Pervasive Fallacy about Split Fins

[Blitz]

You mean I can't perfect my trim, buoyancy or propulsion here on SB?????!!!!!???? Why have been wasting all of my time? I didn't know I was actually supposed to get all this stuff wet!

 

[BKP]

...Discussions like this are entertaining ... but let's face it ... nobody's changed their mind about which style of fins they prefer. That answer really depends on how you're using them ... and no "study" is going to answer that question for you.

You need to go diving and try them out for yourself. And as your diving technique evolves, or you start doing more aggressive dives that require changes in your setup, re-evaluate your fin choices ... you may discover that "most efficient" takes on a different meaning with a change in context.

You can only learn so much by studying what's available on the Internet ... some things you just have to discover for yourself by taking it to the water ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Amen... and do I hear a Halleluyah...

 

[Narcd_dvr]

Well said, Bob. I'm one of those divers that own both split (Atomic) and paddle (OMS Slipstream) fins. I use the former for tropical diving or diving wetsuit, but when I got into dry suit diving, I have to use the stiff paddle fins. From my experience, the latter is pretty efficient especially when doing long surface swims and I've done this on both types of fins. In this context, the stiff paddle fins carries the day. My $0.02 worth

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

By the way ... as you can see, this little fellow uses split fins. As you can also see, he has some difficulty keeping his fins off the bottom ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[SparticleBrane]

1: Not everyone's at the top of their form, which doesn't necessarily mean they should hang up diving, when an "easier" way to dive is available...
2: Slowing down doesn't ease the task if you find yourself in a long surface swim, or trying to buck the current...
3: I agree... never hurts...

I suppose option 4 would be go "go to the pool and kick kick kick kick". But you and I and everyone else knows that 95% of the population wouldn't do it.

 

[mdb]

I suppose option 4 would be go "go to the pool and kick kick kick kick". But you and I and everyone else knows that 95% of the population wouldn't do it.

Apollo was the first company in the world to introduce the split fin technology. We spent three years working on materials and designs etc. We settled on natural rubber, expensive and hard to mold. We had lots of skeptics. As we can see we now have lots of companies who have followed with their own versions of this technology.

We sell many tens of thousands of bio-fins per annum. Many commercial and special force military units buy our fins in gross lots. The bio-fins do what we say they will do. They are efficient, comfortable and powerful.

All that being said, I agree with Bob the NWGRATEFULDIVER. Take it to the water, decide for yourself.

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

I just sold my Cressi fins to the guy who was one of the dive masters in my OW/AOW classes, who has used split fins for a couple of years. He didn't have anything good to say about his split fins. I don't know what kind he has/had. (Then again, he had nothing good to say about springstraps, either...)

 

[Teamcasa]

So ... a hundred and seventy-something replies later we come to the inescapable conclusion that there is no such thing as "best" or "most efficient" fin ....
but let's face it ... nobody's changed their mind about which style of fins they prefer.

You can only learn so much by studying what's available on the Internet ... some things you just have to discover for yourself by taking it to the water ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Ding Ding Ding – Once again Bob provides the correct answer to fin preference.
Fins, just like cars, we each have our favorites. No discussion will sway us unless we don't like what we are using. However, sometimes we only discover we don't like them after at least a 100+ posts on ScubaBoard!

Dave

 

[Temple of Doom]

I think you'll find that the vast majority of the 180+ posts are on the topic of thrust/velocity/efficiency of forward swimming, not on preference, or on which fin is better.

Nobody (well, very, very few) is suggesting that splits are better (lots are arguing that they're not better, which while not only is it silly to argue a preference, it is really not relevant to the topic).

The topic is designed to explain that there are objective truths about different fins. Often in discussions about the two types of fins, people make statements that are objectively false. That's something that should be pointed out and corrected.

Craig

 

[CompuDude]

Wow, finally waded through all that!

Just a few points I wanted to make:

Also to remember when you question what equipment a military unit use;
Military purchases are based not only on performance but also on price.
The military also purchases large quantums of the items in question, and plan their use for many years ahead. Replacing old technology for new technology is also normally a process that involve ages of bureaucracy..
Even if all the paperwork for replacing the old equipment with new equipment was made today, the change dont happen over night..

This isn't really true as applied to SEAL teams, however. They have the latitude to select nearly any gear they want.

I wonder if any free divers use splits? They need a lot more propulsion than rec divers usually. I do know photographers who use free dive fins.

Interesting point. As I understand it, however, freediving fins are an interesting cross between the good point of splits (high forward speed), the bad part of splits (less precision in any direction other than full forward) and the "bad" part of paddle fins (high power requirements). In sum, they go forward REALLY fast... but it take a lot of juice to get them going, and they corner about as well as a multi-section bus: they're just not very maneuverable.

I was wondering if somebody was gonna pick up on that ... I didn't want to interrupt all the fun these folks are having justifying their chosen pieces of plastic ...

(That was referring to speed) The speed potential of the fins is listed in one of the tests, where I believe the fastest fin ever tested (by a pro swimmer) just topped 4kts.

And finally, the tests that no one in this thread seemed to have linked for some reason, and should really be here for purposes of completeness. Particularly relevant in light of the charges that all of the other tests cited were surely polluted and slanted towards the fins the advertisers wanted pushed:
http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/instruct/grier/fins.html

Full Disclosure: I dive 90% Jets these days. The other 10% is the percentage that I wish I was diving in warm, clear water in my Apollo BioFin XTs. I have, use, and adore both. But for the style of diving I do most, Jets are a better fit.