New and first fins: ready for a new embarras du choix?

[brycejohnson]

You pretty much nailed it. Unlike BCDs, where experienced divers can agree that a basic BP/W will work well for most dives (even if many prefer something different), there's no such agreement on fins.

Drysuited cave and wreck divers do seem to love their short bladed paddle fins, but there are specific reasons for that related to their environment and equipment that don't necessarily apply to open water divers in wetsuits. Personally, I can't stand fins like the original jets that only cover the front and mid part of your foot. I guess they work if you wear boots with a stiff sole, but I have a hard time finding boots that fit me so prefer to stick to neoprene booties instead of rock boots.

There are jet style fins where the part that goes along the bottom of your foot extends back towards the heel. I would look at those before the classic type. Here's examples of jet-style fins with and without full(er) foot support. Top is Scubapro Jet Fins, bottom are Apeks RK3 HD.

Going beyond the Jets, Avanti Quattros are probably the most common choice of pros in warm and temperate waters. It's nowhere near a majority, but if you were to buy absolutely blindly, that's where I'd start.

However I bet you can figure out how to try out a few fins. First, ask around. Most divers have gone through more than one pair and may have something lurking in their closets you can try out. Or ask if anyone is interested in switching for one dive. Ask your dive shop what they have in the bins in the back.

I purchased the Scubapro Seawing Nova when I first did my open water /drysuit cert and I thought they were great; they probably are but my legs float and the Seawing novas are positively buoyant. I went the ankle weight route and was not a fan.

My LDS borrowed me a pair of old and used Scubapro Jetfins and I fell in love with them immediately. I promptly ordered a pair; the negative buoyancy characteristics are a plus for me in the drysuit. Up side for me is no more ankle weights.

Someone on this thread suggested you’d end up with a closet full of fins after a few years; it’s sad but I tend to agree. I have all of one year under my belt and it’s unbelievable how much I thought I knew vs. what I do know now.

Good luck with your search; I do not have experience with any of the fins you mentioned and yet I wanted to give my 2 cents.

Be well and safe diving.

 

[SlugLife]

Someone on this thread suggested you’d end up with a closet full of fins after a few years; it’s sad but I tend to agree.

The only sad part, is that you can only realistically use one pair of fins at a time.

 

[jborg]

As a minor piece of unsolicited advice, resist the temptation to look like this on a recreational dive

A propos nothing, that’s the longest damn inflator hoses I’ve ever seen…

 

[AE Puccinelli]

Mares, worst fins I ever used

Just wondering, why are the the worst fin ever??

 

[lexvil]

Just wondering, why are the the worst fin ever??

For me, totally unstable, the blade wobble when I kicked.
im 15minutes from you off of wards ferry, I have a lot of fins that you are welcome to try, if they will fit you, Sonora fitness has nice long lanes.

 

[David Wilson]

Mares, worst fins I ever used

Personally, I preferred snorkelling with Mares fins when they were all natural rubber products. Shortly after Mares kick-started the composite fin revolution in the late 1970s, I experienced one of my Schadenfreude moments when I spotted a pair of Mares composite fins inside a dive store bargain bin with their thermoplastic elastomer foot pockets slowly delaminating from their plastic blades.

 

[AE Puccinelli]

For me, totally unstable, the blade wobble when I kicked.
im 15minutes from you off of wards ferry, I have a lot of fins that you are welcome to try, if they will fit you, Sonora fitness has nice long lanes.

Ah ha, your are a local mountain diver!! May take you up on that. One person posted that: "Ask 12 divers about fins and you get 24 answers" I love it! What fins do you use?

 

[lexvil]

Ah ha, your are a local mountain diver!! May take you up on that. One person posted that: "Ask 12 divers about fins and you get 24 answers" I love it! What fins do you use?

I’m an ocean diver that lives in the mountains.
im using the new super nova’s, Zeagle recon, Sherwood Triton and Triton pro, GoSport and Go regular and a pair of Eddy’s etc.

 

[lowwall]

Personally, I preferred snorkelling with Mares fins when they were all natural rubber products. Shortly after Mares kick-started the composite fin revolution in the late 1970s, I experienced one of my Schadenfreude moments when I spotted a pair of Mares composite fins inside a dive store bargain bin with their thermoplastic elastomer foot pockets slowly delaminating from their plastic blades.

They figured it out though. My full foot Superchannels are almost 20 years old and still outperform every other fin I've tried*.

[* caveats - for standard fins in open water. I've never tried freediving fins in open water and in tight spaces, they are a little long and lack a little of the precision you get from jet-style fins.]

 

[AE Puccinelli]

I’m an ocean diver that lives in the mountains.
im using the new super nova’s, Zeagle recon, Sherwood Triton and Triton pro, GoSport and Go regular and a pair of Eddy’s etc.

What do you think of the Zeagle Recons? and thanks for the info, much appreciated.