Best Fin for Snorkeling

[danvolker]

Imorin....and there are people that enjoy paddling around barefoot...and they would be really upset with me if they were to hear me suggesting that they are "not doing snorkeling right".
These barefoot snorkelers may argue that they like the lack of exertion that swimming barefoot allows--and that they have no reason to be racing people in fins--that they don't need all the speed that even the cheap snorkeling fins provide. I don't understand the universe they are from--or their concept of what is fun.

I can only say I do enjoy just putzing along on a reef sometimes in no hurry at all--sometimes just floating motionless over some cool life for a very long time. I could swim to the bottom 30 feet below barefoot----but with my freedive fins on, with the same effort I could stay down 4 times as long The effort to move 20 or 30 feet down is so tiny with the freedive fins, that your heart rate barely moves beyond resting--for me it could remain at 45 bpm all the way to the bottom. With bare feet, it would likely hit 80 bpm or more--the efficiency is just much lower. If I was swimming what I think is fast--keeping pace with some bottlenose dolphins playing near me....my HR would be closer to 150 to 180......like it was when I followed these dolphins
[video=youtube_share;n-R1fmnOwwk]http://youtu.be/n-R1fmnOwwk?t=2m[/video]
I don't expect most snorkelers to be trying to chase after dolphins...but in my diving and freediving since 1972, there have been far too many awesome marinelife encounters I have been able to enjoy, because I could move around more like slow moving marine life ( slow moving marine life is still way faster than most scuba divers )

 

[tracydr]

Do you plan to do some deep free diving? I would get some real free diving fins to help you out.

 

[Shasta_man]

The OP said snorkeling. Snorkeling and diving down occasionally is one thing, pumping free diver paddles around for the whole time is another that isn't trivial. I also stick with open heel fins so I can, first, avoid the full foot fin rubbing issues that could happen, and second, have short water shoes/dive boots in case of walking. YMMV.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Buy whatever you want. They all work. If you feel it necessary to propel yourself at warp speed, then spend big bucks on something the manufacturer claims is totally wonderful. Personally, I grew up on $4 fins, aka flippers, that worked perfectly fine in the 1950's breath-hold diving for fresh water clams as an adolescent, then still worked perfectly fine snorkeling over a reef in the Virgin Islands a couple of years later.

The idea that freedive fins are going to be used to make you swim super fast is NOT the goal. Swimming fast wastes energy, makes your heart rate shoot up and shortens your dives. Also, you can buy inexpensive freedive fins, and still realize a big benefit.

Freedive fins are designed to help you swim efficiently, not super fast. The longer blades promote a slower more relaxed kick cycle. This has a couple of benefits. One is that the marine creatures you may be trying to observe will be less afraid of you, if you approach with a relaxed, gentle.. even graceful kick. If you are splashing around, kicking wildly with little bitty, "snorkel fins" you WILL look frantic and the fish WILL notice.

Another benefit is a little less obvious. You can ride a bicycle in a very low gear and you can ride reasonably fast. But your legs will be pumping wildly and your heart rate and respiration are going to go through the roof. You can ride your bike at the same speed in a higher gear and with a slower rate of pedaling (cadence) and this will give you a much lower heart rate (and may tire your leg muscles slightly more).

I think the same thing happens with snorkeling and freediving. You want to keep your body relaxed, your kicking slow and your heart rate slow, as much as possible. Large, efficient blades that have a stiffness that is compatible with your leg strength will allow you to cruise and swim (and dive) much easier and for longer and minimize the exertion.

This is a video I took a few weeks ago of snorkeling with my 15-yr old kids. We are all using freedive fins, and it makes it fun and easy. We are not swimming super fast or going very deep.. less than 25 feet and a lot is probably 15 or less. But even in these easy conditions, having decent fins makes the experience much more enjoyable. You do NOT need to be a super good athlete or swimmer or diver to see a benefit in using good fins.



[video=youtube;ZqRVbaHs520]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqRVbaHs520&feature=share&list=UU1utDku8vJ RJYgBZImLyLJQ[/video]

 

[Bob Evans]

Well, may I please kick in another video..snorkeling with Blair Mott and Ocean Futures, with OPS.Salute to Freedom - OPS Force Fin - YouTube Personal I now use the adjustable Slim finForce Fin Slim Fin - Adjustable for my snorkeling, small and does the job. If you like to go faster I go for the glass bottom boat.

 

[REVAN]

For many years I made the mistake of using scuba equipment to freedive. It is not just the fins, but the masks and the wet suits that are made for freediving are much better also. I will scuba dive in my freediving suit, but I don't even want to put on my old scuba wet suit anymore. The same goes for the fins. In general if it is sold in a scuba shop, you are probably better off without it.

Like me, you can waste years using bad equipment, or you can make the jump now and try some equipment that is designed and built by people who freedive specifically for freediving. There is a whole new world awaiting.

I have yet to find a commercial snorkel that I actually liked. I built my own according to this scubaboard thread: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/fi...very-cool-diy-dual-tube-snorkel-about-$6.html

Cheers!

