What's wrong with Split Fins??

[fisherdvm]

BTW....have there been any studies done to find out if DIR mice, laugh at non-DIR mice with full fins?

Do DIR mice need to be black? Can they be neutered, or fully testosteronized?

 

[RiverRat]

For the OP:
I know this poor fellow has been beaten a million times over. But if you can get a hold of it, the Oct. 2005 issue of Scuba Diving did a real in depth test comparing 16 fins over 5 days. It covers everything we hammered in this thread (and many others) and then some. If you can't get a copy PM me and I'll try to look up a fin or email you some info.

 

[GA Under Water]

Okay, it's time for my first newbie post, and probably a stupid question, BUT here goes! I was reading the orange shovel thread, and noticed a few people don't like split fins, why?? My OW class is in less than a month, and I've been planning on buying split fins. Mainly because I'm not that strong of a swimmer, and it sounds like they would help me out a lot. Is there some reason split fins would not be a good decision? I also saw several comments about spring straps? My husband has both split fins, and spring straps, and he loves them! All I know is on my discover scuba dive in the Bahamas I had horrible tiny fins, that were not split, and had a really hard time staying afloat. (of course it didn't help that my instructor kept letting air out of my bc, causing me to be stuck on the bottom) It seems like everytime I've decided on what equipment I want, I read something that makes me doubt that decision. I have yet to read anything bad about split fins, so please tell me why people don't like them, so I can make my decision! :shakehead

Never go off what someone tells you, Try them out then make your decision. Find a buddy that will lend you some or even a Dive shop may lend you a pair. Try them all. I tried many and even wasted money on Jets before finally getting my Twin Jets.

 

[ffestpirate]

Do DIR mice need to be black? Can they be neutered, or fully testosteronized?

Either is acceptable provided they dive purple fins unlike their human counterparts. However, they do require a BPW or they will be laughed at and called a dork.

 

[fisherdvm]

Either is acceptable provided they dive purple fins unlike their human counterparts. However, they do require a BPW or they will be laughed at and called a dork.

Apparently, some of the mice are scared to go in the water without their snorkels, are snorkels allowed too?

 

[String]

They feel very soft, but actually work well. You need to kick with a much shorter stroke (keep the fins pretty much in line with your body) to make them work.

Which isn't possible with frog kick.

Floppy fins in a strong current are a laughable idea too.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Women have lower SAC than men, unless she is 300+ lbs, which I doubt, she will most likely have a better SAC than you. Split fins are overpriced training wheels.

This sort of generalization isn't helpful ... either to the OP or information for new divers in general (on either topic).

Fact - many women have better air consumption than their male counterparts due to their smaller size. That is not always the case, however. There are a lot of variables that go into air consumption rates, and size is only one of them ... and not the most important one. For example, I'm larger and much heavier than Cheng (my primary dive buddy) ... and yet I have better air consumption. One of the biggest reasons for that is that I dive much more often, and have learned how to be very relaxed in the water. Even when conditions mandate some effort, I'm generally working less hard than whomever happens to be swimming beside me ... because I've learned how to do it. That's perhaps the biggest factor in air consumption.

Fin choices have little to do with air consumption. Cheng uses split fins ... and I used to. I put over 650 dives on mine ... in all kinds of different conditions ... before trading them in for a set of Turtles.

A lot of what I'm reading in this thread is either marketing hyperbole or utter BS ... and while everyone's entitled to an opinion it isn't answering the OP's question.

My experience ... split fins have their place in recreational diving. But like every other piece of gear out there they have their upsides and their downsides.

As someone (I think it was Howarde) pointed out ... they are a very attractive option for a newly-certified diver. Most people generally learn only the flutter kick in OW class, and splits use the motion of a flutter kick very well. That's what they're designed to do. Because the split fin is much softer than a typical paddle fin, it absorbs some of the kick ... and therefore it has less resistance ... which reduces the tendency in the newer diver to cramp in the foot and calf muscles. That's the good news. The bad news is that the same design that produces that effect also makes the fin a less optimal choice for sculling type kicks that produce glide. Oh, you can learn those kicks and use them in splits ... but the motion is less efficient and you'll get less glide per kick. The fin's just not designed to optimize that motion.

When I was using splits I could frog kick just fine ... and on our recent trip to Cozumel I got video of Cheng frog kicking in hers. If I get some time this evening I'll download one of those videos and post a link here. What you'll observe is that (a) she uses more knee motion than is needed in paddle fins (where you use more ankle motion), which requires more body movement and therefore energy, and (b) the kick isn't as efficient as you'd expect (producing less glide) with a paddle fin. But certainly it can be done.

When I was using splits, I also developed a pretty good helicopter turn ... although it was more like turning in small circles than pivoting about an axis. I never succeeeded in doing a back kick ... the design of the fin simply caused it to concave and absorb all the motion of the kick without producing the desired result. But if those kicks aren't important to you (and they wouldn't be for the typical recreational reef diver), then the advantages of an easier kicking fin might be desireable for you.

The notion that splits create more silting is absurd ... silting is created by poor technique, not gear choices. We know something about silt here in the PNW ... one of our most popular dive sites is famous for it. And, frankly, I see people in splits who can glide along inches from the bottom without stirring up a speck ... and people in Jet fins leaving pock marks in their wake. The trick to not kicking up silt is to maintain good trim, keep your fins inside the slipstream created by your body, and keep your knees slightly bent so that you send the displaced water backward instead of downward. And you can achieve those things with any fin that's available.

My 2 psi ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[BKP]

Floppy fins in a strong current are a laughable idea too.

So is jumping out of an airplane with a glorified bedsheet attached your butt... but, it seems to work...

 

[String]

Not as well as jumping out of a plane with a proper parachute. In the same way nice rigid fins as opposed to floppy things that bend against water flow are better for diving.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Larry at ScubaToys has an interesting Q&A. See theis link.

http://www.scubatoys.com/store/joelarry/splitcurrent.asp

I like Larry ... and highly respect him as a scuba professional ... but I disagree with some of the things he says in that article.

In my experience, splits are not as efficient as paddle fins in current ... and current is one of the things we contend with regularly where I normally dive. While the fins will push you through the water effectively (compared to paddle fins), simply watching what the fin does when you kick with it will show you why. When Cheng saw the video I took of her recently, she described the fins as "noodles" waving along behind her. On our recent Cozumel trip, she was the only one of the five of us in split fins ... and she had to work MUCH harder than the rest of us to control where she wanted to go ... and it showed in her air consumption. On the dives with the heaviest current, her consumption dropped considerably ... while the rest of us stayed fairly consistent from one dive to the next.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)