Apollo Bio-Fin

[Mambo Dave]

Gotta admit that for $99, I liked the Tusa X-perts I stole off off a buddy at the end of a dive. I didn't try them out for as long as the bio-fins I liberated off of another buddy mid-dive (see a trend here? I try 'em out in the middle of a dive to get a good feel for 'em, and leave my buddies stranded, lol). The Tusa splits were very nice for the bit I had them on. Their angle of attack idea seems to make sense.

But I'm ordering XT's today.

Edit: Researched a little more, thought about the knees I screwed up in a massive downhill Mt. bike race/wreck years ago, and went with the regular bio-fin Pros. I remember how easy my buddy's were to kick, and I bet in the coming years I'm gonna need that lower-stress-level on my knees. Had a good talk with Phil, from the previous post and divesports.com, and we talked about the efficiency of the Pro's vs. the XT's, and I gave in to my original inclination (about a month ago). Got the Apollo spring straps, too. Thanks to all who posted and helped me take this thread off track. Now where were we?

MD

 

[Wristshot]

Really? That's strange to me . . . . .

As you said, YMMV.

We do a lot of shore diving here, .

*laughing* Yeah, I know. I am a local (and a Native San Josean)

This is the "kick on your back" style of surface swimming.

I also use them when snorkelling and have never noticed any drawbacks.

When I talk about "at the Surface" I mean the fins at the surface. When swimming backwards, face up, the fins are not at the surface. It relates to the "bend at the knee, not at the hip" concept. When real close to the surface, it becomes much harder to kick from the knee as that would put the fins at or above the surface. Real close to the surface the fins would push water up more than pushing you forward.

Once you get down more than a couple feet, they work great. I do find that for me, kicking from the knee moves me faster than kicking from the hip.

In the little bits of snorkeling that I have done, I never tried to go real fast at the surface, so I can't compare how other fins do at the surface. I just mentioned that we were warned, and it seemed to be true for us. That would not be a reason not to buy, but it would be important for people to understand so that they could get good comparisons. Someone unaware of the nuances might be disappointed if they didn't use the fins optimally.


Wristshot

 

[ThierryA]

Hi,

I'm also using XTs and am not sure why people talk about not being able to do different kicks with split fins. The two main kicks I use are frog and helicopter (and backwards frog when leading a dive) and only move to flutter kick when I need to sprint to go and look at something. I only tried jet fins a few times and am not sure why the Bio-Fins and other splits have such a bad rep with the DIR crowd.

Thierry

 

[CompuDude]

Mambo_Dave, ive used both the Bios and currently have the XTs. Both are great, performance wise..... trust me, efficiency and power and speed etc. its so minimal you cant tell the difference unless ure a machine.

The only obvious difference you might want to conider is that the Bios are extreeeemely pliable and easy to fin (thus you dont feel the power). The XTs on the other hand, they do feel like paddle fins, which i prefer cos... i kinda like to feel like i know i am moving.. ahha.

Just decide if you want to fin without any resistance vs. you want to FEEL the resistance. And naturally because you do feel the resistance with the XTs, you might find yourself a little tired if youre not a strong kicker.

As for the currents and stuff... once again its neglible unless your a machine. The only strongest currents which will make you feel the effects of the splits pulling you..... is when you do a shore dive and walk backwards in with the waves pulling out.

Have fun!!!

I think Mambo Dave will be happy with his choice, incl. the regular vs. XT, for his knees. I winced at the price and bought the Bio-Fin XT C series (the apollo spring straps RULE!), but I couldn't be happier with my purchase, for similar reasons as you. I have strong legs, and was coming off years of traditional paddle fins, so I like to feel my legs moving through the water a bit. Not one single complaint about the bio fins, here. I suppose I can see how another fin would work better for the frog kick, but I can still do it, and any other kick, and considering how often that one comes up, my response is "meh". I'd rather have the bio-fin the other 99% of my dive time than a jet fin for the 1% of the time I was going to frog kick.

 

[SteveFass]

After reading all these accolades for the BioFins, I've got to mention the one thing that bugs me with my pair, 'cause I'm really curious if it is just me.

It happens maybe once per dive that I feel like my fin touched something. I look down at my fin, afraid that I clipped some coral or something, remember that I'm 50 feet from the bottom, see nothing around and realize what I felt was the two splits of the fin touching. Am I alone here with this?

 

[uglyredshoes]

After reading all these accolades for the BioFins, I've got to mention the one thing that bugs me with my pair, 'cause I'm really curious if it is just me.

It happens maybe once per dive that I feel like my fin touched something. I look down at my fin, afraid that I clipped some coral or something, remember that I'm 50 feet from the bottom, see nothing around and realize what I felt was the two splits of the fin touching. Am I alone here with this?

Wouldnt that be the your finning technique?

Hmmm, cos when i was using the TwinJets which are much broader than the bios, it did happen to me. But no longer with the bios.

 

[ocrmaster]

i went out this weekend of Anilao Batangas.

i went down with a scubapro split fin and the all i can say is thank god i was holding on
to the boat when i went it.

i invite everyone to come to the Philippines and try out their bio fins at Anilao Batangas.

Ask the boat man to take to the washing machine.

 

[clgsamson]

i went out this weekend of Anilao Batangas.

i went down with a scubapro split fin and the all i can say is thank god i was holding on
to the boat when i went it.

i invite everyone to come to the Philippines and try out their bio fins at Anilao Batangas.

Ask the boat man to take to the washing machine.

where's the washing machine in Anilao?

 

[mdb]

i went out this weekend of Anilao Batangas.

i went down with a scubapro split fin and the all i can say is thank god i was holding on
to the boat when i went it.

i invite everyone to come to the Philippines and try out their bio fins at Anilao Batangas.

Ask the boat man to take to the washing machine.

You used a light weight plastic fin. Try a real all natural rubber Apollo bio-fin xt

 

[CompuDude]

i went out this weekend of Anilao Batangas.

i went down with a scubapro split fin and the all i can say is thank god i was holding on
to the boat when i went it.

i invite everyone to come to the Philippines and try out their bio fins at Anilao Batangas.

Ask the boat man to take to the washing machine.

So how is it you think your experiences with one VERY different split fin carries over to the bio fins we've been discussing in this thread? The scuba pro fins are rather unusual, in the split world, if we're talking about the ones I've seen. As the apollo guy noted, lightweight plastic. Not the same.