What’s The Flipping Issue With Fins? Annoying Brad By Wanting To Buy Stuff!

So you’ve decided to have a go at snorkelling. You’ve got your mask, you’ve navigated your way through the ordeal of buying a snorkel and now you just need to pick out a pair of fins for your feet and you’re ready for that first snorkelling trip. Here, however, is where the problems really begin - beads of sweat begin to bloom on your forehead at the thought - you’ll need to decide between adjustable heel and full foot. Then you’ll need to decide if you want paddle, split, channelled or classic, short or long, light or heavy and you’ll have to try them on to make sure they fit and this means - the beads of sweat are now forming torrents down your face - you’ll need to visit a diving shop and discuss the matter with the incumbent Brad: diving instructor, commando, helicopter gunship pilot and all round adventuring guru who just happens to be working in a dive store this week.

  

In normal circumstances popping into a shop and buying something you want is a simple and sometimes pleasurable experience (men excluded) but you know, face-to-face with a Brad, you might do something unforgivable, something heinous, something so shocking in the world of diving that even inviting your friend’s wife to an orgy in Brighton pales into moral insignificance. You might just inadvertently refer to fins as flippers! And you know that should you commit this most odious faux pas, the response will be swift and violent. Brad will go red in the face; the veins at his temples will throb, dribbles of saliva will froth at the sides of his mouth and in a sudden explosive outburst he will scream. ‘Flipper is a bloody dolphin – they’re called fins!” You will then be unceremoniously asked to leave and your interest in the sport of snorkelling will end in a single, ego-crushing, encounter. For members of the club, the act of turning a Brad red-faced with indignant anger has become a rasion d’etre in itself. In fact we often seek out a Brad and take bets on how quickly one of us can reduce them to a puce coloured, screaming ball of rage. Nevertheless we know that many newcomers to the sport are often intimidated by the snotty attitude of the Brad clique so here’s what you need to know before you buy those all important underwater foot propulsion accessories you need and how to handle the Brad that’s selling them to you.

Published in 1960

Let’s start with the name. Certain divers (those we call Brads) call them fins and there is a reason for this, they have no sense of humour! You see in the early days fins were in fact called flippers – even the demi-god of diving, Jacques Cousteau called them flippers. Way back in the 1950’s and 1960’s Hollywood films and TV shows which dealt with diving also referred to them as flippers and then in 1964 an aquatic Lassie called Flipper arrived on the scene. Brads the world over never seem to wonder why the dolphin was called Flipper. Nevertheless what they did wonder was why suddenly everyone kept pointing, as they donned their frogman outfits, and shouting “don’t forget your flippers” before falling about laughing and making squeaking noises. In short diving wasn’t being taking seriously and Brads were getting fed up with having their frogman’s foot paddles jokingly called flippers. Something had to be done and quicker than you can say “get a life Brad” divers were calling them fins. Fins, as far as Brad is concerned, aren’t funny and neither is diving and to reinforce that fact anyone who dared enter the world of Brad and called them flippers was subjected to a counter offensive of mirth and derision.This could of course just be supposition on our part but it’s as good a reason as any. For having searched the internet high and low, browsed through a small mountain of diving manuals and consulted a couple of men in a bar – who claim to know about these things – we couldn’t find any other legitimate reason why Brads insist on calling them fins. In nature, fins and flippers are pretty much the same thing it’s just a question of semantics really. So all you newcomers out there can be content in the knowledge that calling them flippers is as justifiable as calling them fins. And, should you be the victim of a Braddy rebuke, simply raise a disdainful eyebrow and with professorial condescension reply that if it is good enough for Jacques Cousteau it is good enough for you. That’s true by the way; Cousteau did call them flippers. 

Now that we’ve dealt with the fact that you can happily call them flippers or anything else you feel like, what type do you really need? Flippers come in many guises and are designed for varying purposes, many of which have no relevance to snorkelling, so let’s stick with the fundamentals.Flippers are either open heel pockets with adjustable straps or full foot pockets. Open heels are really designed to be used with neoprene boots in cooler environments so for warm weather snorkelling we recommend you go for a full foot design – they are much more comfortable and if needs be, can be used with thinner neoprene socks. Now we come to the blade and things get a lot more complicated.The type of snorkelling you are going to do will dictate the blade length. For the most basic snorkelling, in calm sheltered waters of a coral reef, the snorkeller will benefit from using a short blade to avoid damaging marine life and stirring up sediment. If however, you are looking to snorkel in deeper, more turbulent waters, a short fin will be useless and a longer blade will be necessary otherwise you’ll find yourself kicking like mad with little or no effect. Remember as well, that the longer the blade the more effort will be needed to move the blade through the water. So what about the blade design? Should you go for the more rigid paddle or split? Each has its pros and cons and much will rely on individual preference and the type of snorkelling activity you are intending to do.

