scubafanatic
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Tri-split fins .. soon to appear?
- Thread starter under water
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LOL.
Informative post. You obviously have no clue and are joining the bashing crowd. That's fine. A lot of pressure on internet forums to be one of the tough guys.
I've been at this game a few years. Started with Jets but was exposed to Apollo fins about a dozen years ago when we strapping young men were blown away in a ripping current by a woman diving them.
At the risk of offending RJP, I'm sure 150 years ago you could not convince a paddle wheel skipper that spinning a prop at "4500 rpm" with no resistance would be more efficient than his paddle.
I purchased my first set of splits shortly thereafter. They work. I have been using paddles and splits alternately for the past 12 years. Don't tell me splits don't work.
diver_doug
Contributor
Geez...touchy touchy fellas. My post wasn't really intended to be a mockery of splits as much as it was intended to be a mockery of the addition of EVEN MORE splits. I started thinking about the Gillete Mach-series razor and how it's up to five blades now, or Honda Civic's with double-decker spoilers, or my neighbors house that use to have 4 turbins on the roof. Anyway, I've tried a couple of different pairs of splits and didn't like them but I don't think splits are bad per se...they just aren't good relative to what I want out of a fin coupled with how I kick.
Yeah. Realized that after I posted. All's good. lol
OP
under water
Contributor
Now, I've been diving with Ray (RJP) and I saw no indication that he was going to "fix" my Apollo splits with duct tape. As I remember it, we were going about the same speed too.. very very slowly.
I have used a bunch of different fins and the heavy Apollo Bio's with spring straps are the best for me. My wife loves her floatier yellow twin jets.
I posted the original post because I really do think that new research should generate new ideas for old problems. Human propulsion through water is a relatively young science, and there will be changes. To think that a solution already found will always be the best way is not reasonable. Some of the early scuba pioneers literally glued wooden boards to shoes. That may be how paddles were invented.
Things change and new information, and in this articles case, a new way to observe, record and calculate fluid dynamics can only help with understanding the very complex interaction of fluid dynamics and human locomotion.
I don't know if we will actually see a fin that tries to mimic the mechanics of the dorsal and anal fins as well as the tail, but more information can't hurt.
I'll be looking forward to Tim's evaluation of them when they come out. And of course, I will be looking forward to Ray's new concern about having to provide extra duct tape.
I have used a bunch of different fins and the heavy Apollo Bio's with spring straps are the best for me. My wife loves her floatier yellow twin jets.
I posted the original post because I really do think that new research should generate new ideas for old problems. Human propulsion through water is a relatively young science, and there will be changes. To think that a solution already found will always be the best way is not reasonable. Some of the early scuba pioneers literally glued wooden boards to shoes. That may be how paddles were invented.
Things change and new information, and in this articles case, a new way to observe, record and calculate fluid dynamics can only help with understanding the very complex interaction of fluid dynamics and human locomotion.
I don't know if we will actually see a fin that tries to mimic the mechanics of the dorsal and anal fins as well as the tail, but more information can't hurt.
I'll be looking forward to Tim's evaluation of them when they come out. And of course, I will be looking forward to Ray's new concern about having to provide extra duct tape.
Shhh... I have a reputation to uphold!
:shocked2:
PS - duct tape doesn't stick well to the Apollo's... not that I would know personally.
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If by Tim, you mean me, I suspect I won't go beyond my present quiver of fins. In fact, I have had great success with therapy for my injured body parts and am ready to break out my beloved original USD Blades. (praise the Lord! I may surf again and my limp is gone. LOL)
While I'll still use the splits, I just picked up another pair of paddles in full foot. I prefer paddles at the BHB as they frog better. Even though, with a flutter kick, the splits stir up considerably less "silt" than a paddle.
While I'll still use the splits, I just picked up another pair of paddles in full foot. I prefer paddles at the BHB as they frog better. Even though, with a flutter kick, the splits stir up considerably less "silt" than a paddle.
fire_diver
Contributor
Did you mean the dorsal and caudal fins?
OP
under water
Contributor
In the article at How fish swim | Harvard Gazette
Using a new form of laser imaging device, Brooke Flammang and colleagues at Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology have discovered that “the dorsal and the anal fin make a great contribution to the caudal [tail fin] wake,” and thus are additional propellers, and not just stabilizers. A cichlid swims in the particles that the laser illuminates.
“We knew the dorsal and anal fins are very important for balance, and although a locomotory role was suspected, we have only now been able to show that they also play a big part in locomotion,” Flammang said.
The gist of the research is that it apparently is all 3 that contribute to locomotion, not just the caudal (tail fin).
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