The biggest problem with Jet Fins

[Nemrod]

The new Jet Fins is lighter so it might not as durable as the old one but it does come with spring strap!!

I do not believe this to be true with the USA made Jets. All three of my pairs including the new yellow pair are similar in weight. I have cracked the rails in places on my oldest pair. Some of it is from walking in them. They still work fine, maybe better.

N

 

[SangP]

I do not believe this to be true with the USA made Jets. All three of my pairs including the new yellow pair are similar in weight. I have cracked the rails in places on my oldest pair. Some of it is from walking in them. They still work fine, maybe better.

N

Cracked rails... that reminds me of one my the funniest dive trips I've ever been on. A buddy showed up with what can be best described as a jet that looked like torn up Swiss cheese... Dog was all he said.

The whole weekend he could barely keep straight all he could do was a modified flutter as every frog kick or flutter and he'll spin off to the right lol!

It was so funny cus on every dive you could hear what sounded like an angry Donald Duck somewhere.

Finally on the very last dive I head a loud uhhmmmhh (OMG) and saw him finning like mad into the depths and came back up holding guess what... a previously lost one half of a jet fin. The other fin is now his dog's chew toy...

 

[Centrals]

I do not believe this to be true with the USA made Jets. All three of my pairs including the new yellow pair are similar in weight. I have cracked the rails in places on my oldest pair. Some of it is from walking in them. They still work fine, maybe better.

N

Scubapro produce two slightly different versions of Jet Fin.
Only time will tell if the Taiwanese version is as good as the old one. The USA made Jet is no longer available in this part of Pacific.

 

[buddhasummer]

Yes it's a problem and Jet Fins perhaps define the extreme example of "durable good". I traded a set of Mares Power Plana fins to my instructor for his XL Jet Fins in 1985. He had a few years of use on them already, I've put about 3000 dives on them since then, before switching to OMS slipstreams about 3 years ago when I got my fusion and needed a larger foot pocket, and then Marci started using them. So they've been around but they still look like they did when I got them after being used for 3 years, 27 years ago.

I have however ordered a set of yellow jet fins, so we'll see how those look in 2043 after 30 years of use.

Do you know if the yellows are US made or Taiwan? cheers

---------- Post added December 19th, 2012 at 05:12 AM ----------

Scubapro produce two slightly different versions of Jet Fin.
Only time will tell if the Taiwanese version is as good as the old one. The USA made Jet is no longer available in this part of Pacific.

I don't think they are, they are softer and way less stiff, I returned mine.

 

[Nemrod]

My yellow Jets which are the current product clearly state they are made in the USA. They are not lighter than my other Jets nor is my spare black pair any different either.

N

 

[DennisW]

I don't understand the problem. Is there a problem?

 

[Zieg]

I don't understand the problem. Is there a problem?

I guess the problem is you can't justify buying a new pair. Well, you might need a back-up pair, just in case. I can always find a reason for more gear.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

A class mate of mine went to work for John Deere in the early 1980's and re-designed a crank shaft in one of their engines. They were having problems with the crankshaft failing under warranty, costing the company money. So he made it 25% lighter and 400% stronger. His design was rejected as it would seriously cut into parts sales and service revenue for the dealers. In other words, they did not want it 25% lighter 400% stronger, they wanted it *just* strong enough to survive past the warranty period, then fail. Basically the classic designed obsolescence approach to marketing as adapted to really expensive farm machinery. To his credit, he took another job somewhere else.

In that regard, the Jet Fin is a serious *sales* problem as customers never wear them out, so repeat sales of fins are very low to Jet Fin owners. I haven't worn mine out in 28 years of diving, and I've never really found anything that works better - except perhaps the OMS Slipstream, which is just a lighter monoprene version of the Jet Fin. The Slipstream is most likely not nearly as durable, but it's lighter and that can be beneficial for proper trim in some configurations.

So...with Scubapro knowing full well that 1) Jet Fins last forever and will, along with cockroaches, eventually inherit the post apocalyptic earth, and 2) the percentage of sales revenue that dealers make off basic mask, fins and snorkel sales, my hat's off to Scubapro for continuing to produce the Jet Fin rather than discontinuing that superb fin just in order to boost sales and/or dealer profits made on repeat fin sales. That kind of thing buys my loyalty to the brand.

 

[Nemrod]

A class mate of mine went to work for John Deere in the early 1980's and re-designed a crank shaft in one of their engines. They were having problems with the crankshaft failing under warranty, costing the company money. So he made it 25% lighter and 400% stronger. His design was rejected as it would seriously cut into parts sales and service revenue for the dealers. In other words, they did not want it 25% lighter 400% stronger, they wanted it *just* strong enough to survive past the warranty period, then fail. Basically the classic designed obsolescence approach to marketing as adapted to really expensive farm machinery. To his credit, he took another job somewhere else.

In that regard, the Jet Fin is a serious *sales* problem as customers never wear them out, so repeat sales of fins are very low to Jet Fin owners. I haven't worn mine out in 28 years of diving, and I've never really found anything that works better - except perhaps the OMS Slipstream, which is just a lighter monoprene version of the Jet Fin. The Slipstream is most likely not nearly as durable, but it's lighter and that can be beneficial for proper trim in some configurations.

So...with Scubapro knowing full well that 1) Jet Fins last forever and will, along with cockroaches, eventually inherit the post apocalyptic earth, and 2) the percentage of sales revenue that dealers make off basic mask, fins and snorkel sales, my hat's off to Scubapro for continuing to produce the Jet Fin rather than discontinuing that superb fin just in order to boost sales and/or dealer profits made on repeat fin sales. That kind of thing buys my loyalty to the brand.

If Scubapro stops making the Jet Fin in the USA I will be done with Scubapro. I buy Scubapro because of who they are and their long history of quality, if they forget who they are, I will too.

N

 

[DA Aquamaster]

If Scubapro stops making the Jet Fin in the USA I will be done with Scubapro. I buy Scubapro because of who they are and their long history of quality, if they forget who they are, I will too.

N

I had a great discussion yesterday with one of the early cave divers who had associated with Scubapro back in the day when their stab jacket was the BC of choice and Scubapro made them for a variety of companies. The factory sat on the US border with parts made on the US side then passed to the MX side for assembly. I also got another perspective on the whole Dive Rite/Scubapro/Soniform Transpac/Rec Tec relationship and some of the politics behind it.