What's wrong with Split Fins??

[HowardE]

I have tried them and found the kick cycle to be mushy. For frog kicks it felt (I can't see my legs, so I'm guessing here) as if I were having a hard time getting a solid cycle with that as well. Backing up happened at about 1/3 speed as did the helicopter turns. They actions did occur, but it took considerable more thought and time to create the result. I came to the conclusion that for me they would be a suitable fin for drift diving but not for dives where more movement is required.

Conversely, I have a dive buddy (Reefguy) who is rather proficient with these fins.

I'll agree that frog kicks are not the easiest with the splits. They are certainly more efficient with paddle fins.

Also, I'll admit that most of my diving is drift diving (some shore diving too)...

I do generally use a flutter kick, unless I am close to the bottom or in a wreck, then I use frog kick to avoid stirring things up.

 

[JeffG]

I'll agree that frog kicks are not the easiest with the splits. They are certainly more efficient with paddle fins.

Also, I'll admit that most of my diving is drift diving (some shore diving too)...

I do generally use a flutter kick, unless I am close to the bottom or in a wreck, then I use frog kick to avoid stirring things up.

You have also been known to wear a pink drysuit, so your opinion carries little weight.

 

[HowardE]

You have also been known to wear a pink drysuit, so your opinion carries little weight.

Yeah... but I wasn't wearing split fins with the pink DS :laughing:

 

[JeffG]

Yeah... but I wasn't wearing split fins with the pink DS :laughing:

Did the colors clash?

 

[MSilvia]

To all of those who say that split fins suck... have you ever even tried them, or do you just regurgitate the rhetoric you hear elsewhere?

Yeah, I tried a pair out in the LDS pool, and disliked them enough to switch back to my own fins after about 5 minutes.

I felt like I hadn't really given them a fair chance though, so I swapped fins with a buddy on a shore dive and tried his Sp twinjets for the duration. You can go like a bat out of hell flutter kicking in them, but I don't dive to break speed records. I found it very difficult to do a proper helicopter kick in them, and while it was indeed possible to frog kick, there was almost no glide, which meant having to do a lot more work in order to make the kick effective. A modified flutter kick was pretty effective, but I still felt like the flutter and modified flutter were the only kicks I could do well. Fine movement control was a problem... the fin tips went all "spaghetti" on me when I tried any kick that had a sideways slide movement. I was glad to hand them back at the end of the dive, and haven't given any thought to buying a pair since.

 

[Gary D.]

You're right, I should probably try all this stuff out in the pool, before making any decisions.

A pool can only tell you part of the story. To give anything a fair chance it needs to be tested under real life conditions simular to your normal diving.

Gary D.

 

[HowardE]

Yeah, I tried a pair out in the LDS pool, and disliked them enough to switch back to my own fins after about 5 minutes.

I felt like I hadn't really given them a fair chance though, so I swapped fins with a buddy on a shore dive and tried his Sp twinjets for the duration. You can go like a bat out of hell flutter kicking in them, but I don't dive to break speed records. I found it very difficult to do a proper helicopter kick in them, and while it was indeed possible to frog kick, there was almost no glide, which meant having to do a lot more work in order to make the kick effective. A modified flutter kick was pretty effective, but I still felt like the flutter and modified flutter were the only kicks I could do well. Fine movement control was a problem... the fin tips went all "spaghetti" on me when I tried any kick that had a sideways slide movement. I was glad to hand them back at the end of the dive, and haven't given any thought to buying a pair since.

That is a fair evaluation.

I can understand how many divers don't feel the need for speed. My typical dives are for photography and/or hunting. Split fins are great for going fast; which is important for spearfishing, and sometimes for photography it's good to be able to go fast as well.

I think that people (in general) need to remember that not everyone dives the same way, and certain applications may be better for certain situations

 

[dlndavid]

like when and when not to wear a pink drysuit


btw: I like my splits

 

[HowardE]

like when and when not to wear a pink drysuit

exactly... if it's a question of "not diving" or wearing a pink drysuit... I'll wear pink any day. Even with flowers on it like Jeff's

 

[JeffG]

exactly... if it's a question of "not diving" or wearing a pink drysuit... I'll wear pink any day. Even with flowers on it like Jeff's

as long as the colors don't clash.