tom wicker:
Oh by the way Mike Im needing a new set of fins, whats on the market today that looks decent? You seem to keep well up on new equipment it seems from you post here. Im leaning toward jet fins what do you think?
these type Jet fins?
I've heard that some people really like the Jet Fins, (Also some that don't like them).
I used to have a pair of them, but got some 'fancy looking set' a while later. (I hated the new ones and have upgrades since). The jet fins work fine, but I found them to be heavy and stiff. To me you had to work a little harder to use them. However, folks who dive DIR or dry seem to really like them. drysuit divers like them because they are stiffer and don't "give" when kicking more due to more drag of a drysuit.
PSD/Rescue divers seem to like them as they are a little shorter and easier for them to use for their 'mission'. Of course the military still uses them.
I have a set of Cressi "FROG" fins that I like. The fin is on the 'top' of the foot pocket instead of the bottom. so it looks kinds of weird.... they are full blade plastic, which is kinda not really "old school", but it seems that everyone is going with fins with soft rubber middles or split finds now days.... so the full plastic definately isn't 'new school' either.
I picked up a set of Tusa "Split Fins" a year or two ago and have been using those since. I like them, but you'll find some here that don't (that's true of anything though). One thing I really like about them is that my legs aren't fatigued after diving all day. However, I don't think they'd be good for drysuit diving and I think they'd "burn out" too easily. what I mean by "burn out" is that they'd fold over and loose propolsion due to kicking harder with more drag of a drysuit. But TUSA sorta has that solved. I think the model of split fins they sell in black is made with stiffer supports. So if you need the extra support during heavy kicking, you'll want the black ones.
I haven't had any complaints about the Tusa split fins, but if I kick really hard to try to go really fast from a dead stop, the fins will burn out some and you won't get the thrust you want from the amount of kicking you're doing. you just have to accelerate slower in cases like this. WIth that said though... I think if you had a full blade fin and kicked super hard from a dead stop trying to go really fast from a stop, you'd just run into more resistance and it harder to kick instead of the fin giving you more initinal speed. (But this is just my opinion). OF course if you have the legs of Lance Armstrong, you can prob make a full blade fin really kick some butt and put out a lot of thrust.
The Tusa Split Fins run I think $189 MSRP, but MAP is $129, so you're unlikely to see them advertised below that (unless on LP or so grey market dealer). However you can easily find them on sale sometimes for $99 a pair. Divers Direct had them on that year before last at their Tent Sale on 4th of July and Dive Sports has had them on sale for $99 before also.
Besides that, I don't have a huge amount to offer. Folks seem to like the Apollo Bio Fins alot also.. (of course you can find folks that don't like them also.) They are a little pricy in my opinion though.
Hope that helps. Sorry I don't have more info as I'm limited on what fins I've used to about 4 or 5 pairs.
BTW>. I've got some nice snorkle fins I use and ocassionally use them for diving. I find them to be too wimpy to push a diver with gear through the water except at a slower pace. in the long run, I'm wishing I had my larger fins on in the end.
