Why the hate/ridicule for split fins?

[msinc]

Like anything in the USA that is not optimum power oriented or ultra high tech it will be made fun of by others. I don't use split fins, maybe one day I will. As I understand it they are to make "finning" easier on your legs because they are not as stiff, let some water "leak" thru and are less burdensome to swim with. For those that use them I don't imagine swimming against a heavy current is their idea of a really fun dive anyway. I believe some divers just don't need to swim as fast as possible and use them for the comfort. Anytime anything is used that can be seen as "less" powerful compared to some other device that does the same thing it is viewed as inferior. Pull 4 plug wires on your V-8 powered truck engine and drive it around...may suit you fine, but someone will laugh. They could have simply drilled holes in the fins {some one will now post why this is not true from an "engineering" standpoint} and done the same thing, but who would buy them? Just like the current rage for a BP/wing....Surely you are not still diving with a "poodle jacket"? Dude!!!!! it's 2018!!!!!

 

[aquacat8]

My LDS sold me not only split fins but mushy extra soft super buoyant Scubapro Twin Jets and I dove them for years. I was very foot light in them and learned to have a great time diving on the reef hanging upside down a lot and using my rear dump valve. It was because of Scubaboard and some cave diving buddies I met much later that I finally got leveled out with my awesome Scubapro Jet Fins. I wish I knew in the beginning what I know now, but then maybe I’d never have learned “upside down diving” LOL.

 

[MichaelMc]

My LDS sold me not only split fins but mushy extra soft

I think this possibility might be a source of any outrage. If effective splits also have a benefit of less cramps, but ineffective splits are sold to people with no cramping issues -- to avoid an issue they do not have, then these mislead divers may kick feebly about underwater, with no cramps..., relatively happy as long as they face no current. But also not seeing the motion freedom they could have had, flutter or otherwise, and think this whole scuba thing is pointless as clearly scuba divers can barely go very far underwater, and certainly not into a current.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Please enlighten me!

There is no "hate/ridicule for split fins" by thousands and thousands of divers around the world. Now, if you are you asking about "hate/ridicule for split fins" you perceive on SB, that's because a significant number of SB members are into what I might call precision diving--not necessarily technical diving, though the term would certainly include that. As you have probably noticed by now, the most vocal denizens of SB may not be representative of the average diver out there in the real world. A lot of divers couldn't care less about effective back-kicking or the precision of their (helicopter) turns. A lot of divers like not having to work their leg muscles so hard--they're on vacation, relaxing, not exploring a cave.

 

[northernone]

I tend to think they get ridiculed because they were heavily marketed with claims many of us did not feel were substantiated.

I own a couple pairs of them and don't hate on them, but do find them less suitable for most of the diving I do.

 

[The Chairman]

The internet presents us with a misleading vividness and ScubaBoard is not immune. Like any tool. splits have both pros and cons to using them. I dove them for two or three years, doing wreck penetrations and even into some caves. No one ever complained about my kicking which was a modified frog, about silt or about me keeping up in high flow. Splits require some adaptation from how many of my friends dive in order for them to work. If you want to go quicker in a paddle fin, you just kick harder. That will result in fin collapse with splits and you won't go anywhere fast. Rather, in order to go faster with splits you have to kick lighter/tighter but quicker. Do that and you can fly through any current, but it's not intuitive nor is it taught very often. In addition, kicking quicker turns this into more of a cardio sport, where you want to avoid cardio due to deco concerns as well as most of us (like me) aren't built for cardio. My legs are oak trees. I can kick the crap out of a mule but you won't catch me trying to sprint anywhere. Ergo, splits become ineffective for me in a current or when I'm towing someone.

In addition #2: they don't come in XXL. I wear Navy Seal boots. They ain't dainty but they support my ankles on rocks and on rocking boats. The last time I discussed splits I got three pair in the mail wanting me to see that I was wrong. They are hard to dive if your foot won't fit!

 

[aquacat8]

I think some of us feel maybe, just maybe, we were sold a $200 pair of fins the dive shop wanted to get rid of when just a few feet away were a more affordable, tried and true, time tested, elegant, durable, precise, and dare I say sexy alternative that we’d wind up having to plunk down cash for later when we we wised up.

 

[Lorenzoid]

. . . If you want to go quicker in a paddle fin, you just kick harder. That will result in fin collapse with splits and you won't go anywhere fast. Rather, in order to go faster with splits you have to kick lighter/tighter but quicker. Do that and you can fly through any current, . . .

So the analogy might be: split fins are to stiff paddle fins (e.g., Jets) as first gear on a car is to third gear? If you don't want to go slow in first gear, the engine needs to crank up the RPMs. Another analogy might be a pulley system: you can lift a heavy weight with less force, but you have to pull a longer distance on the rope. Is my thinking correct?

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Many number if reasons split fins were ridiculed. It started with the tech, DIR, GUE, hoo-ra crowd who pretty much ripped them to the ground. They claimed they couldn’t be used effectively for heli turns, modified frog kicks, backing up, they silted everything out, etc.
They also came in all sorts of sissy colors like pink purple and hot yellow which according to them was ridiculous because everyone knows everything HAS to be black or it’s not real gear. Pool toys and tourist snorkelling gear is brightly colored, not real gear.
Splits are great for going forward doing the standard flutter kick. Some people can make them work for everything, but not many.
At the time, 99% of regular divers only did flutter kicking anyway so splits fit in well. Easy to kick, no leg cramping, enough power for regular easy diving, fashionable colors, what more do you want?
If there was no mainstreaming and leak over from the tech world into the regular scuba world on the internet they would have probably been accepted a little better. The rec scuba world was actually beginning to embrace them.

On top of that, there was also an old contingent of veterans that saw split fins as yet another gear solution to an ever increasing problem of more ordinary people getting into the sport and “watering it down”. Or put another way, a piece of gear designed for people too weak and without adequate leg strength and conditioning to use regular “manly” fins, which in they’re opinion those people probably shouldn’t even be diving anyway.
At the same time, Jets were experiencing a rebirth if popularity through the tech world. Remember, there were several times when Jets were Almost discontinued and considered obsolete by SP.

As I remember, there was an epic cage match between the two fins on Scubaboard that went on for several years. Both fins got pretty bloodied up, but the Jets won (I guess). I don’t see splits much anymore in dive shops, more paddle fins, and Jets are still hanging on their own peg so I guess they did win.
I’ve tried many fins and my favorite split fins were the SP split jets. I liked those better than the Apollo Bio Fins which were too noodley for me.
I thought split jets were actually better than Sea Wing Nova’s, and for flutter kicking they blew away standard Jets. Regular Jets are good for every kick EXCEPT flutter kicking.
My personal favorite currently for most power and best overall flutter kicking efficiency are freediving fins.

Fin debates have gotten so heated on scubaboard that people have been banned over it.

 

[RyanT]

The last time I discussed splits I got three pair in the mail wanting me to see that I was wrong.

I hate rebreathers, shearwater computers, and high quality regs....OK, waiting by the mailbox.