Oceanic Viper or ScubaPro Jet Fins

[Torben]

Depending on you do dive travel and how much you dive, I would go with the light and cheap choice if either you do a lot of dive travel or you don't dive too much.

But if your life spin around diving, go wit the jet, definitely. I have tried them a couple of times and they are good. I didn't by them because of the weight when I travel.

 

[farsidefan1]

I have never heard of heavier fins causing leg fatigue. I generally use my twin jets which are quite heavy but that is only a factor when packing. I have a pair of blades that save me about 3 lbs when I go to places that are packing gestapos. I went to Egypt and the plane we took into Sharm only allowed one 50 lb bag and a carryon limited to 8 kilos (17.6 lbs or so). Those little planes often have extreme weight restrictions. Otherwise I take the twin jets and my 60 yr old legs never notice the difference in weight. You should however study your trim to determine of you are "foot heavy". This should be taken into account as you may want to use the fins to compensate.

 

[gmanstan]

I have both the Jets and Vipers (and Mares splits) Depending on what I'm doing is determines what fins . The jets are heavy if travel is a concern I have about 100 dives on the Vipers still look good. You can find Jets on Ebay $10-$25 ,probably wanna put springs on them. Remember they run small so if your wearing hard sole boots make sure to get a size up from what they recommend.But overall I really like my Vipers.

 

[reefvagabond]

i have vipers and like them, have maybe 30-40 dives on them. with a wetsuit i have had no problem using the frog kick with them. they're not stiff so they don't really cause cramping and i can move pretty fast in them if i flutter kick, again with a wetsuit. i have never had to use them in strong current so i can't comment there. i used them at a DUI Test dive event and with a trilam drysuit i did not move much. i remember them being positive though... not neutral.

 

[CapnDan]

A buddy and I swapped fins in mid-dive (freedive/snorkel). I was wearing Oceanic Caribe-X full foots and he had on Oceanic Viper open-heels with spring straps. Compared to my Oceanic Caribes I found his fins to to be extremely soft and completely lacking in top-end power. When I tried to push them past a certain point they merely flexed to 90 degrees and converted all of my extra effort into waste energy. They were remarkably easy to kick at normal speeds, though, especially using a light, rapid flutter kick, so I guess they'd be ok for somebody with relatively weak leg muscles who intends to use them for gentle to moderate swimming in smooth water. But I wouldn't recommend them for stronger swimmers or challenging conditions.

 

[Shftrdog]

The Oceanic vipers are a good fin for the price but they are a little flimsy. You will have to kick a bit more to move through the water, but they will do you well for the time being. New they are $89.99 with out spring straps.