Top 5 Warm-Water Sidemount Fins

[MXGratefulDiver]

As a caveat... this is wetsuit, not drysuit, diving... using aluminium cylinders.

Good point ... at home, when using a drysuit, heavy undergarment, steel 100's, and lots of lead, I prefer my Hollis F1 fins. I would not, however, want to dive them in a warm water configuration with a thin wetsuit and AL80 cylinders. It'd be a struggle to keep my feet up ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Colliam7]

I'd still recommend trying them, rather than taking one person's word for it.

And, that is exactly what I am going to do this month!

 

[RainPilot]

Mine are shipping once the warehouse warms up a bit....

 

[Aotus]

Frog kick relies on stiffness against the bottom of the fin. Force Fins have stiffness in that direction. They don't bend 'up'.... a product of the materials used and the curved design.

isn't the curve that helps during flutter exactly in the wrong direction for frog kick? They may not actively "bend up" as you say(though the designer disagrees, see below), but the way they are shaped they are actually permanently bent in the wrong direction to provide resistance in the way that is needed for frog kick. In fact, the point of the curve is, in part, to minimize resistance in that direction during flutter:

As Evans states, "when in operation, it has power in one direction and then collapses while throwing water behind in the other direction so that it can get back to where you kick against it without strain." SOURCE: ForceFin.com

 

[DevonDiver]

isn't the curve that helps during flutter exactly in the wrong direction for frog kick? They may not actively "bend up" as you say(though the designer disagrees, see below),

The designer agrees... I just failed to define up / down effectively

The fins flex in the loading stroke for flutter kick (bend 'up' relative to flutter kick position). They don't bend 'down' relative to that orientation.... There's a lot of stiffness in that aspect.

but the way they are shaped they are actually permanently bent in the wrong direction to provide resistance in the way that is needed for frog kick.

Hence my comments that some nuanced ankle movement is needed... a modified technique. Hard to explain in words, and it may not even be that apparent in a video... but the shape and stiffness gives a very effortless frog kick that easily supports kick-glide at a remarkable sustained pace.

Effortless... as in... from the ankles only. Near zero exertion, huge SAC improvements, virtually no water displacement up/down/side.

Divers in jet fins would probably out-accelerate FF initially, but once momentum was equal FF could sustain a faster pace at significantly less effort for significantly longer.

If I needed a significant burst or sustained power/speed, I'd switch to a flutter kick (who wouldn't?).

In the overhead environment... where I might need that power AND not raise silt I'd switch to a modified flutter... a kick stroke that Force Fin Pro is perfectly suited for (curved, bending blade).

Stiff, paddle blades don't deliver much power from a 'shuffling' (lower leg only) modified flutter... but the spring in Force Fins bends those blades and gets a whole lot of power... all routed straight backwards, not up/down.

Again, I'm not trying to 'sell' FF... just describing how they work and why some experienced divers swear by them.

 

[Aotus]

The designer agrees... I just failed to define up / down effectively
The fins flex in the loading stroke for flutter kick (bend 'up' relative to flutter kick position). They don't bend 'down' relative to that orientation.... There's a lot of stiffness in that aspect.

The designer does not agree....

"when in operation, it has power in one direction and then collapses...in the other direction so that it can get back to where you kick against it without strain." FF.com

- the designer is here saying that the blades collapses in that direction (your up-kick in flutter, which is the power-stroke in frog), which would not produce force because it is meant to produce no drag at all.

Other models of force fins, that are flat, may produce force during a frog kick, but the classic and pro model that you describe was clearly no designed for producing force in that way. This is not to say that FF are not good for sidemount, just not for frog kick.

 

[MichaelMc]

Back-kick relies on a stiff surface area across the side of the fin. Force Fins provide that. Obviously, split fins don't.

Frog kick relies on stiffness against the bottom of the fin. Force Fins have stiffness in that direction. They don't bend 'up'.... a product of the materials used and the curved design. Obviously, split fins don't provide this.

What's more... with some practice you learn to make use of the curved design. That's where nuanced ankle rotation comes into play.... and why frog kick might not look 'proper' in Force Fins. What you see is experienced users accessing the curved blade to better cup (and move) water.

Andy,

Do you have a chance to say more about backward frog kick in ForceFins? I've been using Pros as my favorite fins and working on back frog with them. While working them with big leg movements in the wrong direction for the blades does work, I think that is not the technique you are describing. Lately I stumbled on using just the ankles. Very hard to describe, as I've only done it a few times right. Sort of as if what you normally do with your knee for a flutter with the force fins, you now do with your ankle only. As they bend in opposite directions, you now have a backward motion, when in normal frog kick legs up position. Is this something like your method.

Thanks,
Michael

 

[Scubawookiee]

Not just for warm water! I use neutral fins in all conditions, wetsuit or drysuit. My legs tend to sink, so neutral fins were the critical piece in solving the puzzle of my own trim. Thanks for the roundup, I always try to stay aware of all the good neutral fin options.

Completely agree. I have never understood the need for (or been able to cope with) heavy fins. So far the Apeks RK3 is the best fin for me, cold or warm water. All the best.

 

[JBFG]

OMS Slipstream for me. I love those

 

[toris1968]

I've been diving different versions of FF for the last 2 years (Extra Force, Hockeys, Excellerating Force in Pro Material and now Tan Delta) and I think they are the best fins I've ever had the pleasure to dive with. My Sidemount Instructor had his reservations about my Ruby Red Excellerating Fins when I showed up the first day but I quickly erased those thoughts when I could easily keep up in any kick even though he was in Jets. I find them very efficient, powerful when needed and faster than most if wanted. My wife who is advanced but still really new to diving has learned to Frog Kick recently in her FF Pros, so I've seen first hand how a relative novice can make adjustments necessary to do a really nice frog kick and be very efficient at doing so. So much that this is now her preferred kick. Thanks Andy for trying to squash the perception that FF are only good for flutter kicks. Unfortunately from FF facebook page looks as if Bob and Susan may be hanging it up soon!