What’s your favorite pair of fins and why?

[bcsean]

you gotta remember though, just because it has a higher thrust number doesnt mean it works better. Not trying to knock anything specific, but for me, if a fin can't backkick, frogkick, helicopter kick, forget it.

How did they measure thrust in this test? flutter kick? All depends on your style of diving.

 

[Kestrell]

you gotta remember though, just because it has a higher thrust number doesnt mean it works better. Not trying to knock anything specific, but for me, if a fin can't backkick, frogkick, helicopter kick, forget it.

How did they measure thrust in this test? flutter kick? All depends on your style of diving.

You are correct, thrust isn't the only, or even always the best way to measure how good a fin is. I have quatros and I like them, and while I am not great at a variety of kicks (yet), these fins are capable of doing them and they are only waiting for me to get better at them.

However, you need stronger than average legs to kick them; not Charles Atlas strong, but better than average since they are somewhat stiff.

One word of advice though, ditch the straps and put on some springs ASAP. The straps they come with are overly complicated and don't look like they would last through more than a few seasons.

 

[CALI68]

Whenever I hear people say that Jets or Turtles suck and they hate them, I always wonder what kind of kick they're doing? Like Kidspot said, with a relaxing frog kick you can cover serious ground. If you strap on Jets and start to kick like you would with splits...you'd die..or hate them.

Go to this site and watch someone who truly knows how to "use" Jets.
Look under "skills" and click on the various kicks..especially Frog Kick.

http://www.divetekadventures.com/Images.htm

 

[EricJ]

Go to this site and watch someone who truly knows how to "use" Jets.
Look under "skills" and click on the various kicks..especially Frog Kick.

http://www.divetekadventures.com/Images.htm

In the video, the thrust is done with the bottom side of your foot facing downward. I do the frog kick just the opposite, with the top of my foot facing down on the thrust.

Do you think it makes a difference? It seems like the two styles utilize different muscles.

I've never been trained to frog kick by a SCUBA instructor. I do a variety of kicks, but they all come from my swimming background and not from SCUBA training.

Thanks for sharing the dive instruction link. I definetely learned something new.

 

[CALI68]

Sure thing!

 

[Keysdrifter454]

Whenever I hear people say that Jets or Turtles suck and they hate them, I always wonder what kind of kick they're doing?

Frog and modified frog.

I own 'em.

I hate 'em.

 

[CALI68]

Frog and modified frog.

I own 'em.

I hate 'em.

Bummer.

 

[jlevine]

I have a pair of ScubaPro Twinjets, the yellow version that are positively buoyant. While I like diving in them, they were not a good choice for me when I was taking the divemaster class. Doing surface swims with these was a chore. I ended up switching fins in the middle of my class!

 

[DiveTyme]

I was always complaining about packing my Blades II so my wife bought me a pair of Zeagle Teleoz fins. They "feel" different then standard fins but I did a timed distance swim with both fins and results were about the same. The Teleoz fins pack very small and are lightweight. For traveling and pool use they are my first choice.
Tim

 

[Poseidon8118]

From freediver.net, How to use the Scubapro Seawing:


Historical note: The bicycle kick couldn't be done with the old rigid fins. They didn't bend enough to allow a diver to push forward. The more flexible fins made today have allowed the change. Long fins bend easily enough to allow the bicycle kick to be effective. One fin deliberately designed for the bicycle kick was the Scubapro Seawing. The little notches at the base of the blade allowed the blade to bend easily, but only to the vertical. It was then positioned for the backward push. the fin was sabotaged by the marketing "pros", who decided to sexier to talk about "lift" and airplane wings, which have no place underwater, and they allowed the Seawing to be buried, because they never let divers know how to use it (according to Dick Bonnin, the founder of Scubapro).

I've always noticed this about these fins...go figure...