Gut reactions to this fin for a new diver?

[evandroairton]

Thank you for the feedback!! What is your favorite fin?

what i use now are Dive Rite XT, and Mares Avanti Quattro (mine is from 1998, the newer ones don't perform equally, but are ok), i guess that one of the Mares Qattro's clones goes well too, after seeing one of my students using them
OMS Slipstream are good too, and used to like very much my Tusa Imprex, but i guess they are no more made

 

[CT-Rich]

I used the Mares Avanti Quattro for forever, I have some very old school rocket fins for dry diving. The only thing I definitely say is a must are getting fins with an open heel and a decent set of booties. to go with them. Being able to walk on gravel in full gear is priceless. Other suggestions, don't get super heavy fins for travel, they will weigh your feet down if you have little or no wet suit. look at what type of kicker you are. Some are better for frog kicking and helicopter turns. If you have bad knees, the cursed splits might be the right choice, but generally, all fins will move you forward, but some fins are more demanding than others. you are very seldom going to want to kick like hell while diving, but if you are in good shape, a longer, stiffer blade will work, but you might be more prone to cramping than a shorter blade. There are tons of reviews on line that will give you many perspectives.

 

[fred32176]

I use Mares Avanti Quattro fins. I own one BCD a Scubapro Seahawk 2. I did my certification training using a Scubapro hydros pro. And there were a couple of things I did not like about the hydros pro. I live in Florida and went to a dive shop that had 20 kinds of BCDs and a list of the features I wanted and tried on BCDs until I got to the Seahawk 2 and that was it.

Before your training you will probably need to buy a mask and fins. Wait on everything else until you figure out what you like and don't like with the equipment you use in training.

 

[dmaziuk]

Certainly to each his own, but after not being crazy about the Accels at the start, they have now become my favorite fins. For me, they've always been good for frog kicks, but were initially not as great for flutter kicks. I made myself keep using them somewhat out of necessity for travel, and believe I somewhat unconsciously modified my flutter kicking style somehow (in my ankles, I believe) so they work great for me now. Obviously, YMMV.

+1. The only reason I'm not using my Accels is I've narrow feet and their foot pocket is wider than I'd like. I got a pair of Cressi ARAs whose foot pocket fits me perfectly, but on the rare occasion when I need a bigger cold water boot, it's Accels FTW.

I did have to upgrade my checked bag to one that's long enough for ARAs, though.

 

[Damselfish]

Fins- I have a thing for fins. I had at least 3 pairs before I started diving. 2 were jet clones before I knew what jets were.

I started diving with the original SP black seawing gorillas in 1990. They failed at the lamination between blade and foot pocket. Upgraded to the stiffer clear colored version, great until they cracked across the blade. Got grief from shop for being hard on fins. Loved those fins even though the foot pockets were not shaped like feet, unless you had square feet.

Next the original US Divers Blades, with several iterations of springs and bungies.
Great fins. Lost one in Australia in the turbulence on a tagline behind a chase boat during a CF on the GBR. Bought another pair on eBay for $10. Decided I wanted different boots and needed to upsize fins to fit, bought yet another pair on eBay for $20. Great value. My longest lasting fins. I have a set of 3 size small Blades available.

Bought a pair of short stiff fins because they got good reviews and sounded good for travel. I forget what they were but they live in my shed. Still using the Blades.

Had a desire for more power and still missed my dearly departed ancient Seawings. Just bought some new Seawing Nova Gorillas, haven’t hit the water yet.

Research fins a bit, try what you can. Then get something to use until you get something else. Great thing to buy used especially until you’re sure what you want.

BCs
#1- Started with hated Scubapro finseal jacket. Made for a guy like everything. No adjustments and never fit well.

#2- Some Dacor jacket I bought on sale that fit and worked great for a long time. No int weights so had decent pockets. (I like pockets as much as fins.) Made for a woman, in that it came in hot pink. I hate pink, but at least it had faded by the time I wore it out.

#3- Scubapro Ladyhawk. Loved it (except for useless roll down pocket) until a large chunk of ice fell on it through a skylight and it seemed to leak a bit.

#4- Zeagle Express tech. I had to tweak it a lot to suit me and its a bit sloppy, but soldiers on. Sometimes tempted to go back to the Ladyhawk and tell myself it doesn’t leak enough to matter.

 

[HamTrainChickenLaser]

Fins- I have a thing for fins. I had at least 3 pairs before I started diving. 2 were jet clones before I knew what jets were.

