Dumb questions

[DattaGroover]

I will try to limit myself to 2 dumb questions per day. Here we go:

1) Why do most fins sink? I've heard many complaints about divers losing fins that sink and are gone forever.

2) Can fins be brought to a positive buoyancy? (for example, by gluing some foam inside- assuming your foot with your boot isn't too wide)

[Jeremy]

1. Divers don't like floaty feet underwater.

2. Sure

[spatman]

I will try to limit myself to 2 dumb questions per day. Here we go:

1) Why do most fins sink? I've heard many complaints about divers losing fins that sink and are gone forever.

2) Can fins be brought to a positive buoyancy? (for example, by gluing some foam inside- assuming your foot with your boot isn't too wide)

We wear a lot of exposure protection in cold water which is very buoyant. Adding more buoyancy just means you have to offset it with even more lead to sink it. Losing fins isn't a common occurrence, so adding foam and weight seems like a solution to a problem that isn't really there.

[CaptnJack]

spring straps pretty much solve the lost fin issue, unless they fall off the boat or something.

[DattaGroover]

We wear a lot of exposure protection in cold water which is very buoyant. Adding more buoyancy just means you have to offset it with even more lead to sink it. Losing fins isn't a common occurrence, so adding foam and weight seems like a solution to a problem that isn't really there.

Makes sense.

Thanks.

[DattaGroover]

1. Divers don't like floaty feet underwater.

I get that. However, I've heard that some of the $200+ fins have a slight positive buoyancy. Is that just a myth, or is that part of a specific fin design?

[DattaGroover]

spring straps pretty much solve the lost fin issue, unless they fall off the boat or something.

Kind of the old "you get what you pay for" scenario, huh?

[Dusty2]

It depends on the material the fins are made of. Some fins made of polymers will float while the ones made of rubber will not. Dry suit divers prefer the heaver fins to keep the feet from floating and in general they produce more thrust. In general fins that float are not a big advantage unless you are in deep water. AS mentioned above spring straps are the way to go.

[Nwbrewer]

1. Divers don't like floaty feet underwater.

I get that. However, I've heard that some of the $200+ fins have a slight positive buoyancy. Is that just a myth, or is that part of a specific fin design?

Uhhh.... $200+? For Fins? What shop are you going to?????

[Norris]

Don't spend 200.00 on a pair of fins...yikes!!!!
Like Spatman says, we wear a lot of gear up here in the NW and with that comes boyancy. My heavy fins play an important part in my trim and negate the need for ankle weights.

I make tools for work and LOVE to come up with solutions for things. I found this to be true for SCUBA too. The cool thing is that there are many people and many hours invested in SCUBA where lots of questions are already answered and lots of equasions already solved. I too, try and be proactive about things.


That being said always ask the questions and challenge the hurdles. Sometimes the questions that you ask are ones that others, too timid to post, are wondering about.

[Penopolypants]

1. Divers don't like floaty feet underwater.

I get that. However, I've heard that some of the $200+ fins have a slight positive buoyancy. Is that just a myth, or is that part of a specific fin design?

Uhhh.... $200+? For Fins? What shop are you going to?????

http://www.leisurepro.com/p-aplfpc/apol ... -fin-strap

$279. For that price they better come with a pants-down spankin'!

The Hollis yellow tipped F1s are over $200 at DRIS too. Ridonkulous!

http://www.diverightinscuba.com/catalog ... -3093.html

[Nwbrewer]

1. Divers don't like floaty feet underwater.

I get that. However, I've heard that some of the $200+ fins have a slight positive buoyancy. Is that just a myth, or is that part of a specific fin design?

Uhhh.... $200+? For Fins? What shop are you going to?????

http://www.leisurepro.com/p-aplfpc/apol ... -fin-strap

$279. For that price they better come with a pants-down spankin'!

The Hollis yellow tipped F1s are over $200 at DRIS too. Ridonkulous!

http://www.diverightinscuba.com/catalog ... -3093.html

Wow, it's been a while since I went fin shopping. A few minutes of quick searching revealed lots of options in the ~$100 range though.

Fins / Gloves / Boots / Mask (aka OW class "Personal Gear") sets show up on Craigslist quite frequently as well, usually the whole setup for less than $100....

[Norris]

1. Divers don't like floaty feet underwater.

I get that. However, I've heard that some of the $200+ fins have a slight positive buoyancy. Is that just a myth, or is that part of a specific fin design?

Uhhh.... $200+? For Fins? What shop are you going to?????

http://www.leisurepro.com/p-aplfpc/apol ... -fin-strap

$279. For that price they better come with a pants-down spankin'!

The Hollis yellow tipped F1s are over $200 at DRIS too. Ridonkulous!

http://www.diverightinscuba.com/catalog ... -3093.html

Wow, it's been a while since I went fin shopping. A few minutes of quick searching revealed lots of options in the ~$100 range though.

Fins / Gloves / Boots / Mask (aka OW class "Personal Gear") sets show up on Craigslist quite frequently as well, usually the whole setup for less than $100....

+1 on that. I see them almost everyday

[Tom Nic]

Determine where you will do most of your diving.

Ask local divers what they use and more importantly WHY. (If someone can't answer the why question thank them and move on).

This will give you a great baseline for starting your research and you can go from there.

