v12 vs SP twin jets

[Tony7781]

Hi I jsut finished my open water course where I was using the Tusa Imprex Tri-ex. I hated them. They were positively bouyant which did not alow me to snorkel too well and they were so stiff that they wound up bothering my ankles. I am looking for a a neutral or slightly negatively bouyant fin. After allt he research I ahve been doing I think I got it down to the v12 (or poss v16??) vs the SP twin jets. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Also, the SP twin jets come in different colors and I think the actual fin differs by color?

 

[BuoyantC]

I dive with twin jets and love them. I like that they are rubber and hold their shape, even when they get mistreated in the scuba pile. I really can't speak to the v12's, but if I had any complaint on the twin jets it would be the shape of the foot pocket.

I like the twin jets also because they have some stiffness and I can fin backwards. Many of the others just feel floppy to me.

I was sort of a late convert to splits, and tried a few different types. I did like the Atomics, and Tusas, but hated Aqualungs. Many of my friends dive Apollos and love them. The Apollos have really great foot pockets, but I haven't given them a fair trial.

And the color does make a difference in the buoyancy on the twin jets. Blacks are negative. I think grey is neutral, and the other colors buoyant.

 

[farsidefan1]

Another vote for the scuba pro twin jets. My only gripe is weight. They are 2 lbs heavier than my old blades so when I'm going somewhere in one of those little planes with ridiculous weight limits (ie 15 lbs for the second bag and 44 or so for the dive gear) I have to take the blades.

 

[Jorgy]

More positive SP Twin Jet comments......we dive the Yellow ones; I believe they are the softest of the colors................

Zero issues with leg cramps or sore joints................

The yellow ones are also very easy to see underwater and on night dives, they almost glow........................

As mentioned before they are positively buoyant................

Sorry, can't help with comparisons as the Twin Jets are the only splits we have used...........

Check out LeisurePro they are $125/pair...............

Hope this helps................M

Scubapro "Twin Jet" Open Heel Split Fins

 

[thanksforallthefish]

With that question you will get many responses from people telling you how good the fins they use are, me I have used V12's for a number of years after using paddles for a lot longer, wouldn't go back to a paddle if you paid me (used my old ones on a dive a few months ago).
Apparently you cant fin backwards in splits, cant say I have ever needed to do that.

Anyway ... if you can try and beg or borrow but dont steal the fins you want to try, what is good for someone else may not necessarily be what you like.

 

[ChimChim75]

Related to this... I've been using SP Jets for a while now. I tend to favor scissor kicks to frog. I just picked up some V12's since I'm doing mostly shore dives - I figured they'd fatigue me less on the long swims out.

I only had one dive on my new fins and I had a hard time adjusting to them. It wasn't a pleasant experience.... but I love my V6's for snorkeling/travel. I'm guessing it's my technique.

I did the same dive the week before twice. I was able to get about 65 minutes bottom time on my jets at about 45 ft average. Yesterday with the V12s I only got 40 minutes, same site, similar conditions.

One issue I was having was I seemed more foot heavy vs the jets. I had to work to keep trim. I usually dive with a Zeagle with integrated weights - putting 6 pounds in the front pockets and 6 in the rear trim pockets. I'm thinking of moving 2 pounds forward to the front from the rear.

You can really feel the kicks with the jets, but it feels like you are kicking with just heavy boots on your feet with the V12s... There just is no resistance to the kick. I had to check I still had my fins on a few times.

Strangely I was getting foot craps with the V12s as well.

Any tips on changing over? I want to give them a fair shot next week at a more leisurely dive site where I'm more relaxed.

 

[thanksforallthefish]

Related to this... I've been using SP Jets for a while now. I tend to favor scissor kicks to frog. I just picked up some V12's since I'm doing mostly shore dives - I figured they'd fatigue me less on the long swims out.

I only had one dive on my new fins and I had a hard time adjusting to them. It wasn't a pleasant experience.... but I love my V6's for snorkeling/travel. I'm guessing it's my technique.

The V12's take a bit of getting used to from what I remember.
As to technique you only do small kicks, how it was described to me was
"kick like you have some dog ***** on your shoe and are trying to get it off"

If you try and use big kicks you go nowhere real fast.

One issue I was having was I seemed more foot heavy vs the jets. I had to work to keep trim. I usually dive with a Zeagle with integrated weights - putting 6 pounds in the front pockets and 6 in the rear trim pockets. I'm thinking of moving 2 pounds forward to the front from the rear.

Have not used the jets, so can't comment on that, but the V12's certainly are heavy

You can really feel the kicks with the jets, but it feels like you are kicking with just heavy boots on your feet with the V12s... There just is no resistance to the kick. I had to check I still had my fins on a few times.

Yes ... they do feel like you haven't got any fins on

Strangely I was getting foot craps with the V12s as well.

This was the reason I changed to V12's ... my wife was getting leg cramps fairly often and I did occaisonally, so she bought a pair and didnt get any more cramps so I did the same.

Maybe the wrong size foot pocket?? ... something to consider

Any tips on changing over? I want to give them a fair shot next week at a more leisurely dive site where I'm more relaxed.

It is possible that they are just not suitable for you, I know people with hundreds of dives who love them and others who hate them, like any new equipment you really need to try them for a few dives before deciding
Just remember to make small flutter kicks.

Hope this helps

 

[quasimoto]

I only have experience with the V12's, but ill tell you what i know. First off, they are really easy to kick with, and while it feels at first like you arent going anywhere, once you get the kick cycle down you can move. They definitely arent as powerful as a lot of other fins out there, but that's the trade off for a much easier fin kick.
The bad things about them is that like thanksforallthefish said, you cant do a back kick well, which can be annoying. Also, I actually broke off two of the rubber nubs molded into the footpocket that hold the strap clips on. Apparently Oceanic has a lifetime warranty on them, but I just zip-tied the clips back on after cutting a few holes and they are good as ever.
Overall, they are good, comfortable fins, but a little bulky (for me), and not too good if you need a lot of power. I know you didn't ask about them, but I recently got the chance to try out some force fins (i think just the basic model), and I immediately liked them more then my V12's. More maneuverable, smaller, less crampy, and had a more secure feeling on my foot.
Hope that helps some.

 

[meesier42]

after testing lots and lots of splits, I really think there really are only 2 options
Foil Force Fin (the original Split Fin) or the Apollo Bio (the rip off of the Foil)

pretty much everyone else is just trying to copy the Bio-Fin and doing a pretty poor job of it.

 

[ChimChim75]

I wanted Bio-Fins, but no one had them locally... ($50 to ship to Hawaii) V12s seemed to be the next best thing.