Split fins?

[BarrelRoll]

We vote for the Split fin design.
Scuba.com Video: TUSA X-Pert Zoom Adjustable Strap Fins Video Review - Fins

The guy in that video has the public speaking abilities of a chimp.

Would a second take have been too difficult?

 

[Blackwood]

Airplane wing is not split and provides decent lift. However if you observe an eagle wing you will see certain small splits at the end of weathers. How much you want to bet that eagle wing is more efficient in providing lift than airplane wing? If we had better way of imitating eagle wing on an airplane I am sure we could improve the efficiency and design.

The turbocharger in a diesel engine increases fuel effeciency, and has just as much to do with a discussion about split fins as airplanes and eagles.

Hollis F1? Dive Rite? OMS? Turtle fins? Mares Avanti Superchannel? Scubapro Supernova? Aqualung Slingshot?

Whichever one fits your foot best and breaks the bank least.

I'm all for experimentation. I played with a couple of 'different' paddle fins a while back in doubles and a drysuit. With my kicking style (frog with a long extension when the environment allows for it as in the attached photo (c) Nick Ambrose), they were ineffective. There were times I actually got the sensation that I couldn't move. I finished the dive flutter rapidly kicking from the knees, which for my physiology is highly inefficient from a gas standpoint.

 

[Roko]

Okay, let's say that paddle fins are "superior", well then which paddle fin should I use?

Hollis F1? Dive Rite? OMS? Turtle fins? Mares Avanti Superchannel? Scubapro Supernova? Aqualung Slingshot?

Well, I love my OMS Slipstreams, but I'm not about to go suicide bomb the church of splitfinology..

Measured thrust is is measured thrust. If split fins were to generate less thrust than solid fins then it would have shown regardless of what tank configuration or exposure suit configuration.

I think if you really split hairs, the laminar/turbulent flow hitting the fins will be different depending on your configuration.. Though I'm guessing you'd really have to be motoring along relatively quickly for it to make much of a difference. But then again, I'm no Dentist.

For the record I'm neither for nor against split fins.. I just get a kick out of how defensive people get about fin choices

 

[Pullmyfinger]

Pullmyfinger, your comparison is utter nonsense. Spoon is designed to hold liquid. Fins are designed to move liquid. You don't push fin perpendicular to where you go but at certain angle. Fins should be pushing water in certain direction based on their design.

Airplane wing is not split and provides decent lift. However if you observe an eagle wing you will see certain small splits at the end of weathers. How much you want to bet that eagle wing is more efficient in providing lift than airplane wing? If we had better way of imitating eagle wing on an airplane I am sure we could improve the efficiency and design.

Iztok,
You're failing to see my point. Obviously a spoon and a fin serve different
Functions, the spoon does "move" water....from the bowl to your mouth.
Now clearly, it's not being used as propulsion. But it should be obvious
That a spoon with a slot will be less effective than one without.
The slot will make the effort easier, but you'll have to increase the pace.

Why don't we see slots in thing that DO provide propulsion? Canoe
And kayak paddles, or the blades on boat propellors?

 

[Wayne at DiveSeekers]

Okay, let's say that paddle fins are "superior", well then which paddle fin should I use?

Hollis F1? Dive Rite? OMS? Turtle fins? Mares Avanti Superchannel? Scubapro Supernova? Aqualung Slingshot?

If you want to do all the variations of kick styles (Frog, Flutter, Heli turns, Reverse, etc...), I would recommend SP Jet Fins or Turtle fins. Yeah I know that they are heavier but I find that with them being heavier that they provide more torque which leads to better performance with the different kick styles. I teach an Advanced Buoyancy class and my students see immediate improvement when they switch to these fins from other paddle fins.

 

[Teamcasa]

I am quite sure the Scubalab test was conducted utilizing a single tank configuration...

What does that have to do with it?

 

[Scott L]

I am quite sure the Scubalab test was conducted utilizing a single tank configuration...

What does that have to do with it?

I was explaining that split fins are not the fins of choice for doubles/deco bottle diving and he was countering that they are bless his heart...

 

[Pullmyfinger]

Okay, let's say that paddle fins are "superior", well then which paddle fin should I use?

Hollis F1? Dive Rite? OMS? Turtle fins? Mares Avanti Superchannel? Scubapro Supernova? Aqualung Slingshot?

It's probably a matter of being six of one, a half-a-dozen of the other. Some are heavier than others, but that's negligible.

-Mitch

 

[iztok]

Eagle's wing design may generate a lot of lift but it doesn't generate a lot of speed. So what's your point about eagle wings and fin designs?

Hm... speed would be result of thrust supplied not the wings itself.

BTW: If you have better lift you can spend less energy towards lift and more on horizontal movement.

 

[iztok]

The turbocharger in a diesel engine increases fuel effeciency, and has just as much to do with a discussion about split fins as airplanes and eagles.

Well considering that water and air are both fluids the same principle applies of channeling/moving fluids around.