Split blades are often claimed to be 40% more efficient than paddle designs. As the blade moves through the water, the two wing shaped surfaces create lift and forward propulsion like a propeller. Water travelling over the blade is forced into and out of the split allowing the snorkeller to use low amplitude “flutter kicks” thereby reducing exertion without any loss in performance. Split blades also benefit from the fact that the design itself almost adapts to the wearers kick, compensating for the more erratic style without loss of forward motion. Snorkellers who have knee, joint or back problems will benefit from the reduced effort the split design offers. 

As we have said a lot relies on individual preference and we know some people who flinch at the thought of split blades. They argue that although splits reduce effort they are no good for the real power needed in rough water and that nothing beats a traditional paddle blade. Paddle design makes use of a flat flexible blade that as the name suggests, acts like a paddle, pushing water down and behind thus propelling the snorkeller forward. The blades efficiency can be improved by channelling which creates a U shape that captures and contains more water as it is moved up and down. The power argument for paddle blades does of course suffer from a significant problem, it simply doesn’t add up. No blade will give you more power - that comes from you. Paddle blades simply provide more resistance to the water and therefore the harder you kick the more water is moved and the quicker you go…. And the quicker you become exhausted. More power means more effort and that means your muscles and particularly your ankles will have to do a lot more work. Feeling like you’ve just run a marathon after twenty minutes in the water is probably not what a lot of recreational snorkellers are after. So now you know you can call them flippers and the types of design that are out there but which one should you buy?

As we said the best starting point is to decide what type of snorkelling you are going to do, what will the conditions be like and what are your individual physical capabilities, Then make a decision on how much you want to spend. Cheap does not mean good, it simply means cheap. Don’t think the items on sale are a bargain often they’re just the stuff that doesn’t sell! And stay away from snorkel set packages. Buying a package is like ordering from the set menu in a restaurant, you never really get what you want. Equally don’t think that splurging the cash on a set of all singing, all dancing flippers is the answer. If you don’t go cave diving why buy a set of flippers designed for cave divers? And of course avoid anything that has “military grade specifications or materials” highlighted in the advertising – just like Brad you are not a commando, no matter what he says! Keep things simple, practical and cost effective and you can’t go far wrong. To put our money where our mouth is here are the flipping fins we use

 

Split design 

TUSA X-Pert Evolution

Most of the club use the TUSA X-pert evolution full foot pocket. Regardless of the conditions these flippers have performed superbly. The minimal effort needed to propel yourself through the water increases the amount of time you can spend in the big blue and at around £30 these are lightweight, stylish and hard to beat for price.

 Paddle design

Cressi Rondine Palua

Several of us use the Cressi Rondine Palua open heel. Cressi have been making diving and snorkelling equipment for a very long time and rarely get it wrong. The Palua has an elasticated heel strap made from soft elastomer (whatever that is) which makes it easy to put them on in or out of the water. The flexible blade provides excellent propulsion without all the strenuous effort needed with some other paddle designs. Lightweight, easy to pack and at around £20 these really are great travel fins – sorry flippers!

  

 

 And here’s one we got wrong

 

Why?

U.S Divers Trek fin: like a bad smell, no one in the club will admit to having anything to do with these awful things. Yet there they are, tucked away in their own little travel bag, a visible reminder that even we are occasionally victim to the sales pitch of Brad. They are designed for the backpacking snorkeller who might suddenly happen upon a deserted beach or lake and fishing around in their pack (avoiding all the soiled underwear) pull out a pair of very short, very rigid paddle flippers and dive in. The sales pitch was something about short and inflexible being nothing to worry about as they have been engineered to give you the power to get you through the water due to the wider than normal blade. Err… That might be true but they are also incredibly uncomfortable, incredibly ineffective and the straps break with worrying ease. At around £15 they are also cheap and we have noticed that they are often sold as a package – we should have known!

 

So that’s it. Call them flippers, don’t listen to Brads sales pitch and remember to make sure the flippers, fins, frogman’s shoes, diving paddles or underwater foot extensions you buy actually fit…… It really isn’t that hard is it?