A fin is not a fin is not a fin

[Digger]

A fin is not a fin is not a fin. You might think it is. But it isn’t.

I have decided to write a decent article on the things because there basically aren’t any.

You will get a simple recommendation from me as to what fins to use, what I use works for me. It might not work for everyone, but in reality I can’t imagine why not.

INTRODUCTION

I started off with my first ever pair of fins. Mares Avanti Quattros. I got them because everyone I worked with as a DM had them. We were dive guides for hire, mercenaries in wetsuits. And that is the important bit. In wetsuits.

Fins required for wetsuit diving are different to those required for drysuit diving. When I die in a shortie with my rig just the same as I would in a drysuit I get tipped around all over the place. And a change of fins is sensible at that point. It saves on rearranging your gear too much.

For wetsuit diving I can still recommend the Quattros. They’re very nice. And to be honest I can’t think of a time when I’ll be struggling to get where I’m going in them. They work, and they’re the choice of the dive guide the world over. People doing thousands and thousands of dives in warm water. They’re not far wrong. The only time I would change this is if I found myself with floaty feet in a wetsuit, I’d go over to jetfins. But I don’t, so it’s not a problem.

DRYSUIT DIVING & ANKLE WEIGHTS

So fins for drysuit diving. Now you will see all manner of different ideas in the UK, with people diving all sorts of different fins and trying to get things how they want them.

I have to confess I really really don’t like ankle weights. Sure, if you’ve tried everything else and you’re wearing jet fins made from heavy rubber and don’t have hardly any gas in your suit, and you are still floating feet up then go ahead, but I don’t think I have ever seen someone using jetfins and ankle weights. There’s good reason for this. I don’t like adding another bit of equipment when it’s not required, which is basically what ankle weights are doing for you. Most people have them because everyone else had them when they learnt to dive. They use them because they’re scared of taking them off, or they take them off and the first dive they try without them it feels different. Of course it does, but it shouldn’t be a problem. With tanks set at the right height and with jet fins on I defy anyone to have floaty feet.

Jetfins also have the delightful side effect of being very manouverable. It’s like going from driving a 25 year old land rover to riding a motorbike. You can suddenly turn corners you couldn’t before. You can frog kick lying on your back. You can backward fin (I have never ever ever ever seen anyone make a decent go of backward finning in anything other than jetfins)

SPLIT FINS

One thing to note. I have also never ever ever seen anyone make a decent go of manouvering in split fins. This is something which I had an hour of discussion over with a friend on a boat a few years ago, who claimed to be able to do anything I could do in jets in splits. I didn’t even get as far as manouvering around (helicopter turns, back kicks etc) because they couldn’t frog kick in them. I’ve heard various stories that it’s possible but of all the people I’ve taken up on it that tried to demonstrate I have never been exactly impressed with their attempts. It might feel like a frog kick, it might move you around, but it sure didn’t look like a frog kick. The little flappy ends of the fins just kept wafting all over the place.

WHAT JETFIN?

So, you’ve seen the various arguments and you’re thinking about getting some jetfins for drysuit diving, because it makes sense (which it does, honestly) and because Uncle Digger has already tried the fins out for you and helped you to save a few quid along the way. How do you know what jetfins to get? There’s about a dozen different pairs on sale that I see regularly in the UK. Other brands exist in other countries, but for the large part we seem to have as much choice as any other market.

First off the traditional Scubapro. Nice fin. Shaped foot pocket, which some will find more comfortable. They go right down to girly dinky sizes which is good for some. They are expensive though, so bear it in mind. If you just want to buy a set of fins and forget about it then these will most likely do the job up to a size 8/9 boot.

