From the many posts I've read SP Jet Fins seemed to be, by far, the most preferred fin for pushing doubles, a drysuit, etc. Just curious what people's opinions are (people who have experience with them) regarding Jet Fins for a diver in a wetsuit with a single tank?
They work fine, but unless you have some strong need to be able to hold position by back-kicking (for photography, say), have to worry about silting, or otherwise need to be able to do multiple styles of kicks efficiently, they're not necessary. Personally, I use split fins for my single tank ocean shore diving. For making long swims (surface and submerged) without leg fatigue or cramping, I much prefer my split fins (black Bio-Fin Pros, or the Vortex V-12s that I rarely use anymore), wet or dry. I can flutter kick those all day with no problems, and that's the only kick the vast majority of divers need to use. You can also frog kick some splits like the Bio-Fins (the stiffer Pro XT would probably work better), although they won't work as well as a stiff paddle fin like the Jet et al. To date (~300 dives, almost all in the Pacific in the Monterey area), I've never had any problem with swimming against any current I've encountered in my split fins. I won't say that may not be an issue sometime, but so far it hasn't been.
For single tank diving, the only time I use my Jets is when I'm boat diving and want maximum maneuverability, don't need to swim very far, and their spring straps make taking them off before climbing the ladder easier - whenever I get around to putting spring straps on my Apollos that advantage will disappear. My XL jets aggravate an old groin muscle injury, and are hard on my bad hip; my splits don't and aren't. The XL Jets have what's often considered to be the worst foot pocket of any fin extant, roughly the shape of a two by four and about as flexible -- if it fits your foot/boot combination great, but if not you've got problems. My feet are a half-size different, and while my XL Jets fit the larger foot fine the other foot flops around inside the fin pocket, wasting energy and (I think) making cramps more likely/severe. This has not been an issue with fins that have less stiff foot pockets with a more curved upper surface, shaped more like a foot than the previously mentioned two-by-four.
Not all Jets have the same badly-shaped fin pocket. The XL jet seems to be the worst, as my L jets are fine on my feet (but I can only wear them with thin warm-water wetsuit boots, and I have to pry them off my feet), and the reasonably-sized blades don't cause the stress issues that the XL's much larger blades do. I'd like to try a pair of the Hollis F1s, as the foot pocket looks to be a better shape. Turtles are almost certainly too big for my feet, Slipstreams are an unknown quantity (and I like the more negative fins in any case), and I have no idea about the Rockets or Power fins.
Guy
If you enjoy using them with single tank there is no reason not to. I know lots of people who use them for single tank diving. I use them for all my diving, single or doubles diving in wetsuit or drysuit. I don't like them when snorkelling though and use longer fins then. There are other fins similar to Jet Fins if you find them too negative like Slipstreams too.
