We join the bunny at the dive site getting ready to take the open water students out for their first dive.
Not being sure how the flip fins would fit the drysuit boots our bunny buddy opted to bring along both pair. She dons her 400g undies and drysuit in the humid Ohio heat and pulls the XL pair out of the bag. Wobbling on one foot she manages to don them to check the size and discovers they are a teensy bit too big for the drysuit boots. The fins don’t wobble like they did with the wetsuit boots but the spring straps don’t touch the heel of the boot either, this has “lost fins” written all over it and in today’s visibility that’s not going to cut it. Even the neon yellow will be impossible to see in the rain induced / roto-tilling student enhanced pea-soup visibility. A couple staff members stabilize the wobbling rabbit as she removes the XL pair and whips the large pair out of its fin bag. Surprisingly the large pair slips over the gargantuan drysuit boots, something no other size large fin has been able to do. Our bunny smiles and quickly switches the spring straps from the XL pair to the large fins with the help of a staff member. Perfect fit! Bunny puts the regular strap on the XL fins and tries them on once more; to her surprise she discovers they fit just fine now that the straps can be adjusted.
Knowing that changing fin color between dives in this visibility could confuse the students (do we follow orange or yellow fins this time?) and knowing everyone and their brother wears yellow fins our bunny opts to wear the large orange pair with the spring straps for the weekend. Besides, the blades are shorter and bunny likes short blades.
Keeping things simple for the first dive, our experimental rabbit carries the fins to the dock and dons them in the normal fashion. Not wanting to make too much of a spectacle of herself in front of other instructor’s possibly nervous students hitting the open water the first time she disobeys the fin instructions and opts for a giant stride entry with the fins in the locked position. The drop is roughly arms length but it’s far enough to unlock the fin on the stepping foot. Those of you following bunny’s saga know that’s the left foot, a horribly uncoordinated appendage. The students are dawdling and staff members are helping them make sure everything is perfect before they approach the entry so our furry hero decides to unlock her right fin and practice kick-locks.
The first attempt is with the right leg while vertical in the water, bunny has the greatest chance of success with this one. Unfortunately that’s not to be. The added clumsiness of the drysuit with heavy undies combined with the fact the drysuit is biting bunny’s knee on the locking stroke (What’s up with THAT? Bunny wonders) make it impossible to kick-lock the fin. Bunny submerges to try locking the left fin while in a horizontal position; CHOMP goes the drysuit on the left knee eliciting a yelp from our hero followed by a smack of the inflator and an inversion to make the suit let go of her skin. Our hero, paddling dog style with her hands, manages to hobble to the stair railing. Getting a firm grip on the rail she goes to horizontal on the surface and is able to kick-lock the right fin on the first try…YAY! The students are coming to get in the water so bunny only has one shot at getting the left fin locked. She kicks but the stubborn left leg twists and robs the kick of any force it had. Bunny gives up and attempts to step on the fin to lock it. The drysuit is biting her knees again and she can’t quite get her legs in the position she needs to lock the fin without risking a skin-removing drysuit bite. Giving up, our furry friend asks a staff member to lock the fin for her so the class can start their dive.
On the dive:
Bunny liked the way the fins kicked as much in the open water as she had in the pool. They are lighter than the Jet fins and feel easier to force through the water but they aren’t floppy like the Twin Jets. She could easily frog kick with long glides and keep up with the students. The safety stop at the end of the dive was a great time to attempt to back-kick. Keep in mind bunny’s back kick leaves MUCH to be desired as she’s self-taught and hasn’t had the benefit of someone who knows what they're doing to critique her. What a pleasant surprise to be able to actually feel herself glide backward with each kick! It was most likely a really ugly kick but it was making the bunny scoot back rather than going up butt first like she does in her Jet fins.
Student comments:
They really liked the orange; it was easy to keep track of the bunny in the 5-10 feet of visibility and the orange really stood out in the sea of yellow fins on the groups of divers we met.
