Are
they called fins or flippers? Fins or skegs? Back when I started riding
the waves (1960s) life was simple: swim fins were called flippers and board
fins were called skegs. These days both are called fins. Well... this
page is about flippers. Information on skegs is here.
A good overview
on swim fins is provided courtesy of eBodyboarding.com. Read another useful review by The Little Pink Shop at Croyde Bay [my link to the PDF version here]. Flexspoon has some information on Deet's newly formulated UDTs and the modifications made by George Greenough. More on the UDTs [PDF version, 500k]. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, on swim fins.
I
was a long time user of Churchill's (when they were still made of
rubber and had a more flexible blade). For years I searched the used
fins racks for old Churchills, often buying off the rental bins.
Eventually these venerable Churchills were no longer to be found and my
collection was cracking and dry rotting from use and old age despite
fresh water rinses after every session. After buying, borrowing and
testing many, many different fins I have settled on two models: Viper
V-5 Flex (Orange Dot) model for warm water and Hydro Techs for cold water (to accommodate 4mm-7mm of
fin socks).
Ultimately, the "best fins" for any user depends upon many factors,
including but not limited to surf style (bodysurfing, prone boarding,
drop knee or kneeboarding), foot size and shape, blade flexibility,
blade design, floating/non-floating, weight, and surge thrust. Also,
feel free to visit my "rant page"
on trying to find a pair of fins that didn't wreck my ankles or squeeze
my feet. Hopefully by sharing my experiences others will have a better
idea on what is best for them.
Did you know that Benjamin Franklin
is credited with inventing the
flippers and paddling gloves?
Read the interesting table of analysis
on the relative thrust performance of various surf/swim fins (and web gloves).
The methodology, as posted to AS, is posted
here.
By Alt.Surfing's "sdbchguy."
Here are links for some "flippers" or swim fins:
Notes on Other Items of Interest: Fin Socks and Fin Tethers
A good selection of surf fin accessories and discussion can be found on eBodyboarding.com's site that I have reproduced here. Here are my "a-b-c's" of fin accessories:
Use fin socks for protection! For warm water wave riding, lycra fin socks should provide sufficient protection to keep your toes, feet and
ankles from blistering. Sometimes you will need to move up to a heavier fin sock
in warm water use that have open heals and are about .3mm to .5mm in
thickness (thicker 1mm to 2mm models are also available but might make
the fin too tight). Cool and cold water socks are made of the same
materials you find in a wetsuit and are similar to ankle high socks.
These wetsuit socks can be found in
thicknesses ranging from 1mm to 5mm. Do NOT confuse wetsuit socks with
booties. The booties' stiff soles will usually cause fitting problems
with your fins.
I swear by fin tethers! When I first started bodysurfing and paipo
boarding in the overhead, crunching surf of Puerto Rico's west coast in
the late 1960s there were not many options other than using tennis shoe
laces (that and my girl friend's old nylons as a "lycra sock"), or
losing fins. The last time I neglected to use fin tethers was early one
Sunday morning at San Diego's Big Rock, a sucking left breaking on a
shallow ledge reef. I took off on a fun 4-footer, lined up in the tube
very nicely, but the furball in back ripped by flipper right off. With
no extras in my surf bag and a late morning flight to catch I was
without option! Never again! Fin tethers come in a wide variety of
string and nylon loops, narrow and wide ankle wraps, and velcro and
plastic snap closures. I prefer the nylon loop (less ankle rubbing),
wide strap velcros. Preference will vary, but if you find yourself
riding cold water waves in cold air temps then I highly recommend
acquiring tethers with long ankle wraps and pull tabs. Why? In cold
water you need to wrap the straps around many millimeters of
wetsuit/socks and the tabs are for easy removal when your fingers are
freezing.
It might be frustrating finding your supplies at local surf shops. One good option is eBodyboarding.com and another is the river/kayak oriented company, NRS. Also, be sure to search the internet for your specialized needs.
Some users' random comments on fins:
- "A friend has
been using Duckfeet for a long time partly because likes the stiffness
of the foot area and the flex of the fin area. Seems the new fins have a flexible foot area that she finds less effective. Any suggestions or alternatives?"
- "I
use XL Redleys. Stiff enough, with a bottom flow through hole that
keeps the sand out. Looking for XXLs for the winter to put over 2 or
3mm socks."
- "There are
some very interesting new fins being made with the UDT Duck Feet mold -
check on those, as they are being made with some varying rubber. Also,
try several pairs of the Voit original Duck Feet - they vary as to
stiffness. I find the orange/blue work well for me.
Stiffness in fin blades is, to me, kinda overrated. As I have several
sets of fins handy , I may have to repeat Terry Hendricks' fin
test with both
stiff and less stiff UDTs to see what the real thrust difference is.
I'd suspect very little and the comfort of a less stiff large blade fin
( as
opposed to a small blade fin like a Churchill or Viper) sure is worth 10% thrust...if in fact there is that much difference."
- "When I had
back problems (and fins really exacerbate them) I was bodysurfing with
very wide river rafting webbed gloves-and no fins. Now
that I use both, it's all 2 stroke takeoffs, and fin stiffness isn't so important."
- "Myself, I
don't think really stiff fins are a good thing anyhow, providing the
fins have enough blade to really accomplish anything. In fact, if one
is using sizable fins, reasonably long, then stiffness might be a
drawback; analgous to a question on surfboard fins and flexibility,
when they bend they direct water in a direction that works better. With
short, dinky, wide fins, well, that's another story, but that hasn't
seemed to prove most effective. I think of Churchills and all that
genre as great fins for people who don't use fins much. When I tried
them, I found it was a lot like having no fins at all. But I started
out with diver's fins and a paipo way back when and free diving well
before that. I was used to large fins with substantial thrust."
