How are bodysurfing fins as travel snorkel/dive fins?

[kevtron]

My wife and I love snorkeling when we travel, and I love to do a bit of freediving when possible, but our fins often take a lot of space in our bags when it isn't specifically a diving trip. We are hoping to find something smaller and lighter.

I've been researching travel fins and just came across body surfing fins. They looks quite nice for travel fins. Small, light, buoyant, powerful, etc. but I'm wondering how well they work for snorkeling/diving.

Being short, I'd imagine they are better for small, fast kicks. Has anyone used them to try to kick down and get a small amount of depth (even only like 10m)?
I'd guess with bodysurfers being out on the water for long sessions they'd be comfortable enough for our hour or so long snorkeling sessions as well.

And a quick followup: If I got these short fins I might end up using them in my pool swim training as well; just to kill two birds with one stone. Any idea how they might perform in lap swimming environments?

NB. I'm currently looking at the Voit UDT as they are said to give more power, which I think would be useful for me being used to longer fins. My wife is looking at DaFin as she likes the design of them ^^

 

[Nathan Vinski]

I think that any short training (swimming) or bodysurfing fins would do the trick.

In the pool those are the fins I would recommend for working technique, both for flutter kick and dolphin.

Depth is also possible with these. Ive done 32m in a 5mm with 3kgs like this. And I think Sofia Uribe used Fins like this to 70m training for the bi-fins world record.

For unplanned snorkelling where you won't have your wetsuits or belts they are more than enough, considering the aim is to have fun and see the reef, not set any records.

 

[DRW]

Owen Churchill introduced swim fins to North America before World War II. Here's his original design:

Back then, such fins were used in multiple activities on and below the surface of the water, including lifeguarding:

Such fins are still in production nowadays, although their design has become more closely associated with bodyboarding than other pursuits. They will continue to serve a wide range of aquatic functions perfectly adequately if the modern user wants them to.

 

[kevtron]

> Depth is also possible with these. Ive done 32m in a 5mm with 3kgs like this. And I think Sofia Uribe used Fins like this to 70m training for the bi-fins world record.

Wow... good to know. I certainly wont be going that deep, since I wont have a buddy with me, but it's good to know it's possible. Whatever shallow fun dives I want to do should be easy.

And good look at the history. Thanks! These types of fins should be perfect for light weight travel snorkel fins.

Cheers

 

[monchan]

I am a body surfer and have a few pairs of fins. I have some 20+ year old fins like the churchills pictured. When the waves are small I often just go for extended swims just for exercise. But now I have a new pair of fins, Leblon fins. designed for body surfing. When I go snorkeling with my kids or family I only use these. They have ample power. They have three different hardness. I have the normal. These are bigger than regular bodysurfing/ bodyboarding fins.
Surface swimming you can power along. I have used them spearfishing recently as my omer footpockets just broke. I was diving 10m. There is a big difference in the feel, we are all used to long fins yeah. But after making some adjustments to my kick/ stroke they were pretty good. They work great fin a dophin type kick.

Here is a link. https://www.leblonfins.com/discount/MARCUS9YY6

here is a discount code if anyone should decide to buy. 15% off. MARCUS9YY6

I can really recommend these for snorkeling.
Another good fin would be DAFIN. great for bodysurfing and surface swimming go well. Have not used them diving.
But they have stiff blades and soft pockets so they are comfortable as do the leblon fins.
I wouldn`t buy fins shaped like the churchills. I`ll try and post a pic of them next to my omers.

Dafins have long been used by surf lifesavers. And I believe Leblon fins are also being used by lifesavers as they are gaining popularity
They are only a relatively new brand.

 

[monchan]

Here`s two pics. of the leblon and dafins next to my long fins. They are both serious fins.

Leblon black/ yellow.
Dafin Blue/ yellow.

 

[kevtron]

Thanks for the comparison pics. That helps a lot since we're looking for portability with traveling. Those are pretty serious looking fins. I'll check em out~

 

[monchan]

@DRW How old are those churchill fins? they look like collectors.

 

[DRW]

@DRW How old are those churchill fins? they look like collectors.

They could well date back to the 1940s as the blade top markings only refer to Owen Churchill as manufacturer, accompanied by a PO address:

and come in a box like this:

Later Churchills would likely have had Voit markings. Here's an exhibit of another pair of early Churchills, courtesy the California Surf Museum at https://surfmuseum.org/exhibits/body-surfing-handplanes/.

 

[monchan]

cool. Thanks for posting.