I started diving with the original SP black seawing gorillas in 1990. They failed at the lamination between blade and foot pocket. Upgraded to the stiffer clear colored version, great until they cracked across the blade. Got grief from shop for being hard on fins. Loved those fins even though the foot pockets were not shaped like feet, unless you had square feet.

Next the original US Divers Blades, with several iterations of springs and bungies.
Great fins. Lost one in Australia in the turbulence on a tagline behind a chase boat during a CF on the GBR. Bought another pair on eBay for $10. Decided I wanted different boots and needed to upsize fins to fit, bought yet another pair on eBay for $20. Great value. My longest lasting fins. I have a set of 3 size small Blades available.

Bought a pair of short stiff fins because they got good reviews and sounded good for travel. I forget what they were but they live in my shed. Still using the Blades.

Had a desire for more power and still missed my dearly departed ancient Seawings. Just bought some new Seawing Nova Gorillas, haven’t hit the water yet.

Research fins a bit, try what you can. Then get something to use until you get something else. Great thing to buy used especially until you’re sure what you want.

BCs
#1- Started with hated Scubapro finseal jacket. Made for a guy like everything. No adjustments and never fit well.

#2- Some Dacor jacket I bought on sale that fit and worked great for a long time. No int weights so had decent pockets. (I like pockets as much as fins.) Made for a woman, in that it came in hot pink. I hate pink, but at least it had faded by the time I wore it out.

#3- Scubapro Ladyhawk. Loved it (except for useless roll down pocket) until a large chunk of ice fell on it through a skylight and it seemed to leak a bit.

#4- Zeagle Express tech. I had to tweak it a lot to suit me and its a bit sloppy, but soldiers on. Sometimes tempted to go back to the Ladyhawk and tell myself it doesn’t leak enough to matter

Thanks so much- tons of info here!!!! I have a pair of Seac F100 fins and those will be my reference fins for the next pair that I buy- on eBay!! Great plan.

Do the mods here get upset when you totally change the subject? I have a friend from way back who is telling me to go diving with her and her husband at Tobermory. Is that really dry suit only?!? Even in say August?

 

[rjack321]

Wife and I are getting our open water in Mexico and these look cool and reasonable value. Obviously not sure about the quality of materials at this price point and the fact that they are not a known scuba brand. Best to stay away? I like that they have springs, but of course if they get rusty as heck after the first dive I won't be happy.

I've heard to wait to buy gear but I'm just window-shopping right now and trying to get some opinions to learn how experienced divers judge equipment. I'm sure that the type of diving that I do will be a big part of the equation here. My wild guess is that we will dive on vacation in warm water destinations, but places like Gilboa Quarry in Ohio look really really interesting to me to!!!!

These look like a scubapro clone. So women are going to be in a M with a wetsuit or L with a drysuit and men using a wetsuit in a XL (usually). Men in a drysuit perhaps XXL

 

[Jai Bar]

The best fins are the ones that fit you best.

Stiff and length will provide more thrust against currents but require more leg muscle, so not everybody loves them.

So it boils down to what type of diving you are going to do? Toting lots of gear, current, cold water will probably require stiff medium/long length fins. Sport, warm waters perhaps softer fins.

If you have strong legs then you will enjoy any jetfin-like pair of fins wherever you dive, otherwise go for softer ones like several recommendations in this thread

 

[HamTrainChickenLaser]

The best fins are the ones that fit you best.

Stiff and length will provide more thrust against currents but require more leg muscle, so not everybody loves them.

So it boils down to what type of diving you are going to do? Toting lots of gear, current, cold water will probably require stiff medium/long length fins. Sport, warm waters perhaps softer fins.

If you have strong legs then you will enjoy any jetfin-like pair of fins wherever you dive, otherwise go for softer ones like several recommendations in this thread

I'm a runner and am super-consistent year round. Are jet fins like the RK3? I think being a runner, it will probably be fairly easy for me to get used to very stiff fins- just a bit of soreness at first. I lived in Kona and was in the water daily free-diving and remember that at first the huge fins felt like I had sheets of plywood on my feet- but then once I got used to them I was like "wow I can swim fast" Hahhahaahaa.

 

[coldwaterglutton]

Ok, this may be some more cold water bias in the thread, but as important as the fin are the booties. They should be stout enough to wear over rocks for shore, comfortable enough to wear standing around a boat for a few hours, and both comfy and functional when diving.

I'm a huge fan of the Fourth Element Amphibian model: