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

[boulderjohn]

Interesting. Not an expert in sidemount so can't comment on the waist strap bladder issue. I dove the SMS 50 (Sport) with 7mm wet suit and also dry suit (with AL80s only), and they will trim out fine with shoulder weights. It's a fairly standard solution. If lift wasn't a problem (I'm diving LP85s and AL40 deco bottle in 40s water), I'd still be diving the SMS 50 which is very travel friendly. Before getting the SMS 100, I weighed the option of the SMS 75. I like it a lot but its lift is still borderline for cold water diving, IMO. Hence the SMS 100. I implemented some of Edd's mods (esp. tightening the upper part of the bladder so that left biases toward the hip area) which works fine. Being a bit bulky is its main drawback. Not going on the plane as carry on.

As you probably surmised, the instructor for my class was Edd. Lift was indeed a problem for me with the SMS 50. I was not going to be putting any lead in the shoulder with LP 85s, believe me. Of course, it depends upon which brand of LP 85 you are talking about. I own Worthingtons. Fabers are lighter.

 

[JesperS]

Completely different design, but I love my EXP fins and they are buoyant

 

[flots am]

As you probably surmised, the instructor for my class was Edd. Lift was indeed a problem for me with the SMS 50.

The 50 is really low on lift. If you're using a couple of 80's and a thin wetsuit it's probably OK. Much more than that is a problem.

I bought mine when it first came out, from a picture, and wish I'd waited to try it in person.

It's OK with a drysuit and not-too-much gas if you weight yourself properly, but it's really just for warm water.

flots.

 

[boulderjohn]

The 50 is really low on lift. If you're using a couple of 80's and a thin wetsuit it's probably OK. Much more than that is a problem.

I bought mine when it first came out, from a picture, and wish I'd waited to try it in person.

It's OK with a drysuit and not-too-much gas if you weight yourself properly, but it's really just for warm water.

flots.

I agree. I sent mine back, and it is supposed to be replaced by a SMS 75 some day.

 

[flots am]

I agree. I sent mine back, and it is supposed to be replaced by a SMS 75 some day.

They'll do that? I thought I was stuck with it.

 

[boulderjohn]

They'll do that? I thought I was stuck with it.

Depends upon who "they" are. In this case it was the dive shop through which I got it. They were admittedly completely ignorant about side mount options and could not give me good advice when I bought it. They felt bad and made the trade. I believe they discussed it with Hollis first, though.

 

[bada3003]

The only thing that matters is how well the fin directs the water in the opposite direction from your intended direction of travel. It doesn't really matter if it's one hard kick or two easy kicks. Energy is energy and efficiency is efficiency.
flots.

Yes and no. Your reasoning certainly applies to convection heaters (and many other things) where energy (watts) and resultant BTUs matter, and advertisements that suggest otherwise (no free lunch) are misleading. And the part about efficiency is correct.

In the case of human physiology, a closer analogy might be riding a bicycle with gear. With some amount of friction (suppose an upslope), you can put it in high gear and apply significant force to go a fixed distance. You can apply the same total energy in low gear which entails pedaling more to reach the same distance. When overcoming significant inertia or friction, the latter is preferred by many. Human physiology biases toward a preferred operating range. Of course, the details will dictate which is viewed as less "tiring". But total energy conservation is not the main principle at hand.

---------- Post added May 16th, 2014 at 09:38 PM ----------

The SMS 50 question has relevance to OP's original question due to small lift and putting trim weights on the shoulder harness. The OP did not provide details where he/she dives. In cold waters, I think SMS 100 is preferred over SMS 75 and 50 due to lift. Had the SMS 75 45 lbs of lift (or thereabouts) I would have gotten it instead of the SMS 100. After all, it has the improvements of Sorenson et al. incorporated in its design. I also looked carefully at the Stealth 2.0 but, again, it has lift in a similar range as SMS 75. Hence, if you're diving in FL caves, SMS 75 seems to be the clear choice. As boulderjohn has indicated. If diving in warm waters without stage/deco bottles, SMS 50 is hard to beat. In cold waters, SMS 100 might be best. My 2 cents. BTW, there's a recent thread in the sidemount diving forum (facebook) that discusses SMS 50 rigging. But a bit removed from the OP's original question.

Depends upon who "they" are. In this case it was the dive shop through which I got it. They were admittedly completely ignorant about side mount options and could not give me good advice when I bought it. They felt bad and made the trade. I believe they discussed it with Hollis first, though.

 

[SWAMPY459]

Just wanted to update this after getting a few dives in and trying different options to solve the problem... moving weights to my shoulders trimmed it out perfectly and I don't feel the weight of the fins like I did before.

The trade off is that now I can't have the weights on my tanks now, so I'm back to using extra d rings on the belt.

I'm finding sidemount is a continuous game of "you can do this, but you have to give up that to do it"

The benefits far outweigh the cons though

 

[CamG]

Swampy SM is the ballet of diving and if you dive with as little as weight as possible you always are mindful of adding new gear.
I actually switched from Dive Rite EXP's to Jet's for the added weight it balanced me a bit better.
I still have the EXP's and have quite a few dives on them could switch back anytime.
I dive a SMS 100 modded, Faber LP 85's, BARE Tech Dry, Jet fins no extra weight.
Most of my friends dive with shoulder weights depends on the individual.

CamG

 

[DragonslayerAZ]

I'm in the same boat playing with fins and my sms 50. Lucky me that I have slipstreams, lightning jets, and rocket 2s. So far I like my rocket 2s weight/trim charecteristics vs power but the holes in the fins are a drawback on snagging something.