What are the most buoyant fins

[rambojambo]

I'm wondering if your posture might not be a bigger issue than the weight of the fins? If you let your knees drop, nothing is going to be able to keep your feet up.You need to feel a little tension in your glutes in order to keep your body flat form shoulders to knees. Also, once you switch to frog/ modified flutter, your lower legs will be more or less vertical, bringing the fins closer to your body and reducing their leverage.

With my current fins I find it incredibly difficult if not impossible to get into the skydive pose with my knees bent, and when I could my calves burnt like hell instantly.
I borrowed some shorter floatier fins for the second dive and they were better but still difficult to get my ankles up.
I'm tempted to just strap some bubble wrap to my ankles on the next dive as a test

 

[Jose Torres]

I know a lot of folks, that swear by: https://scubapro.johnsonoutdoors.com/fins/fins/seawing-nova-fin

 

[Ayisha]

Hi,

I have heavy legs and after just doing a peak buoyancy course the instructor says I need the most buoyant fins I can find...

UTD Precision Neutral Fins are positively buoyant in salt water and neutral in fresh water.

Often the type of fins or boots you're using provide only a small difference in trim position. Things that can also help are placing the tank higher on your back; moving your weights higher on your body, maybe in trim pockets; and adjusting body position by putting your arms out in front of you close to eye level, and stretching out with your knees in line with your chest.

What happens if you just stretch out and relax while hovering without correcting your body position? Do you start rotating at all?

 

[DirtFish]

With my current fins I find it incredibly difficult if not impossible to get into the skydive pose with my knees bent, and when I could my calves burnt like hell instantly.
I borrowed some shorter floatier fins for the second dive and they were better but still difficult to get my ankles up.
I'm tempted to just strap some bubble wrap to my ankles on the next dive as a test

I have the same problem, <12% body fat and my legs sink like a rock.
I use Deep 6 Eddy fins with 5mm booties, and 3mm wetsuit pants or a 3mm full wetsuit, even in the Caribbean. Always comfortable although I will peel down the top during my surface interval. The combination of these get my legs floating perfectly. I can hover motionless in perfect trim now.
Both the pants and full wetsuit have pockets so storing DSMB/spool and wetnotes is no problem.
Also, wetsuit pants without pockets have made my long distant swim training much easier and I use almost 20% less energy with my body in trim to the surface, again, no more sinking legs.

 

[rambojambo]

On my last dive I
- moved my tank higher
- used more buoyant fins
- had my arms out in front of me - I worked that out for myself
And I had much better control, feet didnt feel as heavy but were still weighing me down

I have a BCD with integrated weight pockets around my waist but no trim pockets. I was considering trying to attach a 1kg weigh to the very top of the tank.
I have a 5mm wetsuit and not sure how thick my boots are

I have never tried to just stretch out and relax to see if I rotate, but when diving I do often find my body is trying to flip on to my right side.

 

[Robert H. Diver]

On my last dive I
- moved my tank higher
- used more buoyant fins
- had my arms out in front of me - I worked that out for myself
And I had much better control, feet didnt feel as heavy but were still weighing me down

I have a BCD with integrated weight pockets around my waist but no trim pockets. I was considering trying to attach a 1kg weigh to the very top of the tank.
I have a 5mm wetsuit and not sure how thick my boots are

I have never tried to just stretch out and relax to see if I rotate, but when diving I do often find my body is trying to flip on to my right side.

Get some trim weights on the tank band, those helped me tremendously.

 

[Paul M]

Deep 6 Eddy's are actually more buoyant than the RD3's. I get a special giggle when I slip them off at the ladder, let one go and watch it just float to the surface next to me.

I have both types of RK3's and a pair of Deep 6 Eddy fins.
In FW, my RK3 'originals' float to the surface are more buoyant than the Eddy fins.
In FW the RK3 HD sink rather quick.
In FW the Eddys sink ...sloooowly

 

[Matt The-Bear]

The scubapro go sport fins are light and fairly buoyant. Not sure about the MOST buoyant, but I am pretty leg/foot heavy too and really like them.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

On my last dive I
- moved my tank higher
- used more buoyant fins
- had my arms out in front of me - I worked that out for myself
And I had much better control, feet didnt feel as heavy but were still weighing me down

I have a BCD with integrated weight pockets around my waist but no trim pockets. I was considering trying to attach a 1kg weigh to the very top of the tank.
I have a 5mm wetsuit and not sure how thick my boots are

I have never tried to just stretch out and relax to see if I rotate, but when diving I do often find my body is trying to flip on to my right side.

A great many integrated weight BC's have the weights placed at locations that are completely inappropriate. Even those with rear trim pockets are junk in many cases because the trim pockets are over the kidneys instead of the chest/ lungs where they can actually do some good. This is why back plate and wing BC's are known for assisting with good trim. The weight is over the largest air spaces.
Given that you took a PPB class and had to come here to find some solutions, I hope you didn't pay for that class. If it was taught to the book, it probably wasn't very helpful.
I have found that I need to tailor each buoyancy class to the individual and the book is more of a hindrance than a help.
Arching the back slightly seems to address a significant number of issues with students. There are some where less negative fins help. A number of the recreational paddle fins tend to be less negative. A tech or tech style fin is often geared to be neutral in saltwater which will make it slightly negative in fresh.
I don't remember exactly how the deep six fins I tried were in the pool because the foot pocket hurt my foot enough that I couldn't keep them on for long.
If you have a neutral in salt fin and your legs are muscular with little bioprene they will tend to drop.
That said, it is often possible to get neutral with any fin or BC if you work at it. I spent a year at one shop where I used every BC and fin they had. The BC didn't even have to fit. Everything from an XS I could barely fasten to a XXL that I was swimming in in jacket and back inflate styles. Working on one goal. Being able to get neutral and horizontal within 5 minutes of being in the water. At least an hour a week every week after/before classes. After 6 months I started doing it with students and no one ever noticed and I never felt I was out of sorts.
Sometimes it is a gear issue. Many times it's a skills and experience thing. This is why I can help someone 99% of the time within an hour in the pool improve beyond what they expected. The time after that is fine tuning and having fun.

 

[carrythatweight]

On my last dive I
- moved my tank higher
- used more buoyant fins
- had my arms out in front of me - I worked that out for myself
And I had much better control, feet didnt feel as heavy but were still weighing me down

I have a BCD with integrated weight pockets around my waist but no trim pockets. I was considering trying to attach a 1kg weigh to the very top of the tank.
I have a 5mm wetsuit and not sure how thick my boots are

I have never tried to just stretch out and relax to see if I rotate, but when diving I do often find my body is trying to flip on to my right side.

As other have noted, trim weights may be very helpful. You'll find it easiest to slot trim weight pockets (like these from SubGravity) onto your top (or only) cam band. Be sure to 'push' the pockets as close to the BCD as possible. Here's an example:

The presenter in the video (Achim Schlöffel) is not using a traditional BCD but the same applies to what I noted above with respect to trim weight pockets. FYI: He is using what's known as a backplate/wing system or setup. As @Jim Lapenta noted, they are better for situating weight closer to your body, and in effect, helping out your trim. I won't get into that, however, since SB is full of threads about this...