I make a point of practicing 1-fin diving about once per month. PADI has never mentioned it to me in their courses, but it seems like a sensible thing to learn. Same with no-mask diving & some other variations on the theme.
Losing a fin
- Thread starter hubert
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gert7to3
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I carry zip ties (wire ties) in my BC pocket. I reassembled a broken fin clip at depth once. I have also repaired another fin clip and a mask strap for other people while gearing up for dives.
Don't go underwater without zip ties.
Don't go underwater without zip ties.
scblade27
Contributor
When gearing up for our first dive in a training class at 40 Fathoms, my wife accidentally knocked her fin into the water off the dock. Of course we figured we were out of luck and wasted a long drive. Our instructor just said, "looks like you will be doing your class with one fin".
She did the entire day with one fin and had absolutely no problem keeping up with a flutter kick. They did eventually find her fin a couple weeks later at 160ft.
She did the entire day with one fin and had absolutely no problem keeping up with a flutter kick. They did eventually find her fin a couple weeks later at 160ft.
I have lost two fins over the years, all in open water. My first was going through surf in California in my NAUI Instructor checkout, where I was giving in-water mouth-to-mouth to a "victim" (in those days, we actually gave each other in-water mouth-to-mouth). I was able to complete the entire swim through about 200 yards of scuba, towing another diver, with one fin.
More recently, I dove in the Clackamas River, and the river current caught my fin and took it off my foot. I was on the bottom, but very rapid water was going over me, and it caught my fin just right and took the fin right off. I was hoping that it would circle around in an eddy current, but it did not. It's somewhere in the Pacific now, probably.
We used to tape our fins onto our feet with masking tape when we made parascuba jumps in the USAF Pararescue. It was especially important when jumping out of a HC-130 Hercules, as the prop wash was really something, and our body position as the parachute deployed could send us tumbling into the lines. But the masking tape worked very well to keep the fins on. It did not help one Pararescueman who jumped on an Apollo capsule for a practice exercise (SimEx, or simulated exercise) of an off-course Apollo capsule in the water. He got excited and forgot one very important part of his checklist--fins. That's right, he made an Apollo Sim-Ex jump, with NASA watching from a ship, without fins, and proceeded to attach the floatation collar onto the capsule as if nothing had happened in the usual time.
It all depends upon how comfortable you are in the water, as to how you cope with the loss of equipment, including your fin. It really should not be a major problem.
SeaRat
More recently, I dove in the Clackamas River, and the river current caught my fin and took it off my foot. I was on the bottom, but very rapid water was going over me, and it caught my fin just right and took the fin right off. I was hoping that it would circle around in an eddy current, but it did not. It's somewhere in the Pacific now, probably.
We used to tape our fins onto our feet with masking tape when we made parascuba jumps in the USAF Pararescue. It was especially important when jumping out of a HC-130 Hercules, as the prop wash was really something, and our body position as the parachute deployed could send us tumbling into the lines. But the masking tape worked very well to keep the fins on. It did not help one Pararescueman who jumped on an Apollo capsule for a practice exercise (SimEx, or simulated exercise) of an off-course Apollo capsule in the water. He got excited and forgot one very important part of his checklist--fins. That's right, he made an Apollo Sim-Ex jump, with NASA watching from a ship, without fins, and proceeded to attach the floatation collar onto the capsule as if nothing had happened in the usual time.
It all depends upon how comfortable you are in the water, as to how you cope with the loss of equipment, including your fin. It really should not be a major problem.
SeaRat
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I teach my OW students the one fin kick (with crossed ankles) so it won't be a surprise if it ever happens. I recommend spring straps for my Deep and Wreck specialties off the NC Coast.
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