!) You live in snow covered Utah -- not much local diving for 6 months
Join a swim & exercise club- I strongly suspect that you need "toning" of your legs and respiratory system
swim with out fins to strengthen your legs and improve your respiratory system
2) Then considerer fins.-- long, short, narrow, wide,. with holes and with out holes- rubber straps -spring straps
In the early 1940s- 78 years ago Owen Potter Churchill introduced the "Swimming Fins' to the US- only 940 pairs were sold - all on the west coast of the US. In 1950 I purchased my first pair of Churchills for $9.95 from the major supplier Abacombre & Fitch in NYC.
Diving has certainly progressed sice that initial introduction
I always preferred the non adjustable extremely stiff as a board no longer produced "Duck Feet" designed and developed by Arthur "Bud" Browne- Last produced by Voit Rubber Company many years ago-- but they are out of the question. I used them for many years for SCUBA (which was called lung diving in those days of yesteryear) and for spearfishing when I would spend hours in the water and often swim for miles hopefully dragging a sizable fish on the way back like
@Hank49
But those were the days of yesteryear ….
When Georges Beuchat's "Jet fins" were imported by the new company SCUBA Pro appeared in the early 1960s I was given a pair to test by one of the company's founders Dick Bonin The fin was wide , adjustable and made of black rubber as opposed to long slim non adjustable and made of pure gum rubber. At that time I had been free diving (goggling) for over 15 years and I had legs a big as a telephone pole and just as hard- so the Jets offered little resistance and were easy to over swim and bend at about 90 degrees underwater with serious kicking- This past summer It was hot so I was in shorts - My teen age granddaughter commented "Grampa you sure have muscular legs!" I suspect
@Hank49 will some day receive the same type comment
I would suggest that you serious examine and consider the fins proposed by
@Ayisha -in post # 27, the UDT fin. A very modern version of the original Jet fins molded from space age material with very modern up grades and colors. Ayisha is a seasoned diver I would recommend as one who is a very knowledgeable and experienced. and I certainly appreciate her recommendation on fins !
Many years ago Dr Tony Christensen was working on his doctorate at UCLA - his dissertation was and evaluation of current swimming fins, It was discovered here is no universal diving fin - each has its own unique function in diving as dictated by length , shape, vents and stiffness ( or flexibility)
When my son Sam IV was a high school student in 1982, 36 years ago, he had a s human performance project - he chose "swim fin performance. " He set up a very crude but efficient evaluation harness and enlisted his youthful dive buddies including his father test as subjects. His evaluation disclosed that the original Mares Plana designed and developed by the great Herb Van Der Pol was over all the best fin for free diving as well as SCUBA. I began using "Planas" alternately with my "Jets"
Son Dr. Sam IV is currently director of the ER & Hyperbaric department at the local regional hospital,
.
In 1993 - 25 years ago I authored a 3 part article for the Historical Diving Society (HDS) titled
"A short history of diving fins ." If interested how it all began it is suggested that you research and read this article
3) You have a lot of suggestions on fins - some from "experienced' divers other from rank beginners -- take your choice
4) In closing I would recommend that you do some serious swimming and cardiac exercise all thus winter then begin your search in SLC or on line when the snow is melted and "spring has sprung"
Good L:uck,
Sam Miller, 111
@Akimbo
