Dropped Fin

[BabyDuck]

it's happened to me when i was about to jump off the dive boat, so here's what you do. yell 'oh, sweetie, go get that please!'. then your buddy gives you 'the look' and goes fin hunting. later you repay him with sexual favors.

it works for me.

but the real answer is 'don't drop them'.

 

[redacted]

Great idea! So, how do you make sure not to drop your fins when taking them off in the first place (before putting your arms thru the straps, I mean)?

You keep your regulator in your mouth and hold onto the fin. What would cause you to let it go?

 

[RTee]

Long story short...my GF lost one of her fins doing the giant stride off the boat in Cozumel (brought the pair ajusted for her drysuit instead of the one she normally uses) and I was already in the water. I told the DM...see yaw in a minute and just went down and got it. When I looked up the DM told me to wait where I was, sent my GF down to me, we did a fin swap (mine could be adjusted) and then proceeded with the dive once the group came down. Very easy to do at the start of the dive, in the conditions we had and in vis close to 100ft.

Dolphin kick...one of the kicks I learned as part of my OW training in 78.

Normally, as Devon mentionned, equipment drop/loss this will normally happen during the exit. The first thing you need to do is to be comfy with the strap system of your fins and if you cannot do it with the thermal protection you will be wearing and using one hand only, then you need to change the attachment system. As an example, my Mares Quattro Excel fins came with two type of attachments. One was a small sliding lock with a lever and the other one was a squeeze and lift system. When I purchased my fins, the first thing the LDS recommended and did for me was to switch for the squeeze and lift because in his words ...the other system was just a b...... to use and he was right as my son and GF fins came with that very system and I can recall a fair amount of cursing (GF) and complaining (son). Last XMas, one of my gifts to them was spring straps for their fins. One thing fixed.

Second thing...the dive is not over until you are out of the water. Not only your dive plan should cover how the dive will be conducted with proper gas management but it also needs to include entry and exit strategies. While it may be a very simple one for entering the water from the shore in very calm conditions/ soft and gently sloping ground, it is going to be another story facing surf like conditions for both when equipment tend to go astray either on entry or on exit. As for boat diving,most operators will have a line (rope) of some sort in the water (Tag/swim lines, current lines), especially in choppy water. Ideally, you will hold on to that line with one hand at a safe distance (but close to the boat) and then, remove one fin then slide the strap around the wrist of the hand holding the line that you will need to quickly let go in the process and then repeat the process for the other fin. If you need to use two hands (you then curse at yourself for not changing that darn system) you could ask your buddy to hold on to you with one hand (as he or she should be holding on to the line with the other) or just wrap one arm around said line, remove one fin and slide one of your hand through the strap right away (ideally the one that you are using the least in the process or the one holding the line as the fin could just slip out and then sink) and then repeat the process with the other. Once done, you just pull yourself to the boat using the line and then decide if it is better to pass the fins, one at a time, to the mate or DM standing at the back of the boat or just prep yourself to step and grab the ladder (never only grab), climb up, and go to your assigned position.

It is something you could easily rehearse mentally during let's say a three min safety stop...just before you come up to the surface.

 

[FPDocMatt]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I use my hands, plus an appropriate amount of concentration.

Seriously though... fins and other stuff tends to get dropped when boarding the boat, or being passed up to crew etc. Spending a few moments to remove the fins and get your hands through the straps allows sufficient task-focus to reasonably ensure you won't drop them.

If it's a major problem, you can practice this skill on dry-land in preparation for your dive. Pick up the fin, hold it.... hold it some more.... hold it some more....hold it some more.... then put it down. If you fail to hold it, then simply repeat the routine until it becomes second-nature. Like all things, it comes with practice.

I'm thinking about starting a thread about the over-abundance of smart-alecks among scuba divers.

I was thinking of a method that minimizes -- or even eliminates -- the possibility of dropping the fin. For example, while removing the strap from the back of your heel, pass your fingers under the loop, and hold onto the loop while removing the fin. As opposed to pulling off the strap, letting it go, grasping the body of the fin, etc.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Actually, gurnie has it right- sometimes. I have retrieved dropped gear for divers if I am at a depth that permits it. If conditions are calm, I will sometime remain in the water at moderate depth as people re-board, but then there is the issue of delaying them with my safety stop if the dive boat is ready to move off the site. Dropped gear happens for a number of reasons, more often then not a weight belt or weight pocket is what I end up retrieving. Fins sink more slowly, and if I am in the water, even on the surface, I can usually retrieve a fin within 10 or 15 feet. However, I would never put myself in a situation of risking DCS to retrieve any piece of equipment, regardless of value, nor do I think anyone else should. New fins, or wights, or even a camera lens, are not worth the price of you health or your life.
DivemasterDennis

 

[redacted]

I'm thinking about starting a thread about the over-abundance of smart-alecks among scuba divers.

I was thinking of a method that minimizes -- or even eliminates -- the possibility of dropping the fin. For example, while removing the strap from the back of your heel, pass your fingers under the loop, and hold onto the loop while removing the fin. As opposed to pulling off the strap, letting it go, grasping the body of the fin, etc.

Spring straps will give you something a bit more firm to grab and pull when doffing (and donning) fins. It could be a problem if you must release the strap and pull on the fin to remove. A little silicon on the bootie and the inside of the fin usually takes care of that problem. Do them one at a time and slip them over your wrists. I never hand my fins up as they are the one thing I may need when I fall off the boarding ladder. I have my computer and my compass wrist mounted and I slip the spring strap past the gauge to make it very secure.

 

[RTee]

it's happened to me when i was about to jump off the dive boat, so here's what you do. yell 'oh, sweetie, go get that please!'. then your buddy gives you 'the look' and goes fin hunting. later you repay him with sexual favors.

it works for me.

but the real answer is 'don't drop them'.

Great system when diving with your tender half but considering who I have had as Insta buddies in the past, suffice to say that in most situations I would have opted for the one fin dolphin kick to retrieve my lost fin in that very same situation. However, the one thing I fail to comprehend is that with such a reward, you should be getting the ''smile'' accompanied by the ''Yes dear'' rather than the ''look''...lol.

 

[FuzzyNutz]

it's happened to me when i was about to jump off the dive boat, so here's what you do. yell 'oh, sweetie, go get that please!'. then your buddy gives you 'the look' and goes fin hunting. later you repay him with sexual favors.

it works for me.

but the real answer is 'don't drop them'.

Did this by chance happen... 5 years ago? lol! And was there a certain whiskey involved?

 

[shoredivr]

A dive buddy of mine likes to visit what he calls the Dive Shop at the start of a dive if we're diving a boat tied off to a mooring buoy. While most divers are looking at the wreck, he's combing the area on the bottom beneath the boat, where most overboard gear winds up. Of course this Dive Shop area needs to be adjusted for current. One time he finished the dive with a tube SMB, a lift bag, a dive slate and a JetFin. Most I've ever found is a weight pocket and an aluminum paddle.

 

[FPDocMatt]

A dive buddy of mine likes to visit what he calls the Dive Shop at the start of a dive if we're diving a boat tied off to a mooring buoy. While most divers are looking at the wreck, he's combing the area on the bottom beneath the boat, where most overboard gear winds up.

"Visit the dive shop." Great concept!