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Obvious split fin question
- Thread starter TMHeimer
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I still have yet to figure out why this is such a crucial issue, discussing splits on SB is like talking about abortion in Georgia.
I have Atomic splits, Mares avanti quattros, UDT duckfeet, Cressi rondines, and USD rockets. I also used rockets and jets extensively in the Navy. I can't tell the difference in any of them other than the fact that the longer ones get me a longer glide and the stiffer ones make my achilles tendons hurt more the next day. Maybe I am missing a critical point in diver evolution, but I cannot help but think that it really does not matter that much which fins you use. I used my splits the other day just to see if I could gather any difference at all, and the only thing I could come up with is that they make my achilles tendons hurt less the next day and I have to kick smaller when using them. I swear you need the leg equivalent of a musician's ear to discover fins differences.
I have Atomic splits, Mares avanti quattros, UDT duckfeet, Cressi rondines, and USD rockets. I also used rockets and jets extensively in the Navy. I can't tell the difference in any of them other than the fact that the longer ones get me a longer glide and the stiffer ones make my achilles tendons hurt more the next day. Maybe I am missing a critical point in diver evolution, but I cannot help but think that it really does not matter that much which fins you use. I used my splits the other day just to see if I could gather any difference at all, and the only thing I could come up with is that they make my achilles tendons hurt less the next day and I have to kick smaller when using them. I swear you need the leg equivalent of a musician's ear to discover fins differences.
Nope, you just need to swim behind someone in a cave or a wreck, and the differences between fins become quite obvious.
I've swam behind plenty of people in currents and wrecks (I'm not a caver), and I have noticed nothing of the sort. Maybe you need a better dive buddy. Furthermore, your evidence is anecdotal at best. While my opinions were based upon my personal experience, I did not generalize by saying something that has no proof like:
Maybe you should stick to your area of expertise, which seems to be the NJ coast.
Maybe you should stick to your area of expertise, which seems to be the NJ coast.
Yup, I've never dived anywhere but NJ. You got me.
That is not what I said. I read your profile, and I have seen that you have dove other places. What I do not see anywhere in there is where you became qualified to speak for every diver who dives in caves, wrecks, or currents. If you could add certification (PADI, NAUI, etc), then I would gladly acquiesce to your obviously superior intellect.
JKPAO
Contributor
Had to give you thanks slonda! I have many of the fins you have and a couple that you did not mention. I will say I dive my FF's all the time now. Maybe because I'm older and wiser! but I do notice I don't cramp as much. Of course they are not splits but another non standard fin people love to bash! The major bash is they cost so much, but I do love them!
See you topside! John
See you topside! John
I'm not speaking for every diver who dives in wrecks and caves (not sure where "currents" comes in to play here) but I am speaking as someone who does dive in those overhead environments and has seen what gear is used by many, many others who dive in those environments, and has seen the impact that various bits of gear can have - used by people of high and low skill level.
Not a matter of "intellect" but rather experience. And while admittedly mine is not as extensive as many others here (my full cert history is in fact in my profile if you'd like to review it) but most of my dives are penetration dives in deep, dark, actual wrecks. And by wrecks, I'm not referring to a 105' tug that was sanitized and carefully set intact on the bottom as part of an artificial reef program in the late 70's in order to attract pretty fishies. I'm talking about being three or four levels down, in the lower engine room - well beyond any visible daylight - in a 400-500' ship that was blown to kingdom come in the early 1940s and now rests in pieces in 180' of water with wires, cables, beams, and all manner of material that one might find in an active-duty war ship that was sunk during hostile operations, containing 70 or so years accumulation of rust and silt just waiting to be stirred up by even the most innocently mis-directed fin kick.
There's a reason why the vast, vast majority of people who are properly trained and are highly skilled at diving in these types of environments do not use split fins. And I assure you it has nothing to do with Kool-Aid, but rather everything to do with experience - their own and the collective experience of a great many others.
Your experience may vary from those many others that have a lot more experience than either you or I. There's nothing wrong with that. You just might need to come to grips with whether that says more about your experience or theirs.
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