

MXGratefulDiver · May 5, 2014

SWAMPY459:
So I have my sms 50 nice and trimmed out, diving well, I go to a dive shop and they have one pair of closeout Hog Tech fins left. I grab them up thinking "wow, I really got a great deal!!"

I couldn't wait to jump in with my awesome new techie fins.

Ugh! They are like bricks tied to my feet. I'm killing my leg muscles trying to keep them up and in trim.

Now,

I need your experience...

Should I spend time and effort and try moving weight from my midsection to my shoulders to counter balance them or would that be a waste of time and effort, and should I just take the hit and buy lighter fins... ???

Well, first off ... what fins have you been using? What you just described reminds me a great deal of my reaction when I first switched from split fins to Jets. It was an instant case of buyer's remorse. I took the advice of my friends, however, and gave it a half-dozen dives to allow my body to get used to the "feel" of the fins ... and I'm really glad I did.

Your brain knows what it wants to do ... your body adapts to make it happen. Give them a few dives before deciding whether it's the fins or the diver ... if the latter, then you'll make adjustments over the course of a few dives without too much difficulty. You may find you need to shift weights upward on your body a little, or not, and that will take a couple more dives to determine.

Worst case, sell them and pick up a pair of lighter weight fins. My primary dive buddy uses the Dive Rite EXP's, which are a popular lightweight fin among cave divers. Might be a good option, if after a few dives you determine that these really are the wrong fin for you ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

bamafan · May 5, 2014

Nothing against Hog products but if these are the same fins I was shown they are a POS. They were little compared to the Slipstream / Dive Rite Exp that most sidemount divers I see use. I was told they dived as bad as they looked like they would.

seedy · May 6, 2014

I have tried and sold a lot of fins.. Mares avanti quattro is what I kept .

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AfterDark · May 6, 2014

seedy:
I have tried and sold a lot of fins.. Mares avanti quattro is what I kept .

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

I stuck with the Plana Avanti lovem I've got four sets 2L 2XL and for warm water snorkeling Plana Avanti full foot. When I 1st got them I thought that 2 pieces of plywood the same shape on each foot would feel the same! After a few dives I got the feel for them and never looked back.

The op should take Bob's advice and give the fins some time things might get/feel better.

ams511 · May 6, 2014

bamafan:
Nothing against Hog products but if these are the same fins I was shown they are a POS. They were little compared to the Slipstream / Dive Rite Exp that most sidemount divers I see use. I was told they dived as bad as they looked like they would.

The Hog fins are basically the same fin sold by Poseidon, UTD, and others. It is supposed to be a travel fin for tech divers along the line as the Hollis F-2, that is why they are smaller. Hog also makes a larger fin.

Jim Lapenta · May 6, 2014

bamafan:
Nothing against Hog products but if these are the same fins I was shown they are a POS. They were little compared to the Slipstream / Dive Rite Exp that most sidemount divers I see use. I was told they dived as bad as they looked like they would.

Told by who? The HOG fins were not designed to compete with slipstreams, jets, or even the Hollis F-1's. And they don't. I dive them as well as F-1's, and a ten year old pair of Aqualung Blades. The HOG fins were designed as a short confined space tech fin and the travel part was an added bonus.
I dive the F-1's in open water and higher current. For wreck penetration they are just too long sometimes. The HOG fins however are perfect. A few cavers I know also like the short length. How fast do you really need to go? They are not for everyone in every application. No fin is. But without actually trying a fin how can one make any statement good or bad for them?
And just an FYI the tech2 fin is the only HOG fin available. There are some fins under the Edge brand though.

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bamafan · May 6, 2014

Jim Lapenta:
Told by who? The HOG fins were not designed to compete with slipstreams, jets, or even the Hollis F-1's. And they don't. I dive them as well as F-1's, and a ten year old pair of Aqualung Blades. The HOG fins were designed as a short confined space tech fin and the travel part was an added bonus.
I dive the F-1's in open water and higher current. For wreck penetration they are just too long sometimes. The HOG fins however are perfect. A few cavers I know also like the short length. How fast do you really need to go? They are not for everyone in every application. No fin is. But without actually trying a fin how can one make any statement good or bad for them?

The person that told me about them is a HOG dealer. If you like them fine go for it. They were small and I don't see how you would get much power out of them. He had them in his shop and I asked him who's snorkeling fins they were. He laughed and told me the story of trying to dive them. They might work in a low flow environment but I don't see it working in a high flow cave. I don't get the confined space idea personally. In my opinion you want the stiffest most efficient fin you can find. To me the idea is kick and glide. It seems to me that 1 kick requiring a little more force is more efficient than 2 or 3 easy kicks. In small areas you just adjust your kick styles. Heck in tight silty passages finger walking / puling to me makes more sense as you can see what you are doing. A kick with any kind of fin destroys the visibility. Each to there own. And I am not bashing HOG as I have one of their 1000 lumen lights that I love and their sidemount rig dives great. Aesthetically it could use a little help but the functionality is great.

Fin buyers remorse, back to the drawing board? what should I do?

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SWAMPY459

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flots am

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MXGratefulDiver

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bamafan

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AfterDark

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