Definite advantage
Limited advantage
Total marketing hype
I'm The Black Knight & the BK ALWAYS wears jet/rocket fins
Joel Silverstein, VP COO
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Well I don't need to hurry every when diving. I'm kinda in the relaxed let's make the air last mode all the time.
I'm also old, if it weren't for splits I'm sure I'd be done diving.
I'll just be the old relaxed guy breathing half as much air as you guys who use powerful fins, lol.
The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves
I spent over 30 years in jet fins. I now only use Scuba Pro Twin Speed fins. After trying several split fins, I found that the floppier fins (apollo) didn't give me the maneuvering power I needed. The Twin Speed is very stiff. I find it superior in almost every way. I rarely flutter kick but use mostly frog. The stiifer splits do very well
Not good in current?? BULL! In PNG I dive vicious currents. Once, when we needed to put a clip in the mooring line for an overnight stay, one of the boat's divemasters and I offered to do it. The mooring line was in the middle of the top on a seamount. The current was ripping. We had to swim from the lee of the bommie up and over the top to the line. The divemaster was a third of my age and wearing LONG paddle fins. I was wearing my splits. We had to PUSH to get to the line. I not only beat him to the mooring, I was not breathing nearly as hard.
So before you naysay to splits, spend enough time to learn how to use them. There is a learning curve to using them.
I don't recollect thinking "these are useless" when I switched to split fins 4 or 5 years ago BUT, neither do I recollect thinking "these are brilliant" .......
Having only ever had 2 pairs of fins in 20 years I suppose it is impossible to offer good general advice ......... I do agree that the really floppy split fins are not good for 'hard finning' (IMO).
Last edited by Finless; 07-31-2007 at 09:47 PM.
Most polls seem to be about 50/50 on split fins.
I prefer full footpocket long blades for the lion's share of my scuba diving, and all of my freediving.
Chad
OK. Here we go. This is one of my favorite subjects.
As a former Scuba Instructor (Naui/Padi) I have an opinion, and as a 6 foot four 225 lb. waterman raised in So Cal Beaches, I have another.
Here is what decided it for me.
I was bored at the dive shop one day, and saw the "swimming belt" we had lying on the pool deck.
This belt was made of stout surgical tubing, and was tied to the hand rail in the deep end of the pool.
The other end was tied to a weight belt, without weights. The tubing was long enough to stretch from the rail to ALMOST the farthest corner of the pool.
Get it?
We could swim non-stop and not touch the corner. We also didn't have to do flip turns in our small POS pool.
I took every type of fin we had from our sales shelf and tried it in our pool.
Don't forget, I am a monster in the water.
Some fins got me just so far; others repeatedly fell off my feet!
My UDT's stayed on and got ME the furthest. Period.
That is the fin I used, and my safety divers used.
Of course I was trained by a former Navy SEAL;
I just wanted to see for myself.
Later on as a US Marine in BRC, we used UDT's as well.
There is no substitute for a stout fin and strong leg muscles.
For me, there is no second choice
ASW
"Don't believe everything you think"
why did Seafox say that there is no advantage if you are into photography? Are the split fins not good for photography?
I love my splits, and would never change out of them. The are easier on my knees and give plenty of thrust, despite what people think. We get pretty strong current and tides here in the Northeast US. The difference is that most people equate thrust and power with feeling tired and out of breath. Splits don't do that. They just get you where you need...more easily. It's like the difference between cars that quickly accellerate and snap you neck or just get to finish line first, nice and smoothly.
You can maneuver easier with paddle-style fins. Try backing up in tight quarters with a pair of splits. One may have a tendency to silt more with split fins. I know photographers who use both styles, but the ones I know that use split fins while doing photo work are more experienced divers who have learned to work with them.
DiveRite! For Cave, Wreck, and Photo. Never saw a fish with split fins that wasn't dying or being eaten! Physics has this law that for every action is an opposite and equal reaction. If you don't wear fins you won't cramp either! It feels good to and the fit is fantastic, but I want to get somewhere and have a stable platform for my camera, not to mention don't take your split fins in a cave! Or a wreck in front of me! I have had too many scenes wrecked by some inconsiderate split-finer!
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