The Debate : Split Fins or not ?

[drdaddy]

I love my Apollo split fins for effortlessly zooming around. However, you can't go backwards with the split fins. So when I'm photographing and want to hold still or maneuver around the "whatever I'm shooting" - well, my old standby Aqualung Rocket fins are the best!

drdaddy

 

[castanagajt]

PaddleSplits. If you can't decide on either one or don't like either one then be different and buy a Force Fin. For the score, I prefer them for me. If you buy it from the official Force Fin site you can try them out for 10 dives and not satisfied you can return them with your money back.

 

[DiveMaven]

To me it comes down to kicking style. IMO, someone with a bigger flutter kick is going to easily overkick a split fin. As a competitive swimmer for many, many years, when I tried a split fin it only worked well for me when I did small flutter kicks. I felt that the propulsion was excellent as was the speed and "quickness off the line". However, when I did my normal flutter kick, I easily overwhelmed the split design, and they were basically ribbons on my feet when I did a power kick. Because I'll naturally go to a bigger kick when I need more propulsion, the splits are counter-intuitive as a fin for me. When you add into the equation that I prefer to frog kick anyway, the splits completely fell apart as any sort of option for me.

Like everything else, it's all about trying as much gear as you can BEFORE you buy and finding what is best for YOU. And I highly recommend that nobody listen to the recommendation of anyone without trying for themselves IN THE WATER.

 

[meesier42]

If you buy it from the official Force Fin site you can try them out for 10 dives and not satisfied you can return them with your money back.

its 30days, not 10 dives.

Like everything else, it's all about trying as much gear as you can BEFORE you buy and finding what is best for YOU. And I highly recommend that nobody listen to the recommendation of anyone without trying for themselves IN THE WATER.

thank you, who cares if you use splits, paddles, mor-fins, ForceFins, or a scooter, ultimately its about what you like, what you practice with, your personal style, and most importantly what fits you best. Sure some fins are more efficient, some are "faster" or "slower", some are better for frog kicks, some are better for flutters. None of it matters unless you find the fin that works best for you.

 

[FishOutUvH2O]

To me it comes down to kicking style.

. . . some are better for frog kicks, some are better for flutters. None of it matters unless you find the fin that works best for you.

I thinks this hits at the heart of the problem. From what I've seen many manufacturers don't give explicit instructions with their fins. Even though they may make a fin that was designed with a certain method for kicking. Combine that with things some of the more experienced divers may say on the board and you get confusion. For example, in general splits were designed to be used with what I call an abbreviated flutter-kick (see DiveMavens post above). The moment you try and get more power/speed out of them by widening your kick, they fail. But if you keep the same kick width, but increase the frequency, they can fight a pretty strong current, or help you keep-up with an Eagle ray. Jet fins are the complete opposite. To get maximum thrust out of a Jet you increase the kick width in a flutter kick. This is where some of the strange remarks come in. I've actually read on this board from some experienced divers that Jets don't do well with a flutter kick. Huh? Jets were designed for flutter kicking. As far as the other kicking styles go (back kick, frog, etc.) can a split do them? Sure. In much the same way I can take my wife's sports car down a dirt road. It'll do it, but it wasn't designed with that in mind and it won't do it quickly or well.

 

[meesier42]

As far as the other kicking styles go (back kick, frog, etc.) can a split do them? Sure. In much the same way I can take my wife's sports car down a dirt road. It'll do it, but it wasn't designed with that in mind and it won't do it quickly or well.

I think the real point is something that the director of NEDU told me when I had a discussion with him about the testing they do. I asked specifically about fin test he told me

we no longer do fin test, in all of the testing that they have done, they determined that ALL fins work, sure some work better, but all work, so we just leave it up to individual divers to determine what suits them best.