Fins for diving in a current

[fdog]

<tounge in cheek> I would point out that the most important muscle for diving in significant current is the Flexor digitorum profundus.



With good development of this muscle, this fin would provide the most efficient propulsion....


All the best, James

 

[danvolker]

<tounge in cheek> I would point out that the most important muscle for diving in significant current is the Flexor digitorum profundus.



With good development of this muscle, this fin would provide the most efficient propulsion....


All the best, James

That same muscle would be contracting heavily for many members of this board, when holding on to their wallets prior to considering the cost of "this fin"

I have a couple of Gavins I exercise occaisionally
Regards,
Dan

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

Liberty,
Diving in currents can be very easy, but there are a few things I think you should have sorted out well. First, your body needs to be streamlined, and your swimming position horizontal ( not head up and feet down like the clueless). This is a scenario where backplate and small wing is typically far better than the traditional BC. Second, freedive fins with a soft blade are going to be far more effective in swimming sideways or upcurrent, than will tradditional scuba fins ( this includes Jets or splits or Force fins). The only way this will not be true is where the diver in question has very poor fitness, and actually needs what is essentially a very small "gear". This is what splits or force fins d0--they have you kicking many more kicks per minute, with much less effort per kick--typically causing more heart rate and breathing than traditional scuba fins would, but also making it easier on weak legs.
Hopefully you are fit, and if you are actually athletic, then you will quickly adopt freedive fins and find split fin divers completely unable to keep up with you in the event it becomes necessary to swim against a strong current, or sideways to one.

Back to diving in currents, normally you try not to swim upcurrent, even if you are ultra fit--you try to plan a drift dive in all large current scenarios. When you need to go against or sideways to a big current, you try to almost scrape the bottom with your belly ( without damaging corals obviously), as this is a place where the water is slowed by drag over the bottom, and there is much less current to contend with. I have used this to beat currents in inlet mouths that are faster than some boats will go Maybe a little pulling in the sand with my hands for 5 mph plus
Getting close to the bottom also requires that you are set up to swim entirely horizontal, and are not feet down and head up like a clueless newbie.

If you have to fight currents frequently, then you shoudl take up cycling for the cardio training, and use the freedive fins alot--actually condition yourself to be efficient at high outputs of power ( most divers only have efficiency at low power outputs, as that is the only way they dive/train).

Regards,
Dan

Rock on...

There are times when you have no choice but to swim against the current. The more varied and challenging the types of diving you do, the more likely you will encounter this. You have to enter at point A and want to go to B and it's up current. We don't always have the luxury of having someone pick us up in a boat and move us over. If you want to go there, you sometimes have to swim. Cave diving is a perfect example. If you can't handle the flow (current) you won't get to do much of any diving. I also do a lot of long shore dives, and the currents do reverse sometimes making it a challenge to get back to the entry point. Being able to handle it both physically and mentally will make you a better diver.

I used to joke about the drift diving specialty, "Anyone can swim WITH the current. You want to make the certification worth something, put 'em in the water and make 'em swim AGAINST it."

 

[Liberty01]

Thank you for your replies.
Actually, what does "freedive fins" signify?
Obviously, I don´t want to swim against currents, but it will be a liveaboard trip with diving along deep exposed dive sites. Good guides are great help in currents, but you never know what you get...
How to use the pro force fins best? Frogkick? Or short fast kicks?
Cheers, Liberty

 

[perdidochas]

Thank you for your replies.
Actually, what does "freedive fins" signify?

Free diving fins are long (usually flexible for beginners) fins. They are used by free divers on breathhold dives.

Obviously, I don´t want to swim against currents, but it will be a liveaboard trip with diving along deep exposed dive sites. Good guides are great help in currents, but you never know what you get...
How to use the pro force fins best? Frogkick? Or short fast kicks?
Cheers, Liberty

I think conventional stiff fins are best in currents.

 

[Zieg]

One of the things I do for a living is measure currents. You know, place an instrument in the water that accurately measures the movement of the water. Soooo, I kinda get a kick out of hearing divers talk about swimming againt, let's say 5 knot currents. I've got to make the BS call when I hear that. I defy most divers in tip top condition with scuba to swim againt 1.5 knot current let alone 2 knot current, so 5 knots is total BS. Way too many people over estimate the current speed, or they have some quick way of estimating the current which has inherent tooooo many errors. I really love the peole that estimate the current based on the GPS of boat drift.

Another one is many people over estimate wave height, but let's save that one for another thread.

