split fins

[joewr]

Folks,

As you probably know by now I am a true devotee of my Appollos, but I have noticed one "flaw" in them: the female connection rides on a "T" post molded on the fin and the connector can slip back or off. I carry a spare strap and connector in my on-board repair kit for that reason. The loss of the connector is not likely to happen u/w since the fin has to be off your foot for it to occur. However, it can happen if your fins are being kicked around on the deck of a dive boat.

The design should be a little more fail-safe. About one-piece splits--I have size 13 feet and have always felt very squeezed in one piece fins. I like adjustability--which make me a DIW diver, I guess. (DIW=Do It Wrong).

Joewr

 

[The Chairman]

Hey Joewr,

Or maybe that makes you an ICT diver... (I Can Think) or a DIMW (Do It My Way), or an ILC (I Like Choices)... I won't let another group(s) pigeonhole me because I do not follow their SCUBA "Big Brother" philosophy. I think that our trying new things keeps the manufacturers doing their best to come up with innovative products. Sure, some of them are just snake oil, but then, some are as superb as I believe the Twin Jets are... Way to go SCUBA Pro!

 

[simonk999]

OK, so here's my split fins story. Way back when I got certified, the Biofins had just come out, and of my class, two decided to go for them (big bucks, so silly me, I bought a cheaper one). The 1st day dives didn't require a big swim, so didn't really notice slow/fast relative to everyone else, but the 2nd day required a pretty long swim out to where it was deep enough, and the two who had biofins were there way before anyone else, and they weren't trained atheletes (none of us were).

And on the subject of the title line, I use my biofins with the mares buckles, which was the one thing I did like from the fins I originally bought. Those buckles don't have a separate "female" piece to get lost.

-Simon

 

[bcfrench]

My Twin Jets story:

Last year my husband and I were in Bimini on a liveaboard. One of our fellow divers noticed our new Twin Jets and asked Bill if he could trade fins for one dive. Bill agreed.

All week Bill and I had been within about 300 psi on air (he'd come up with 300 psi less than me if we started out with equal fills). He's about ten inches taller than I am, so he's bigger and you'd expect we wouldn't be the same on air.

Bill used the other diver's Mare Quattros for the dive -- a good fin. It was a fairly easy dive to about 40 feet; nothing strenuous. We started out about the same on air, which is why I was surprised when Bill signalled to go to the surface and I still have over 1100 psi in my tank.

We came up with more than a 700-psi difference -- Bill was down to 300 psi when we came up and I had just over 1000. Bill got his twin jets back, and on the night dive on the same site, we came up again about 300 psi apart.

The fins are so efficient that we got extra dive time because of it. That's worth a LOT when you've paid to go somewhere!

Yes, you have to kick a little differently. I've developed new finning techniques around these fins. They are GREAT for wreck penetration because they do not kick up as much silt. And I do hate the buckles. But they are a worthwhile investment.

...Barb

 

[miked]

I've had my split fins ( Scubapro,black) since April- 2 trips, for a total of 28 dives. While I haven't noticed a significant improvement in air consumption over my former fins : USD blades (which did cause a significant improvement), I have noticed a major improvement in the feeling in my legs following a "4 dive" day . While my legs (quads mostly) felt as if they had been "used", the tightness/heaviness was gone, and the next day (4 more dives) was a pleasure- and the next...
Also, so far , no problems with the much maligned buckles.They take a bit of getting used to ,since I've had to unbuckle the fin to remove them at the ladder.( the extended foot prevents just sliding/ stretching the straps below the heel.)
My suggestion (nothing new) would be to try them, if possible,before you buy them ,and see how they work for you.
Good luck,
Miked

 

[The Chairman]

Hey All

Has anyone tried the spring straps with the new Twin Jets??? I would order them RIGHT NOW if I knew precisely where to find them. I think they would make this superior fin even more so... But your mileage may vary!

 

[The Chairman]

BTW, this is a cross post from the "Spring Straps, why are they DIR?" discussion...

Hey all,

I got my spring straps (12") from the aforementioned online outfitters, and had them on fairly quickly. Spread the steel wire clips with a set of vise grips and then pinched them together again after I threaded them through the rubber, with my HUGE (even Texas Mike would think these are rather large) pair of channel locks. Took all of five, maybe ten minutes (no tool throwing allowed in my workshop) to complete the process.

The kicker (pun intended) was in the plastic harness that was pinned into the fin, which the straps click into. The bottom pivot had cracked all the way through, and the top had cracked half way. I was about to lose half of a $180 pair of fins, and I hadn't even realised it! This is the second time I have gone to do an "upgrade" to my equipment only to find that the old stuff (but still far less than a year old) was going south.

The second kicker is that these are sooooooooo much easier to put on. I have 4 degenerated discs in my spine, so I have very limited motility when I am trying to put on fins/booties etc. I always had to fight to keep the &*%%$*# straps out of the foot pocket. Not a problem with the springs. Very slick indeed. Thanks guys 'n gals for directing me to a GREAT solution for several fin related problems!!! I will get to test them in the wa-wa tomorrow morning as I will do a mile swim with them (after I do a mile barefooted

 

[old_mike]

did 50 dives using the DIR spring straps on my Twin Jet Graphites with pleasant results. I can get my fins on faster than anyone else on the boat and get them off fast as well. If you do get spring straps, make sure they are not too tight. Those things can really skrunch the fin against your heel and the top of your foot and after 13 days with 6 hours in the water each day, sometimes kicking 400 yards, those feet can get a little raw! I'm thinking that there are some fine points to be worked out WRT sixing of the springs however.