View Full Version : Full foot fins?
johncolm
05-10-2008, 22:57
Off to Sharm next month and don't want to take bootees and fins; can anyone recommend a good set of full foot fins?
dyingfly
06-10-2008, 00:23
http://www.divemagazine.co.uk/news/article.asp?uan=4780
Should tell you everything you need
meanbiker84
06-10-2008, 08:27
Hi John, I went to sharm 2 years ago and picked up a set of full foot fins out there. I have used them for 2 years now on holiday's and at home in the pool. there are so meny styles ect out there and they aint gonna bust the bank. looking at spending between £6-£15 depending on style and how cheeky you are :D
Another bloke from my club took my advice and came back with 3 set of fins (1 full foot and 2 open heel) I just would not waste my money on somthing that your only gonna use a handful of times a year.
Maria CM
06-10-2008, 09:27
I bought some Cressi Reaction Pros for on liveaboards which I was very happy with - I also bought a couple of pairs of fin socks to go in them which will warm your feet a little and prevent chafing (each pair dried between dives - I'm a complete wimp about putting soggy things on my feet)
best wishes,
Maria
ChristianG
10-10-2008, 09:57
I bought some Cressi Reaction Pros for on liveaboards which I was very happy with
I'm very glad you like them. :D
I also bought a couple of pairs of fin socks to go in them which will warm your feet a little and prevent chafing (each pair dried between dives - I'm a complete wimp about putting soggy things on my feet)
Back in my Brit boarding school days - a looong time ago now, one of our preferred ways to make a person jump out of their skin was to lie (literally) in wait for them with hand in icy cold bucket of water, then grasp bare ankle as they go past.
Worked every time.
...
...
...
...
You're an ideal candidate for that. :eek: :D
OK, OK!!! Ladeeez 'n' Gennelmuns - my next post will be on topic - promise. Well, sort of promise anyway. ;)
The Cressi Reaction Fins I bought in Sharm at Easter developed stress fractures sometime this summer & started cracking for real when we went back earlier this month.
(I have photos to send to Cressi as i couldn't bring the duff ones back beacuse of baggage weight issues).
I bought Some Mares Avanti Tres full foot fins in Sharm to replace the Cressi ones & I have to say that I think the Mares fins are far better than the Cressi, but then they were more expensive. They're are more flexible semi-split webbed (like a ducks foot) type design & seem to be able to be able to develop a lot of thrust with less effort.
Just MHO, as I've not been able to conduct any more 'empirical' testing.
BTW at the Dive shop in Sharm (Beyond Limits?) I tried on several pairs of fins before settling on the Mares. I asked for a pair in yellow but, after extensive searching, they couldn't find the other fin of the pair.
This gave us & the staff some cause for amusement as we couldn't fgure out how you come to be missing one fin of a pair.
Eventually I settled on a blue pair although it was suggested I might like one of each colour.
Cut to the first day of diving with Ocean College & there we are getting into our kit alongside our guide for the dive, Steve "Humming" Bird.
Guess what fins he was wearing?
Yep, Mares Avanti Tres - one blue & one yellow.
He reckoned it made it easier for the divers to spot the guide.
Nigel
P.S. If you've dived with him you'll know why he's "Humming" bird.
Eddie Clamp
25-10-2008, 20:13
[QUOTE=N2-UK]Cut to the first day of diving with Ocean College & there we are getting into our kit alongside our guide for the dive, Steve "Humming" Bird.
Guess what fins he was wearing?
Yep, Mares Avanti Tres - one blue & one yellow.
QUOTE]
Betya he didn't pay the same price as you did for those multi-coloured fins :D
I have a pair of size 8 1971 vintage full foot fins in my garage if there is anyone out there willing to make me an offer.
Off to Sharm next month and don't want to take bootees and fins;
Why ?
Pool fins are not really suitable for open water diving, take the ones you have with your booties. You will end up wearing socks to stop the full foot fins rubbing. Actually wear some socks with your booties anyway.
katdiver
26-10-2008, 08:09
The Mares Volo Race fins are pretty good:)
Richard Whitcombe
26-10-2008, 13:50
Why ?
Pool fins are not really suitable for open water diving, take the ones you have with your booties. You will end up wearing socks to stop the full foot fins rubbing. Actually wear some socks with your booties anyway.
I'd agree with that. I dont even wear full foot fins in the pool. One grain of sand is all it takes to rub and cause a weeks misery. Even without that eventually you can get cuts, scrapes and so on from them.
Pool fins? Is this another put down for non-specific diving equipment?
Mine worked fine, and weigh less than my full foot fins too.
Nigel
Richard Whitcombe
26-10-2008, 16:48
"pool fins" seems fairly sensible description to me. Ive not come across anyone wearing them outside a pool nor can i think of why.
All our club "pool" fins are closed heel.
Pool fins? Is this another put down for non-specific diving equipment?
Nigel
Not at all - don't be sensitive. They have always been pool fins to me, when I learned to dive we were told to buy a set of pool fins and it is one less word to write :D
Michael Purcell
26-10-2008, 17:28
I wear booties & Jet fins even when puttering around on a 12m warm water dive. However I had a booty incident and recently had to use a set of Mares Volos full-foot. I don't know if I would want to do an extended number of dives with them but I found them quite liberating and comfortable.
It was diving from a boat so the amount of sand was limited.
I would rather stay sharp with my Jet fins but as I said for hacking around in warm water I can see why a diver might choose a full-foot fin.
>for hacking around in warm water I can see why a diver might choose a full-foot fin<
Not only warm water! I snorkelled this morning in the North Sea wearing full-foot fins over booties. For me, there's nothing to beat a pair of comfortable, well-fitting full-foot fins, although I would never dream of imposing my fin preferences on anybody else. During my dive training in the mid-1960s the advice was to buy two pairs of full-foot fins, one for the pool and another, one size larger, to wear in open water. That choice still suits me perfectly and also my pocket, as full-foot fins often cost less than open-heel ones nowadays, the reverse of the position back in the 1960s.
Maria CM
27-10-2008, 07:10
Pool fins or not pool fins... that is the question...
I count pool fins as the cheap general use ones. Full-foot fins are the ones designed for diving IMO. How about long fins? You can hardly call them pool fins.
I love using my full foot ones with finsocks in warm waters. Even using them for protracted snorkelling from a sandy beach (without finsocks) they were absolutely fine. If I got sand in one I just took it off and swooshed it around in the water and put it back on - not a hassle. However reinstating open heel fins I find a complete pain.
I prefer the feel of the full foot ones as they make me feel more 'free' in the water for warm water diving. I don't use them with my drysuit though!
best wishes,
Maria
Giomanach
31-10-2008, 12:13
maresavanti r ok.....but i like the reaction pros i got 4 christmas a whie ago....difficult 2 get up 2 speed but 1ce ur there brilliant 4 cruising....buy a pair of cressis
ChristianG
01-11-2008, 07:14
maresavanti r ok.....but i like the reaction pros i got 4 christmas a whie ago....difficult 2 get up 2 speed but 1ce ur there brilliant 4 cruising....buy a pair of cressis
Ummm, excuse me, what language is that? :eek:
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