Split Fins or Mickey Fins

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joewr

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Location
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Well, first I tried them in the dive shop swimming pool and liked the way they felt. So, since Christmas was just around the corner and since Barbara and I were heading for the Caymans for Y2K+1, I bought a couple of pair for us.

What a pleasure they were to use. I will not mention a brand because I did not do a scientific comparison. I tried on four different brands and picked the one that felt best to me. Fortunately, I guess correctly for Barbara as well.

She noticed two things immediately: (1) they were lighter than her then-current fins and (2) they were very effective at uw propulsion. Barbara is not as powerful a swimmer as I and it seemed that she and I more easily kept the same pace with the new fins. I found that my uw times were about 10% longer at a given depth with the new fins--Barbara--who wieghs 85 lbs less than I (115 vs. 200) is 6 inches shorter (5'6" vs. 6')--got even greater air conservation. She usually finished dives with about 200 more lbs than I and now she tends to have 400 more. Hope that won't make her look for a new buddy!

We are really sold and these and have put our faithful Mares Avantiquatros out to pasture. Knowing this website, I am certain that someone will tell me that we just did not rotate some joint or other correctly with our old fins and that we were sucked in by the evil capitalist advertising cabal. Could be, but sometimes ignorance and performance are bliss....

Nevertheless, I would like to hear what others think. When someone on a boat asks me what I think about some piece of equipment I am using, I like to tell them what others have said about their experience, as well. One size does not fit all--or a Julius Caesar used to say to me, "De gustabus non disputandum est."

Joewr
 
For over a year, whenever I saw split fins all I could think was what a sucker the diver was to buy into such an obvious marketing trick! I only tried them to begin with because an instructor I was working with kept pushing them at me. I bought a pair the next day! And after hearing me talk about how much I liked them for about a year, my husband tried them and bought himself a pair.

His air consumption greatly improved. The splits work well in current, I can do the same maneuvers in them that I did in my Quattros. The only time they have failed me is doing a deep water exit, you just don't get the initial thrust that you need like you do from blad fins.

There's always those who don't like them, and I'll agree they aren't for everyone but for those who can use them are true converts!
 
My wife is very happy with her's. They've made a huge improvement in her diving.

I hate them, you feel like your on a bike pedaling everywhere stuck in low gear. I reported on some pool test here: http://www.scubadiving.com/members/gearreviews.php?s=172. Since then I tried them on a dive and was no happier. I'll stick to my longblades.

Ralph
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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