Free diving fins

[Luca Brasi]

what , if any, issues will I encounter using long fins for the first time scuba diving

 

[scrane]

If you are a warm water reef diver I would worry about inadvertently contacting the reef. I can also envision silt tornados. What advantage are you looking for from the free diver fins?

 

[jadairiii]

Greater chance of kicking the reef or wreck if you have poor fin skills (as scrane stated), can be a tad more troublesome getting in and out of boats with them. you can break them doing a giant stride entry (happened to a set of my Cressi's). Harder to impossible to turn in tight spaces.

But lots of people use them, and in open water you can move pretty quick. I used them for years but went back to my jets with spring straps for ease of getting them on and off and breakage

 

[rongoodman]

I would expect you would lose your back kick and other precise position finning.

 

[MB NZ]

Sometimes I do a mixed free diving and SCUBA trip and can't be bothered to take two sets of fins and boots, so SCUBA with the long fins. No issues although as above, you might need to be more mindful of your fins in a sensitive environment. They are better suited to straight leg kicking rather than frog kicking.

When I visited Mozambique, all the dive guides were using free diving fins with SCUBA, possibly because they had come from a spear fishing/free diving background.

 

[johndiver999]

You will have lotsa waitin' problems.... Waiting for your buddy to ketchup.

 

[SlugLife]

what , if any, issues will I encounter using long fins for the first time scuba diving

• They can be a bit "softer" and more flexible. In my experience, that makes reverse kick and frog kick more difficult, although that may also just be me being terrible at finning.
• They're also longer. As other mentioned, that means more likely to kick stuff, which is not ideal for reefs, caves, or wrecks.
• They usually are closed-heel, meaning you can't use a "dive boot" but can use a "dive sock."
• Other divers may criticize you for "improper" or "less than ideal" gear, and you may have to shrug that off from time to time.

I haven't actually tried free-diving fins myself, so take all of the above with a pinch of sea-salt. I have been meaning to look into some free-diving fins though, to see how well they work or don't work.

 

[Angelo Farina]

what , if any, issues will I encounter using long fins for the first time scuba diving

I always use my Rondine Gara fins for scuba diving.
Of course I use the shorter, stiffer of three types of blades available for the Rondine Gara. When I was free diving, instead, I was using the medium-lenght blades.
My wife, instead, uses the medium blades also for scuba. But she is much more streamlined and has a better trim then me.
Think to fins as the transmission ratio for a bicycle.
When free diving you have small friction, so your legs can use a longer gear ratio.
When svuba diving there is more friction, so you need shorter gear ratios.
Free diving fins are great as they allow to change the blades, using the ones with proper length/stiffness adapting to your drag.
But if you plan to use the same blades which are OK for free diving, you probably will find them to be too long and too flexible for scuba diving, particularly if you are not super-streamlined

 

[Luca Brasi]

Thanks all! I’m thinking of getting a pair for stronger current environments

 

[scrane]

Free diving fins seem like a high gear, high speed kind of thing. For big current/load I'd think a stiffer fin like jet fins for low speed torque. Am I getting carried away with my automotive analogies?