 

[danvolker]

Thank you for your replies.
Actually, what does "freedive fins" signify?
Obviously, I don´t want to swim against currents, but it will be a liveaboard trip with diving along deep exposed dive sites. Good guides are great help in currents, but you never know what you get...
How to use the pro force fins best? Frogkick? Or short fast kicks?
Cheers, Liberty

Freediving fins are long, soft bladed fins. They are much more efficient than traditional scuba fins are ( even when used for scuba diving). Most fit scuba divers can benefit enormously from the soft versions of freedive fins--please know that most freedive fin manufacturers realize that there are many different fitness levels and uses for freedive fins among it's market, so they create several levels of stiffness in their blades to handle this....For the vast majority of scuba divers, the soft level of each manufacturer, is the right stiffness.

Here is a link to a fin that can be found at many dive shops.. Amazon.com: Freediving Fins or Scuba Fins - Cressi Sub GARA 2000 HF Longblade Freediving Fins: Sports & Outdoors

You might wonder WHY more scuba divers do not use freedive fins. major reasons include:

• Most dive stores like to sell one size fits all fins--less expensive inventory
• most dive instructors don't like to have to worry about new students falling on their face when walking in the dive boat--freedive fins are harder to walk in than traditional scuba fins--but are you buying fins to walk in, or to swim better with?
• You don't giant stride into the water with freedive fins--you can step forward and twist, doing a back flop, or you can learn to dive in headfirst( which is what I do--it gets me down to the bottom much faster when the current is screaming as well)
• Most scuba divers have never been exposed to freedive fins, and they end up using what they are exposed to. This includes store owners, divemasters, and instructors as well.
• Freedive fins are bad for cave diving because they will easily kick up silt-either below you or above you...overhead in wrecks can be a similar issue, but much less so.. I have always used my freedive fins for wreck penetrations, with zero negative issues--but I would not use them in a real cave environment--I would use Jet fins ( and NOT twin jets !!!!).

The reality is, if you give freedive fins a try, and if you are reasonably fit, you will have vastly better speed potential in the water to beat currents with--either as a sprint, or as a hour long effort.

I used my freedive fins on my fiji trip a year ago, and blew the minds of the divemasters on the way I could swim easily through and against currents they could not begin to handle themselves. They were certainly not used to their customers doing things they could not do--but they were also not aware of how freediving fins will change the equation for you.....I actually left two pairs of my freedive fins for the guys that divemastered on the boat we used

 

[Bob3]

It sounds like you're going to be more in a drift dive scenario than in something hardcore, like a tail race of a dam.
Be sure you bring along a good SMB, like the one made by Carter

The "Dive Geek" has a good section on diving RIVERS, probably not what you have in mind, but a good read none the less.

Oh yah, my buddy dives in some significant currents & he stands by the Force Fins I gave him many moons ago. He still keeps a pair of my "Giant UDT Duck Feet" stowed away in his boat in case things really get serious, like needing to tow the boat to shore.

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

I really love the peole that estimate the current based on the GPS of boat drift.

I hear ya' on that one...

Many GPS units will show 1 to 2 MPH when they're sitting motionless.

 

[danvolker]

One of the things I do for a living is measure currents. You know, place an instrument in the water that accurately measures the movement of the water. Soooo, I kinda get a kick out of hearing divers talk about swimming againt, let's say 5 knot currents. I've got to make the BS call when I hear that. I defy most divers in tip top condition with scuba to swim againt 1.5 knot current let alone 2 knot current, so 5 knots is total BS. Way too many people over estimate the current speed, or they have some quick way of estimating the current which has inherent tooooo many errors. I really love the peole that estimate the current based on the GPS of boat drift.

Another one is many people over estimate wave height, but let's save that one for another thread.

What I was talking about was the speed of the outgoing water in the Lake Worth Inlet ( often called Palm beach inlet) durring tide change. I think you will find that water here can move pretty fast compared to ocean currents...I think 5 mph is probably close, but maybe someone else has actually measured it when it is ripping. And I did not say I could "swim" against it--as if in the mid water collum--that would be imposible....Friends of mine and I will go hand over hand on the bottom, using either sand you can dig your hand into, or rocks, for to pull on. And where there are no hand holds usable, by keeping your body close to the bottom-almost rubbing, you can avoid most of the current--change a 4 or 5 mph current to less than half of this, where you can beat it for a burst of a few seconds, until you can get another handhold. This is actually pretty easy for locals in this inlet, but it sounds hard..you just have to do it with someone who knows where to traverse the inlet.

The real point of the post was that by getting your body close to the bottom, you can cut the speed of current you are fighting to a fraction of what it would be in the mid water collum....most scuba divers will fight at the mid water or near surface area, which is the worst way to successfully fight a current if you have plenty of air.

I'd be happy to demonstrate, any time..if you are still wanting to toss the BS flag. I have my own boat, so no costs are involved