Side note:
Bunny took the fins out with the doubles. Deciding to go ahead and follow the entry instructions for the fins, bunny entered with the fins in the up position. It took about two seconds for bunny to realize what a bad idea that was since she lacked a reliable kick to lock the fins. Bunny tries to kick lock the right fin and merely succeeds in tipping herself over onto her back. Our furry hero suddenly discovers how hard it is to manage doubles when you’re turtled in deep water and for all intents and purposes, not wearing fins. A staff member watches bunny struggle to right herself but doesn’t realize panic is creeping in on our furry hero. “I’m going to drown” crosses her mind as she fights to right herself but starts sinking instead. Bunny training kicks in and says “You dumb bunny you’ve got a regulator in your mouth and a whole bunch of air on your back. Even if you plant into the dirt your staff and students have the better part of three hours to rescue you so calm down and roll over dumbass.” The mental pep talk gets our bunny back in the game and she manages to roll over and dog paddle with her hands to the stair rail where she holds on for dear life and catches her breath. Once she’s calmed down she attempts to lock the fins while kicking and holding onto the railing. The right fin easily locks into place; the left leg still won’t execute the kick properly so she resorts to stepping on the fin to lock it. Luckily she remembers to do this while face down instead of risking another fight with the doubles.
The dive:
The fins move the doubles through the water as easily as they moved the single. Bunny enjoyed long glides with her frog kicks though not quite as long as those in a single tank obviously.
Favorite part of the weekend:
Unlocking the fins in the water and walking out instead of having to lean over and pull fins off while the drysuit was chewing on the bunny’s knees. The suit was particularly cantankerous for some reason; it doesn’t normally leave those kinds of marks. The fins were comfortable to walk in even though some of the hiking was up a dirt/gravel uneven terrain hill. Walking up stairs could be done easily if you paid attention to where your toes were; you need to watch catching the clips on the toes of the foot pocket as you climb. Bunny nearly ended up on her face when she failed to pay attention to where her feet were in relation to the lip of the next step.
Bunny needs more time in them to master the lock procedure. The fact the fin came unlocked on a giant stride is a bit concerning but the instructions specifically state you should enter with them in the “up” position.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
Ber :lilbunny:
Not being sure how the flip fins would fit the drysuit boots our bunny buddy opted to bring along both pair. She dons her 400g undies and drysuit in the humid Ohio heat and pulls the XL pair out of the bag. Wobbling on one foot she manages to don them to check the size and discovers they are a teensy bit too big for the drysuit boots. The fins don’t wobble like they did with the wetsuit boots but the spring straps don’t touch the heel of the boot either, this has “lost fins” written all over it and in today’s visibility that’s not going to cut it. Even the neon yellow will be impossible to see in the rain induced / roto-tilling student enhanced pea-soup visibility. A couple staff members stabilize the wobbling rabbit as she removes the XL pair and whips the large pair out of its fin bag. Surprisingly the large pair slips over the gargantuan drysuit boots, something no other size large fin has been able to do. Our bunny smiles and quickly switches the spring straps from the XL pair to the large fins with the help of a staff member. Perfect fit! Bunny puts the regular strap on the XL fins and tries them on once more; to her surprise she discovers they fit just fine now that the straps can be adjusted.
Knowing that changing fin color between dives in this visibility could confuse the students (do we follow orange or yellow fins this time?) and knowing everyone and their brother wears yellow fins our bunny opts to wear the large orange pair with the spring straps for the weekend. Besides, the blades are shorter and bunny likes short blades.
Keeping things simple for the first dive, our experimental rabbit carries the fins to the dock and dons them in the normal fashion. Not wanting to make too much of a spectacle of herself in front of other instructor’s possibly nervous students hitting the open water the first time she disobeys the fin instructions and opts for a giant stride entry with the fins in the locked position. The drop is roughly arms length but it’s far enough to unlock the fin on the stepping foot. Those of you following bunny’s saga know that’s the left foot, a horribly uncoordinated appendage. The students are dawdling and staff members are helping them make sure everything is perfect before they approach the entry so our furry hero decides to unlock her right fin and practice kick-locks.
