Use of the long free diving fins while on scuba when spearfishing
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Scuba_tacoma
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Anyone have experience with Imersion E? They sell an open heal fin that I am curious about. I want to try a harder fin but having a hard time giving up my open heal fins due to my diving conditions.
dumpsterDiver
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What are your diving conditions - that push you away from the more efficient full foot fin pocket?
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I have said this before....there is no full foot pocket as effective in power transfer as the Riffe Silent Hunter open heel foot pockets....you can see them in an earlier post by me in this thread.
I have tried dozens of high end freediving fin types....and none compare to the Riffes....they are more like a cycling shoe concept, with a stiff bottom sole ( like a cycling shoe), to take the torque from the big blades...
Not much of an issue with soft and medium stiffness blades, but a huge issue with the stiffest deep drop freedivng fins....
I have tried dozens of high end freediving fin types....and none compare to the Riffes....they are more like a cycling shoe concept, with a stiff bottom sole ( like a cycling shoe), to take the torque from the big blades...
Not much of an issue with soft and medium stiffness blades, but a huge issue with the stiffest deep drop freedivng fins....
Scuba_tacoma
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Probably nothing too crazy but I dive nc and Sc. We can have some currents and high seas. The last thing I need to be doing is fumbling with fins with a rocking ladder. Tradition, I like my easy spring strap and the stability of a boot on a slick boat deck.
Haven't seen an open heel freedive fin. Thought closed heel was better ? Any recommendations for a soft fin ?
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Dive R's come in soft, medium and stiff...and I think more in between. At around $400 for a set of blades, they are very pricey...like Lamborghinis of fins...Worth it to me...allow me to out swim $6000 scooters for hour long dives up to 100 feet deep..... ( for 160 foot deep and deeper dives, I use a scooter, with the DiveR's
Mako's or composite Cressi are much better price points, and are both vastly superior to all scuba fins--except for cave or penetration diving.
Again, the Riffe Silent Hunter foot pockets are a great way to get optimal power transfer from the stiff bladed freedive fins....but many of the full foot pockets, do optimally with medium and soft freedive fins( blades).
Lots of instructors will chime in with some preaching about why divers should swim slow.....when you are right in the middle of what you want to see...sure, you should swim slow, or hover.....there are also plenty of times you are looking for something, and it is not coming to you--you have to go looking for it..to swim to it. For this, being able to swim 3 mph at a low heart rate and breathing rate, allows your hour long dive to get you to far more places, where you might find that something you are looking for.
I have no problem with divers that want to swim slow...it is their right, and each of us has a right to enjoy whatever underwater "mission" they want to be on, for their dive--as long as it breaks no laws or moral imperatives
Too bad the slow divers have to be so preachy about what they think is wrong about going faster from point A to B....
I don't spearfish. I found this thread in my search for long fins.
I agree with needing the ability to swim fast. You don't always need it, but sometimes it is necessary. I shoot video and frequently need to get to and maintain position with swimming marine life.
I'm going to venture and buy long fins. I found a European company called Leaderfins that has fiberglass fins at a very affordable price.
I agree with needing the ability to swim fast. You don't always need it, but sometimes it is necessary. I shoot video and frequently need to get to and maintain position with swimming marine life.
I'm going to venture and buy long fins. I found a European company called Leaderfins that has fiberglass fins at a very affordable price.
Eric Sedletzky
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I totally agree with the need to swim fast sometimes. There are many different applications to diving. Some people go very slow to look at stuff, some need to cover a lot of ground to look FOR stuff, I do both.
I'm an avid hunter. Hunting requires a lot of speed and stealth. This is why most hunters choose to freedive, because it allows them the stealth and speed needed to sneak up on and chase down their prey. Many freedivers also don't know that there is a way to fuse scuba and freediving into getting the best out of both worlds. I talked to freedivers, and many don't know that there is gear out there besides clunky jacket BC's and short fins or split fins for scuba, and this gear (or lack thereof) does allow a diver to use long blade fins for max speed and efficiency. If they knew this I think they would be more open to using scuba gear for some of the hunting they do, for instance large expanses of sand looking for halibut. Not all of them are politically opposed to hunting on scuba.
The freedive world and the scuba world for all practical purposes of discussion are completely separate now and have been for years. They don't know what we do and we don't know what they do. It's too bad too because we could benefit greatly from some of their techniques and gear.
The divers that constantly try to hammer the point that you must go slow simply don't know, or don't want to know, that there are other ways of diving besides what they do. Part of this may be because of the gear choices they've made, it becomes an issue with C02 loading the harder they have to work to maintain speed using the wrong gear for going fast. So they push the mantra 'go slow' and just enjoy looking at things. Well I enjoy looking at sea life too, on my dinner plate, but I can go slow too, at a fraction of effort they use I might add.