Next the Scubapro rip-offs. Which they basically are. The NDiver and Beaver jetfins are very similar in design, but have some minor differences. I was talking to a mate recently and he said that the slightly longer blade on them was actually affecting his ability to manouvre in the water etc – that said, I don’t think you or I would ever notice or worry about it. It certainly didn’t affect me when I had them. I had a set of the NDiver ones, and I loved them. They were one bit of kit I wouldn’t have changed, and I didn’t for about 3 or 4 years. They were indestructible, they just worked. They fitted, I could get about, I could do all those posh finkicks everyone goes on about.

And then I tried Turtle fins. I borrowed a set of turtle fins for one dive, which lasted around 6 minutes. I got home and bought a set secondhand straight off. Sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know, and if I’d tried these a few years ago I’d have never had a different fin. They are so incredibly comfortable. They have a shaped foot pocket which is very large (designed to fit size 13 upward or something ridiculous like that) but I found perfect for my size 10s with a decent boot on the end. I have now done a couple of dives in the Turtles and I won't be swapping them for anything. They're the daddy in a big way.

I tried the turtles and didn’t really know they were there. They just did exactly what they were supposed to. All the power came from my entire leg, probably because they come right over the foot to the heel. There are no pressure points where the fin is against the boot or where the strap is tight around the back. They just work. For some insane reason they were incredibly easy to get on and off as well. Far far easier than any fin I’ve had in the meantime since the Quattros.

Sub Aqua Products have jetfins which also are ok if you have very small feet, but Jen’s got a size 6 boot on her suit and they were too tight. They’re not desperately comfortable if they’re too tight, and the only time I found these fins good was in a wetsuit diving with very thin boots and aluminium tanks that were getting a bit floaty by the end of the dive. The foot pocket isn’t shaped particularly, which doesn’t help, and because your foot kind of finds its own way with fitting they can be a bit of an animal to get off. I don’t do fins which are hard to get off. I want to be able to get out of the water fast as I like and in crap conditions I don’t want to be faffing about. It’s faffnig with fins which can make a relaxing dive a real faff by the end of it.

So, my recommendation is pretty simple. If cash is a factor and you have feet up to size 9 get the NDiver or the Beaver jetfins. They will do you nicely for a very long time. If you want to splash out get the Scubapros, they are a better fin, but 90% of us will never notice. If you have size 10 or upward get the turtles.

STRAPS

So, you now have your fins. They come with a crappy rubber strap on the back. You know what, whatever decision you make you don’t want to leave that strap on there. Rubber straps break, simple as that. You don’t want a strap that breaks. It will break at the worst possible time when you are getting your gear on. Rubber straps also tend to have flappy bits sticking out either side, which are as fine a way as any to get caught up on line or netting. So if you must leave them sticking out and leave the rubber fin please tuck those flappy ends in. A few wraps of gaffer tape over them will tidy them up. But really you want a better solution. The first of these is spring straps. Hmmm.

Spring straps have their upsides – they’re virtually indestructible (good news) but can get stretched. If you overstretch a spring it will not go back to the way it was when you got it. This is fine if you don’t overstretch it, but I have seen lots and lots of spring straps which have been stretched, mine included.

The other problem with spring is the potential for line to get itself in there, and stay in there. I was on a dive a few years ago when I was on the surface and an SMB line got caught in the spring. No major bother thinks me. Major bother it was. In the end I got the fin off and had to work it out, but it was a right pain. And one which would really spoil Xmas on a dive.

Some fin manufacturers have solved this issue by having a cover over the spring. The problem with this seems to be that it covers the spring when the strap is not pulled. Once there is tension on there the spring is uncovered, so we have the same problem again. Some have a cordura cover which crumples when the spring is not under tension, but the trouble is it doesn’t cover the whole strap effectively.

Don’t even get me started on Beaver spring straps. Honestly. If you got a complete egit and asked them to design a spring strap you’d get these things. They achieve one thing, I’ll give them that. They let you know who wants to save themselves £20 at the expense of their own safety. They’re cack. And that’s the ones designed for jetfins. The ones with the buckles on the end don’t solve the problem of a broken buckle. They really are a token gesture fashion statement. Oh, but they are cheap. So when you use them and they break anyhow you can throw them away without feeling too bad.

