Me and my fiance' are getting ready to get our certs, next month, july at the latest. I've been reading alot of the reviews and trying to gain as much knowledge as i can. Their's alot of things i don't understand, but first things first. What is the advantage of the open heel, or the full foots. We will mainly be diving tropic type water, and maybe some here in a couple of local lakes. I know we will be buying shorty suits, and probably eventually, full, but i don't know what the difference or the advatages between the 2 types of fins are. One more question, is Split Fins vs. Blades, what are the differences, and the advatages to both. Thank You.
Open Foot vs. Full Foot Fins
- Thread starter mpd525
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Fullfoot
Cheap, and no fuss with fitting coz if it fits, it fits. Not like you have to buy a pair of booties to fit in. Preferbly get a thin aqua sock or something to avoid blisters. Heck, you might even buy a used one for... free. he he he.... Really, if you don't do a lot of walking to your dive site (unlike in Tulamben, Bali), then it's fine. But I have both full foot and (graduated to) open heel. And I still use it for snorkelling!
Open heel
More options, expensive, more versatile, more fuss with booties fitting. More powerful. With booties, it keeps your feet warm. You wear your booties, then wear your fins over your booties. Hardsole booties are good if you have to walk on nasty surface to get to your lake. If you have the budget, then go for it.
Bottomline is.... it's alright to have fullfoot then upgrade to open heel later. In the mean time, you can borrow and test those open heel fins from other divers before you make the decision to invest in one. Afterall, any fins will still propel you unless you're in a really tough condition.
Cheap, and no fuss with fitting coz if it fits, it fits. Not like you have to buy a pair of booties to fit in. Preferbly get a thin aqua sock or something to avoid blisters. Heck, you might even buy a used one for... free. he he he.... Really, if you don't do a lot of walking to your dive site (unlike in Tulamben, Bali), then it's fine. But I have both full foot and (graduated to) open heel. And I still use it for snorkelling!
Open heel
More options, expensive, more versatile, more fuss with booties fitting. More powerful. With booties, it keeps your feet warm. You wear your booties, then wear your fins over your booties. Hardsole booties are good if you have to walk on nasty surface to get to your lake. If you have the budget, then go for it.
Bottomline is.... it's alright to have fullfoot then upgrade to open heel later. In the mean time, you can borrow and test those open heel fins from other divers before you make the decision to invest in one. Afterall, any fins will still propel you unless you're in a really tough condition.
Open Heel will let you do anything... The booties you wear with them will provide thermal protection and allow you to make shore entries over rocky surfaces.
A full foot fin is really only useful for warm water boat or sandy beach diving.
If you are going to buy a first set-up I'd go open heel & booties.
You can always add full foot fins to your collection if you later find them desirable.
Many divers tend to have heavy feet. The buoyancy of the booties, especially thicker ones can be helpful. Don't worry about them being too warm. We were recently diving 82F water in Bonaire and my 7mm booties were perfectly comfortable. Making those shore dives in full foot fins would have been a death wish.
Pete
A full foot fin is really only useful for warm water boat or sandy beach diving.
If you are going to buy a first set-up I'd go open heel & booties.
You can always add full foot fins to your collection if you later find them desirable.
Many divers tend to have heavy feet. The buoyancy of the booties, especially thicker ones can be helpful. Don't worry about them being too warm. We were recently diving 82F water in Bonaire and my 7mm booties were perfectly comfortable. Making those shore dives in full foot fins would have been a death wish.
Pete
Wingman_
Registered
I really don't agree with Wochomi.
Fullfoots are the best performing fin IF you can find one that fits you well. I did with the Reaction Pro. The reason for this is that the work done by your leg is more directly transfered to the fin. With open heels some of the work you provide is absorbed by the layer of neoprene between the foot and the fin. This is why in my honest oppinion if you dive warm water you really should check if your favorite fin exists in fullfoot and fits you, in which case there should be no going back to open heel.
Open Heel is the less performing more versatile fin. That's why like spectrum said most people start off with this one and then add a fullfoot to their collection as soon as they find a good one that fits them.
