Pervasive Fallacy about Split Fins

[RJP]

It's crazy to think that putting a different piece of plastic on your feet can change the maximum amount of energy your body can generate.

Right, but it sure as heck will change how far away you are from the starting point when you're done.

 

[Charlie99]

The argument isn't complete until the advocates of freediving fins come out and tell us that we are ALL wrong.
Where's Dan Volker when you need him?

 

[RJP]

The one thing I do notice in all of these split v. paddle threads is that, almost universally, anyone who started with paddles and then switched to splits would never go back to paddles.

Logic/reasoning error - almost by definition anyone who "switched" had some level of unhappiness with whatever their first fin was, otherwise why would they have switched? (Ever hear someone say "I liked the first pair so much I just had to get rid of them!") Switched are therefor predisposed to "prefer" the second fin.

PS - we use this sort of thing in marketing/advertising all the time. Doing a study of people who switched from Product A to Product B on their own will ALWAYS yield results that show that people prefer Product B.

 

[keyshunter]

The argument isn't complete until the advocates of freediving fins come out and tell us that we are ALL wrong.
Where's Dan Volker when you need him?

Not Dan, but you are ALL wrong. The caveat is that one needs the wheels and technique to crank them.

 

[Charlie99]

Logic/reasoning error - almost by definition anyone who "switched" had some level of unhappiness with whatever their first fin was, otherwise why would they have switched? (Ever hear someone say "I liked the first pair so much I just had to get rid of them!") Switched are therefor predisposed to "prefer" the second fin.

Like when people say "When I'm searching for something it's always in the very last place I look!".

I'm always tempted to say that they'd have serious mental problems if they kept looking after they've already found it.

 

[Soggy]

The one thing I do notice in all of these split v. paddle threads is that, almost universally, anyone who started with paddles and then switched to splits would never go back to paddles.

Hmm...I started with jet fins in the pool, and bought a pair of split fins because my OW instructor said they were awesome. $185 they were. I used them for 2 years. Then I sold them and bought a pair of jet fins (actually, turtles at the time). I won't ever go back to split fins.

 

[Soggy]

Can you really own only one pair? That don't make no sense!

Yup, I have a single pair of XL Jets. Works for 3mm diving in Mexico and drysuit, doubles, and 2 deco bottles in Boston Harbor.

 

[Joe-Diver]

X2 on the Jets....I've had several different fins over the years....still have Quattros and I use Reef Tourer splits (full foots) in my snorkeling kit....but for diving, no matter what I try...I always go back to my Jets.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I started out with splits (Biofins) and liked them ... but reached a point where I wanted more fine control, so I switched over to Turtles. I also have a pair of Jets, but I'll probably be selling them ... they're mostly for pool and travel, and I'm switching to the lighter weight Slipstreams for that purpose.

Don't see myself ever going back to splits. They have their advantages, but they're not the right fin for the way I like to dive.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Temple of Doom]

While you might be able to produce the same maximum energy expenditure regardless of fin type, what you get for it does indeed change. Thus, fins allow us to use less energy to accomplish the same thrust as our feet alone, create greater maximum thrust, and everything in between. The specific design of the fin will indeed affect thrust per calorie expended.

Right, but it sure as heck will change how far away you are from the starting point when you're done.

This is exactly the point I've been making over and over. Some people disagreed stating that since paddles are harder to kick, then you get more overall thrust out of it!? This is a logical non-sequitor.

Splits are shown to be more efficient. Moving forward at the same speed, the same diver will exert less energy with splits than with paddles. Conversely, exerting the same energy, the same diver will travel forward faster with splits than with paddles.