So, I don’t like springs any more. Don’t get me wrong, they’re much much better than rubber straps. But they’re not ideal. So what do I use instead? What could possibly eliminate the problem of a broken rubber strap, have similar resistance to a spring strap, not get overstretched by over keen divers, not have a load of little gaps in the spring for me to get a load of line caught up in? Simple – 10mm bungee.

Now these haven’t been for a test dive yet. That is planned for Sunday. But so far the indications are good. The fitting took about 15 minutes (including me working out how I was going to do it and getting it wrong at least once) and including me cooking dinner during me fitting them.

All I did was got them measured up, then used a couple of cable ties to hold them in place. Cable ties hold well where you put them on bungee, which is good, and one would have held it no problem, but two covers you in case of cable tie failure, which never happens anyhow. I reused some of Mr Woz’s plastic tube stuff to cover the bungee so that it could move a little without much friction, which should in crease comfort but is probably unnecessary. However there is a potential upside and no downside to doing it, so I did it. That’s how I tend to make diving decisions – look at the gain, look at the loss. If one is more than the other you have your decision made. Often people make decisions because they see the gain and not the loss, and the other way around.

The bungee system solves various problems I had before, and I don’t see a downside. A length of spare 10mm bungee in the spares kit costs me a pound, and could solve a whole load of other equipment problems.

It doesn’t have any moving parts, and cost me a total of a pound, not allowing for the cost of 8 cable ties. Now 10mm bungee isn’t actually all that easy to get, but if you shop around you should be able to find something appropriate. I tried a couple of lengths of 4mm when I was experimenting but it doesn’t have the necessary resistance to let you know the strap is still on. I like my straps pretty tight for security, and it wasn’t offering that. Of course if you don’t like your straps very tight you could easily use a slightly thinner bungee, but 8mm is about as thin as I would use for this job.

Now some people I know have put loops on the back of their fins so they have something to grab a hold of to get them on. I don’t like doing this, as the loops tend to stick out and fins are one place you want to keep as free as possible of anything sticking out or possibly getting caught on anything, as they tend to be where things do get tangled. Jen came up with the solution of a little loop which is loose ont he fin, she can pull them on, then pulls the little tag around to the inside of her strap where it's not sticking out. Quite neat if you need that sort of thing. Plus she likes sewing, she is a girl after all.

CONCLUSIONS

So there we go. The perfect solution to my problem. I have size 10 feet and some thick ass boots, so turtle fins and bungee straps have fixed anything I could have needed.

Hopefully this will help someone thinking about buying fins in the near future. A simple purchase you would have thought. But one which if made well could solve a whole load of diving problems you never knew you had

Oh, and if anyone finds some of those old red Quattros I want them. Now. Gimme. The best fins ever. Kind of. So much pedigree, so much style.

Anyway, hope this helps someone out there. And helps me organise my brain a bit, so when people come asking for help I can direct them here.

Digs.

PS - If anyone else wants to dive any other fin, they're more than welcome, but I tried a fair few before I realised how easy drysuit diving could be with the current setup. My fins are one thing I just never have to think about now.

[scribley]

Good info Digger
I have to say tho' - I've never needed ankle weights in my life. When I did try the Jet fins (cheap Beaver ones), my feet were way too heavy! Tried shifting weight around, moving it up to the top of the BP etc but still had heavy feet. I went back to my good old force fins and they were perfect.

I did like the Jetfins, but I think the Force fins give you the same manouvreability and thrust (but are ££££'s).

[MarkP]

Agree with most of that, but:

Originally Posted by Digger

Spring straps have their upsides – they’re virtually indestructible (good news) but can get stretched. If you overstretch a spring it will not go back to the way it was when you got it. This is fine if you don’t overstretch it, but I have seen lots and lots of spring straps which have been stretched, mine included.