Fullfoots are the best performing fin IF you can find one that fits you well. I did with the Reaction Pro. The reason for this is that the work done by your leg is more directly transfered to the fin. With open heels some of the work you provide is absorbed by the layer of neoprene between the foot and the fin. This is why in my honest oppinion if you dive warm water you really should check if your favorite fin exists in fullfoot and fits you, in which case there should be no going back to open heel.
Open Heel is the less performing more versatile fin. That's why like spectrum said most people start off with this one and then add a fullfoot to their collection as soon as they find a good one that fits them.
DeepSeaExplorer
Contributor
Wow... I can't disagree more.Wingman_:
Full foot fins are snorkel fins, open heel fins are scuba fins - plain and simple. Dive operators use full foot fins on the boat so they don't have to have a selection of booties and then deal with fitting first the booties and then the fins. It's the cheap easy way to get a volume of people outfitted and in the water efficiently, that's all.
How are you going to get into the water from anything other than a boat without booties? I wouldn't even want to walk from the dive ladder back to my seat on the boat in my bare feet.
It would help if you updated your profile so we know where you'll be diving. With that said I agree with DeepSeaExplorer. I'm not sure I've ever seen a diver in full foot fins. Full foot fins are really only good for VERY warm water and diving from boats. The vast majority of scuba divers, even in VERY warm water and diving from boats, are using open heel fins with boots. The boots offer both thermal protection as well as protecting the feet while getting to and from the dive site. You'd be amazed how fast your feet will get cold, even in 80 degree tropical water. Spend a bit more initially and buy a set of boots and open heal fins. I promise that you'll be glad you did.
The key thing is fit and feel. I started diving in the early 70's with a pair of US Diver Otaries and loved them. The trend in the marketplace went toward open heel styles and I bought in. Have had a pair of heavy USD Rockets every since. I recently purchased a pair of the Mares Volo Race full foot fins though and find them to be very comfortable and workable for scuba.
You will see the majority of scuba divers with open heel style fins but there is absolutely NOTHING about one fin or another that screams SCUBA. Try on and use several different types in a pool before you invest. Good fins aren't cheap.
You will see the majority of scuba divers with open heel style fins but there is absolutely NOTHING about one fin or another that screams SCUBA. Try on and use several different types in a pool before you invest. Good fins aren't cheap.
TravelSimone
Contributor
Wingman_:
The only reason I would add a full foot fin to my collection would be to somewhat lighten my load in terms of packing for a tropical trip.
As others have posted, open heel fins can go everywhere- cold water, rocky shore, warm water off a boat, etc.
I have usually regretted my decision to not bring my open heel fins on tropical trips the few times I left them at home. You might think you are only boat diving, but getting on the boat can be from a really rocky shore. The SI can be on a rocky shore. The boat can be very slippery. I have had a couple of extremely frightening falls in bare feet, and wished I had been wearing my booties.
Lastly, IMO... my open heel fins feel much more powerful than any full foot fins I have used. Others, though, might have different experiences.
trigfunctions
Contributor
DeepSeaExplorer:
I disagree. I have used both for diving and snorkeling. I have never had any significant problems with either. I have had fin straps break on open heel fins (Quatros, while still on the boat, luckily) which won't happen with full foots.
If you need hard soled booties to walk into the beach on a beach dive, you will need open heel fins. If not, full foots will work fine. Full foots are usually cost a lot less.
ajames54
Guest
I started with open heel and bought full foot fins as soon as I found a pair that fit well. Full foot are my prefered for warm water diving in most cases, Iron shore, shore dives being the one place I would prefer the open heel (which my Chuck Taylor All-Stars fit perfectly).
Cold water is where I prefer the booties, but not by much.
That being said I am ususally just crusing along not in a rush to get anywhere, if I wanted to cover any "ground" or was unsure of current conditions I would default to open heel.
Cold water is where I prefer the booties, but not by much.
That being said I am ususally just crusing along not in a rush to get anywhere, if I wanted to cover any "ground" or was unsure of current conditions I would default to open heel.
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