Split fins or not

[ONESPEED]

Split fins are great!!!! If you want to buy a pair of XL Twinjets w/ springstraps shoot me a PM.

 

[RonFrank]

The vast majority of divers use split fins. Do they use them well? Are they good divers?

I like my splits. I like my paddle fins.

Silting up a dive site has more to do with diver ability, and vis, not what fins one is wearing. I was diving in 0~2ft vis this past weekend. Difficult not to silt things up when you can't see the bottom until your face lands in the muck!

Some kicks work better with paddle fins. The vast majority of divers don't do frog kicks let alone helicopter.

IMO comfort is likely the biggest factor. If your Jets don't fit (I hate the way Jets fit me), then that is the wrong fin for you!

If you want to dive tech, get a paddle type fin. Otherwise, get what fits, and what is comfortable. No fin makes a duck out of water a swan. We are damned to be some of the most ungraceful, and slowest creatures in the water. No fin changes that.

 

[diverdoug1]

I think using split fins is like using a lower gear on a bicycle. More kick cycles with lower resistance for the same distance. Split fins increase my SAC, and make some of my fin strokes more difficult.

 

[RonFrank]

If the fin isn't pushing against the water, it isn't generating force. That's just simple physics.)

Pushing against the water, and force against the divers legs are not necessarily the same thing. That's just advanced physics!

 

[webjr]

...
When my buddy and I were diving the U-869 on air with John Chatterton and ......
.......PS - it's not the agency, it's the instructor!

Thanks... I now have soda all over my monitor and burning a hole in my nasal cavity..
Darn that hurts.....

 

[Carlos Danger]

I own splits and paddles, in both open-heel and full-foot versions. Overall, I prefer the full-foot splits for the types of diving that I do. Generally speaking, I don't think there can really be a right or wrong answer, it's really about what works best for you. Like most, I found what I like through trial-and-error.

You might consider reading through the magazine reviews to short-list some candidates, then go give'm a demo if you can.

Fins | Scuba Diving Magazine

Hope this helps, and best of luck in your search!

 

[webjr]

I inhereted a pair of TwinJets, tried them in the pool and couldn't stand them.
I let my buddy try them, who also had used only paddles his whole life, and he luved'em. 2 divers with similar experience, taste, and body build. 2 completely different opinions. Splits vs Paddles is a perfect example of "to each their own". If you can borrow and try first.........

 

[dmoore19]

I love it when someone with less than 50 dives tell how great split fins are! They are junk and a gimmick I have a pair, and I do not use them. Do a test light a candle and stand back 20' waving the fin, use a split fin,then try a OMS,Turtle, Jet fin. Now see what one puts out the light or make it flicker.

Since I am the only one that has posted in this thread with less than 50 dives, I assume this comment was directed at me. 1st let me say that I have my number of dives posted in my profile. Second let me say that I qualified my statement with the fact that I don't have much for experience. If you don't like split fins since don't use them. Glad you have all the experience of, How many dives? oh, thats right your profile doesn't say.

I have my opinion and am entitled to it. You have yours and the same rule applies. :mooner:

 

[pedo]

Ya think?

When my buddy and I were diving the U-869 on air with John Chatterton and Richie Kohler last year, my buddy's split fins silted the place up so bad that I couldn't find my Spare-Air. I got so nervous I mistakenly hit the "up elevator" lever on my SeaQuest i-3 BCD. Ordinarily, this would have sent me shooting to the surface, but fortunately some monofilament got tangled around my Air-2. When I cut the line with the 11" knife strapped to my calf, I mistakenly poked the purge valve in my HydrOptix mask. I tried to use my tank banger to get my buddy's attention, but by that time he had gotten one of his suicide clips tangled up in the retractor I use to attach my dry snorkle to the transmitter of my air-integrated wireless compass, which I bought on-line instead of at the LDS that I stopped supporting ever since I signed up for e-learning. I believe that was right about the time I had the regs I bought at Leisure Pro serviced at the local Jiffy-Lube but didn’t actually test them myself before going on a special “Storm Tracker” live-aboard trip that I signed up for because in addition to free nitrox they were offering a special "take Fish ID, get your IDC free" promotion. Unfortunately I missed that trip because of the systemic fungal infection I contracted when the Halcyon p-valve I installed myself in my cave-cut trilam dry suit failed while I was solo-diving for golf balls without a scooter. Which I only did for the money, ever since the captain of the boat I DM on started making me tip the passengers $10/tank on every charter that I work.

My buddy and I are writing a book about it...

Shallow Divers: The true story of two Americans who risked everything to solve the mystery of every "you're gonna die" cliche on ScubaBoard

Ironically, it seems that Gary Gentile is now claiming that I actually did not experience EVERY cliche myself, based on a series of interviews with the girlfriend of the brother of a guy I shared a room with on Spring Break in 1987 and is now threatening to expose the REAL story of how all the trouble started when I kept radioing the Coast Guard to ask whether I could log pool dives as "real dives".

I will happily refute Gary's assertions in an on-line interview on ScubaBoard, wherein I will respond to any and all questions with "get a BP/W" while wearing my mask on my forehead.

PS - it's not the agency, it's the instructor!

Never stop laughing at that one, especially the part about GG.

But what would you say the ratio of splits to paddles is on a typical 'blood trip?

 

[RJP]

Never stop laughing at that one, especially the part about GG.

But what would you say the ratio of splits to paddles is on a typical 'blood trip?

Depends on the group chartering the boat. This Saturday will be 100% Jets I'm thinking. Typically its 3:1 or better against splits. I know split-fin devotees don't want to believe this, but the typical split-fin passenger is...

Well, since no one wants to believe it anyway I won't go there. Let's just say I always make a note of who's wearing splits.