Fins: most power, least effort?

[miketsp]

..snip..
I am looking for fins that will give me the most power for the least amount of effort
..snip..

Well like everything in this world there's a trade off.
In terms of efficiency at low power levels I've found that you can't beat hinging fins like Mares Volos or Dacor Panthers etc.
The hinge gives you the maximum backwards thrust for the least leg effort.
The efficiency is extremely high and in calm waters at low speed you can dive for hours, you just don't get tired and I never had cramps while using them.
Why did I stop using them on the majority of my dives?
If you have to fight into a strong current the efficiency drops off severely and there is a limit to the thrust. Once you have forced them to bend to 90degrees, extra leg effort is practically all wasted.
In these situations you need something more rigid to transmit your leg power and there's no substitute for your own conditioning.

 

[CAPX28]

i dont have the strongest legs either, and i had to ditch my old scuba pro planks with straps. Any way i went with the Volo powers because i had a gift certificate to a store. I also bought a pair of good ol Jets cause i scored a deal on ebay.

I got the volos first and liked them alot. minimal effort and good sustained speed. however i couldnt do any other types of kicks with them.

A few days later teh jets came. At first i was weary as tehy are pretty heavy. When i tried them they were almost as easy to kick as the volos, and i could do any kind of kick i tried with them.
I guess what im saying is that if you are just going to be cruising around mostly open areasthen go with the splits or sometjhing like it ( volos) If your going to be up close to reefs and over hand and the such where you need more stability and manuevering go with Jets.



Although i havnt used my volos since i got the Jtets, their just as easy to kick but much more stable and manueverable
Just my $.02

 

[Snowbear]

The thing about a fin like the jets..... because they are a paddle/blade type fin, there will be more resistance from the water when you kick. The cool part is, that resistance translates into "traction." In other words, a single kick with the right amount of torque gives you both speed (if that's what you're after) and maneuverability... in any direction you want to go (yes, I have tried and was able to swim sideways using just my fins )

As I said before, I'm a convert from the Apollo BioPros. When I was using them, I liked how they offered so little resistance to that water when kicking. I learned to use the modified flutter (a non-silting kick ) that works so well with them. I was able to maneuver reasonable well using little fin flips with my ankles. I couldn't really get enough traction to make much headway backwards without a whole lot of effort, though. Because of so little available traction, it takes a whole bunch more fin kicks (whatever kick you choose) to go the same distance or make the same maneuvers as a single kick~n~gliiiiiide or a single flip of the fin to turn or stop with the Jets. More fin kicks = more calories burned = more oxygen used and CO2 produced = more gas used from the Scuba tanks.

The Apollos were pretty much just as negatively buoyant as the Jets. I had no trouble finding a size that was comfortable in either one. In fact, I use 2 different sizes of Jets - Large for recreational diving and XL for PSD diving. Holding them up side by side, the paddles on the XL's are significantly longer and a bit wider. Using them in the water I find no difference in performance. I suppose for sustained swimming the XL's might do better, but I don't generally do that in either of these diving fields.

I have bum knees. Learning to use the frog kick *properly* with the Jet fins has actually eliminated the knee pain I was getting from finning.

 

[Sasquatch]

I started out with Scubapro Twinjets, and although I have stopped using them for the most part, I don't think it was the wrong initial choice. They minimize leg effort, and I have never had a cramp with them. They generated enough power for anything I needed to do (remember that scuba is not a speed sport!) and I gained leg strength as I kept diving.

I bought Jets over the weekend, and when I first put them on, I thought the Mafia had tied concrete blocks to my feet to drown me They did make frog kicks, etc., possible, where they had not been before, but I think I'm glad I didn't start out with them.

I'm just curious (and maybe the thread starter is too) why, since you state that the Twinjets fit the job, did you switch to Jets?

I dive Tusa Zooms and they work great so I don't think I'll get another pair until I lose these!

 

[TheRedHead]

The Apollos were pretty much just as negatively buoyant as the Jets. I had no trouble finding a size that was comfortable in either one. In fact, I use 2 different sizes of Jets - Large for recreational diving and XL for PSD diving. Holding them up side by side, the paddles on the XL's are significantly longer and a bit wider. Using them in the water I find no difference in performance. I suppose for sustained swimming the XL's might do better, but I don't generally do that in either of these diving fields.

It's really about comfort, fit and personal preference. I think everyone should try Jets since they are so abundant and cheap on ebay. I bought a pair for $20 and I can probably sell them again for the same amount.

I can't get the Jets to fit. The smallest size is Medium and they're too wide. My toes bang around in the foot pockets. Using a wider boot creates the problem that my foot slips around inside the boot and I can pull boot plus fin off very easily.

I like the open toe design of the Biofin because I can wear a size Small which hugs my foot and doesn't bang my toes. Same thing with the Force Fin and the open toe style. The Aeris Velocity Full Foot is another open toed fin that fits me well because I can use a slightly smaller size to correct for the wide men's width.

Maybe the problem with fins and booties is that they're all made for men. :10:

 

[Snowbear]

Maybe the problem with fins and booties is that they're all made for men. :10:

Maybe so, but I'm not a man and seem to be able to find stuff that I can make work anyway.... How about using some of the booties with thicker soles, rather than boots that are too big for you?

Anyhow, yes it is all about personal preference.... which is why I did the comparison using my own experience with both types

 

[TheRedHead]

Maybe so, but I'm not a man and seem to be able to find stuff that I can make work anyway.... How about using some of the booties with thicker soles, rather than boots that are too big for you?

Let's see. I have Tusa, Mares, Cressi, some no name that almost fit and Henderson Octotropic size 7 and are the only ones that fit. Maybe yours fit because you wear a drysuit with bigger booties and I dive in wussy warm water in the tropics? Can't help that I have narrow feet.

The Jets are actually a, hmm, failure point for me because I can kick the entire fin and bootie off very easily because of the weight.

 

[Snowbear]

Maybe yours fit because you wear a drysuit with bigger booties and I dive in wussy warm water in the tropics? Can't help that I have narrow feet.

Maybe so.... but I'm gonna use them for the next week for WWW diving in the tropics, so I'll have to let you know how it works out...

The Jets are actually a, hmm, failure point for me because I can kick the entire fin and bootie off very easily because of the weight.

Somehow I thinks it's the fit rather than the weight. But yes, kicking the fins and booties off is definitely a "failure point'"

 

[creamofwheat]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I checked in with my LDS today, and they dont carry the apollo biofins....the guy recommended me some volos (any opinions on these?) and I said no thanks. I am going to check out a different LDS to see what they can suggest to me as well. I have to shop around a bit before i fork out $200 on fins.

By the sounds of what you guys said, I am fairly convinced on either getting the jets or the biofins, so I guess I'll just keep looking!

You guys are super helpful...provide so much information. This thread has been very informative to me. Thank you!

 

[Snowbear]

I have to shop around a bit before i fork out $200 on fins.

Even with spring straps, Jetfins can be had for less than $100