kovish@winston.UUCP (Barrie Kovish) (03/04/86)
[] Recently I purchased a new pair of wet suit boots. Not wanting to repeat past experiences of frozen feet (the waters near Vancouver can be a tad chilly!) I bought 3/8 boots. Guess what my fins are now too tight O(. So time to retire my old USD Duck Feet. But wait I can't find a pair of fins I like. Since I almost exclusively skin dive (ie no tanks but most definitely a wet suit) I suspect my requirements are a bit different than SCUBA divers. So far I've tried USD Compro Power Plana At least three other plastic/graphite fins vented and unvented whose names I can't remember. The problem I always find is that these fins are toooooooooo stiff. When surface swimming (which I do a lot) I find I don't have the leverage to push the fins into the water. When underwater I have to expend a large amount of my energy (and O2) to get to the bottom. Quite often a fin will pop off my foot and I have to stop mid dive and put it back on. I've been diving for over 15 years and I play underwater hockey 4 times a week. Is it possible I have week legs? Too illustrate the effect I will relate a recent diving experience. I took a SCUBA diver friend skin diving the other day. He wore his plastic vent fins I wore my old USD Duck Feet. We were diving on a wreck which starts at 35 feet (I still can't dive metric). However he couldn't get below 10 feet on a dive. So I swapped fins with him. Suddenly he could dive to 40 feet no problem and I was left floundering at half my usual depth! So I'm woundering what SCUBA divers see in these stiff plastic fins. I suppose there OK for mucking about in a small area but what if you have a bit of a swim to the best diving? I'm also wondering if anyone out there has had the same experience and found a good set of fins to solve my problem. Theres a somewhat limited selection of fins in the local area and most of us import our own fins for underwater hockey. The following list are fins I like but can not fit into with my boots on, Cresse Sub Rondine, Plana Plus (maybe), Plana Concords, Technisub Ala, Voit Duck Feet and USD Duck Feet. Comments? -- Barrie Kovish New Media Technologies ..decvax!microsoft!ubc-vision!winston!kovish ..ihnp4!alberta!ubc-vision!winston!kovish
debrunne@uicsl.UUCP (03/13/86)
I own two pairs of fins: a pair of US Divers Rocket fins which I use for SCUBA and snorkeling and a pair of Dacor Plana (? I think that's what they're called, those ones with white plastic blades and black rubber full-foot pockets?) which I use for Underwater Hockey. I wear the Rockets for diving because I can fit my feet+booties into them, and I have never had trouble swimming with them. They are stiffer and heavier than the Planas, but I feel I can go just as fast (or maybe faster) with the Rockets. I prefer the Planas for Hockey because I find it easier to maneuver in them. I also sometimes get foot cramps with the Rockets when I swim far, but I think that is because they are a little too narrow for my feet.