Giant Stride with Fins or Not

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I cant imagine any reason why any sane person would want to giant stride without fins on.

 

[don Francisco]

Generally I always go in with my fins on, but I have made exceptions. (not counting forgetting)

On a particular series of dives, the seas were pretty rough, but there wasn't any current. I felt walking on deck with the fins was too difficult and possibly dangerous, and there wasn't a decent place to put them on at the stern, so I tucked them tightly under my arm, jumped in and put them on in the water.

Three points, 1- I'm good at putting fins on quickly in the water from beach diving experience, 2- my fins are almost neutrally bouyant, so won't sink quickly if I drop them, and 3- this was a calculated decision in response to a unique situation.

In short; follow the best practice and jump in with fins on, but feel free to make a change if the situation warrants it.

 

[SteveAD]

He gives many reasons. for example, when entering the water with double and a stage he thinks that there are to many places for fins to get hooked on thus tripping in the boat.

Walking around while wearing fins makes almost as little sense as jumping in without them. I put on everything but the fins, walk to swim platform, put on my fins right at the jumping in point, and splash ready to swim. No tripping hazard, no in thw water without fins hazard.

But if that's how your buddy's comfortable, that's his business.

 

[drbill]

My fins are permanently attached to my feet. It does make dancing difficult but the lady has more area to stand on when we do.

I've done perhaps two thousand giant strides with my fins on and never once had a problem. I wouldn't put them on in the water because we are often in 100+ ft when we do the giant stride and then swim towards shore. If I dropped a fin in those depths it would be a hassle to recover.

Only time I've had my fins leave my feet that I can remember was when I was using some old back-up fins and the feather boa kelp (Egregia) wrapped itself around them as I entered the water from shore. The darned kelp took both fins off me and I didn't realize it until I tried to kick out.

Since I carry a reasonably large camera housing and lights, it is a PITA to put the fins on in the water, even if the housing is clipped off.

 

[Buoyant1]

Always on...I also make sure I have a FIRM grip on the ladder before removing them. (or at least the trail line in a few cases...in which case I don't let go of the trail line until the ladder is in hand)

 

[WVMike]

I almost always go in with my fins on my feet. Sometimes, I clear the area quickly and put them on in the water, it's really not a big deal. A couple of times (but not in over 20 years), I've gone in with no fins. Brain fart.

I had one of these brain farts, doing a giant stride without fins can be painfull. Seems the fins break the impact, and that impact between the legs without kinda hurt .

Always with from then on.

 

[ScubaSteve]

I had one of these brain farts, doing a giant stride without fins can be painfull. Seems the fins break the impact, and that impact between the legs without kinda hurt .

Always with from then on.

OUCH!!!

 

[DA Aquamaster]

He gives many reasons. for example, when entering the water with double and a stage he thinks that there are to many places for fins to get hooked on thus tripping in the boat.

I agree that walking around on a rolling and pitching boat deck with doubles and a stage in fins can be a challenge.

However the best way to address it is to get to the rail or exit point sans fins then lift your foot, have a crew member or buddy put the fin on for you, repeat with the other foot and then go over the side with both fins on.

There have been tech divers who have died jumping in with air off in a dry suit while over weighted. You drop like a stone, the squeeze on the suit restricts mobility so you can't reach your tank valves, and you just keep going to the bottom where you stay until they recover your now lifeless corpse. Deciding to jump in without fins just extends the potential for you to kill yourself in this interesting way to situations where you are only slighty too negatively bouyant.

Always check the regs right before you go over. I had a well meaning but slightly confused crew member turn off both posts, just before I went in about 3 weeks ago on a dive with heavy curent where I wanted to go in negatively bouyant. A just before I stepped off check of the regs pretty much saved me from an interesting yet stressful moment. Going in with no fins and no gas, would have greatly magnified the risks.

Similarly, you never want to go in with your fins off under any circumstances as it severely restricts your ability to tread water or swim if the situation requires and is essentially removing tools from the tool box that you might end upo needing.

Plus, more than on diver with a stage has had the stage come up and try to smack him in the face on entry, especially on a larger boat where the drop may be 5 or so feet to the water. If you are holding on to your fins, what else are you not holding on to? When entering with a stage, I hold it down with my left elbow over the top of the valve with my left hand securing the reg and mask. It leaves the right hand free for the boat until I jump and leaves that same hand immediately available for grabbing the current line.

No offense here but your buddy has an awful lot to learn and needs to get his stuff together and start thinking through the whole evolution before trying to solve what is a minor problem by creating 2 or 3 more much more serious ones.

Stop listening to him and maybe start helping him see the big picture before he gets himself hurt.

At this point my opinion also is that he has no business diving with doubles let alone a stage until he gets squared away on some very basic skills and develops at list a minimum degree of critical thinking ability.

 

[don Francisco]

I had one of these brain farts, doing a giant stride without fins can be painfull. Seems the fins break the impact, and that impact between the legs without kinda hurt :-(

Fins or no fins, get your knees together before hitting the water, especially from a high gunwhale. ;-0

 

[AbyssalPlains]

In this case, you are right, he is wrong. Entering the water without fins from a boat is one of the dumbest things a diver can do. He'll be fine as long there is no problem, but wait till he gets swept away in a current or his BC fails and he plummets to his death.