Do my buddy's split fins kick up a lot of silt?

[RJP]

there are living animals in the sand as well, and that those end up flying around making them fish food.

I'm not saying rays etc don't move sand, they do obviously, but they do it for a reason.

On behalf of all the Ray's of the world (see what I did there?) I will let you in on a little secret... they're looking for fish food.

:d

 

[chillyinCanada]

Just say no to split fins. :cross:

 

[Patoux01]

On behalf of all the Ray's of the world (see what I did there?) I will let you in on a little secret... they're looking for fish food.

:d

I just believe we should try to minimise our influence on marine life, and I don't consider a worm hiding in the sand to be less valuable than a manta or coral. So I don't see why it's okay to destroy (or help) one but not the other. Again, just my opinion. Now I have a different view on helping something that has been trapped due to human stupidity, in that case I have no issue interfering.

 

[RJP]

Just say no to split fins. :cross:

 

[Zieg]

I just believe we should try to minimise our influence on marine life, and I don't consider a worm hiding in the sand to be less valuable than a manta or coral. So I don't see why it's okay to destroy (or help) one but not the other. Again, just my opinion. Now I have a different view on helping something that has been trapped due to human stupidity, in that case I have no issue interfering.

Then don't ever look at the grill on your car.

 

[Doc Harry]

I always said that there was something terribly wrong with split fins

 

[Bob DBF]

I was never a fan of split fins, but a buddy of mine used them. After listening to me complain about the silt he was kicking up, he managed to find ways to reduce and eliminate the problem by using different kick motions. I don't know how he did it, nor did I really care as long as I could see. He started using freedive fins before he moved out of area, so I'll have to catch up with him to see how that worked out. This was on a lake bottom, and if four small crawdads bolted as you approached, they would put up a silt plume big enough to get you lost.

I would imagine it would take a similar type of control as using a flutter kick near the bottom without disturbing the silt. The main factor is knowing where the fins are moving the water as you kick, and acting accordingly.

I don't know if the split fins made him faster on the surface swims or it was just the fact he was twenty five years younger than me.



Bob
------------------------------------------
There are more ways than one to skin a cat, however the cat never likes it.

 

[TMHeimer]

Since this has turned into the split fin thread, I'll say that I won a pair years ago at a "treasure hunt". Around the time I started using them I noticed I was cramping far less--a benefit I later read about. Could be though that at about the same time I started taking a daily Potassium pill. Recently I've taken to doing a lot of frog kicking with them, and that seems to go OK. There are times I think I actually go faster (in a straight line) than with my old paddle fins. Maybe not. But they work good enough for me to do what I have to do in the ocean with OW classes, and for my own diving. I use my old standard fins in the pool.

 

[Storker]

I've taken to doing a lot of frog kicking with them, and that seems to go OK.

I went the other way, from splits to paddles. I could do a half-decent frog, a not-too-awful heli and apparently fair enough mod flutters in my splits. Of course, the splits were very comfortable to flutter with. I couldn't, for the life of me, do a back kick. Now, with my Jets, I get a noticeably better frog, a fairly similarly decent heli and more or less equally fair mod flutters. I try to avoid full flutter kicks except if I'm in a current or if I'm sprinting, because I get cramps a lot quicker than with my splits. But for the first time in my life I can do back kicks.

For my style of diving and my personal preferences, the stiff paddles are a better match.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I love my split fins (Atomic Aquatics), and they are top quality. Cheap fins, split or not, are all terrible. Now to dispel some myths about split fins:
1. Split fins do not kick up more silt or sand than other fins.
2. People who talk down split Split fins tried weak or small or limp little fins. Next time go for a quality item.
3. Split fins will not lead to sterility in men or infertility in women.
4. Split fins do not make you look "funny" in the water or on the boat.
5. Split fins do not make your butt look big.
That should put an end to fuirther split fin conversation. I believe I have said it all.
DivemasterDennis