[Desert Diver]

One other reason most fins are about neutral is that if you lose one underwater it kind of sits there. Its best that it doesn't make a dash for the surface without you.

[DattaGroover]

Fins / Gloves / Boots / Mask (aka OW class "Personal Gear") sets show up on Craigslist quite frequently as well, usually the whole setup for less than $100....

Yeah, the fins they told me about were Atomics (what the Dive Shop owner south of Newport uses) that run over $250 - they weren't trying to sell me on them, they were just giving an example of positive buoyancy fins. I bought a pair of Oceanic Vipers for around $70. I have an older Maui Brothers mask for now, and I'm searching for one with built-in diopters that's also a good mask. That's a search in itself.

[DattaGroover]

Determine where you will do most of your diving.

Ask local divers what they use and more importantly WHY. (If someone can't answer the why question thank them and move on).

This will give you a great baseline for starting your research and you can go from there.

Getting opinions from wherever I can (and asking why) is a great idea. The only divers local to me, though, are in Colorado. I want to dive where my work takes me - in Australia, Europe, Oregon, The Greek Islands, Malta, Cyprus, etc. SO, I need to make choices that are flexible, so I can be functional as a diver anywhere.

[DattaGroover]

It depends on the material the fins are made of. Some fins made of polymers will float while the ones made of rubber will not. Dry suit divers prefer the heaver fins to keep the feet from floating and in general they produce more thrust. In general fins that float are not a big advantage unless you are in deep water. AS mentioned above spring straps are the way to go.

Thanks, that's good to know.

[DattaGroover]

Don't spend 200.00 on a pair of fins...yikes!!!!

I didn't- I was just wondering about adding buoyancy to my $70 Vipers. in case I lose one while diving.

Like Spatman says, we wear a lot of gear up here in the NW and with that comes boyancy. My heavy fins play an important part in my trim and negate the need for ankle weights.

Important point!

I make tools for work and LOVE to come up with solutions for things. I found this to be true for SCUBA too. The cool thing is that there are many people and many hours invested in SCUBA where lots of questions are already answered and lots of equasions already solved. I too, try and be proactive about things.

I agree. One of the reasons this forum is a great thing.

That being said always ask the questions and challenge the hurdles. Sometimes the questions that you ask are ones that others, too timid to post, are wondering about.

Good point, and I'm not at all shy about asking questions. I've found that how you ask has a lot to do with the responses you get, too.

[60south]

The only divers local to me, though, are in Colorado. I want to dive where my work takes me - in Australia, Europe, Oregon, The Greek Islands, Malta, Cyprus, etc.

What part of Colorado are you in? I was living and diving (blech!) there for the past few years.

And more importantly, how do I get a job that takes me to those places?

[DattaGroover]

The only divers local to me, though, are in Colorado. I want to dive where my work takes me - in Australia, Europe, Oregon, The Greek Islands, Malta, Cyprus, etc.

What part of Colorado are you in? I was living and diving (blech!) there for the past few years.

That's funny! I thought all the Colorado divers went diving somewhere else. I live in Ft. Collins (HQ for SSI).

And more importantly, how do I get a job that takes me to those places?

It's not really a job - it's a business I run with my wife. It's pretty off-the-hook awesome. We train some of the top presenters in the world. We choose when and where we give our workshops. It ain't a bad life . . .

[60south]

Awesome! Yeah, the smart Colorado divers go elsewhere.

Since you're just starting out, I'm not suggesting this... But when you're ready for it... If you ever decide to go in for technical diving in a serious way, contact Robin Bashor at Deeper Blue Scuba in Fort Collins. Highly recommended.

Also, John at Weaver's (Boulder) is a good instructor to know. You'll find him as BoulderJohn on ScubaBoard.

My .02

[DattaGroover]

Awesome! Yeah, the smart Colorado divers go elsewhere.

Since you're just starting out, I'm not suggesting this... But when you're ready for it... If you ever decide to go in for technical diving in a serious way, contact Robin Bashor at Deeper Blue Scuba in Fort Collins. Highly recommended.

Also, John at Weaver's (Boulder) is a good instructor to know. You'll find him as BoulderJohn on ScubaBoard.

My .02

Thanks, I've heard of Robin, but I can't remember the context. I'm getting trained currently at High Plains Scuba, and so far so good. I've signed up for personal training, since I travel too much to be able to attend regular classes.

[dwashbur]

Losing fins doesn't happen often, but it does happen. My wife lost one at Fox Island WW a while back, when her whole rock boot came off with the fin as she was ascending. But here's the good thing about it being negatively buoyant: it dropped to the bottom and stayed in one spot. We couldn't locate it, but a group of divers who went in right after us did, and got it back to us. I suppose it would have been easier if it had floated, since the fin/boot came off while she was heading for the surface. But as someone else already mentioned, if you're at 60 feet and it comes off and goes up without you, now we've got a problem, because it's not going to stay in one place due to current, waves, wind, you name it. So it's a case of "you pays your money and you takes your pick." Each has advantages and disadvantages.

[60south]

One of the big advantages to having a large group of local divers is that you get to try out other gear, or at least see how other people dive and what they use. We have that here in the PNW and it's great. I'm always learning something new.

But I found that difficult in Colorado. There's a lot of talk about diving, but to actually get people out to a lake or reservoir is tough. All talk, no dive. Can't say I blame 'em...