'ere, how do you manage to stretch your springs? Mine (and all the ones I've seen) have a length of caveline running through them to limit the stretch to springy ammounts.

Regards,

Mark

[Woz]

Originally Posted by MarkP

Agree with most of that, but:



'ere, how do you manage to stretch your springs? Mine (and all the ones I've seen) have a length of caveline running through them to limit the stretch to springy ammounts.

Regards,

Mark

Because he is a fool and did not use the string I gave him. A fool I tell you!

[Digger]

I just found if I restricted the spring with cave line (ie string) that I couldn't stretch the spring enough to get it over my foot, or it wasn't tight enough for me personally. Some people might not have the problem.

My main problem with springs is the unguarded section on either side which comes from them being stretched out. I can't help but think they solve a problem which wouldn't be there with a length of thick bungee. That said, if it's well guarded (as in even fully extended around the back of your foot) then it's ok with me. I just wouldn't go out and spend £40 on buying a set like that, especially when my bungee fins cost a matter of pence!

Digs.

[Digger]

Originally Posted by scribley

Good info Digger
I have to say tho' - I've never needed ankle weights in my life. When I did try the Jet fins (cheap Beaver ones), my feet were way too heavy! Tried shifting weight around, moving it up to the top of the BP etc but still had heavy feet. I went back to my good old force fins and they were perfect.

I did like the Jetfins, but I think the Force fins give you the same manouvreability and thrust (but are ££££'s).

Do you frog kick? Is there gas in your boots at all?

Don't get me started on Force Fins. After a day of using them I threw them in an old crate, a mate convinced me to give them a go for a week, so I did. And after a week they got thrown in the same crate. They're a love or hate thing, but I'm definitely in camp 2. Plus they look very very silly, and we all know diving is all about looking good.

Some people have heavy feet, and I would suggest you can get jetfins made by OMS I think which are much lighter. Not seen any in the flesh, but I'm told they are basically a clone copy. Might be a solution.

Digs.

[Lazlo]

Never had any problem frog kicking with my Oceanic Vortex split fins Possibly they weren't as powerful as Jetfins though. BUT I did once do a back to back comparison between the Vortex's and my old Cressi Frogs along a 30m line using a "normal" flutter kick. I found that I got to the end quicker, with less kicks, and with less effort in the split fins.

Now I use Force Fins Miles better on boats, so easy to walk around in them. Fine for frog kicking, don't take up much room in a dive bag, don't weigh very much (good for holidays). Oh, and they come with a bungee strap. And if I want to go backwards I use my hands like a normal person

[wilbo]

Very informative Digs.

The only thing I would add about whether to go for turtles or not - and I agree that around size 10 feet is the entry size - would be:

It depends on the type of boot you are wearing on your drysuit.

If you have size 9 boots and those boots are the thicker neoprene lined boot - ala Othree - then I would say go for Turtles.

If you have size 10 boots and they are the slim (non lined) boot - like on the Protecs and some cordura suits (I don't know the names of either of these boot types - sorry) - then I would *not* go for turtles - as your feet will move about in the foot pocket. I know - I have size 11 boots and there is some movement inside the foot pocket of my turtles. This has been slightly improved by tightening the springs ever so slightly.


This is quite simply down to the width of the boot in the pocket.

Intrigued by your bungee idea - I've seen it used - but never seen feedback as to how well it works..

[SilvaFish]

I can frog kick with my Force Fins, and do those sharp turns in them too. I have yet to see someone do a back kick, before I can figure out how to do that with Force Fins, but where's there a will, there's a way. I'm in Digger's 'camp 1' and I do not get on with normal fins at all!

[Woz]

Originally Posted by Digger

I just found if I restricted the spring with cave line (ie string) that I couldn't stretch the spring enough to get it over my foot, or it wasn't tight enough for me personally. Some people might not have the problem.

That is because you need a longer piece of string you dolt. Dur!