Jetfins comparison

[Dominic]

A question for anyone who's used Scubapro Jetfins (with or without the spring straps).
Have you ever found any fins that were better then, or even equal to, the Jetfins?
It's easy to find positive feedback about them, but I'm trying to find out if anyone's got anything bad to say about them...

(Edited by Dominic at 11:29 am on July 8, 2002)

[Davey Willo]

I'm busting to try a pair.... anyone wanna lend Davey their Jetfins for a day... :biggrin:

[Eddie]

You should have said Dave, I use the twin speed Jetfins, you could have made a dive using them when we where in St Abbs! the only complaint I have is that they are deadly underfoot when in a swimming pool! you slide all over the place when standing on the bottom.

[Jay]

Get tha'self a pair o' them great big garden shears and make tha'self a pair. None of this payin' £100 for a bit o' plastic to make tha' plates look bigger.

[Davey Willo]

I was on about those big black heavy 'DIR accepted' type fins.... thats not what you have is it Eddie?

[Eddie]

Doh... :wallywink: sorry wrong ones! ( split twin speed jetfins ) my mistake.

[Ammers]

I haven't found better fins for frog kicking, Dave, I had them at St Abbs, you coulda tried them!!  They weigh 5lbs which is good for cutting down some weight off your belt (if you have one, I don't) but they are a pain on the carry in to sumps. Also if kitting up in the water, losing them in nil vis makes it interesting as you have to find them by touch!! Black is hard to locate.

[Lou]

Hi Ammers,

Could you clarify your last post there, please?  Do you not wear any extra weight apart from your backplate, at all then?  It all comes from your rig?

If so, even when wearing neutral fins, doesn't switching to jet fins make you 2kg overweighted, or have I missed something?  Surely adding 2kg to your system means you have to lose 2kg somewhere to maintain your optimum weighting.  Or do you only wear the jet fins and have to add 2kg if you wear other fins?

Cheers

Lou

[Ammers]

Hi Lou, thanks for your question.

I have a theory about weighting, sorry if this is a bit on the long side but it's for interest. On my first UK dive I had 28 lbs of lead on and I still struggled like #### to get under. As time went on I found that I could drop weight at a quick rate, 2lbs off the belt every few dives. I noticed upon ascent that if I ascended fast and did not dump air very regularly that I felt underweighted in the shallows. This I first put down to taking too much weight off then I realised it was down to incorrect air management technique (ooh vicar).

Now I can drop down in fresh water with NO weight on all in a pair of twin sevens or twelves. No lead. I never wear neutral fins or any other fins except jet fins and I can thoroughly recommend them to anyone. The backplate is ali so there is no weight there either.

When I dive now I take three torches into the caves so that makes me negative and can use "pull and glide" on the rocks on the floor of the cave, saves air and swimming.

I also have quite heavy torches on my helmet so they make me negative. I have started to use the helmet and mounted lights for open water diving too so that adds a bit of weight and frees up my hands for other stuff. If I don't use the helmet I stick 2 4lb weights into my pockets sometimes if wearing ali stages to counteract the positive bouyancy qualities when they start to empty.

I've had to do an incredible amount of reconfiguring with weight because the doctor told me I couldn't dive due to spine problems last year and the weight belt would make it worse, so I went home and got rid of the weight belt and calculated what I could add in different places.  

I can now use the same weight in fresh or salt water! Some of my rig is DIR orientated and some is not, flexibility is key for me and taking the good bits out of systems then leaving what won't work behind.

Going forward I'm moving more and more towards the alpinist school of thought, i.e. cutting down on open circuit stuff to use dual redundant rebreathers so I will have to totally rethink my weighting again...sigh...

[Dominic]

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Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]I also have quite heavy torches on my helmet so they make me negative. I have started to use the helmet and mounted lights for open water diving too

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Now... who was it who said, not all that long ago, that DIR was the only way to dive in caves, no exceptions..?

Can't quite seem to recall...

;)