Jet fins for your hands?

[Scott L]

EXACTLY!

I had the opportunity to watch/study and video 20-30 divers, from novice to master, all in the water at the same time at Weeki Wachi springs state park in Weeki Wachi FL. For those of you not familiar with Weeki Wachi, It is a large, clear, natural spring with an underwater glass viewing area. It's sort of like watching fish swim in a fish bowl. My focus of course was on their hands.They ALL used their hands for a wide variety of manuevers. forward thrust, reverse (backing up), rotating and position control just to name a few. The most interesting thing I found was that every time someone used their hands, their fingers were in a relaxed OPEN position, not cupped for efficiency. This could, with little stretch of the imagination, imply that at one time in our evolution we may have had "natural finger webbing". By becoming land creatures the finger webbing dissapeared....

I still don't know how anyone who dives or snorkels can look at Darkfin Gloves and NOT GET IT!

The Devolution Continues!

.....

 

[elmer fudd]

The two things I notice in that video about the gloves, is that they seem to have little effect on manual dexterity and that the girl swimming backwards with them is propelling herself along more quickly and with less effort than any back kick I have seen. Of course as often as not when you're diving, your hands are occupied, so I can't see these ever replacing back kicks for serious divers.

I might be tempted to buy a pair of these for snorkeling, but I doubt they'd fit into the scuba diving that I do. It's just too cold around here and drysuits really don't lend themselves to hand swimming.

 

[Zippsy]

The two things I notice in that video about the gloves, is that they seem to have little effect on manual dexterity and that the girl swimming backwards with them is propelling herself along more quickly and with less effort than any back kick I have seen. Of course as often as not when you're diving, your hands are occupied, so I can't see these ever replacing back kicks for serious divers.

I might be tempted to buy a pair of these for snorkeling, but I doubt they'd fit into the scuba diving that I do. It's just too cold around here and drysuits really don't lend themselves to hand swimming.

That has got to be the best post about these gloves I have seen (although the only thing I usually do with my hands is point). EF actually did some research before making a comment; he gave an honest opinion noting good and bad points; he explained why they would not work for him personally; he did not make a blanket statement why only poor divers would ever use them or that someone would die using them. EF, you have revived my faith in humanity!!!!!

 

[elmer fudd]

I'm not exactly sold on the idea, but I'm not really hostile to it either. It seems to me that both fins and hand swimming are incredibly inefficient. Our legs are not well suited to a prolonged kicking motion. What we are really good at is a stepping/climbing/pedaling motion with significant resistance. Imagine just how slow and awkward a bike would seem if you had to work the pedals with a flutter kick.

Anyone who has ever fought a current realizes it's much, much easier to use your hands to pull yourself along the bottom than it is to try to swim against it. That's because it allows us to use the muscles that we have in their natural manner.

So I find these gloves interesting for that reason. Obviously, they don't go nearly far enough to simulate pulling yourself across the bottom, but I still find them intriguing.

 

[highdesert]

I want someone who's into UW photography to try them out and report back about how well they can manipulate their rig ... would be interesting. I'm guessing Nemrod isn't gonna volunteer ...

 

[Krenath]

I have my order now, and I pulled out my camera housing to see how much the gloves affect my ability to use the controls.

The webbing itself doesn't interfere at all. Like the website says, the webbing is across the backs of the hands, not between the fingers directly. There's very little that these gloves interfere with. I was able to unpack my dive bag and assemble my gear on a tank without really noticing that I had them on.

Due to the fact that the gloves are rubber/latex/whatever rather than leather and lycra and neoprene, I've noticed a tendency for them to make your fingers spring open. And whoever these gloves were molded from had a tendency to hold his pinky a LOT further out to the side than I'm comfortable with. It's mildly annoying that I end up operating the camera with my pinky finger extended like I'm at a tea party unless I concentrate on not doing it.

The gloves are also solid rubber/latex/whatever, so if you wear them on land for very long for some silly reason, they get sweaty since they don't breathe and your hands smell funny when you take them off. Bleh.

Oh, and I've typed all of the above with one of the gloves on my right hand.

I think I would really like these if they came in a version based on a typical reef glove with leather on the inside of the palms and fingers and a neoprene or rubber webbing across the backs of the hands.

Next time I get a chance to go diving, these are definitely coming along to see what sort of difference they make when they're being used properly

 

[highdesert]

Oooohhh ... rubber and latex!!! Are there some great fetish scenarios where these would be ... umm ... useful???

OK, just kidding, couldn't help it!

 

[Mattleycrue76]

Let us know how they work please for each type of stroke.

These gloves were specifically designed with strokes in mind.


Sorry, I couldn't resist

 

[Bryan]

Resistance is futile. You have already been assimilated.

Right, so the gloves arrived this week!

Right out of the package, I noticed that the exterior of the glove felt slightly rough... like the interior of a flocked dishwashing glove, but black. This surprised me at first, until I realized it gave the material much more grip. The interior of the glove was smooth... so it was almost like an inside-out dishwashing glove.

The glove was molded to the shape of a curved hand with fingers slightly spread out.

After trying the glove on when dry, I read the instructions which said you could also put the glove on while in the water, which was much easier. They fit perfectly!

I then decided to try out a few laps in the pool with them on, and found that I was swimming much faster than before, and was able to turn on a dime when I reached the walls.

I found that one could very accurately control their position--and even propel themselves--using only the gloves (no fins), so I suspect they would indeed be useful for photographers.

After swimming for an hour, I took them off and experienced no hand cramping or tiredness... they seem to be designed very well.

I might take them on my next dive just for fun. Of course, if there are any DIR types around, I'll wait until they pass so they don't get offended and tell me I'll die! XD

 

[doctormike]

Mine are packed, and I'll be trying them out in Key Largo this weekend...! They fit well, haven't gotten them wet yet...