I'm looking into buying a new pair of fins (Cressi Garas to narrow) I live in Rhode Island and I dive no deeper than 40 feet. Normally I'm on the surface or diving down 10-20 feet. I visited a dive shop and the guy there was telling me that for my type of diving an open heel would not make that much of a difference. I know the closed heels are better but what are your thoughts on this?
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Open Heel? How Bad Is It?
- Thread starter alexrom1207
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
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If you are SCUBA diving it will make very little difference. If you are freedivng it is pretty noticeable.
1) You will notice you have less sudden acceleration with open heel. You have so much drag and mass with SCUBA this difference is barely noticeable
2) You will have less sustained power (high speed). Your top speed is far more based on your drag coefficient that than the resistance at your feet. You can definitely achieve better speed with SCUBA with split fins, which are similar to a low gear on an automobile or bicycle, while long fins are a high gear.
With that said it is entirely possible to dive those depths with open heel or rescue fins, but if you want efficiency and to be able to move nice and slow at depth and along the bottom get long fins with a closed foot. I dive deeper than 40 feet with no fins at all, but it sure is easier with long fins, especially if you want to hang out the bottom and stalk fish and feel comfortable that you will be able to drag that heavy fish back to the surface.
1) You will notice you have less sudden acceleration with open heel. You have so much drag and mass with SCUBA this difference is barely noticeable
2) You will have less sustained power (high speed). Your top speed is far more based on your drag coefficient that than the resistance at your feet. You can definitely achieve better speed with SCUBA with split fins, which are similar to a low gear on an automobile or bicycle, while long fins are a high gear.
With that said it is entirely possible to dive those depths with open heel or rescue fins, but if you want efficiency and to be able to move nice and slow at depth and along the bottom get long fins with a closed foot. I dive deeper than 40 feet with no fins at all, but it sure is easier with long fins, especially if you want to hang out the bottom and stalk fish and feel comfortable that you will be able to drag that heavy fish back to the surface.
for your diving profile, get the omer ice fins(closed foot), they will be ideal..
I totally agree on the suggestion of Omer Ice 3's. They would be perfect for your type of diving. However as they are full foot pocket fins you can only wear bootees under them for warmth. With open back fins you can wear boots with proper soles. If you boat dive or dive off sandy beaches and you aren't walking far then there's no problem. If you have to walf far over rocks then you need to either wear hard sole boots and use open back fins or get some shoes to wear over soft bootees which you need for closed full foot pocket fins.
I used to use hard sole boots and open back fins (jet fins) because I walked up to a mile over heavy rocky ground. Now I use Omer Ice 3's as they are more suitable and I wear neoprene shoes over my 3mm boorees to walk down the beach. I string the shoes on my belt or float while I dive.
Best of luck whatever route you choose.
Dave
I used to use hard sole boots and open back fins (jet fins) because I walked up to a mile over heavy rocky ground. Now I use Omer Ice 3's as they are more suitable and I wear neoprene shoes over my 3mm boorees to walk down the beach. I string the shoes on my belt or float while I dive.
Best of luck whatever route you choose.
Dave
When I first got back into freediving, I got a pair of open heel Esclapez Black fins and thought they were great since they were my first long fins. But one day a friend diving on my boat had the same fins but with closed heels, and I asked if I could try them out. I did three drops and found the difference so dramatic that I bought my own closed heel version the next week.
I'm not using that brand any more, but I just mentioned it because I got a direct comparison of the same fin with open and closed heels. I would never go back to open heels.
I'm not using that brand any more, but I just mentioned it because I got a direct comparison of the same fin with open and closed heels. I would never go back to open heels.
I've just purchased my first pair of Long fins (a pair of Immersion Esclapez Green's). Until now I was using a pair of old (but quite long for a scuba fin) Dacor's.
The simple fact that I can duck dive without the fin buckles hooking up on my float line makes my new fins so much better. Previously it was quite common to have to abort a dive cos I was "Hung up"
Not to mention the fact that my new fins are so much more efficient, previously I would duck dive and kick like crazy to get to the bottom. First dive with the new fins, I duck dived and with long slow strokes was rocketing to the bottom so fast that I nearly run into the bottom face first at great speed.
Also now swimming back to the surface requires much less energy, which is great when my legs are starting to feel like sticks of jelly towards the end of a days diving.
Previously my dynamic with fins all I could muster was around a length and a half (47m), whereas last night with my new fins I managed 3 lengths of the pool (93m) and it felt reasonably easy.
These are just my experience with open heel fins versus freediving fins.
Food for thought.
The simple fact that I can duck dive without the fin buckles hooking up on my float line makes my new fins so much better. Previously it was quite common to have to abort a dive cos I was "Hung up"
Not to mention the fact that my new fins are so much more efficient, previously I would duck dive and kick like crazy to get to the bottom. First dive with the new fins, I duck dived and with long slow strokes was rocketing to the bottom so fast that I nearly run into the bottom face first at great speed.
Also now swimming back to the surface requires much less energy, which is great when my legs are starting to feel like sticks of jelly towards the end of a days diving.
Previously my dynamic with fins all I could muster was around a length and a half (47m), whereas last night with my new fins I managed 3 lengths of the pool (93m) and it felt reasonably easy.
These are just my experience with open heel fins versus freediving fins.
Food for thought.
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