PS - Snorkeling is just freediving with the addition of a snorkel.

 

[danvolker]

Well, may I please kick in another video..snorkeling with Blair Mott and Ocean Futures, with OPS.Salute to Freedom - OPS Force Fin - YouTube Personal I now use the adjustable Slim finForce Fin Slim Fin - Adjustable for my snorkeling, small and does the job. If you like to go faster I go for the glass bottom boat.

And of course, this is a fin I would love to try!
For anyone NOT familiar with Force Fins, they are ground breaking designs by Bob Evans...The Split fin movement was really due to the theft of intellectual property of Bob Evans, in that the Split fin companies used pieces of Bob's research and engineering, effectively trying to steal his market potential.....On the plus side for Bob, the Split fins companies all took the info they stole, and used it poorly-creating a defectively poor version of the technology....meaning if you really want to benefit from all the things you hear about Split fin technology--you really need to go to the ONLY Fin company that does this correctly, Force Fins. On the minus side, the companies that took Bob's technology and tried to make it their own, had huge ad dollars, and they paid off the Industry whores at DEMA and in the Print Magazine world, to showcase the Splitfins and find them as the new product all divers needed to buy--and to ignore the fact that Force Fin created the Splitfin technology, and that they are the only ones doing it Right.....This effectively stole the market from Force fins.

If divers demanded demos like skiers, and divers actually tested the new gear--and were able to test Force Fins against any of the split fin companies, it would have been FUNNY how fast they would have tossed away the split fin rip-offs, and then embraced the Force Fins. Unfortunately, divers rarely demand to do a demo with new gear--even though they should.

If you would like to see the classic Force Fin in action, for a snorkeler, check out this video :
[video=youtube_share;zhuffVfpiXY]http://youtu.be/zhuffVfpiXY?t=1m17s[/video]
Start at 1 minute and 17 seconds in to see the snorkeler using the classic Force Fins ( SLIDE THE CURSOR ON THE BOTTOM OF THE VIDEO PLAYER ) ....about 90 yards off the Beach on Singer Island( Palm Beach, Fl) this as he interacts with something equally exciting as the Sardine Run off of Africa....
This classic Force fin is not aimed at snorkeling, Force Fin really does have specific Force fins for snorkeling. What this shows is how easily these fins propel the snorkeler, and how superior they are from splits or from nasty cheap kmart fins.


** Note....I am using huge DiveR Freedive fins, allowing extreme ease in getting down low to shoot the video, with no heart rate or exertion--which I would have had if I were using the nasty cheap snorkeling fins.....I am NOT swimming fast all all..just trying to be relaxed in position for the shots--and the EXPERIENCE !!

---------- Post added September 17th, 2013 at 11:09 AM ----------

And of course here is the kind of diver--- or Snorkeler, that tends to love Split fins.....They love them because they do not have to learn how to kick to use the fins.....the splits are so floppy, that almost any kick will move you--though there is a great deal of wasted effort and higher heart rate/breathing rate going on with the horrific technique, and lousy fins....see :
[video=youtube_share;2VEthluthE4]http://youtu.be/2VEthluthE4[/video]

With classic Force fins their is an ideal kick, but it is fairly intuitive for most snorkelers....pretty easy to pick up...Freediving fins are actually a more complex skill to master...not to say they are hard like learning to snow ski...but there is a right and wrong way, and it is easier if someone shows you and you try to copy them.

---------- Post added September 17th, 2013 at 12:33 PM ----------

If you are a regular reader of Scubaboard, you probably know that if I say something is WHITE, you can be fairly certain DumpsterDiver will come on and claim this to be BLACK....This is just the way things are in this universe.... So when you see both Dumpster Diver AND me agreeing on something like fins.....this should scare you a little....like Armageddon may be approaching, or events occurring which should be considered as significant in the diving/snorkeling world

 

[Shasta_man]

So is it that Bob has you post all these accusations and insults about other divers you don't know so he doesn't get sued or are you just doing this because of your own hangup with it?

 

[danvolker]

So is it that Bob has you post all these accusations and insults about other divers you don't know so he doesn't get sued or are you just doing this because of your own hangup with it?

It is just me, and this is what I BELIEVE. As to the insults....what Insults? It is well known that Force Fin had the split concept long before the other spit concepts....and how is describing the truth about Print magazines or DEMA related to an insult. ? I don't think the print magazines have enough ethics to be insulted...same with dema
Are you familiar with the nonsense that DEMA tried to pull with a special Fort Lauderdale show ? The nonsense they were almost lynched over?

Again...I hope I did not insult any SB readers....that was not my intention...my intention was to HELP as many SB members as possible with something critically important to many.

 

[Hank49]

Yep. Long blade carbons. Moanas are the best I've used. Once you try them you'll throw, or give, your other fins away. I use mine for scuba and free diving....and snorkelling, which is what I do between free dives. Moana Waterman | Free Diving Carbon Fins