Anyone ever tried monofins?

[SeaJay]

Don't laugh... How many fish have legs? How many have two tails? Now, how many of them have just one tail? All of them, of course... (Okay, there might be some weirdo breed out there.)

I've heard that efficiency of these things is "off the chart." Anyone ever tried them?

I'm talking about this kind of stuff:

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~lproud/whatis.htm

http://www.tedasys.com/~kallite1/mono/newandomer.jpg

No doubt... Now you can't opt for any other fin technique... No frog kicks here! But if there really is all that efficiency... I mean, what would it be like?

I can tell you that "monofinning" my Mares Quattros (just kicking with both legs at the same time) makes me pretty tired pretty quickly. My thrust and top speed don't seem to change either. But imagine if they brought split-fin technology to monofins... Then it wouldn't be so exhausting, right?

My thought process is this... If split fins have the reputation of allowing a diver as much thrust as a paddle fin with less effort, then what would happen if we increased the size of the fin itself? Could we effectively get the same amount of effort as a regular paddle fin, but now have much more thrust?

Just an interesting thought process...

Hey, what's up with freediving fins? If they're so great due to their size, then howcome divers don't use them? Why do freedivers use them if freediving fins are too long and cumbersome?

Assume, of course, that we're talking open water here... There's no question that you'd not want a huge fin in a wreck or cave, for obvious reasons...

 

[Rick Murchison]

Can you spell t-o-y?
They are fun to play with, but the efficiency of the monofin kick and the flutter kick is akin to comparing jogging with hopping.
Rick

 

[Wendy]

I know several divers that wear free diving fins, but these guys are also spearfishing when they wear them.

 

[nickjb]

Are you in a hurry to get somewhere?

 

[holdingmybreath]

When ever I have let my scuba buddies try out my extra pairs of freediving fins that's what they want to use all the time.

I am surprised at the T.O.Y. post as they must not be familiar with fin swimming competition or freediving. Any freediver that has mastered a mono fin will not go back to long blades because of the increase in efficiency and most (all that have tried mine) scuba divers that have tried long blades will not want to go back to split of other scuba fins. If split fins were so great, all the underwater hockey players would wear them, and you should hear that they say when they've tried them. Can we talk toys here??

Keep in mind that there are vast differences in long blades as far as stiffness and type of kick required. It may not be as simple as putting on a pair, diving in, and making a quick decision. I would gaurantee that if you get ahold of the right style of long blades... your sold.

Something else to consider is foot pockets.. a lot of the efficiency depends on the quality of the foot pocket and how that transfers energy to the blade.
I didn't mean to write a book

 

[SeaJay]

Thanks!