I don't know what "hybrid" fins are!!!

[HamTrainChickenLaser]

In this video if you start at 9:40, you will hear them talk about "hybrid" fins. But for a total and complete N00b like myself, I have no idea what fins on the market are considered "hybrid". I mean they look like most any other fin out there. Can someone give me an example of a specific brand and model of fin that meets this definition?

 

[Nick_Radov]

Are those the new fins with a battery to help you swim faster?

 

[HamTrainChickenLaser]

Are those the new fins with a battery to help you swim faster?

They have a gas engine and electric motor like a Prius!!!!

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

The video has some BS in it.
They show split fins along with Scubapro novas which are not a split fin and novas are regarded by many as a great fin. They bash the split as not being suitable for diving yet many people still use them. Splits are not my cup of tea personally, but I'm just sayin.
Then they show what they call a hybrid. I've never heard that term for fins, but apparently to them it must mean something between a one piece material rubber fin like Jets and a plastic paddle fin like some cheapo snorkelling fin. They must mean a combination materials fin but still a paddle fin.
I think there are basically two classifications in fins and then several sub categories. Paddle fins, split fins, and alternative technology fins.
I would classify novas an alternative technology fin since it's a paddle mostly but is unique in design.
Force fins would also be an alternative technology fin with some very unique designs. Some force fins are not quite splits and not quite paddles.
Some paddles have hinges and spring cords.
Freediving fins are huge and I put them in a category of paddle fin all their own.
The video is also very DIR centric which is great if you subscribe to that style of finning, but not everyone dives that way, and side mount is a very small minority.
To me the best fin I've used is the Scubapro Go Sport, and I'm looking forward to owning a pair of SP Gorillas soon, and I've tried a lot of different fins over the years.
After that, freediving fins kick ass for speed but you're not going to do backing up, helicopter turns, or modified frog kicks or those goofy feet up flutter kicks. You will be doing a slow stead from the hip alternate fin kick so they are not good for caves or wrecks, or cruising close to a silty bottom, but if you need to cover a lot a ground out in open ocean they are pretty damn hard to beat.

 

[boulderjohn]

There are indeed several types of fins on the market, and it is hard to know what is right for you. I first started diving more than a quarter century ago, and I bought fins immediately (Cressi Frogs). About 4-5 years later I decided I needed newer technology. I sold those first fins and got the latest and greatest. Today, those latest and greatest are long gone, and I would be very happy with the Cressi Frogs for recreational dives.

Making a good decision on fins depends upon what it means to get the best possible fin for you. The problem is, as was true for me, the fin that is right for you now may not be the right fin for you in a few years. Unfortunately, unless you have mapped out the progression of your skills, you won't know what will be right for you in a couple of years.

Back when I was teaching open water scuba classes, our shop had a variety of fins for rental and student use. I tried them all. I felt that one of the biggest differences that would be important to a new diver is softness--how hard was it to kick. I felt that some of the fins were so floppy I felt like I didn't have any fins on when I kicked, but yet I was still moving. Others felt more like a sheet of plywood. Today I prefer the plywood, but when my knee was badly arthritic, not so much.

 

[boulderjohn]

You should get good advice, but I want to give a caution.

I worked for two different dive shops, and here is why I left the first one, which I felt was otherwise excellent. They switched dive training agencies, and the owner of the agency they went to came in and did a week-long workshop (which I attended) on scuba marketing. One recommendation was that the shop identify one specific make and model for every piece of equipment they sold, and they were to make those specific items the target for all sales. Instructors were to purchase and use those specific items, and they were to tell their students that they had personally chosen those specific items because they were the very best available. The real reason for it was that by increasing the sales of those specific items, they would get better prices from the companies that made them, which would increase profit margins.

If you had come into our shop then and gotten advice on the very best fins for you, you would have been steered to the Aqualung Slingshot fins. You would have seen your instructor wearing Aqualung Slingshot fins. If I had been your instructor, I would have been required to tell you that I used them because they were the best, even though in reality I thought they sucked. If I had said anything else, I would have been fired.

Fortunately, I left the shop before I had to stoop to that.

 

[tursiops]

I have no idea what fins on the market are considered "hybrid". I mean they look like most any other fin out there. Can someone give me an example of a specific brand and model of fin that meets this definition?

They are using an unusual adjective in calling those fins "hybrid," but all they mean is they combine some of the best features of paddle fins and Jetfins. Some examples would be Dive Rite fins and Deep 6 flippers.

 

[Subcooled]

In this video if you start at 9:40, you will hear them talk about "hybrid" fins. But for a total and complete N00b like myself, I have no idea what fins on the market are considered "hybrid". I mean they look like most any other fin out there. Can someone give me an example of a specific brand and model of fin that meets this definition?

1. There are the rigid and heavy JetFins, decades old technology, still loved by many technical and cave divers or those who dive in high currents. Those fins demand at least a little bit of muscle power.
2. There are the very flexible (and very very long) freediving fins so efficient in flutter kick.
3. Now someone got the idea to design something that is truly good in neither application.

 

[HamTrainChickenLaser]

You should get good advice, but I want to give a caution.

I worked for two different dive shops, and here is why I left the first one, which I felt was otherwise excellent. They switched dive training agencies, and the owner of the agency they went to came in and did a week-long workshop (which I attended) on scuba marketing. One recommendation was that the shop identify one specific make and model for every piece of equipment they sold, and they were to make those specific items the target for all sales. Instructors were to purchase and use those specific items, and they were to tell their students that they had personally chosen those specific items because they were the very best available. The real reason for it was that by increasing the sales of those specific items, they would get better prices from the companies that made them, which would increase profit margins.

If you had come into our shop then and gotten advice on the very best fins for you, you would have been steered to the Aqualung Slingshot fins. You would have seen your instructor wearing Aqualung Slingshot fins. If I had been your instructor, I would have been required to tell you that I used them because they were the best, even though in reality I thought they sucked. If I had said anything else, I would have been fired.

Fortunately, I left the shop before I had to stoop to that.

I've been making the rounds of the shops local to me- there are a fair number of them in the range that I drive for work. Your post doesn't surprise me a bit. There seems to be some underlying "hustle" in some of these operations that is easy to spot. When you couple it with people on the floor who just aren't very good salespeople at all, it is almost comical.

 

[HamTrainChickenLaser]

They are using an unusal adjective in calling those fins "hybrid," but all they mean is they combine some of the best features of paddle fins and Jetfins. Some examples would be Dive Rite fins and Deep 6 flippers.

I'm REALLY glad you posted because as I was watching the video I was sure that I had seen fins like he is wearing, but I had absolutely no idea where or what they were called. They were the Dive Rites.