Are you helpless without fins?

[Mike Boswell]

I remember a couple of years ago, I had to do a drysuit orientation for a diver prior to them doing a drysuit course later in the week.

Typically, student turns up with the rental drysuit form the LDS and their fins didn't fit the boots. I ended up doing the entire session with no fins, as I lent them my fins to use.

After introducing the skills, my student was just swimming deep-shallow-deep to get used to controlling the air in the suit - I used that time to practice some of my own skills. I was quite happily back-kicking across the pool with no fins at the same speed some OW students were swimming forwards in the pool - that certainly drew a comment or two.

Don't confuse "unfamiliar" and "out of control". You expect a certain feedback when you are in dive gear because you are used to having fins on - the more time you spend with them off, the more used to that feeling you get and the more apparent control you have. Go jump in the pool for a few hours with no fins and see how quickly you get comfortable with it.

Thanks for the great post, Andy. I have felt exactly that "unfamiliar" feeling of trying to swim without fins, and it is unnerving, especially when you are trying to swim back to a boat ladder against a current.

It's interesting that we practice mask removal, but not swimming without fins. I suppose it's rare that a diver would lose their fins, but it happens.

 

[TSandM]

In our Intro to Cave class, we were given an exercise where we had to take our fins off (and hold them, which REALLY played heck with my balance) and swim a square -- back kick, helicopter to the new heading, back kick . . . It was, shall we say, interesting. But we both did it.

 

[Teamcasa]

Here in SoCal, most of the boats ask you to remove your fins before climbing up the ladder. There is always a crew member to help and you are only to do so after you are hanging onto or sitting on the swim step. (A few people remove the weight pockets as well.)
It's a rare event that once you remove your fins that you do not go directly up the ladder. Should you loose your grip and are unable to get back to the step, that crew member is there to jump in and give you a hand.

 

[burna]

There's been a couple of times when doing a pier dive where I have taken my fins off while waiting for my turn to go up the ladder. I like to give the drysuit a decent squirt of air to enhance 'free movement', you know what I mean fellas.

I have drifted away from the pier a metre or so and then got floaty feet and have to roll around on the surface like I'm having a fit to try a shift the bubble back to where it's 'sposed to be!

 

[Walter]

Here in SoCal, most of the boats ask you to remove your fins before climbing up the ladder.

That's a totally different issue. I remove my fins before climbing the ladder, I just don't hand them off. I put them on my wrist.

 

[Teamcasa]

That's a totally different issue. I remove my fins before climbing the ladder, I just don't hand them off. I put them on my wrist.

If that make you happy, cool. Here, most just hand them off and get on the boat.

 

[Walter]

Most do that everywhere. It's a bad habit.

 

[TMHeimer]

I'm sure some of you have seen this, but I never have. The boat had, in addition to it's trail line, about a 10 foot rope from the stern with a big loop on the end. We took our fins off, slipped them on the rope and held on to the loop, trapping them on the line. Crew pulled us in by that rope and took the fins. I guess if you let go of the loop you'd lose the fins, but it worked great.

 

[liuk3]

That's a totally different issue. I remove my fins before climbing the ladder, I just don't hand them off. I put them on my wrist.

Ditto.

 

[Walter]

I'm sure some of you have seen this, but I never have. The boat had, in addition to it's trail line, about a 10 foot rope from the stern with a big loop on the end. We took our fins off, slipped them on the rope and held on to the loop, trapping them on the line. Crew pulled us in by that rope and took the fins. I guess if you let go of the loop you'd lose the fins, but it worked great.

Instead of slipping them over the line, why didn't you slip them over your wrist? It would have worked as well with the added benefit of not making it easy to lose your fins and if you fell back in the water, you would've had your fins with you.