Dropped Fin

[Fish in a Barrel]

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.

The final dive of my deep dive course involved dropping straight down off the dock to 130'... and doing a search pattern for all the gear that had been lost there.

 

[TSandM]

Although it doesn't solve the problem of dropping the fins while you are actually removing them, some friends of mine use a "finkeeper", which is a short length of nylon cord with a clip at each end, that they pass through the straps and clip the fins to their BC during entries and exits.

I think the unhappy fact is that you WILL eventually drop anything you hold in your hands. All you can do is be as careful as you can, and with things which are prohibitively expensive and where you CAN, you equip things with lanyards that prevent their loss.

 

[Splitlip]

Just a couple comments re spring straps. I have them on all my fins. My booties have a"groove" in the heels to retain the strap. To remove the fins at a ladder, I use the meaty part of my palm at the base of thumb to roll the spring down such that I can grasp it and slide the fin onto my wrist. This can be accomplished while the other hand holds the ladder.

I have pair of Atomic fins with the atomic spring staps. The atomic springs come with these big goofy handle thingies on the back of the strap for "easy" removal of the fin. First thing I did when I got the fins was to get rid of the handle things. I decided to sell the fins so I replaced them. At some point I thought I might give the fins a second chance but this time I left the thingies on. One of the boats I use has no ladder but rather a second folding platform that is several inches below the water when in the down position. The best way I find enter the water is to take a hand hold, step down to the first platform then down to the lower platform turning 180 then just sit back into the water. Well, the lower platform is made of aluminum which has slots to allow water through.
Naturally, when I rolled back one of the handle thingies caught in slot and popped my strap. I resolved it at about 60 ft. Needless to say..although I still have the fins, the handle thingies are history.

 

[DevonDiver]

Another option (I just thought of, but never used) would be to have a decent sized snap on a d-ring, then just clip the fins onto that. I do that with my mask - have a double-ender spare on my right chest d-ring - it has uses underwater, but once on the surface it holds my mask securely. Works nice on the boat also, as it keeps my mask together with my kit and stops it getting trodden on etc. Have been using the same mask for the last 10 years, so the principle should be sound.

 

[RTee]

Although it doesn't solve the problem of dropping the fins while you are actually removing them, some friends of mine use a "finkeeper", which is a short length of nylon cord with a clip at each end, that they pass through the straps and clip the fins to their BC during entries and exits.

I think the unhappy fact is that you WILL eventually drop anything you hold in your hands. All you can do is be as careful as you can, and with things which are prohibitively expensive and where you CAN, you equip things with lanyards that prevent their loss.

Lynne...you beat me to it. In a sense it is like asking what can I do to not drop a glass or a toast on the floor. For all of us, it is not a matter of will it ever happen but more of when.

For those who were raised in cold climate or raised kids in those conditions, parents used to tied both mitts to a long string that would go from one hand to the other via the winter coat sleeves. That way kids would never lose a mitt. Perhaps, such a system could be adopted to tie both fins to some part of the BC before removing them from feet (that you would keep stowed in one of your BC's pocket and then wrap around the strap of the fin and clipped to the rope when you removed them) but then there would always be a risk of entanglement.

 

[RonFrank]

I have done boat dives, surf entries, shore dives and never really thought about loosing a fin. I wonder sometimes how I ever sleep at night!

 

[cudachaser]

I teach all my students to deal with a lost fin...it's no big deal for them. I also teach them to dive with no fins. It's an adaptation from my HSA training...I try to make the students believe that fins are a convience but not a necessity. I just takes longer to get from point A to B

 

[lowviz]

Take Doppler's solo course, a one fin race is part of it.


-no biggie.