Scubapro XL Jets vs IDI/XS Scuba XL Power Fins

[CompuDude]

By the way, is the problem that you have a hard time getting the XL jets on, or that they hurt your feet once on? How much of your 10.5 Chucks (bottom) stick out of the XL foot pocket?

If you can get them on but they are uncomfortable, then you might want to try loosing the straps. I keep mine fairly loose. Just tight enough that my feet don't feel sloppy inside the fins, which is to say just about touching since my feet fill the pockets quite well to begin with. Whenever I've had the straps too tight I always felt pain and discomfort when diving with the jets for a while. Same with the OMS fins until I loosened the rubber straps just to the right tension.

The issue is twofold: First the Chucks are simply a bit small on my feet, fins or no (once you add thick wool socks and the DS sock, that is). That's where the main discomfort comes in.

The only issue with the fins is one of width... the bed of the shoe has a fixed width, which is wide enough that the side "bumpers" of the shoe contact the inside sides of the Jet fin pocket all the way in. This is why a couple squirts of silicon lube spray help, btw... the rubber-to-rubber contact slides easier.

 

[*Floater*]

My 11's are a little tight on my feet with thick socks. With regular sports socks and DS neoprene sock they fit fine. However, I ripped out the bottom padding from the Chucks to make room, which worked out well except I think it'll also cause the Chucks to fall apart early on. Still, if yours are too small you could at least rip the padding out and shave the sides. Then just use them until they disintegrate - it's better than throwing them away and buying new ones right away.

 

[CompuDude]

My 11's are a little tight on my feet with thick socks. With regular sports socks and DS neoprene sock they fit fine. However, I ripped out the bottom padding from the Chucks to make room, which worked out well except I think it'll also cause the Chucks to fall apart early on. Still, if yours are too small you could at least rip the padding out and shave the sides. Then just use them until they disintegrate - it's better than throwing them away and buying new ones right away.

I hear you. It's still tolerable at the moment. At some point if it bugs me enough I'll try pulling out the padding and see how that helps. I'm trying to avoid shaving the sides down for now, but again, if it bugs me at some point I know I have options.

 

[*Floater*]

I did the first test today which was between the Scubapro XL Jetfins and OMS XL Slipstreams. The short of it is that my speed and air consumption were the same on both fins within the margin of error.

Setup: Steel backplate with hog harness, H Evolve 40, 2 AL80's rigged as backmounted independent doubles (one for each set of fins), Salvo SR1/SRS reg on each post, basic DIR doubles hose setup, 3mm hooded vest, booties and x-shorts with pockets filled (sheers, wrench, spool, smb), and a wrist computer and dive watch. I was overweighted on purpose to add a little drag.

Test: I did 5 back and forth laps of the bottom of the pool at a leisurely pace using frogkick (shallow to deep and back), then switched fins and repeated. I spent about an hour on each pair of fins (5 sets of 11-13 min on each). At each end of the pool I back kicked enough to clear the wall and helicopter turned. Gas used and time were recorded per each switch of fins and there was some variance in the times and gas usage due to traffic or other things but it was about the same variance on both pairs of fins. I'll have to check the computer log later but I imagine my average depth was about 10 ft and I covered about 1250m (4100 ft) per fin pair - I say about since the pool length iirc (will check tomorrow) is 25 yards but I used 25m above since I was following the bottom i.e. not a straight line.

I did find the back kick and helicopter turn a little easier on the jets but maybe that's just because I'm more used to them or maybe because they are heavier and therefore give me greater trim control (kind of like ankle weights would I imagine). I guess I still prefer the jets, but it's hard to say.

Tomorrow I plan to test the XL Power fins against the Jets, though maybe just 30-40 min on each because my friend who's taking the open water class wanted me to take some pics/video of him diving. If I have time I may even do 10-15 min on Force fin pros (flutter kicking) just for the hell of it - guess I'm curious because some divers claim they excel in efficiency.

As a side note: The hog harness was uncomfortable in the pool without a fullsuit - think I'll wear one tomorrow instead of the hooded vest.

 

[*Floater*]

As promised I tested the XS Scuba XL Power fins against my XL Jets today by diving laps in a pool with backmounted independent doubles (one tank for each pair of fins). Same regs, etc. Frogkick for travel backkick and helicopter turn at each end of pool. 5 laps per set of fins, then switch fins and do 5 laps, switch and so one. I spent about 35 min on each pair.

The result was that I used the same amount of air on both pairs of fins and times were about the same. However, the Power fins were more comfortable on my feet because of the softer roof and slightly better for back kick and helicopter turn. The Jets did give me more glide and were slightly faster and more efficient when I tried to lap the pool using as few kicks as possible, but for normal diving I don't think there would be a difference in my air consumption. On long cave penetrations without a scooter the Jets might have a slight edge. But I think I'll start to use the Power fins as my fin of choice now because they are good enough at propulsion, better at maneuverability and more comfortable on my feet.

At the very end I decided to do 5 laps on my XL Force Fin Pros. To my surprise I was able to frogkick in them fine, helicopter turn worked great and I even managed the back kick though that was significantly harder for me than in my other fins. Air consumption was fine too. Now I should say the the frog kick was a lot weaker, slower and flimsier than with my jet type fins, but it also took less effort since the force fins are so flexible and small and it did work with doubles. For speed or force there's still the flutter type force fin kick. I had been ready to dismiss these fins but now I think I will save them for further study. The main negative of these fins for me that they hurt my feet in the same way Jets sometimes do. i.e. top edges of the pockets dig into my feet.

So yeah, that's my report, all fins worked fine and it probably just comes down to preference. I couldn't eliminate any as clearly inferior. Sorry.

Here are a few picks of the rig I used.

I used my Oxycheq lightweight STA and two slide keepers to rig independent doubles like this (old pic):

And here's what it looked like fully assembled:

You can see the slide keepers (or triglides with middle bar cut off) right at the center between the tanks on the cam straps. I like this way of rigging independent doubles because since I had the STA all I needed or need to bring when I travel is an extra pair of cam straps and 2 slide keeper. The proper independent doubles bands, like the Aqua-Explorer ones, are of course better, but they are also expensive and too heavy to travel with imo.

 

[kidspot]

Thanks for the reports - I actually just bought a pair of the power fins hoping they will fit better - I should pick them up next weekend. I love my Jets, but they just don't make a decent sized foot pocket

 

[stevestevekp]

i've bought a pair of power fins too.. hoping to find time to try it next month

by the way, is there any way i can modify my fins or add some stuff to make it like a trademark on my fins?