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Hey All,
Lately I've been seeing a few people using the original Force Fins to cave dive. I haven't seen them in the water but have seen them at dive sites.
I've used Force fins in the past doing open water dives, but they seem to me to be designed the exact opposite of what you would be looking for while cave diving.
Am I missing something? Have any of you used them? How in the world would you do a frog kick with them?
Rick
Force fins are pretty whimpy for pushing doubles upstream.
You would probably use the same technique for Frog kicking as the Split-finners use. I'm too old school to know but based on the number of divers I see with them there must be a way. Anyone?? Bueller? Bueller??
I am not trying to be insulting but I really have no idea how anyone can execute a "frog kick" while wearing split fins. To each their own though.
I'd wonder that they were able to find an instructor to pass them with that kind of equipment. Maybe they bought it after they got their card. Either that or the instructor should be able to explain their use for cave.Quote:
Originally Posted by rick68fl
Whether the instructor could explain it or not would be the question. I'd want the instructor's name either way. Either cause he could explain it or to find what agency he works for or why his students didn't understand the trainning he gave them suffiently to buy proper gear once out of his sight.
Yep, especially the originals. I have never tried some of the latest ones, but they appear larger and stiffer. Dunno how they would work with a frog kick.Quote:
Originally Posted by FW
Not only are they wimpy... They are designed to generate resistance on the downstroke and none on the upstroke (flutter kick).
The frog kick involves sort of clapping the bottom of your feet together (the part with no resistance/propulsion using Force fins). The only thing I can figure that they do is start with their feet together and "unclap" them.
I tried to ask a team about that who were using them at Peacock, but there was a bit of a language barrier so I didn't learn anything.
Rick
During my Intro Cave class a few years ago my Instructor and I swam past a group of 3 students and another Instructor on our way out of the Devils Ear on the outside of the Lips. 2 of the 3 students were wearing Split-fins and all 4 were in a vertical fin down position having some kind of Pow wow. We went over and around them and after getting past them my Instructor signaled for me to look back and observe.
During the dive debriefing he asked me what I thought of what I saw. I said that the split fins and the vertical position in the water were the first things that came to my mind as being "unkosher".
We both hoped that it wasn't a "Full Cave" class.
I bought into the hype of Split-fins when I was but a young OW diver. Now I think they are just a gimmick designed to sell more fins. Simple semi-ridgid bladed fins are all anyone needs for any kind of diving.
IMHO!!! Please don't pummel me. :smt021
i bought into them too...and they ARE just a gimmick, and they suck...anyone feel free to pummel....i dont really care. lol just telling the truth....oh, did i mention split fins suck? oh ok, i did.Quote:
Originally Posted by Caveranger
p.s. split fins suck.
I have used Force Fins at Ginnie, Peacock, and Orange Grove. They can be frog kicked, but even with a flutter kick, they don't stir up much silt in those systems. On the upside: you can shuffle around in them, the straps cannot get entangled, they won't come off even if a strap breaks, and they won't tear on sharp objects. The downside is that they are damnably slow. They will take me about 2/3 as far on an airfill as a pair of Mares Plana Quattros. On balance, I prefer the Quattros for caves and the Force Fins for wreck penetration.
I love my split fins, they are not a gimmick to sell stuff. They work. I have the scubapro splits and the atomic and both are excellent. Neither frog-kick with a darn and flop up silt way too much for caves. But in open water, single tank, or chasing students in the pool.....splits rock! Less Work, More Speed.
-skip