Best fins to push a beastly rebreather

[teksimple]

I am sure I will open myself up to a lot of opinions on this one, but what the heck.

I have a Mk 15.5, and in my training in Hawaii this last year, the other student was learning on his Mk 15. He had Scubapro Twin jets. I had my standard full-foot Cressi Rondine Gara 2000s. I have used Garas for years, and their power has allowed me--for example--to shoot video and cruise among a pod of spinner dolphins. I have always been able to move quickly with minimal leg movement with these babies.

In the water on the first training dive, I chuckled at Jason's split fins. They looked so funky when he was kicking. But on the last day of the week, we found ourselves in a shallow area with a rather strong rip current. I was putting enormous effort into making headway back to the boat, but Jason seemed to be having no problem. He was actually ahead of me. No offense Jason, but I workout regularly, and haven't smoked for years like you have. Later, I thought that it must have been the drag from my 40cf bailout bottle that was slowing me down. Now I am having second thoughts. Is there something to these split fins besides the marketing?

I ordered a pair of Apollo Bio Pro XT's to try out in Monterey while I am staging for my Galapagos trip. Has anyone else had any experience in heavy currents, a big rebreather, and split vs. free diving or other fins?

 

[Pawel]

I ordered a pair of Apollo Bio Pro XT's to try out in Monterey while I am staging for my Galapagos trip. Has anyone else had any experience in heavy currents, a big rebreather, and split vs. free diving or other fins?

teksimple, I have a small rebreather, it is just that my HD camera is about 70kg :11:
I use Apollo Bio Pro XT's most of the time and I found them by far the best fin I could find. Also, they have been independently voted the best fin in the world (not that I care, I needed something that would work for me). My second choice is Apollo BIO-Fin Uni Full Foot. I use them on some boat dives where I do not need to take the fins on and off easily/quickly. They provide similar (slightly softer) thrust/effort as XT but are more streamlined being a full foot design (I still use dive boots with them).

Disclousure: I used Apollo Bio fins long before my association with Apollo Australia and all fins that I used and currently use, I have purchased with good money. I have absolutely no benefit in you or anyone buying Apollo fins. I am only involved in rebreathers and some military toys.

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

Pawel

 

[teksimple]

Thanks, Pawel. I look forward to trying those fins. I am only bringing a PDX10 in a Gates to the Galapagos (7kg total), so I may not be pushing the performance envelope as much as you.

 

[JustinW]

I got caught in a rip last weekend with my SP twin jets, the other two guys with me were wearing the same. We covered a lot of ground really quick with those, faster than I think I otherwise could have in my other fins. But alas I was not on a rebreather, just a 100cf bottle while my partner was on a 130, so still some bulk there.
How are things in Baghdad?

 

[RebreatherDave]

This split thing is a signficant amount of marketing hype in my opinion. First they came out with fins with slots, then gave them the name "jet". Then they came out with longer ones, then with flexible vane ones, then with split ones. It is the old fat tie skinny tie thing.

Reading the marketing materials on fin design is a crackup. They use such puffery terms like "actually creates lift!". So does my hand held out horizontal to the wind out the car window on the freeway if I give my hand an angle of incidence.You would think these things are the holy grail perpetual motion machines that produce more power then they consume.

They don't really test fins properly in the U.S., they use subjective testing using humans which is a total and complete waste of time. Reminds me of reviews of skis....all verbal fluff. The Germans know how to do independant testing with machines and data aquisition and it costs big $.

I am currently using Tusa split fins, the stiffer black versions. Unlike my previous ones, they do not require a winch to pull them off from suction. And yes, they are stiffer then their regular split fins.

If you got rid of that dangling small dive light, you would increase more speed via drag reduction far more than switching back and forth between the latest fin design gimmicks.

 

[H2Andy]

Reading the marketing materials on fin design is a crackup. They use such puffery terms like "actually creates lift!". So does my hand held out horizontal to the wind out the car window on the freeway if I give my hand an angle of incidence.

wouldn't that be angle of attack? The angle of incidence is the angle at which the wing is permanently inclined to the airplane’s longitudinal axis. the angle of attack
can be varied by raising or lowering the plane's nose... so... i think by raising and
lowering your hand you are actually changing the angle of attack... i think....

(oh let's not split hairs, shall we... we're amongst friends! )

 

[RebreatherDave]

wouldn't that be angle of attack? The angle of incidence is the angle at which the wing is permanently inclined to the airplane’s longitudinal axis. the angle of attack
can be varied by raising or lowering the plane's nose... so... i think by raising and
lowering your hand you are actually changing the angle of attack... i think....

(oh let's not split hairs, shall we... we're amongst friends! )

When my hand can double as a fuselage complete with an empennage consisting of my pinkie as the horizontal all flying elevator, (although purists my call that a digital stabilator), I will agree! lol

 

[storm1fishing]

Do you guys have an opinion on scubapro jet fins compared to the splits , or am I comparing apples with oranges

 

[Pawel]

....Reading the marketing materials on fin design is a crackup. They use such puffery terms like "actually creates lift!". So does my hand held out horizontal to the wind out the car window on the freeway if I give my hand an angle of incidence.You would think these things are the holy grail perpetual motion machines that produce more power then they consume.

I think it may be inaccurate expression, however it is true that a split fin has more forward thrust to resistance ratio than a traditional (closed) fin. The "lift" they refer to is the forward thrust and means that they transfer vertical movements into forward "lift" much more effectively.

They don't really test fins properly in the U.S., they use subjective testing using humans which is a total and complete waste of time. Reminds me of reviews of skis....all verbal fluff. The Germans know how to do independant testing with machines and data aquisition and it costs big $.

This is the kind of testing I was referring to in saying that Apollo fins were voted the best fin in the world, not verbal or subjective tests.
However, you can use humans to objectively test the efficiency of fins, it is just not done by asking them about their opinion. You generally do it by measuring heart rate :broken_he , etc.. and the distance they covered, speed, force etc...in a statistically significant manner.

Kind Regards,

Pawel

 

[Pawel]

Do you guys have an opinion on scubapro jet fins compared to the splits , or am I comparing apples with oranges

If you have legs like Arnie, sure, they would be a good fin. They have large surface area and require a lot of force to move. Having said that, the thrust is good. Maybe for short quick sprints, definetely not a good fin for extended swims or soft legs, like mine

Cheers,

Pawel