Best fin for Drysuit diving?

[BORG]

The TUSA Zooms were good but a dry suit has a good bit more drag than a wet suit, so I would like to look at getting more raw power.
Of course the trade off is more energy used. Frog kicks with paddle fins may be the way to go. Besides I have some Apollo Bio-Fins I use when wet suit diving that I really like. I see now it's two different power requirements from dry to wet suits.

 

[wetnwonder]

Doing is never enough... doing is endless, really.
Being is the only means to enough.

 

[rye_a]

Doing is never enough... doing is endless, really.
Being is the only means to enough.

What are you smoking in Montana?

 

[maged_mmh]

that must be better stuff...

 

[mdb]

The TUSA Zooms were good but a dry suit has a good bit more drag than a wet suit, so I would like to look at getting more raw power.
Of course the trade off is more energy used. Frog kicks with paddle fins may be the way to go. Besides I have some Apollo Bio-Fins I use when wet suit diving that I really like. I see now it's two different power requirements from dry to wet suits.

Borg: The Bio-fin XT model will "feel" like a paddle fin. You can do any of the style kicks and still benefit from the split wing technology.

Every time I am on an airplane and watch that giant plane take off I think about "lift". That is what bio-fins do. The bio-fin provides lift using The Bernoulli principle. A leading edge and a trailing edge.

Open ocean Marine Mammals use split fins, Whales, Tuna's, Dolphins, etc

Ducks and frogs paddle. They have their place.

We will, of course, have the usual suspects talking about their favorite fin. The never ending story. Try for yourself.

 

[BORG]

Thanks for the insight. My Bio-Fins are just a little too small to fit with the size 11 boot that I have attached to my dry suit . Great fins and I always enjoy them using when wet suit diving. My size 10 wet suit boot fits fine in there then.
Solution, you might say is to get another larger pair of Bio-Fins. I wish I could afford those right now, but unfortunately I can't.
Besides, I don't usually see dry suit divers setting speed records in underwater swimming most of the time. I know mine is more drag than a wet suit when swimming.

 

[W8less]

Check out the Hollis F1. Had to retire old Jets and Rockets. No commercial interest in the Hollis. Just a fan of good design. Great fit for drysuit boots and a longer foot bed for better leverage. Comes with springs and an easy to grab (with cold gloves on) loop that lays flat against back of boot. Lots of power. Backicking and helicoptering are pretty easy.

 

[Jeff Toorish]

Whenever someone asks me what the best piece of equipment is for diving, the question I always ask back is, "what kind of diving are you doing?"

Forgetting for a moment that there really is no best when it comes to individual pieces of gear, more accurately there is the most popular --and even that is probably based more on things like marketing, availability, location, etc.

But to focus on your very real question, what kind of diving do you normally do and what do you anticipate doing in the future.

You are a drysuit diver, so you probably need a fin with a large or extra large foot pocket. But will you be diving doubles or in overhead environments? In those cases I would not recommend split fins for reasons that have been well covered on this board.

Are you diving a shell suit with a relativey light undergarment, or a crushed neoprene suit. Those issues may affect drag and would have an impact on your decision.

Are you a strong swimmer with powerful leg muscles? That would be a big question to answer because the stiffness of the fins would come into play.

Are you a photographer, spear fisher, or ice diver?

Do you get leg cramps? Do you wear ankle weights? Are your legs heavy or buoyant in your dry suit?

I have to say (as I eye the half-dozen sets of fins I own for various diving conditions) that I think I personally stress more about fins than almost any other piece of gear I own --no idea why that is.

Anyway, by answersing these questions, you will probably not be able to identify the best fin for dry suits, but you should be able to identify the best fins for drysuits for you.

Jeff

 

[meesier42]

don't buy into anything the Apollo guy just said, it has been shown too many times that Bio-fin do not create lift. The simply push water out of the way like paddle fin. In order to create lift you must create a differential pressure on opposite sides of the blade, and the giant split down the middle prevents that from ever occurring even if it was actually designed to, and if it did actually create lift the lift force would be perpendicular to the lifting body, if you actually look at the Bio-fin and other splits, that would be a lateral force that is being canceled out by each side of the blade, not longitudinal that can actually push you forward. This is why you have to wear a fin strap on them, and why people use spring straps because they are under so much stress they break. While the Bio-fin is actually a very good fin, certainly in the top 5 for recreational divers, they work simply by channeling the water in a generally rearward direction, which is a huge step up from most paddles that 90% of the water slips off each side.

As for helping to pick a new fin for you, JeffToorish hit on the real points, what characteristics do YOU have, and then hopefully we can provide useful input as to what might work well for you. For example, if you are used to splits, suddenly swapping to a Jet, as most of the post have recommended is simply stupid, none of those people have bothered to even ask the appropriate questions to identify what YOU are looking for, so their "opinions" are their own and are not really recommendations for YOU as a diver.

 

[rye_a]

For example, if you are used to splits, suddenly swapping to a Jet, as most of the post have recommended is simply stupid, none of those people have bothered to even ask the appropriate questions to identify what YOU are looking for, so their "opinions" are their own and are not really recommendations for YOU as a diver.

I'm pretty sure that most of the non-company affiliated recommendations on this page are based upon the experiences of those who have written the posts, and reference the OP's need for good drysuit fins. I also believe that the vast majority of drysuit divers would recommend paddle style fins to compensate for the additional drag created by almost all suits. Based upon these facts, I'm not sure that it is stupid to recommend what has worked for us. I also would note that the OP brought his question to a forum, knowing full well that the recommendations he would get would get would be based upon opinion rather than scientific study.