fin buoyancy

for single tank diving with a 5 to 7 mil wet suit on, is a positive or negatively buoyant fin better? Is this just a matter of personal preference....

i would say the more negative the more weight you could take off the weight belt .but in the end it is probaly all just personnal preference.it also depends on your trim in the water. negative fins will pull feet down a little more


derrick

I have with one exception always used negatively bouyant fins with 7mm wetsuits and dry suits. I suppose it does decrease some of the weight on the belt but not by a significant amount (a matter of ounces maybe). A negatively bouyant fin tends to be just barely negative while positively bouyant fins tend to be just barely positive.

The difference in bouyancy between one or the other is pretty negligible and not, in my opinion, worth consideration in fin selection. The only advantage of a floating fin worth considering is that it will float on the surface if you let go of it and is consequently less likely to get lost.

Trim really isn't an issue either as we are talking a small amount of weight/bouyancy and this is offset by other far more influential factors such as tank position, BC/wing adjustment, etc.

In short I'd base a decision on fins based on all the other things that are far more important such as their efficiency, price, strap system, etc.