looking for new fins

[Rescue Diver68]

I love my Mares Fins. All of them (5 Pairs). I would never, never, never, buy split fins. I equate split fins to swinging at a baseball with a broken bat. Why? Split fins are "broken" to me. RJP can explain this much better than I can. He has some photo's on how to repair split fins to make them usable. I can produce any kick with my Mares fins and many Aqualung fins are faves amongst my dive buddies.

 

[noreastDIVER84]

How would you describe the difference?

Well the Quattros did move me through the water ok, but the Slingshots(even on the least resistance) move me quite a bit better. Especially in the strong currents that I have been diving in.

 

[elmer fudd]

So far I like my Hollis F1's best, but I've only really used three sets of fins. The F1's are just a good all around pair of fins. They're easy to put on, comfortable, tough and work well with most any kick. They don't flutter kick as well as split fins though.

My Mares Avantis worked alright, but the plastic got chewed up really easily. After about 90 dives they looked like they had gone through a war and lost.

I like my Bio-Fins, but they really don't give you the same rapid acceleration that paddle fins do. Yes, they're fairly fast and flutter kicks are effortless, but you don't just kick them once or twice and find yourself moving through the water at 2 knots. They also suck for frog kicks, but honestly, that's not a real problem.

I couldn't get the used Jetfins I was given recently to fit over my wet boots, but hopefully they'll fit with my drysuit and I'll get to test them too.

 

[RJP]

RJP can explain this much better than I can. He has some photo's on how to repair split fins to make them usable.

Another satisfied customer...

 

[fredgodive]

thanks for the info

 

[fredgodive]

can you explane helicopter turns thanks

 

[knowone]

Look it up on the computer machine where you will find all sorts of interesting things.

 

[rongoodman]

can you explane helicopter turns thanks

They're a variation on the frog kick. You're basically doing a forward kick with one fin and a backward kick with the other, which has the effect of spinning you in place.

 

[Dominantly]

I have Slingshots and love them. They move a lot of water, so on their highest setting you have no problem moving through the water at a swift pace. This assumes you have the leg muscle for it of course, no fin is going to give you muscle and endurance you don't already have.
These also adjust on the go, so when you want to have less resistance you just adjust it and enjoy the soft kick.

I know a lot of people who love and stick with the JET and Rocket fins, which are great as well in their own right. The company I work for uses Rocket Fins for a lot of their operations.

 

[elmer fudd]

I own both, and there are excellent examples of both.

Here are the key differences as I see them.

1) Split fins flutter kick with much, much less resistance. It almost feels like you're not wearing fins. However, you do have to increase your cadence as you don't move as far with each kick cycle.

2) Paddle fins frog kick much better.

3) Paddle fins provide more instant acceleration. Both types of fins will eventually get you moving at about the same speed, but when you kick hard and fast with paddle fins they give you an instant burst of speed that splits can't match.

4) Paddle fins are better at helicopter turns. I wouldn't let this sway me though. Both types are more than adequate and you shouldn't have any problem doing helicopter turns with splits, paddles just do it faster and easier.

5) I find split fins seem to move me significantly better when swimming on my back on the surface. For those long surface swims I think they're a better choice.

6) They both fight current just fine.


As far as silting things up goes, I think paddle fins are slightly better, but 90% of this is a matter of technique. If you bend your knees 90 degrees and then kick using primarily your feet, lower legs and ankles you can do either a flutter kick or a frog kick that minimizes silt. Otherwise, I think a standard frogkick tends to produce less silt than a standard flutter kick, and for that reason, I would give the paddles an edge.

The other thing to keep in mind is that the fins really excel at two different types of kicks. Split fins are just hands down better for flutter kicks and paddle fins are hands down better at frog kicks. So don't try to force them to be what they're not. If you do, you'll be disappointed in their performance. Compared to paddles, split fins will feel like you've got floppy ribbons on your feet that don't get you anywhere when you frogkick with them. Compared to splits, paddles will feel like you're really straining your leg muscles when you flutter kick, while doing the same kicks with splits would seem almost effortless.