The first attempt is with the right leg while vertical in the water, bunny has the greatest chance of success with this one. Unfortunately that’s not to be. The added clumsiness of the drysuit with heavy undies combined with the fact the drysuit is biting bunny’s knee on the locking stroke (What’s up with THAT? Bunny wonders) make it impossible to kick-lock the fin. Bunny submerges to try locking the left fin while in a horizontal position; CHOMP goes the drysuit on the left knee eliciting a yelp from our hero followed by a smack of the inflator and an inversion to make the suit let go of her skin. Our hero, paddling dog style with her hands, manages to hobble to the stair railing. Getting a firm grip on the rail she goes to horizontal on the surface and is able to kick-lock the right fin on the first try…YAY! The students are coming to get in the water so bunny only has one shot at getting the left fin locked. She kicks but the stubborn left leg twists and robs the kick of any force it had. Bunny gives up and attempts to step on the fin to lock it. The drysuit is biting her knees again and she can’t quite get her legs in the position she needs to lock the fin without risking a skin-removing drysuit bite. Giving up, our furry friend asks a staff member to lock the fin for her so the class can start their dive.
On the dive:
Bunny liked the way the fins kicked as much in the open water as she had in the pool. They are lighter than the Jet fins and feel easier to force through the water but they aren’t floppy like the Twin Jets. She could easily frog kick with long glides and keep up with the students. The safety stop at the end of the dive was a great time to attempt to back-kick. Keep in mind bunny’s back kick leaves MUCH to be desired as she’s self-taught and hasn’t had the benefit of someone who knows what they're doing to critique her. What a pleasant surprise to be able to actually feel herself glide backward with each kick! It was most likely a really ugly kick but it was making the bunny scoot back rather than going up butt first like she does in her Jet fins.
Student comments:
They really liked the orange; it was easy to keep track of the bunny in the 5-10 feet of visibility and the orange really stood out in the sea of yellow fins on the groups of divers we met.
Side note:
Bunny took the fins out with the doubles. Deciding to go ahead and follow the entry instructions for the fins, bunny entered with the fins in the up position. It took about two seconds for bunny to realize what a bad idea that was since she lacked a reliable kick to lock the fins. Bunny tries to kick lock the right fin and merely succeeds in tipping herself over onto her back. Our furry hero suddenly discovers how hard it is to manage doubles when you’re turtled in deep water and for all intents and purposes, not wearing fins. A staff member watches bunny struggle to right herself but doesn’t realize panic is creeping in on our furry hero. “I’m going to drown” crosses her mind as she fights to right herself but starts sinking instead. Bunny training kicks in and says “You dumb bunny you’ve got a regulator in your mouth and a whole bunch of air on your back. Even if you plant into the dirt your staff and students have the better part of three hours to rescue you so calm down and roll over dumbass.” The mental pep talk gets our bunny back in the game and she manages to roll over and dog paddle with her hands to the stair rail where she holds on for dear life and catches her breath. Once she’s calmed down she attempts to lock the fins while kicking and holding onto the railing. The right fin easily locks into place; the left leg still won’t execute the kick properly so she resorts to stepping on the fin to lock it. Luckily she remembers to do this while face down instead of risking another fight with the doubles.
The dive:
The fins move the doubles through the water as easily as they moved the single. Bunny enjoyed long glides with her frog kicks though not quite as long as those in a single tank obviously.
Favorite part of the weekend:
Unlocking the fins in the water and walking out instead of having to lean over and pull fins off while the drysuit was chewing on the bunny’s knees. The suit was particularly cantankerous for some reason; it doesn’t normally leave those kinds of marks. The fins were comfortable to walk in even though some of the hiking was up a dirt/gravel uneven terrain hill. Walking up stairs could be done easily if you paid attention to where your toes were; you need to watch catching the clips on the toes of the foot pocket as you climb. Bunny nearly ended up on her face when she failed to pay attention to where her feet were in relation to the lip of the next step.
Bunny needs more time in them to master the lock procedure. The fact the fin came unlocked on a giant stride is a bit concerning but the instructions specifically state you should enter with them in the “up” position.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
Ber :lilbunny:
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But it works with the flip fins 
