Split/Paddle, Anything in the middle or other?

[pescador775]

Volker, you are just another old salt who has dragged some newbies through the surf and, jumping to a conclusion, blamed their problems on fins. I'll grant you, the Pegaso and C4 are impressive performers but that is more due to the FF style than superior engineering although these types are better than most long blades as a class. Scubalab tested the Sporasub Variant long fin and it was the slowest fin tested in the series which included FF's, OH's, paddles, splits, etc; so put that in your pipe. As far as the Forcefin is concerned, Dr Jim Grier tested the Tan Delta and showed that the fin is average or below. Because of the climate hovering around this fin brand, he made extraordinary efforts to verify the claims, even bringing in a "ringer" to test the fins after Jim could find nothing exceptional about the Tan Delta. Dr Grier would only say that the fin is "mysterious" but his data show that the $45 Oceanic Caribe is a far better performer. I say that he might never find what he was looking for WRT that fin. He just fell into the hype and wasted his time with the extra testing in response to vacuous claims made by his buddies.

 

[Splitlip]

I am a fan of the Cressi's, but your comments about split fins don't hold up for me. Using splits and free dive fins require a bit of a learning curve as do the Force fins. I suspect the folks you rescued in splits were kicking incorrectly.

For the most efficient finning agaonst a a current, I will take my apollo's.

Also..how about a few instances of when you need your fins to allow speed to be developed....and this is in contrast to most of diving, where you are just glidig along effortlessly, with no desire to go fast....

1. You drift into a shipwreck 100 feet down, such as the Castor off DelRay Beach, fl....today it had a big current on the bottom that was going south instead of North, so the typical drop has you swimming into a current, in order to get to the wreck..the surface seemed to have either zero current or slight North. On a dive like today, you need to get your belly near the bottom or the ship deck, where the current is slower. Splits would be failing here, and each time I have been on charter dives in a scenario like this, you see the split fin divers getting blown off the wreck, unless you take pity and pull them over to the wreck--and get them to hang on to the superstructure. And while this is a cool wreck ( close to 25 jewfish on it today), it has no where near the currents of some of our other cool wrecks--say like the skycliff.
2. On our 2nd dive today, on the boynton ledge, we started on the fingers on the outside, looking for cobia or hogs, and then after about 15 minutes headed up over the crown...Except the current was blowing strong , trying to push you into deeper water offshore--opposte the desired direction of swimming. This would have yanked split fin divers completely off of the reef, over sand at 110 feet and deepening..ie, they would have had to abort. With freedive fins and slick backplate /wing DIR gear config, we could kick and glide, but the glide was limited due to the very fast offshore push of the current, so there was more high turnover kicking, but this develops huge speed with the freediving fins. It took about 5 minutes to cross over the crown to the inshore ledge, and then you can get out of the current. This is an ideal use of the freedive fin speed potential--huge for a burst of 5 to 15 minutes. For most divers that were not trained athletes, after ten to 15 minutes they would be getting to the end of their high speed reserves ( they would have depleted their glycogen ) but there are very few scenarios where you need high speed for more than a few minutes. After the burst, it is usually back to kick and glide.
3. While not an issue for us today, there are days when you will surface, and the boat can be blown away from where you are--particularly if they had set up to pick up a different diver, and you are on the wrong side for wind movement of the boat. If you have freedive fins, or even force fins, you will likely make this without problems, but with splits the boat wil have to start up again and go after you
4. The scenario where a SEAL with Force Fins would have a tough time, and a split fin wearer would be instantly off the back, gone......Lobster diving of the back side of Juno, in around 110 feet....there are huge expanses of flat limestone covered by sand, and then there will be a large, circular hole, undercut ledge all the way around. These blowouts in the sand can be 400 yards apart, but are filled with lobster. With freedive fins, we go from one blowout to the next as if on scooters....the force fin wearing seal may keep up, but he will be sucking way more air than we will be, and at 110 feet, there is not a big margin for this. Now, if the boat was no where to be seen when we surfaced, and we had to swim in the 3 miles to shore..., I could do this with the freedive fins and my cycling fitness, but I expect the SEAL would be at no disadvantage for this effort, and then he could jog to the nearest phone once we made it to shore......ie., I would predict he would have the advantage on this leg of the trip.

 

[Splitlip]

Volker, you are just another old salt who has dragged some newbies through the surf and, jumping to a conclusion, blamed their problems on fins.

I almost made the same comment. Noobs often end up buying split fins. Not that they are bad, but they often don't know how to use them.

I used Jets for years before I ended up with USD original Blades. Awsome fins. Then moved to the Cressi's then the Apollos. The Apollos are the most efficient by far IMO for dealing with a current in a single tank wet diving scenario.
I have 8 or 10 dives on Force Fins. The Jury is still out. (I cannot frog with them)

 

[Susanne]

Great. Just when I am in the middle of a good rant, Bob has to visit......Ok, while this is way off the direction I was intending, I will offer some concessions:

1. 
   
   Dan,
   
   Great to read you around again. I must say your opinions have matured over the years. I guess we all have. As regards to split fins, we agree with you. As Bob said 8 years ago, "They ruined the concept. They stopped half way at where they needed to be to do the best job."

 

[RonFrank]

Boy, how many fin threads do we have going on?

This is REALLY tiresome.

Fins are a personal preference. I currently have three different pair. I dive each under different conditions. It does not matter WHAT I dive, as long as I am comfortable in them.

I've dove with Jetfins fanatics who cramped up on dives.. But they love their jets! :11:

I've dove with Split Fin owners who kicked the crap out of a silty bottom.. Not a good choice, but I'm guessing they might do the same with EVERY type of fin.

I'm personally happy for the choices, and the competition. I'm also not into racing all over the place at top speed. Actually I don't see many hunters doing that either. If you see a nice fish, and he wants to get away from you, he will..... period. We don't come CLOSE to moving like a fish UW, I don't care what you are using other than maybe an engine.

Use what you like, and feel free to praise that to the heavens, but if you are here to diss everything else, my advice is to... SHAD UP Already! We have heard it all before.

 

[Bob Evans]

Boy, how many fin threads do we have going on?

This is REALLY tiresome.



Think,act, go take a nap.

btw: don't forget to be dreaming of Force Fins

 

[Isaac-1]

We did seem to drift off topic very fast on this one