Ok, whats the best set of fins for a wet diver (3mm wetsuit) who wants something for technical maneuvers (frog and helicopter) and does not weigh more than my tank (slight sarcasm here)? I like Jet fins, but they are just too darned heavy. Most of their bretheren are also heavy. I can't seem to find a consensus on this and would like some opinions from the warm water divers. Thanks!
This is one of my favorite posting topics, because I have tried so many fins, and I dive in an environment where good propulsive efficiency is hugely important for maximum enjoyment and safety on our dives.
Without any question, whatsoever, the best fins are DiveR freedive fins
DiveR Australia: Equipment
They are not for penetration in to tight overheads...they are so long that they could scrape the ceiling above you, in situations where it would be a non-issue for jet fin wearing divers, so these will never be Cave diving fins...I am discussing best for open water diving.
I can do a faster reverse kick in these than practically anyone could do with jets, and the helicopter turn is so easy that you really don't even have to learn it--it just becomes a natural technique/kick for you.
Moreover, these come in 3 different stiffnesses, to allow optimizing for your level of muscle development and cardio, plus required torque ( how much you are pushing). I use the stiffest ones they make, and as a competitive cyclist, I would actually like to go one level even stiffer, but these are awesome as they are....they are stiff enough to be an optimal control surface in scootering, or for micro adjustments while gliding....and they deliver the most massive and enormous glide after each kick cycle you can imagine! It makes a frog kick toss you forward like someone just shoved you forward
With a dolphin kick, I can hit speeds only imagined with a hot gavin scooter, and on a normal paced dive, the efficiency is so high that maintaning the pace of your buddies should allow close to resting resting heart rate==meaning the lowest SAC rate you are going to achieve.
I will have to have one of my buddies shoot some video of me swimming with these, next to a jet fin wearing diver, as well as reverse kicking with them
If you "think" you know what there are like because you have used cressi garas or some other standard freediving fin before....you don't. Think of the cressi gara 2000 or 3000 like the bladfish "scooter", and the DiverR's like the next evolution of a Gavin....there is no comparison....Typical freedive fins, while efficient, don't really reverse kick well..some will frog kick well, some brands or freedive fins won't. They are also too flexible to be a good control surface for precise adjustments....The Dive R's I have are stiff enough to offer exact control surface functions, but they also have an efficiency when being kicked, radically unlike any other fin this stiff--meaning they don't end up "feeling" like they are stiff, because you get so much back from each kick....to work less, you kick slower, and you will still be moving far faster than you would have imagined possible.
The technology of the DiveR's is radically different..both the angle of the blade, and the composite material creating the unique power curves this fin has in different kicks and wattage applied.
I have also talked with Ray Powel, creator of DiveR fins, about them making a more DIR-sized version of these fins ( not so long), more optimal for all the environments DIR divers operate in--closer to the longer jet fins in length....They actually have something like this, that they are planning on sending to me to demo....still light-years beyond the old technology of the jet fins, and much more efficient, not quite as fast as the DiveR's I use, but much faster than any of the traditional fins.
In GUE-speak....
Cave exploration gear choice would be Gavin long body scooter, ocean dives Gavin short body scooter....for me, ocean in long blade DiveR fins, and in shipwreck penetration or cave, the shorter DiverR fins
