Just checked the Internet Archive. Dive Rite fins appeared on their website in 2001. Not exactly new....
I don't know what "hybrid" fins are!!!
- Thread starter HamTrainChickenLaser
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I've dived Dive Rite XTs since about 2009 for single tank back mount diving in a wetsuit between 3 and 7 mm. I tried many fins before that, including Scubapro Jetfins. I did a review comparing Excellerating Force Fins with whiskers in 2016.
I find XTs perfect for me. They are modestly negative buoyancy. I mostly frog kick, perfect for that. They can be quite powerful for flutter and work well for helicopter and back kick.
Fins, to each their own.
Oh no, the dreaded which fin is best for me quest, easier tis said is the search for the Holy Grail. You will find that your equipment, environment, physical shape/stamina will all have some effect on which fin is best for you. Personally, I like USD Rocket fins, a much stiffer design than SP Jet fins, which I find ideal for doubles, or roaring currents, but be warned, it is like diving with 2x6 boards strapped to your feet; not for everyone, or even most divers.
For easy tropical dives, no current, single cylinder, I like Apeks RK3HD fins or the Mares Avanti. SP Jet fins are a safe bet for many , as are the SP Go-Sports or Gorilla Go-Sports. The SP fins have many clones, copies, and pretenders to the crown.
Start off with something like Mares Avantis or SP Go-Sports, you can't go wrong with one of these best sellers.
For easy tropical dives, no current, single cylinder, I like Apeks RK3HD fins or the Mares Avanti. SP Jet fins are a safe bet for many , as are the SP Go-Sports or Gorilla Go-Sports. The SP fins have many clones, copies, and pretenders to the crown.
Start off with something like Mares Avantis or SP Go-Sports, you can't go wrong with one of these best sellers.
The "Jet" fins the video displayed are not SP Jet Fins. The DR fins he displayed did not have wide side rails and are some sort of plastic material? The video is full of excrement IMO. The usual blather.
The material being used in some of the popular fins today is Monoprene or proprietary formulations of same (Eddy, Go-Sport, Slipstream and many others).
And there is nothing wrong with fins that are combinations of plastics like the Mares Avanti Quattro fins. Well, there is a disadvantage, I have had some Mares fins become split fins but that usually happens after years of use and usually the tear/debond is noticeable long before it fails.
I suppose that video is directed to a more technical diver audience because it would surprise me if more than 1% or even 0.5% of divers in the general diver population used side mount. And just by my general observation, fewer than 5% use alternative kicking methods or even know there are such.
There are at least two ways to back kick, the side sweep that uses the thick rails and then there is a reverse frog that uses the top of the blade. They are both useful and there is some truth to shorter and stiffer fins being better at back kicking. I can do it okay with Quattros but it can be ungainly and the sweep takes up more room. I am usually way down in a hole in the reef trying to get a picture of a moray or something and when I reverse out I cannot sweep my legs out like that. I reverse out (without touching the reef) using a reverse frog bending my knees much more to keep the sweep tight. We can combine kicks to accomplish what we need to do and in time it becomes automatic/intuitive.
And there is nothing wrong with fins that are combinations of plastics like the Mares Avanti Quattro fins. Well, there is a disadvantage, I have had some Mares fins become split fins but that usually happens after years of use and usually the tear/debond is noticeable long before it fails.
I suppose that video is directed to a more technical diver audience because it would surprise me if more than 1% or even 0.5% of divers in the general diver population used side mount. And just by my general observation, fewer than 5% use alternative kicking methods or even know there are such.
There are at least two ways to back kick, the side sweep that uses the thick rails and then there is a reverse frog that uses the top of the blade. They are both useful and there is some truth to shorter and stiffer fins being better at back kicking. I can do it okay with Quattros but it can be ungainly and the sweep takes up more room. I am usually way down in a hole in the reef trying to get a picture of a moray or something and when I reverse out I cannot sweep my legs out like that. I reverse out (without touching the reef) using a reverse frog bending my knees much more to keep the sweep tight. We can combine kicks to accomplish what we need to do and in time it becomes automatic/intuitive.
I think the biggest advantage (for me) with the DR XTs is the stiffer material followed by the length. They’re so much more responsive than softer fins and therefore more efficient - less kicks per 100m.
The disadvantage of the XT is they’re lightweight. AL80 twinset? No problem. Steel twinset and deco bottles? Miserable.
The other disadvantage is the outside strake‘s narrow profile. Not good for back kicking. ST or AL80 twinset, no problem. Add any complexity beyond that and they sorta turn into ice skates.
The disadvantage of the XT is they’re lightweight. AL80 twinset? No problem. Steel twinset and deco bottles? Miserable.
The other disadvantage is the outside strake‘s narrow profile. Not good for back kicking. ST or AL80 twinset, no problem. Add any complexity beyond that and they sorta turn into ice skates.
Absolutely.
I learned the second method mentioned above exclusively at first. When I learned the first method mentioned, I switched to it.
Quite a few years ago, I taught a pool refresher class to a father and his teenage son. They arrived with their gear, and as they were setting up, I looked at the son's Atomic split fins and said, "No way those are your fins." He insisted their were his, but they were a huge size, far too big for his small feet. We determined that after his last dive the year before, some really big guy went home with Atomic fins far too small for him while the son went home with the huge fins.
He was able to wear my fins, and I wore his Atomics, even though they were so big for even my big feet that the spring straps barely touched my heels. I regularly back kick while instructing, and I figured I would be unable to do it because of the large size and the lack of sidewalls. I was wrong. By switching to the second (top of the blade) technique, I was able to back kick very well. I just had to put the fins back on a few times when they fell off.
Eric Sedletzky
Contributor
I would like to see video of the two backing up methods. I thought there was only the wide sweep method using the wide sidewall which seemed flawed to me because there are good fins that don't have a wide sidewall.
I have trouble backing up anyway because I never recovered full rotation or flexibility of my left leg after a full hip replacement.
I have trouble backing up anyway because I never recovered full rotation or flexibility of my left leg after a full hip replacement.
You do need to have some sidewall to use that technique. That's why I had to use the top of the blade method with the Atomic split fins, as described in my last post.
I first saw a video of this technique when I was with a tech student, a college professor. I did not see how the tiny surface area of even a large sidewall could provide enough thrust to power the kick. My student promptly wrote out the mathematical equation for that thrust. It is a simple one, with each of the components acting as a multiplier to obtain the needed thrust. The one exception is velocity. Velocity is squared before it is multiplied. That makes velocity a huge factor. The sidewall technique works because it is easy to generate greater velocity than with the awkward top of the blade technique, even with a mere flick of the foot. You feel like you are barely doing anything, and yet you are getting results.
This brings up a key point about all advanced finning techniques. With the flutter kick, every movement creates forward propulsion. With all the others, there is a power stroke and a recovery stroke. You want the power stroke done quickly, but you want the recovery stroke done s l o w l y. If you don't, your recovery stroke can cancel out the effect of the power stroke. That is especially true of the back kick. Your recovery stroke must be sure to have the fins positioned so they cut through the water like knives and be done s l o w l y while you get the glide from the power stroke.
That last paragraph also shows the problem with floppy fins. I watched someone trying to learn to back kick with floppy fins, and the fins invariably flopped during the recovery stroke, putting the brakes on any gain from the power stroke.
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