Ah the perks of being a shop manager. Today we did a discover scuba for 8 college students. Went really well. But I got to take 2 pair of fins down to the pool with me just because I wanted to try them and because the owner thinks it's a good idea for me to have used what I sell. Took a pair of scubamax Mach 2 turbos and a pair of oceanic v-12's. My opinion on these and it differs from the owners so far is this: I don't care for the turbos. While they were easy on the calfs and ankles they were almost too easy. I could not seem to generate the same propulsion with them as with my blades. They also did not lend themselves to backfinning and when I switched from a flutter to a side(modified frog) kick they were practically useless. This is the kick I normally use as it gives good speed and distance with little to no down draft depending on what I put into it. With my blades I can cover 4-5 ft per kick at an easy cruising pace. These barely moved me. I will say that switch back and really getting on them showed some git up and go but still not as much as the old blades.
The V-12's on the other hand were more than what I expected. So much so that I'm hanging on to them for a little longer to do some close comparisons with my fin of choice.(Aqualung/USDivers Blades, the originals not the new ones) I really liked the feel of the foot pocket. Soft yet with enough support to suit me. As for performance I was impressed with the responsiveness and ease of use. They did not lend well to backfinning like the turbos even tho they were better but switching to my modfrog was easy and quite pleasant. I had no trouble going although in all fairness I didn't jump on em to see what kind of distance I was getting nor did I measure it tonight. This weekend I'll most likely be going back to the pool for some DM training and I'm planning on doing some laps as well as uw w/gear on to actually compare them side by side w/ my blades. I had no trouble at all helicoptering and on my back on the surface they kick *****. I really like the splits so far and these, if they do as well as they did tonite in some real side by side stuff, may stay in my dive bag for good. And yes my legs feel better than they usually do after a nite of pool work with new people. It also helped that we needed to suck down a couple nitrox tanks to be filled. 108's w/32% and about 2 grand in each. Took me almost 3 hrs to get it down to 1000psi and I don't care what anybody says. I feel better after diving on the higher octane stuff.
The V-12's on the other hand were more than what I expected. So much so that I'm hanging on to them for a little longer to do some close comparisons with my fin of choice.(Aqualung/USDivers Blades, the originals not the new ones) I really liked the feel of the foot pocket. Soft yet with enough support to suit me. As for performance I was impressed with the responsiveness and ease of use. They did not lend well to backfinning like the turbos even tho they were better but switching to my modfrog was easy and quite pleasant. I had no trouble going although in all fairness I didn't jump on em to see what kind of distance I was getting nor did I measure it tonight. This weekend I'll most likely be going back to the pool for some DM training and I'm planning on doing some laps as well as uw w/gear on to actually compare them side by side w/ my blades. I had no trouble at all helicoptering and on my back on the surface they kick *****. I really like the splits so far and these, if they do as well as they did tonite in some real side by side stuff, may stay in my dive bag for good. And yes my legs feel better than they usually do after a nite of pool work with new people. It also helped that we needed to suck down a couple nitrox tanks to be filled. 108's w/32% and about 2 grand in each. Took me almost 3 hrs to get it down to 1000psi and I don't care what anybody says. I feel better after diving on the higher octane stuff.
) of split fins.
