Jet Fins in Warm recreational diving?

[Soggy]

With spring straps they sink quite expeditiously, at least mine do.

I use the same XL jets with my size 10 ft with turbosoles on my drysuit and with 7mm wetsuit booties.

 

[Rainer]

Jets with spring straps sink like rocks in salt water if they get vertical. I'd hate to drop mine.

 

[Walter]

Well, don't attach a chunk of metal to them and then blame it on the fins. That would happen even with fins that normally float.

 

[mwhities]

Uhm, I still need to get my spring straps. I wonder how much a difference they will make for my trim. (just "kinda" found it.)

Michael

 

[RHungENT]

I am not too concerned about the Jet Fins sinking to the bottom. I once did have my Twin Jet "kick" completely off during a fast sprint and the darn thing floated to the top, but I figure that should not happen with spring straps. I figure I just have to be careful when taking the fins off and handing them to the boat crew.

 

[Walter]

Put them over your wrists. I never hand my finds to the crew.

 

[Tanked Monkey]

I use the same pair of XL Jets in both environments:

• fresh water, drysuit, steel doubles, and AL BP
• salt water, 3 or 7mm wetsuit, AL single, and SS BP

My trim is the same in both environments.

I think the trim sameness is due to proper weight placement. When in doubles (no lead weight needed), the fulcrum is in the middle of my back. When in a single tank (2-4 lbs lead weight in trim pockets on the top cam band), the fulcrum is also in the middle of my back.

I may be unconsciously compensating with different knee bend angles, but I don't notice it. Proper horizontal trim feels like proper horizontal trim, regardless of what I'm wearing and where I'm diving.

Mike

 

[mwhities]

I think I have my trim "somewhat" figured out with no weight in fresh water. I'm quite sure in salt water I'll need to add weight some where.

Michael

 

[BigBoB]

I wore them the entire time I was in Guam. I am pretty sure that I am the only one. Everyone always looked curiously at them and asked, "do they still make those?", I always said "nope my grandfather gave'em to me". Always seemed to get a chuckle out of people and they called me "old school".

 

[Spike_Digger]

From what I read, people love SP Jet fins...so I will likely get these, but then someone mentioned about it being too foot heavy and messing up their trim. I typically dive in tropical warm recreational water wearing a 3mm wetsuit/boots. I now have SP twin jets (they float in the water) and was wondering if Jet Fins might make staying horizontal more difficult. [I am hoping that with my inexperience, I won't notice a difference]

So my question is..do any DIR divers have any "problems" with Jet fins in warm water recreation diving?

One more thing that you may want to consider is the shape of the foot pocket on the Jets. The Jets have a square foot pocket formed out of stiff rubber. Unlike soft fins with an anatomically shaped foot pocket, the Jets will contact the top side of your foot in a sharp line. By the end of the first day wearing my Jets, I had a red line across each foot. By the end of day 2, the red line had turned into puffy blisters. By day 3, the blisters tore open, and the rest of the trip (diving in saltwater) was misery. I sold my Jets and got a pair of fins with anatomically shaped foot pockets.

Obviously, there are lots of people that will tell you they had no problems whatsoever with the Jets, so your mileage may vary. There are different foot shapes, kicking styles, boot materials, etc., that will affect this. My boots have a soft, 3 mil neoprene top, which do not afford a lot of protection. Heavier duty boots with rubber on top would probably have made a big difference.

If you do decide to get a pair of Jets, then I recommend that you bring your Twin Jets as a backup, in case the Jets don't work out for you.