Guy, I agree with you about flutter kicking and leg fatigue in Jets. They just aren't made for that, and if that's the kind of swimming someone is doing, I think a fin with more give to it is much better.
I'm not sure that it's the Jets' per se that are the problem, more the SIZE of the blades on the XL Jets. Unless you've got really powerful leg muscles, just pushing the XL jets is noticeably hard work. I don't find that to be the case with the smaller blades of my L Jets although it's still more effort than my Bio-Fins, and I'm sure either Jet would be more likely to cause cramps. I believe part of my cramping problem with the XL Jets is due to the loose fit on one foot; I think I unconsciously curl my toes on that foot to try to keep the fin from slopping around, and may well do the same on the other foot (which fits the fin pocket much better) in unintentional sympathy. I don't know what % the blade stiffness and the toe curling each play in cramping, but I'm willing to bet that they both contribute.
The cave divers I know who use flutter more than frog, use a softer paddle fin -- and they kick very slowly.
I don't think there are very many divers doing the kind of dives you're describing, though. If I had to do a long surface swim followed by 3/4 mile of swimming over featureless sand, I think I'd look for another site. We DO have a dive or two like that up here, but they are not done by swimming divers, to my knowledge; only by scooter users.
Don't get me wrong, I'm saying the total swimming distance (i.e. out and back or round the course) is 1/2-3/4 mile, not that I'm going that far over nothing but sand. With a few exceptions, at most sites there are intermediate reefs or human artifacts to look at every 1-300 feet or so before I get to the final site, and I use those features as waypoints. But every so often when I want a challenge, I'll choose a site that requires a 600-1,000 foot leg over featureless sand to a waypoint, just to keep my navigation sharp or because I feel like getting some exercise. I'm sure that I'm part of a very small minority of divers who like this sort of thing -- fortunately, I have a buddy who's also a member of the lunatic fringe!
And another way to challenge myself is to try to do a dive swimming that has only (to my knowledge) been done with scooters. We've got one planned and are just waiting on the availabilty of a loaner Navimate to try (to give it a realistic test), although we've already swum ~2/3rd of the route to select waypoints. As it happens we'd been thinking about trying this dive even before someone local (my Fundies instructor's team, as it happens) did it with scooters; their success just encouraged us.
The DIR principle is to use the right tool for the job. It wouldn't make sense to burn gas and acquire deco obligation swimming through things you don't want to look at, when you can use a scooter to do the job faster. Of course, a lot of scooter use is just because they're fun!
Well, different strokes, but I find that swimming over relatively featureless sand (especially in limited vis) forces me to concentrate on my nav and how my body's functioning and can be quite enjoyable, as long as there's something to see at the end of the leg. I'd go nuts if I could only dive someplace like Lake Tahoe, because there usually isn't anything at the end of the leg except more of the same!
As to burning gas and acquiring deco, note that I specified single tank recreational shore dives at moderate depths (typically averaging<60', with max. no more than 130'), where running out of MDL is rarely an issue (even using air on the very conservative SSI tables I use). For technical dives where you're paying through the nose for tri-mix and extended ocean deco is a bad idea, the situation's different, and the task may require scooter use for reasonable safety.
As to scooters being 'fun', not for me. To me, a scooter is a tool, not a toy. I find being pulled or pushed along by a motor gets boring very quickly, because I'm almost totally disengaged (it's too easy). When my progress depends on my own efforts/skills I'm much more aware of what I'm doing, and I appreciate getting to a site more because I had to earn it. After all, aren't the challenge and the reward usually commensurate? People value a Fundies pass more than a "Pay your money and get your card" certificate from one of the major agencies for the same reason.
Which isn't to say that I'm not perfectly happy to buy my sports gear pre-made and haul it to the activity site in my car before setting off on a test of my conditioning/discipline/training/skills, instead of walking there naked and making every item on site from natural materials; I'm at least as big a societal parasite and hypocrite as Thoreau was.
Guy
