Split Fins, best bang for the buck

[Allison Finch]

I would give the floppy bio fins to your injured knee friend and upgrade to a stiffer split fin. I used my sister's bio's and felt like I had no power or precise turning ability. I now dive with the Scuba Pro Twin Speeds and love them. They are the stiffest SF and I can outswim most paddle finners in a stiff current (I beat a divemaster to a mooring in stiff current in PNG. He was panting, and I was not. I was QUITE a bit older, too). I use almost exclusively frog kick and they perform well. Maybe a little harder to back up with......

Yes, I am a convert to splits....even after almost 35 years in jet fins.

 

[jar546]

Wow, great info so far. Thanks folks.

 

[diver 85]

Aeris Velocity Duo can be gotten for about 50 bucks(they've recently DC'ed them but who cares....lol)......I've used them now for almost 3 years, wife used them a time or 2 & liked them so much(has 'bad' squeaky knees @ age 57) she bought a pr for herself(in a different color thank goodness)

 

[softballer]

Try eBay. Always plenty of bio fins on there. Can usually be had for about $75 in good condition.

 

[coldwaterlloyd]

I use the Apollo XT spring straps and love em . I would recomend eBay and stay with Apollo , the other brands are not one piece and I have heard of some of them coming apart , can's beat a one piece rubber fin .

 

[knowone]

Apollo had a trade in any crap fins thing + $100 for their
new you beaut splits going here about ten years ago.

Or something like that.

That's ten bucks a year or diving with crap.

 

[FritzCat66]

After I grew tired of my old Beuchat paddles, I looked into splits several years ago. I remember it came down to Scubapro and Atomic models and ultimately went with Atomic mostly because they are longer and narrower, as opposed to the shorter and wider Scubapros, because I guess I tend to kick with my feet fairly close together and this resulted in kicking my own feet with the wider Scubapros.

Some things of note about the Atomics, however: 1) they do seem to be a bit longer than common fins, and might not fit in some "fin bags"; 2) different color Atomics have different amounts of "springiness", so try them on or check the website first (for example, I got the red ones, which are in the "springier" category); and 3) the Atomics are constructed of springy elastomer with harder plastic inserts, and while I have never heard of them failing, nevertheless on mine I have occasionally noticed some panels trying to slip out of their rubber "frame" on inspection, although I have always been able to squeeze the panels back into place.

FWIW, I'm glad I also kept the old Beauchats, though. I use them for the rare occasions when I'm doing a cavern dive or anything else involving lots of line work, because line just seems to love finding its way into the middle of a splitfin.

 

[aquaregia]

I've got a bum knee, femoropatellar issues. I found Force Fins were significantly worse, but switching to frog kick made it almost a nonissue. Using Avanti-X3s with no problems in frogkick, but significant pain if I flutter for more than 4 or 5 minutes.

 

[laughingsquid]

I would give the floppy bio fins to your injured knee friend and upgrade to a stiffer split fin. I used my sister's bio's and felt like I had no power or precise turning ability. I now dive with the Scuba Pro Twin Speeds and love them. They are the stiffest SF and I can outswim most paddle finners in a stiff current (I beat a divemaster to a mooring in stiff current in PNG. He was panting, and I was not. I was QUITE a bit older, too). I use almost exclusively frog kick and they perform well. Maybe a little harder to back up with......

Yes, I am a convert to splits....even after almost 35 years in jet fins.

Yes, I do love the Scuba Pro Twin Jets! Frog kicks and helicopter turns ARE easy! Performing back kicks I found fairly easy as well, but you need to practice a bit. I have the Hollis F1 for my drysuit diving, like the those fins, but the Twin Jets ARE easier on the knees and legs overall. My LDS I work for sells the Apollo and Atomics, Not sure about them really, but to me comfort and performance is critical and the boss hasn't made any comments about me using them, yet... ;o)

 

[drdaddy]

Apollos - I have a couple of sets so if, when traveling internationally, they are lost I still have a set awaiting me.

I have both the Apollos, and Atomics. But use Apollos exclusively. If I need exactness (perfection) in my maneuverability, which is very infrequent, I have a couple of pairs of ScubaPro Jets.

I too have injuries/surgeries in both knees. I put the Apollos splits on and forget they are there. They sometimes fool you, as I read above, because you don't realize how powerful they are because you don't feel the resistance so much. I have received a number of comments about the speed I can travel and yet I feel less resistance.

All but my first pair of Apollos have been bought on CraigsList (hate to give away my secret), many times from scuba students that have been required to buy equipment as part of their lesson scams (ESDS-Eugene Oregon, does not require this and yet does very well in sales). I just bought my one and only yellow pair last week for $35.00, but $50 - $70 is most common. My buddy has yellow and people tease him, but you can see him - I think it's a "girlieman" color, but I wore them yesterday while diving with him. Also, I have been known to look for a lost black fin for hours (and find it) in our cold (49 degrees F yesterday - Yaquina Bay/Newport,OR) murky Pacific NW waters.