- "I have not
used Duck Feet in over 20 yrs, after moving to the old compound
Churchills (average foot area but flexi fin area). The new
compound fin are on Churchills is very stiff. I have tried Redleys
(both the stiff and the flexible), older design Techs and something
else but none were to my liking. There are several types I have not
tried -- being in the water using them is different than getting fitted
in the store. Fins are likemany other things in life, people love some types and hate others."
- In response to
the statement, "Stiffness in fin blades is, to me, kinda overrated," a
user replies, "Depends. Longbod bodysurfers in thick walls get good
speed with fewer, more powerful kicks. Short guys on thinner
waves or in shorewhomp can get by with shorter, more agile fins.
Kneelers and spongers can't get the usable power out of a long stiff
fin because they're not kickingwith their thighs, so a floppy fin makes more sense for them."
- What you need for flippers?
The balance to shoot for
in flippers (besides comfort of course) is between long distance
cruising i.e. paddling out and cruising the line-up vs
acceleration/burst speed for spin and take off etc. Probably most mat
surfers are using UDT's from Prof. Greg Deets. (parsimony@
earthlink.net), or Voit at 1-800-925-9283. Most people under 170 pounds
or so cut them down following Greenough's modification. First
flattening the ribs a bit then taking a little at a time off the length
to hit their personal best compromise. Also many need to trim the strap
a bit as they are very stiff overall and generally not too comfortable
for most.
Regular DuckFeet and Vipers work ok. I have used them. But my favorites
are Flips at www.flipsswimfins.com They are hand made by the man who
designed them (John Piatt). Come in 3 models, the Original being the
biggest and what I have. Much more thrust than DuckFeet, less than full
sized UDT's. Super comfort and one size will fit everyone, barefoot,
7mil hardsole booties, and you tiny girl friend. They attach with an
elegant strap and buckle set up that take a bit of getting used to but
works well. They are super light and pack flat for travel; the strap
set-up means no foot pocket. Downside is they take a bit of playing
with to put on and take off so not so easy in pounding shorebreak over
jagged lava/granite reef.
You do need lots of power as the earlier you can get planning and up
and riding on a mat the better. You can do late take offs but they
aren't ideal and if you miss can be disasterous for your mat. Bodyboard
fins like Churchhills just do not provide enough power. Last week I
watched someone in Santa Cruz repeatedly get in so late he just went
down with the lip...left behind. And he is in pretty good waterman
shape. You can catch waves but you will get lots more and have much
more fun with biggah flippah.
Enough ramble. The surmatz forums are hereby baptized! Wink
Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 by DrStrange
http://surfmatz.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4
- Just got flips swim fins
last night and tried them out today. One very cool feature is one size
fits all so arctic to tropics, you are good to go. Got the Originals
(biggest) instead of the ProSurf model. Original’s blade about as long
as Duck Feet to toes but the working part extends back under your foot
so it is really longer. It also varies from 2-3 inches wider. Took them
out in the surf and first thing I noticed was it is definitely burlier
than the Ducks. I need to get stronger to fully utilize it; that’s what
I was after in a new fin. Definitely easy on the feet but since it’s a
bigger/stronger fin, moving more water, it is harder on psoas and
quads. Takes more umph to get them moving and keep them moving. Caught
a couple waves I might not have w/the DuckFeet and really noticed the
lightness of the flippers for lifting them out of the water once up and
running. Seemed easier to initiate dolphin kick with the Flips. Since I
try not to use my feet to steer I didn’t notice if they were much
different there.
Only negative was that the straps kept loosening and I had to reach
down every once in awhile and pull them tight. Easy to do though and
that may stop happening once the strap material is broken in a bit. Oh,
one other negative on the flips was that they are so light that I had
trouble doing the small amplitude rapid flutter kick; couldn’t keep
them submerged. The Ducks stay in the water easier. Likely for this
reason, the Duck Feet beat the Flips by little in the rapid small
flutter kick.
Follow-Up
on Loose Straps: Talked to John Piatt last night (Flips maker). He said
to prevent this from happening adjust front strap and slide foot out.
Fold extra length of strap toward toes and then back UNDER the strap
and insert foot. Tighten upper strap to where you want it, unbuckle it
and do the same with the extra length--fold it toward toes and then
back under the strap and snap the buckle. This way, foot pressure on
the loose end locks it in place.
- Well I jumped right in after seeing only a few posts about these and my flips fins Originals
arrived yesterday. Tonight I put them on and went out in 2 foot waves
and was pretty impressed. They're reasonably comfortable and pushed me
through the water really well after about ten minutes of use. I too had
to keep tightening the straps. The front toe strap is a little loose
and seems to be at it's tightening limit. Some attention will have to
be paid to those things. I really like how light they are. Sand and
gravel flushes right out. I like them.
- It's the UDT's
that some consider "blanks" and if you handle a pair you will
immediately see why. They are huge and heavy and stiff. IF you are a
big, hunky hunka manhood you could likely use them as is but otherwise,
a little mod will make them work better. When you're are using fins for
surfing where you need long cruising ease and short burst power from
same fins they are best tuned for your body size/leg length and muscle
power. Duck Feet are shorter and softer. I like them a lot. Also I like Flips.
The the Original model is somewhere between Duck Feet and UDT's in
power and though they take a bit of finicky finiking to put on and take
off, they are very comfortable and one size will fit you barefoot or in
7 ml hardsole dive boots and also fit your 5' 100 pound girlfriend who
wears a size 3 shoe. Plus they pack flat so travel well with a deflated
mat in your suitcase or knap sack.
Feel free to send me your own flippers/swim fin solutions and why they work for you. |
