SEALs don’t like split fins either.

[eleniel]

@Angelo Farina I'll probably be able to handle the long fins in caves and such once I have more experience and practice in them but right now I'm really not very confident in them yet. I do keep straight legs though unless I am going through an area that twists.
I only do the 90 degree bend with my long fins if I'm doing photography and am in a very tight place - at that time I am not moving and just do not want to kick anything, or I am waiting for my dive buddy and again am not moving. This usually is on a reef where there is no overhead to worry about but I may be surrounded by coral on my sides - I use my fins to get to where I want to be and then adjust buoyancy (with breathing) to drop to the level I want for my photo - when I am done, I use breathing to lift up again until I can safely use my fins.

 

[Altamira]

After frequently being in the pool with a group of Special Ops candidates, I can understand why some Special Ops members might choose to zip tie split fins. From what I saw, there was no frog, back, or helicopter kicking going on in their training. They were going from point A to point B in a straight line, with flutter kicks, either going as fast as they could, or long distance swimming. Having used both paddle fins (pre-knee and hip replacements) and Apollo Bio split fins (now my fin choice), my personal experience is that I could accelerate faster for a shorter distance with the paddle fins, but can swim farther, faster with the splits. If I had to carry one set of fins for a mission where the swim/dive conditions may be significantly different than planned, I can see a lot of benefits to using split fins with the option to zip tie them. That way I could simulate a paddle fin for rapid acceleration over shorter distances, or snip-snip, and convert the fin to something perhaps better for a long distance swim. Seal members are no doubt in the best of physical condition, but they likely take every advantage they can get to complete the mission and survive.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Another interesting shot. This is a para rescue squad. Another interesting mix of fins. Looks like some splits and some jets. View attachment 559258

From left to right I see regular Jets, then two pairs of Twin Jets, then it looks like Rockets, the guy third from the right it’s hard to tell but they might be Apollo’s, then the guy on far right has Apollo’s.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

After frequently being in the pool with a group of Special Ops candidates, I can understand why some Special Ops members might choose to zip tie split fins. From what I saw, there was no frog, back, or helicopter kicking going on in their training. They were going from point A to point B in a straight line, with flutter kicks, either going as fast as they could, or long distance swimming. Having used both paddle fins (pre-knee and hip replacements) and Apollo Bio split fins (now my fin choice), my personal experience is that I could accelerate faster for a shorter distance with the paddle fins, but can swim farther, faster with the splits. If I had to carry one set of fins for a mission where the swim/dive conditions may be significantly different than planned, I can see a lot of benefits to using split fins with the option to zip tie them. t That way I could simulate a paddle fin for rapid acceleration over shorter distances, or snip-snip, and convert the fin to something perhaps better for a long distance swim. Seal members are no doubt in the best of physical condition, but they likely take every advantage they can get to complete the mission and survive.

Zip tied Apollo’s might just be the perfect balance between Jets and full splits, right in the middle between stiff to too floppy.
No you won’t see special ops or military divers doing cave style finning techniques trying to hover and look pretty doing heli, backwards, etc, with feet up. They need to haul ass from the boat to the beach in full gear with packs, weapons, ammo, etc. and come up shooting. It’s not even in their hemisphere to worry about “proper” anti silting cave style finning or looking pretty.

 

[PBcatfish]

they look to be members of the Naval Special Warfare Group 2 on a training exercise in the atlantic
military dive operations

What makes you think that they are team 2 members?

 

[PBcatfish]

The guys that I can't keep up with when swimming up current, are all wearing Cressi HF2000 fins.

I have several different sets of fins that I have accumulated over the past 35+ years. A pair of Scubapro splits, that I picked up about 20 years ago, allowed me to leave other divers in the dust yesterday. My Cressi 3000s are faster than the SP splits, but not as fast as the 2000s that some friends have.

When I look at the way that split fins pronate when they are stressed, it is apparent to me that energy is being wasted as the two halves of the split produce opposing forces towards the center of the fin. In practice, I have found that despite this, I can still make them work well enough in most situations.

I expect that the tie wraps in the pictures at the beginning of this thread were probably a worthwhile modification.

 

[NothingClever]

As said, I and my wife did use freediving fins in caves, in Sardinia, for more than 10 years. But of course ours were not really the longest ones (which can be well beyond 1.20 meters), our owns are approximately 90 cm.
At the beginning we were touching with them everywhere. But it was very instructive: we did learn to always stay with completely stretched legs, perfectly horizontal (at Capo Caccia what really matters is not to damage the coral under the ceiling, the bottom of the cave has nothing which can be damaged).
We laugh when we see those so-called "cave divers" staying in this ridiculous position:

View attachment 559266

See the long fins (more or less as our ones), but the legs are bent (with more than 90° angle at the knee) and arms are stretched forward-down, instead of staying close to the body.
We did always correct our students when seeing them with bent knees and partially stretched arms...
It seems that this is how they are trained, nowadays, in "cave diving" courses. And frog kicking with bent knees, which is really terrible.
Doing this, they would destroy the red coral in Italian caves. It takes 30 years to grow again...
Here you see the typical "ceiling" of our caves:
View attachment 559267

Angelo,

I'm going to go completely off topic but I am compelled to say that, as a lifelong language geek, I am super impressed with your command of the English language.

I wish I could communicate in Italian as well as you communicate in English!

 

[Scuba Cobra]

Most dive lockers have a ton of fin choices.

In our locker I have seen Jets, rockets, twin jets, frog fins, etc.

Remember during combat swimming we aren't using good trim or a nice frog kick. We are flutter kicking Kilometers to a beach or ship, wearing a ton of gear and toting rifles.

(I am not a SEAL, I am a Marine who does alot of amphibious stuff)

 

[NothingClever]

Remember during combat swimming we aren't using good trim or a nice frog kick. We are flutter kicking Kilometers to a beach or ship.

It took me nearly a year to de-program myself from approaching SCUBA diving like it's a validating event for the decades of doing flutter kicks with DoD combat divers from all four services.

 

[Scuba Lawyer]

Ok, I'll join. My choice of fin is mission dependent.

Love my:

● Apollo Bio-Fins for regular fun dives.
● Mares Avanti Quatro for cave dives and hunting.
● Voit Vikings for vintage dives.