Fins recommendation for current

[MAKO Spearguns]

Hello, fellow divers,

Yesterday my girlfriend and I went diving in a tropical area, when we are cutting through the current, she can't follow up the rest of buddies due to lack of leg power, she's 5'9 and weights around 140lbs, wearing a Gull Super Mew XX, and we dive in 3mm wetsuit, single tank, watertemp was 28C. I was wondering whether there are any fins that can kick easier in the current and require less leg power than Super Mew.

Or should I just tell her to hit the gym more often?

You may want to have her consider a pair of free dive fins. For that size person a soft pair of fiberglass or carbon fiber or composite blade would be very efficient and should not be too stiff.

There are no magic fins that generate thrust without effort, but a high quality freedive fin with a full footpocket and a blade stiffness that is properly matched with the diver and the intended use is probably best.

In actuality, a freedive monofin (single large blade that is kicked like a dolphin) is probably the best, but it is not practical for scuba diving for a variety of reasons.

Also, some practice (training in a pool with whatever fins you use) is going to bring you improvements if you don't dive several times a week.

thanks
dano

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[DeepSeaExplorer]

Jet fins are great for swimming into the current, and swimming into the current is a great way to develop propulsion technique. Just like anything worthwhile, it takes practice to develop efficiency, speed, endurance and maneuverability. Selecting one particular fin over another isn’t going to miraculously make up for practice. Use a frog kick and pace yourself to avoid tiring out.

 

[Landau]

The big requirement for current is a fin that is easy enough to kick that you never need to stop kicking to rest. In current you need to keep kicking to not lose ground.

I am an ex-competitive swimmer and can kick very fast, but switching to a fin with a somewhat smaller blade made a big difference for me. A more flexible blade might help as well, but super flexible is not always good for frog kick

 

[Cali_diver]

I struggled with that as well and I am a way better swimmer than my buddy/hubby. I got the mares quattro plus fins and I no longer have any issues. I use full foot fins since I do most of my diving on LOBs.

 

[Boarderguy]

I love my Quattros. They are easy to tool around in and when you have to move they will push you fast.

 

[Imla]

So, the not so obvious answer... Let her swim first! There is nothing more tiresome than trying to catch up with someone that outswims you. It is not fun. It feels horrible. It is just plain terrible on foot, on skis, in a kayak, SRT climbing, bicykling, swimming AND diving. Put her first. Most likely she will relax, and being relaxed, her finning technique will be better. Keep the slowest diver first. Better for all!

 

[-JD-]

I'm going to second (or third) the recommendation for the ForceFin Pros.

When you want to MOVE, you need to use a smaller stroke with higher cadence, more with the lower legs, compared to more traditional fins which reward bigger, full-leg strokes. The way the fin is designed, the power stroke is the down stroke and the up/recovery stroke is relatively soft. The closest analogy I can give is the difference between spinning in a lower gear vs. grinding in a higher gear on a bike. They also work unexpectedly well with a modified ankle-flip frog kick for maneuvering around a reef.

For comparison I have also used:

• Atomic Smoke On The Water split fins (actually would not be a bad option to try - but only the stiffer versions like the SOTWs)
• Deep Six Eddys
• OMS Slipstream
• ForceFin Hockey

 

[Altamira]

You might have her try the Mares x-stream fins, which work well for me in current, and require a lot less leg power to move through the water than fins such as Jet types and Avanti Quattro. If your GF is not a frequent swimmer, diver, or gym visitor, it will likely be very hard for her to build up her leg strength to fully take advantage of stiffer fins mentioned in this thread.

Edit: I should have stated that I also dive Apollo Bio fins which, contrary to frequently heard beliefs on SB, also work well in current, but you have to use a different finning technique than with paddle type fins. They do not provide the immediate feel of acceleration as with jet fin types, but being much easier to kick, I do make pretty good headway with current after a short period of time with more rapid but low amplitude kicks.

 

[Pao]

Yeah, we are not exactly swim up the current, we are cutting through it, trying to swim out the current area. And since we were shore diving, theres no way we drift down with the current, is there a better way to avoid this situation? Cause we were just following our guide, everything seems great when heading out, not so much when coming back.

Consult local tide tables and ask the locals about what sort of current to expect. There is a tendency to just gloss over dive planning.

 

[DivingLuketw]

You did not start the dive going into the current? Or did the direction change during your dive?

Yeah, the direction changed when we were heading back, it’s more like a 45 degree angle when we swim through it.