The other thing I can sort of understand as a fad, but I certainly wouldn't get one just to join in (too expensive) and that's a scooter. My diving only involves normally less than 100 feet. Most of the time 60ish feet. I actually enjoy having strong legs and the exercise and shape finning gives me. Perhaps another reason some divers use scooters in my neck of the woods where we don't have caves or wrecks or anything really deep for that matter, is because of the undue drag that their choices of gear contributes. Drysuits, can lights/cords, big thigh pockets stuffed with items, large wings, doubles, all this stuff heavily contributes to drag and it becomes a real chore to get anywhere. So maybe this is where a scooter would come in handy to drag them around with minimal effort on their part. Seems kind of like gear to cover for gear, but what do I know? Then of course the buddy thing: if one gets a scooter then any other diver in that 'team' will need a scooter. I could see in a cave, or perhaps to cover a deep wreck from end to end, hauling deco bottles etc., but just out in the plain ocean off our coast doing single tank non deco dives? it's just odd to me. Not to mention one more thing I need to drag across the beach
I think there's nothing better and more refreshing than a good old fashioned kick dive.
I'm an avid hunter. Hunting requires a lot of speed and stealth. This is why most hunters choose to freedive, because it allows them the stealth and speed needed to sneak up on and chase down their prey. Many freedivers also don't know that there is a way to fuse scuba and freediving into getting the best out of both worlds. I talked to freedivers, and many don't know that there is gear out there besides clunky jacket BC's and short fins or split fins for scuba, and this gear (or lack thereof) does allow a diver to use long blade fins for max speed and efficiency. If they knew this I think they would be more open to using scuba gear for some of the hunting they do, for instance large expanses of sand looking for halibut. Not all of them are politically opposed to hunting on scuba.
The freedive world and the scuba world for all practical purposes of discussion are completely separate now and have been for years. They don't know what we do and we don't know what they do. It's too bad too because we could benefit greatly from some of their techniques and gear.
The divers that constantly try to hammer the point that you must go slow simply don't know, or don't want to know, that there are other ways of diving besides what they do. Part of this may be because of the gear choices they've made, it becomes an issue with C02 loading the harder they have to work to maintain speed using the wrong gear for going fast. So they push the mantra 'go slow' and just enjoy looking at things. Well I enjoy looking at sea life too, on my dinner plate, but I can go slow too, at a fraction of effort they use I might add.
The other thing I can sort of understand as a fad, but I certainly wouldn't get one just to join in (too expensive) and that's a scooter. My diving only involves normally less than 100 feet. Most of the time 60ish feet. I actually enjoy having strong legs and the exercise and shape finning gives me. Perhaps another reason some divers use scooters in my neck of the woods where we don't have caves or wrecks or anything really deep for that matter, is because of the undue drag that their choices of gear contributes. Drysuits, can lights/cords, big thigh pockets stuffed with items, large wings, doubles, all this stuff heavily contributes to drag and it becomes a real chore to get anywhere. So maybe this is where a scooter would come in handy to drag them around with minimal effort on their part. Seems kind of like gear to cover for gear, but what do I know? Then of course the buddy thing: if one gets a scooter then any other diver in that 'team' will need a scooter. I could see in a cave, or perhaps to cover a deep wreck from end to end, hauling deco bottles etc., but just out in the plain ocean off our coast doing single tank non deco dives? it's just odd to me. Not to mention one more thing I need to drag across the beach
I think there's nothing better and more refreshing than a good old fashioned kick dive.
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Actually the main reason I use a scooter, is to create a steady cam effect for my video.....Most of my dives are less than 130 feet deep, where I can do any distance or speed I want by just swimming with the DiveR fins.... When we do tech dives, the scooter is way smarter....
Scooters are a huge pain in the butt when gearing up on the boat, getting the camera on it, and then having to walk down the boat from the front to back--big fins on and scooter attached to crotch strap.....carrying it..and then the mad rush to get in on DIVE, DIVE, DIVE without hurting the camera or scooter......once in the water it is worth it, but I can't imagine many divers wanting to put up with this.
[video=youtube;QcRKMXqd6lI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcRKMXqd6lI&[/video]
This video captures much of what we use scooters for....or, for that matter, the alternative of just my using DiveR freedive fins...which are just as fast, but not as stable/not a steady cam....
Scooters are a huge pain in the butt when gearing up on the boat, getting the camera on it, and then having to walk down the boat from the front to back--big fins on and scooter attached to crotch strap.....carrying it..and then the mad rush to get in on DIVE, DIVE, DIVE without hurting the camera or scooter......once in the water it is worth it, but I can't imagine many divers wanting to put up with this.
[video=youtube;QcRKMXqd6lI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcRKMXqd6lI&[/video]
This video captures much of what we use scooters for....or, for that matter, the alternative of just my using DiveR freedive fins...which are just as fast, but not as stable/not a steady cam....
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