Fin Conundrum

[bronccat]

Hi All,

We dive The Brac every year and as I prepare for this year's trip I am once again having an argument with myself about fins.

As many of you may know, with the iron shore + urchins on the Brac you can access alot more shore sites if you wear boots + open heel vs. full foot. I begrudgingly finally did this last year (I had to in order to access one particular site) and it was a miserable dive.

Feet were floating horribly.

So, here are my questions:

• What's the "nearest to neutral buoyancy" boot + fin setup you are aware of while maintaining protection against urchins and iron shore?
• Is it worthwhile in your experience to consider going out in boots and tying them off to switch to full foot fins?
• What about ankle weights? How much weight per ankle with say a 3mm boot (assuming I was leg heavy to begin with)?

Thanks!

 

[decompression]

Hi All,

We dive The Brac every year and as I prepare for this year's trip I am once again having an argument with myself about fins.

As many of you may know, with the iron shore + urchins on the Brac you can access alot more shore sites if you wear boots + open heel vs. full foot. I begrudgingly finally did this last year (I had to in order to access one particular site) and it was a miserable dive.

Feet were floating horribly.

So, here are my questions:

• What's the "nearest to neutral buoyancy" boot + fin setup you are aware of while maintaining protection against urchins and iron shore?
• Is it worthwhile in your experience to consider going out in boots and tying them off to switch to full foot fins?
• What about ankle weights? How much weight per ankle with say a 3mm boot (assuming I was leg heavy to begin with)?

Thanks!

Obvilously the thinner the neoprene the less buoyant, both Akona and Mares make a hard sole, low cut 3mm boot. Great for protection and minimal positive buoyancy.
fins.....many are slightly negative to neutral, so if you use the above boots most will be neutral. I have a few fav open heel fins I like for travel; OMS slipstreams, Mares Volos and Hollis F1.
im afraid ankle weights would be too negative unless you had a 5-7 mm boot. I discourage the use of ankle weights as it just doesn't make sense to put weight on your propulsion system (feet).
once you get you boots/fins sorted then you can work on placing your lead to achieve horizontal trim in the water.....move and adjust the lead around your weight pockets, trim pockets etc. Best of luck!

 

[GillScales]

See if a pair of chuck Taylors or another canvas type sneaker will fit your fin pocket.

 

[mala]

if you are doing less than 5 dives a year it really wont make much difference to your trim no matter what fins you have.

dive more often and practice bouyancy

 

[bronccat]

Thanks all.

I was using borrowed boots from the house and honestly didn't think to pay attention to how thick they were since I just used them once - in retrospect I bet they were thicker than mine (which weren't with me). Also, on that dive, I moved the buoy a few times and that was probably causing issues as well.

Mala, I do dive more than 5 times a year (OK, not a whole lot more, like 15 but still), I just didn't dive for about 20 years. I know it shouldn't have affected me as much as it did as I am pretty good at neutralizing myself.

At any rate, I guess I'll go down there with options. Glad to get confirmation about the ankle weights, that whole idea seemed a bit unnatural to me.

I like the idea of the Chucks LOL

 

[decompression]

I forgot to mention the chuck Taylor's, lots of guides/DMs use them as they're cheap and very noticeable to your divers!

 

[-hh]

Hi All,

We dive The Brac every year and as I prepare for this year's trip I am once again having an argument with myself about fins.

As many of you may know, with the iron shore + urchins on the Brac you can access alot more shore sites if you wear boots + open heel vs. full foot. I begrudgingly finally did this last year (I had to in order to access one particular site)...

Mind if I ask which shore dive site & where? I've had a webpage for Brac shore diving (which needs maintenance)

... and it was a miserable dive.

Feet were floating horribly.

So, here are my questions:

• What's the "nearest to neutral buoyancy" boot + fin setup you are aware of while maintaining protection against urchins and iron shore?
• Is it worthwhile in your experience to consider going out in boots and tying them off to switch to full foot fins?
• What about ankle weights? How much weight per ankle with say a 3mm boot (assuming I was leg heavy to begin with)?

Thanks!

Frankly, I'd probably put the "swap off" idea dead last, followed by ankle weights - - I'd first look to adjusting your trim weighting elsewhere if your feet are so light.

Althought there is one other possibility, which is simialar to what others have already suggested. The booties that you're using now will eventually get enough dive-crushes on them to lose some of their inherent buoyancy...hopefully, this will happen before the zippers and/or soles are completely shot. So in other words, "Use Old Booties".


-hh

 

[TSandM]

I'd give another thumbs up for the Chuck Taylors. They're cheap, they hold up amazingly well to repeated immersion, they give you some ankle support and have a sole thick enough for protection from rocks and sharp things.

 

[decompression]

I've been using these in the pool also thinking of brining them on my next trip to Mexico. They are a thin neoprene river shoe availible from Mountain Equipment Co-op in Canada and online.

If you can't see the picture they look like a low cut chuck Taylor.

 

[oregondiver]

I don't know what kind of fin you have but here is what I do/have.
I use force fins (open toe/heel pocket) for my cold water and warm water diving. They are light enough that it makes them easy to travel with.

I dive in my chacos. I am a white water kayaker and wear them all summer at home (and even wore them at my wedding, lol). I wear my chacos to Bonaire/Curacao/Caymans and then walk into the water and slip into my fin. No changing boots, no close toe shoes that capture water/sand/grit, no ugly ankle tan lines (ok, I am vain...). I wear a simple 1 mil neoprene sock on m foot somtimes for warmth. But again, still fits in my fin/shoe.

Good luck