Full Foot Fins VS. Open heel

I bought my snorkeling gear about 10 years ago and it seems like I remember SCUBA people being very condescending about full foot fins. Has something changed in the market as they seem to be more accepted now?

I don't shore dive so I don't wear booties. I just use full-foot lime green Avanti Tre's. There's still a lot of scuba people who look down on full-foot fins. Just use the right fin for your diving. If any so-called experts want to weigh in with an opinion, well, you can't pick the people to share your planet.

You gotta realize that the two different type of fins are made differently and also have different uses.

With snorkle fins, you want a lighter fin for use at the surface and easy to kick. Typically these are full foot.

For scuba, if you wear a full foot snorkle fin, it's not an efficient design for propelling you and all your gear/BC/tank through the water and you end up "over powering" or over-extending the snorkle fin. You just don't get good efficiency out of the fin with the drag of scuba gear. So most scuba divers wear "open heel" fins which are made stronger, heavier, etc. The open heal also facilitates the use of wearing booties, which provide thermal warmth and also protect the feet from rocks, etc on beach entries and climbing dive ladders. Scuba divers go deeper than snorklers so thermal concerns are a big issue. the water is typically colder than the surface the deeper you go (depending on region). Basically the snorkle fins on a scuba dive will cause you to kick more than scuba fins will. Kicking more requires more energy which requires increased breathing and you run out of available air quicker. Pretty easy math to see that the right fins will give you an advantage with more bottom time.

On the other hand, try using a set of scuba fins to snorkle with. they are very heavy on the surface for a snorkler. It's like strapping two 2x8's (two by eight) boards to your feet.

When I go on a dive trip, I carry my dive fins AND my snorkle fins, but never use one for the other.

Well I have an old pair of Wenoka Reeflexes...Very Big bulky fins. I wanted to get something more compact for snorkeling and warm weather. I was looking at the SP Jet fins because they have my size available.Should I look into full foot for this?

Depends on where you dive. If you dive in cold water and want to wear booties, you need open heel fins. If you dive in warm water, primarily from boats, or want the lightest weight for traveling, full-foot fins are better. Studies have shown that full foot fins, all other things being equal, are slightly more efficient than open heel fins, and they are almost always lighter.

Cheers, Tim

meisburger:

Depends on where you dive. If you dive in cold water and want to wear booties, you need open heel fins. If you dive in warm water, primarily from boats, or want the lightest weight for traveling, full-foot fins are better. Studies have shown that full foot fins, all other things being equal, are slightly more efficient than open heel fins, and they are almost always lighter.

Cheers, Tim

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Anybody familiar with the IDI Seapower full foot fins. I found them in my size?

I wear full foot fins exclusively even though I own a few pairs of open heel fins. I have Mares Quattros, Avantitres, and Cressi-sub Gara 300 freediving fins. I wear either 3 or 5 mil neoprene socks with all unless divng in warm water on vacation. The power transfer is so much better with the full foots and they are far more streamlined than open heel fins. I don't climb over rocks too often to go diving so dive boots are not needed. The full foots feel like an extension of my leg as opposed to the opens that feel like buckets on my feet with slop in the pockets. Both of the Mares fins are versions of open heel fins and will push you just fine on scuba. The Cressis are very fast and efficient and my favorites for scuba. They would suck for any kind of penetration dive though or extended amounts of frog kicking. For open water and spearfishing they rock though, the harder you kick them it's like they go onto overdrive. I've never had a cold problem with the 5 mil socks either and they are actually warmer than my 5 mil boots due to their closer fit and less dead space and lack of water intrusion through the zipper.

Deadend, Are you able to wear the same fins with and without the socks, or do you need to use a different size?

Tim

meisburger:

Deadend, Are you able to wear the same fins with and without the socks, or do you need to use a different size?

Tim

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I can wear the Avantitres with or without socks. The others I like to wear socks with just to make the fit that much better and keep them from chafing.

Cool! I think I'll buy a pair of the three mm (if I can find them) and give it a try. I don't have problems with chafing, but there is one shore dive I do regularly that has a rocky entrance. The rock can be hot and painful, but socks might just do the trick.

Cheers, Tim